Those following along with the BEARD Hockey playoffs have been on the edge of their seats awaiting the newest BEARDS and Booze podcasts.
What the millions of fans of BEARDS and Booze may not be aware of is of another level to these predictions, a hockey pool of sorts. Do these self-claimed legends of sim hockey (and Corey) have a future as hockey prognosticators, or are they better suited working on a Boston Whaler as a Pasta Maker?
First, here are the rules of the hockey prediction pool:
Round 1 - 1 point for correct team, bonus 2 if you got the games right as well
Round 2 - 2 pts for correct team, bonus 4 for games
Round 3 - 3 pts for correct team, bonus 6 for games
Round 4 - 4 pts for correct team, bonus 8 for games
Now that the rules are out of the way, let’s take a look at our Round 1 results…..
Aaron dove into round 1 selecting:
DETROIT in 7 - 0pts
JETS in 6 - 1pt
COYOTES in 6 - 0pts
CAPITALS in 4 - 1pt
FLAMES IN 5 - 1pt
BUFFALO in 6 - 0pts
CANUCKS in 5 - 0pts
DEVILS IN 7 - 1pt
This gives him a mediocre 4 points or 50% accuracy for Round 1. I’m sure he regrets most the choice of Buffalo over Montreal but it is known that Commissioner Thomas Gidlow has some incriminating photos of Mr. Sanderson thus the selection of Buffalo. The Vancouver and Arizona selections were far and away the favourites so no issue there, and he should be commended for having the balls to select Calgary over Los Angeles.
Scott opened up with an opening round of:
VAN in 5 (0)
LA in 5 (0)
ARI in 7 (0)
WPG in 6 (1)
WSH in 5 (1)
NJ in 7 (1)
OTT in 6 (1)
MTL in 7 (1)
The favourites in the West were obliterated in the first round thus letting this prognosticator down from what could have been a perfect run. Mr. Davidson completely nailed the Eastern Conference and ends the round going 5 of 8 for 5 points total.
Corey led the charge after round one with the following:
VAN in 4 (0)
LA in 5 (0)
DAL in 6 (1)
WPG in 6 (1)
WSH in 4 (1)
NJ in 5 (1)
MTL in 7 (1)
OTT in 7 (1)
Corey also ran ran table in the East but also had the guts to go with Dallas in round one over Arizona. As much as we all talked up Dallas from the beginning of the playoffs as a serious threat, it was Corey and Corey alone that put his money where his mouth is in round 1. 75% is a solid start betting 6 points.
How does that lead look as we moved to Round 2?
Let’s start with the clubhouse leader Corey:
WPG in 5 (0)
EDM in 7 (2 + 4)
OTT in 7 (0)
NJ in 7 (2)
Corey follows up his impressive first round by going 2 for 4 (50%). Shockingly after committing to Dallas in Round 1 he jumped off the bandwagon and it cost him big time. Ottawa looked poised as the right decision but Lennart took issue with the predictions and got his team to round 3.
Corey sits at 6+8=14 points
Scott tried to make a push from 2nd in round 1 with these selections:
DAL in 6 (2)
EDM in 5 (2 + 4)
OTT in 6 (0)
NJ in 6 (2 +4)
Scott was inches from perfection for Round 2 including nailing the number of games in 3 of 4 series, but Mike in Ottawa fell just short in game 6 and in the end lost that series. Had Ottawa won in 6, this would have been a truly spectacular prognostication. Alas, 3 of for for 75% and picking up bonus points in 2 of the series gives a very impressive 14 points in round 2, leaping well past Corey.
Scott sits at 14+5=19 points
Let’s face it, Aaron was a round 1 let down. He wasn’t at his peak but took a swing with these selections:
DAL in 6 (2)
EDM in 6 (2)
MTL in 7 (2+4)
NJ in 6 (2+4)
In truly heroic fashion, Aaron nails all 4 series in round 2 and is now the biggest Montreal fan for not only saving his bacon in the pool, but to also give him a massive 16 points in round 2!
Aaron now leads the charge with 16+4=20 points!
ROUND 3 will be interesting for these pundits as the selections are all the same, it is really just up to the number of games that will dictate who sits where going into the final round! For now they all keep the title of prognosticator, but Round 3 could send them back to just being Pasta Makers!