Hooray for Lanny and friends

One of the occasional benefits of working odd hours is late-night television. After work on Sunday night I was surprised to find CBC airing a replay of Game 6 of the 1989 Stanley Cup final. I will take this as a good omen as the Calgary Flames prepare for Tuesday's Game 7 against the San Jose Sharks. However, for those Habs out there (and I know there are more than just a handful of you in this pool), I'm not sure if it's a good sign that pretty soon the Flames are going to be hoisting Lord Stanley's mug on Forum ice.

On Sunday the Flames played maybe their best game of the playoffs, defeating the Sharks 2-0 to push the series to the limit. I can't provide a detailed breakdown of the game as I was working while it was going on, but from the snippets I caught (which, in case the boss is reading this, and he just might be because he's in the pool, were only viewed during regularly scheduled breaks) it looked like Calgary carried a majority of the play.

The other two teams playing for their playoff lives weren't as lucky. All but one person foresaw the Red Wings dispatching the Nashville Predators, but in the first big upset of the tournament the defending Anaheim Ducks were sent packing at the hands of the Dallas Stars. Tonight I'm only updating the player side, but if you check out the Google documents page with all the team picks you will see a lot of red ink.

With one, or possibly two series ending on Monday I will put together a team side update. On Tuesday night I will e-mail updates for both sides of the pool.

Here are the standings:

T1) Justin Lee 85 You mix-and-mingle strategy is working so far
T1) Jack James 85 Welcome to the lead, send a thank-you note to Miikka
T1) Dave Washburn 85 You and I both know, this will not last
4) Mark Brennae 84 For the record, you are winning the team side
T5) Sean Hutchinson 83 What's this I hear about Calgarians not having faith in their team?
T5) Mary Kay Hosfield 83 I'm sure some people in the Hosfield family will have something to say about that
T5) Rob Shaw 83 Tough loss for the Salmon Kings
T5) Brad Bouzane 83 I see Gushue has lost another team member
T9) Cliff Hosfield 82 Still in the rookie-of-the-year hunt
T9) Julianna Nowaczek 82 Is Scrabulous popular in Hungary?
T11) David Forbes 81 Just missed the top 10
T11) Richard Warnica 81 I'm practising my touchdown dances for next week
T11) Jenn Hosfield 81 So, enough snow for ya?
14) Dale Oviatt 80 I await you assessment of the Flames' game
15) Mike James 79 If the Flyers can fill the net, you could make a move
T16) James Gordon 78 Moving up after a slow start
T16) Liam Lynch 78 You're probably not the biggest Dallas Stars' fan right about now
18) James Peters 77 Among pool officials, you are kicking ass
T19) Adam Fultson 75 Can I say 'ass' in an update?
T19) Jordan Stein 75 Why not, I set the rules
T19) Arthur Casement 75 Speaking of rules, I awarded everyone with Giguere a point for his assist Sunday
T19) Ryan Plesko 75 And then buried the rule interpretation in the middle of the update where few people will see it
T23) Barry Horeczy 74 Once again, you left and the Flames won. Please call in sick on Tuesday.
T23) Steve McKinley 74 Are you bored now that there are no Senators to root against?
T23) Ron Strate 74 I've promised myself not to comment on your position relative to David Forbes' anymore
T26) Lloyd Mack 73 I see the judo club is still adding to their impressive medal tally
T26) Jason Anthony 73 Other people move up, or move down. Yet here you are, still in the middle
28) Terry James 72 Speaking of moving down, you've slid a few spots
29) Colleen Turnbull 71 Outdoor soccer must be just around the corner, eh
30) Jeff Sandelli 70 A Flames win on Tuesday will give you a chance to climb the standings
T31) Scott McCleery 67 This is when the two missing guys starts to hurt
T31) Chris Chapman 67 Perhaps we'll consider this year a write-off (not just you, but me too!)
T31) Neil MacKinnon 67 Stars victory sealed your fate
T34) Debb Coghlin 63 You've restored you're one-point lead over me
T34) Don McGowan 63 You're hearing footsteps. . . from me
T34) Kim Landon 63 Up one spot, but at this point in the standings does that really matter?
37) Peter James 62 At least I will get to watch the Flames hoist the Cup on CBC in few minutes
38) Colleen Racine 61 It's a good thing we don't have the combined pool anymore, for your sake
39) Janet Chapman 44 Osgood pick is becoming a real bright spot