All in the family update

Petr Sykora was in the bottom half of Pittsburgh Penguins players in terms of ice time during their run to the Stanley Cup final, and he was in single digit in points too. But Sykora was the difference in the Sons of Manitoba hockey pool as Terry James, my father, won the team side thanks to Sykora's overtime tally in Game 5 on Monday. Thanks to the goal and the overtime bonus points Terry jumped past his brother-in-law Cliff Hosfield to take the title.

Terry's win is also historic of sorts, he's been in this pool since 1992, and to date was the only member of my immediate family not to win it. My mother, Mary James was the first of the James clan to take the title, winning in only the second year, 1993. I managed to finish at the top of the table in 1995 and again in '96. My sister Natalie was the first winner of the player side when it was founded in 2001 and my brother Mike followed in her footsteps two years later.

Before I get to the scores, I just wanted to thank everyone who entered again this year. As you all know I have a lot of fun with this pool each spring, but it can't happen without all of you coming back year after year.

As always I have some plans in the works for possible changes to the pool next year (which I'll unveil at the end of the regular season), and of course I'm always open to suggestions, so if you have any ideas, comments or complaints just fire me an email.

Here are the standings:

1) Terry James 250 The Jets aren't coming back to Winnipeg just yet, but the Sons of Manitoba pool title is!
2) Cliff Hosfield 248 If Talbot doesn't tie Game 5 and force overtime, you'd be the winner
3) Brad Bouzane 246 Oh so close to the elusive pool double
4) Jason Anthony 238 Probably your best finish in both pools
T5) Sean Hutchinson 233 You also had a great finish in both, but I'm sure a title would have been sweeter
T5) Mary Kay Hosfield 233 Your brother edges your husband for the title, how does that make you feel?
T5) James Peters 233 We each nabbed a top-10 spot in one side of the pool. Imagine if we combined our powers
8) Arthur Casement 229 Nice picture of you with Stanley. That's as close anyone associated with the Oilers will get for years
9) Jordan Stein 231 Should Naslund stay or should he go?
10) Lloyd Mack 221 Love the the new M&N website
11) Justin Lee 220 I didn't know you DJ'd
12) Rob Shaw 211 Countdown to Roughrock is on
T13) Richard Warnica 206 Looking forward to checking out the Scottish hooker on Saturday
T13) Kim Landon 206 And the above comment is in the rugby sense of the word
15) Jack James 204 Last poolie with a surname James not to win. But there's always next year
16) Steve McKinley 203 Good luck with the water rescue course . . . in the rain
17) Ron Strate 202 Glad you enjoyed the pool, hope you'll be back again
T18) Mike James 200 Your slide would have continued if the series had gone seven games
T18) Jennifer Hosfield 200 I spoke too soon about the whole congratulate your dad thing
20) Colleen Turnbull 199 Top 20 yes, 200 points, no.
21) Julianna Nowaczek 195 Let's play three games at once, if that's OK with you
22) Dave Washburn 191 Think I can get a tuxedo rental on short notice?
23) Liam Lynch 190 Your welcome, and thanks for entering
24) Dale Oviatt 183 Thanks for having my back today
25) Scott McCleery 181 You can thank Rafalski for your top-25 finish
26) David Forbes 180 Thanks for sharing that wonderful story. Sport can put a smile on so many faces.
27) Mark Brennae 178 Pay up.
28) Ryan Plesko 176 On the bright side, your Oilers should be well rested for next year
29) Adam Fulton 170 You have to be shameless in my line of work
30) Barry Horeczy 169 Your pool will come in handy during this upcoming heat wave (hint, hint)
31) Neil MacKinnon 168 Any plans to visit D-town this summer?
32) Colleen Racine 166 We'll call the battle of the Colleens a split this year
33) Peter James 152 I'm not so pleased with this finish
34) James Gordon 150 So how 'bout some draft posts on the old blog, eh
T35) Don McGowan 131 Just want to point out, you're tied with the person who took Kyle Quincey
T35) Janet Chapman 131 No offence intended from the comment above
37) Debb Coghlin 119 Mr. Conn Smythe got you past the last of the frozen twins
38) Chris Chapman 117 FROZEN!
39) Jeff Sandelli 107 FROZEN!

We have a champion

Poolies from Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and British Columbia have all been named champions of the Sons of Manitoba over the years. Now for the first time we can add Newfoundland to that last as Brad Bouzane captured the team side of the pool capping a strong performance by not only predicting the Detroit Red Wings would win the Stanley Cup, but also calling the number of games correctly. In rare moment of synchronicity, Daniel Cleary of Riverhead Harbour Grace became the first player from the Rock to win the Stanley Cup.

The Wings won the Cup on Wednesday night, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2, to take the series in six games. After a slow start, the series culminated with a pair of exciting games, on Monday when the Penguins stayed alive in a triple-overtime thriller and then Wednesday night's game, which went right down to the wire. Here are my thoughts on the series for Canwest News Service.

The team side standings will be updated on Thursday:

1) Brad Bouzane 60 Your win may not make headlines like Cleary's, but it's just as impressive in my books
T2) Ron Strate 57 Top finish amongst the former champions
T2) Lloyd Mack 57 Kudos for also calling Wings over Pens in six
4) Sean Hutchinson 50 Tops amongst former 4th Stormont residents
5) Mary Kay Hosfield 59 Tops amongst members of my family
6) Peter James 46 I'm very satisfied with this finish
7) Terry James 45 Your long pool drought continues
8) Julianna Nowaczek 44 Hope Games Night went well
9) Justin Lee 29 Congrats on the thesis progress
10) Rob Shaw 38 Tops amongst cop reporters
T11) Mike James 37 Tops amongst teenagers
T11) Jordan Stein 37 Tops amongst Vancouver residents
13) Jason Anthony 34 Maybe one day Nova Scotia will be added to the list of places champions are from
14) Adam Fulton 33 Tops amongst wine connoisseurs
T15) Dave Washburn 32 I'd better win those gift certificates
T15) Kim Landon 32 Tops amongst people who tried to bribe me
T15) Cliff Hosfield 32 Third among rookies
T18) Liam Lynch 30 Third among former RLS staff
T18) Mary James 30 Tied for fourth among people with the last name James
T18) Arthur Casement 30 Closer to the basement than last update
T18) Natalie James 30 Tops amongst New Zealand entrants
T22) Jack James 28 Those Jokinen rumours won't go away
T22) Mark Brennae 28 Too few fights in the final for my liking
T22) Ryan Plesko 28 On the bright side, the final is over in time for everyone to watch the NBA Finals
25) Jenn Hosfield 27 Sid the Kid failed you
26) Richard Warnica 26 Sadly, no NFL tickets were purchased
27) Janet Chapman 25 Good news, Kyle Quincey exists, he was interviewed after the Cup was handed out
T28) Barry Horeczy 24 The 10,000 metre results eventually arrived. Thank goodness.
T28) Don McGowan 24 Any Euro 2008 predictions?
T30) Dale Oviatt 23 I don't know anything about the
T30) James Peters 23 Would love to have you back on board next year
32) Jeff Sandelli 22 How's the soccer season going?
T33) Scott McCleery 21 At this point in the standings, not much has changed the past few updates
T33) Colleen Racine 21 Except for the always intense battle of the Colleens
T35) Neil MacKinnon 20 Lecavalier to Montreal? Eklund says maybe.
T35) Debb Coghlin 20 There's always next year, right?
37) Colleen Turnbull 19 Sadly that's the refrain for everyone in this group
T38) David Forbes 18 There is little to salvage from this finish
T38) Steve McKinley 18 Our task: Get Bonnell in the pool next year
40) James Gordon 16 Tortorella would be entertaining, but not a good fit in Ottawa
41) Ali Hewitt 15 Alas, there is no Piss and Moan award in the hockey pool
42) Chris Chapman 13 I'd be willing to bet you'll be back in the top 10 next year
43) Stacey Tomlinson 12 You, I'm not so sure about ;)

Wings one win away

After the Pittsburgh Penguins showed some life in Game 3, the Detroit Red Wings locked them down again Saturday night in Game 4. As far as the pool goes, nothing much changed. A few people made some modest moves in the middle of the pack, but at the top of the table everything remains the same.

1) Cliff Hosfield 227 Close to clinching the title
T2) Brad Bouzane 224 Hope the leg injury doesn't keep you off the gridiron (or the Supreme Court lawn) too long
T2) Terry James 224 Holmstrom injury came at the worst possible time for you
4) Jason Anthony 218 No podium for you this year, but an impressive run nonetheless
T5) Sean Hutchinson 214 The battle for fifth intensifies
T5) Mary Kay Hosfield 214 Grabbed a top-5 spot
7) James Peters 213 Lost your hold on sixth
8) Arthur Casement 209 It's easier when you don't feel obliged to load up on Oilers
9) Jordan Stein 208 Took over sole possession of ninth
10) Justin Lee 205 Broke through the 200-point barrier
11) Lloyd Mack 202 Another newcomer to the 200-point club
12) Rob Shaw 195 Hope you had a good flight home
13) Mike James 194 Rider tickets a hot item
T14) Richard Warnica 191 I knew that corner/post option play would work eventually
T14) Kim Landon 191 I finally 'tagged' you in those photos, so no more complaints
16) Steve McKinley 188 How was the hockey tournament?
17) Jack James 187 Able to sneak past a fellow Albertan
18) Ron Strate 186 Another Albertan is right on your tail again
19) Jennifer Hosfield 184 Be sure to congratulate you dad, eh
20) Colleen Turnbull 183 A top-20 finish seems secure
21) Julianna Nowaczek 179 Is it time for another game?
22) Dave Washburn 178 Big mover and shaker with an increase of two spots
23) Liam Lynch 177 You've got 23rd place all to yourself now
24) Dale Oviatt 176 Stamps might be the favourites in the West
25) David Forbes 171 Another poolie moving up a couple of places
26) Mark Brennae 170 Someone break up those Blue Jays
27) Ryan Plesko 168 Brennae is sinking, you might be able to get him
28) Scott McCleery 163 I remain impressed you are doing this well playing two men short
29) Barry Horeczy 159 You broke the tie for 29th
T30) Adam Fulton 158 Now you're tied with someone else
T30) Neil MacKinnon 158 Welcome to the Top 30
32) Colleen Racine 155 Outside shot at a Top-30 finish
33) James Gordon 142 Keeping me at bay, for now
34) Peter James 139 Alright Mr. Gordon my sights are set on you
35) Don McGowan 131 Likely locked into this spot
36) Janet Chapman 123 Chapman, Pringle, it's tough for me to get it straight
37) Chris Chapman 117 FROZEN!
38) Debb Coghlin 115 Not frozen, but didn't gain any points
39) Jeff Sandelli 107 FROZEN!