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 ;)