Update in which I insult the intelligence of most, but not all, poolies

Here are the Sons of Manitoba Eastern Division HQ we call 'em as we see 'em. And this quite frankly is the worst collective performance by a group of poolies I have ever seen. Sure y'all did quite well in the first round, but once the going got tough the red ink flowed.

There are four teams left in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins. Two of those teams were in the final last season. The other two were uber-hot down the stretch. Yet, an astonishing 11 poolies went 0-for-4. Only 10 poolies went .500 and just one, new leader Justin Lee got three correct. No one got all four. Pathetic. I expect more creativity next year.

(Full disclosure: I, like a majority of poolies, went an uninspiring 1-for-4).

Thursday night featured a pair of great Game 7s. Dan Cleary, who grew up near poolie and new dad Brad Bouzane in Newfoundland, prevented total pool carnage by scoring with three minutes to go to give the Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 win in the game and the series against the Anaheim Ducks.

Then, to the cheers of poolies Justin Lee and Phil Ling, Scott Walker provided the knockout blow as the Carolina Hurricanes won their sixth straight playoff series beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime.

The Bruins cost a whole bunch of you your champions. So long, Terry James, Shannon Proudfoot, Ryan Plesko, Roman Zakalunzy, Rob Shaw, Richard Warnica, Mike McGuire, Mike Barber, Lloyd Mack, Liam Lynch, Jenn Hosfield, James Peters, David Forbes, Chris Lackner, Brendan Kennedy and Brad Bouzane.

Also, Thursday's results allow me to induct a whole new class of poolies in the Frozen club. All of you listed below can't score anything over the next two rounds so the only reason you have to read these updates is the witty comments. . .
Welcome to the club: Arthur Casement, Barry Horeczy, Brad Bouzane, Brendan Kennedy, Carolynne Burkholder, Chris Chapman, Chris Lackner, Colleen Turnbull, Dale Oviatt, Dave Washburn, David Forbes, Debb Coghlin, James Peters, Jenn Hosfield, Jeremy McParland, Leanne Boyd, Liam Lynch, Lisa Watson, Mary-Kay Hosfield, Mike Barber, Mike McGuire, Richard Warnica, Richard Woods, Rob Shaw, Roman Zakalunzy, Sean Hutchinson, Shannon Proudfoot and Steve Ayres. (It's a long list, I hope I didn't miss anyone).

The one lone bright spot coming out of the second round? I have officially accomplished the primary goal I set heading into every Sons of Manitoba pool — beating James Peters. Yes, at least on the team side, I can start engraving my name on the Founders' Trophy. You've got nothing Peters!

The standings:

1 $Justin Lee 35 Best second round of the group. But the Sharks pick will cost you
T2 $Rob Kovac 34 Both finalists still alive
T2 $Mary Kay Hosfield 34 Nice 12 points in Round 2, but that's all for you
T4 $Phil Ling 32 Nix the Ward jersey, go for the Scott Walker threads
T4 $Jeff Madill 32 This is a great year for rookies
T4 $Jack James 32 Probably can't win the pool, but you can still win the best family member award
T4 $Geoff Hastings 32 Like Mr. Kovac, you also have two finalists still alive
T8 $Sean Hutchinson 31 Remind me, when are you coming out East?
T8 $Arthur Casement 31 Not a bad score, for an engineer
10 $Natalie James 29 You have beaten me this year.
11 Colleen Turnbull 27 Have you nailed down the format for the model pool yet?
T12 $Steve Ayres 26 7-for-8 in Round 1; 1-for-7 the rest of the way
T12 $Mike James 26 You can still beat your sister
T14 $Richard Warnica 25 You leave, suddenly no one wants to turn out for sports. Come back.
T14 $Peter James 25 If you're reading these in order, you haven't reached James Peters' name yet.
T14 $Debb Coghlin 25 You're tied with me, so your picks can't be that bad
T14 Barry Horeczy 25 Will the Bombers have more newcomers than returnees on their opening day roster?
18 $Marcel Chelkowski 24 Sedins, worth big raises? Yes or no?
T19 $Lloyd Mack 23 Getting ready for the influx of summer residents?
T19 $Dale Oviatt 23 Hope the bracket-ing was successful
T21 $Ryan Plesko 22 You beat your brother-in-law!
T21 $Richard Woods 22 Fell short in the fabled battle of the Richards
T21 $Mary James 22 A Chicago win puts you back in the top 10
T21 $Keith Bonnell 22 Halfway through your first SoM pool, thumbs up or thumbs down?
T21 $Jeff Sandelli 22 If nothing else, you have household bragging rights
T21 $Brad Bouzand 22 Big party in Harbour Grace last night?
T27 $Sydney Washburn 21 Next year no consulting Dave for pool advice.
T27 Roman Zakalunzy 21 Still, best result for a poolie with a last name starting with a 'Z' (Chara didn't enter this year)
T27 Mike Macaraeg 21 Still got your champ, so you can still aim for respectability
T27 Jordan Stein 21 Made one the biggest jumps on Thursday
T27 $Jeremy McParland 21 You too.
T27 $James Gordon 21 Hey look at this, a Citizen sports guy. . .
T27 $Dave Gross 21 . . . and a Canwest sports guy, side-by-side.
T27 $Cliff Hosfield 21 Mary Kay might be beating you, but she's maxed out
T27 Chris Chapman 21 You are still in in the top half of poolies. . .
T36 $Mike Barber 20 . . . You are not.
T36 $Liam Lynch 20 No RLS bragging rights for you
T36 $Don McGowan 20 Will Zane be filling out an entry form next year?
T36 $David Forbes 20 You can take out your pool frustrations through martial arts
T36 $Chris Lackner 20 Perhaps carrying the weight of arts editors worldwide was too much pressure
T36 $Carolynne Burkholder 20 Orange.
T36 Adam Fulton 20 If you can convince Elizabeth to enter next year it will make coming up with comments easier for me.
T43 $Mike McGuire 19 Tough year on former champs like yourself
T43 $James Peters 19 You heard me, you've got nothing. NOTHING!
T43 $Dave Washburn 19 If you want to find your wife in the standings . . . look up
T46 $Terry James 18 A good news-bad news night for you
T46 $Steve McKinley 18 Just realized today, looking at the phone list, you are Stephen not a Steven
T46 $Mark Brennae 18 PAY ME!
T46 Laura Drake 18 You're still alive for points. Richard is not.
T50 Rob Shaw 17 Probably the only true Bruins fan in the pool. Sorry dude.
T50 Lisa Watson 17 On the bright side, there is room for improvement next year
T50 Leanne Boyd 17 This is a popular score for people not in it for the money
53 $Shannon Proundfoot 16 Your pool performance mimicked the Senators
54 Ron Strate 13 Your picks were actually creative, just not a good creative
T55 Jenn Hosfiled 12 You lost your last lifeline.
T55 $Brendan Kennedy 12 Last among Citizen and Citizen alumni
57 Julianna Nowaczek 9 Taking Montreal was your first mistake. It was downhill from there.