As most of you recall, last week we told you that we here at WIIM were going to give you a chance to have some fun during the playoffs by introducing the 1st ever Playoff Bracket Challenge. The time has come for all of you to show us how well you think you know the NHL by picking every round of the playoffs.
A quick refresher, for those that didn’t see the first post: you will pick each playoff series, telling us which team will win and in how many games. You will do this for every round, including picking the Stanley Cup winner. Points will be awarded for getting the pick right and doubled if you get the number of games correct. There will also be opportunities for additional points. Here’s how the scoring will work:
First round correct pick: 1 point
Second round correct pick: 2 points
Third round correct pick: 5 points
Finals correct pick: 10 points
Remember: guessing the number of games correctly doubles the points for that round (for example, if you pick the Wings over the Flyers in 4 in the Finals and that happens, then you will get 20 points). Beyond the teams, there will be additional picks we want you to make:
Conn Smythe Winner: 5 points
Leading scorer (by points): 5 points
Goaltender with the lowest GAA (minimum 4 starts): 5 points
Player who scores the Cup-winning goal: 2 points
Player with the most Game Winning Goals: 1 point
Player who will incur the longest suspension AFTER the playoffs start: 1 point (if no suspensions are given out, everyone gets 1 point – For clarification, since there seems to be some confusion: this does not include the suspensions to Cooke and Torres that carried over from the regular season. This suspension would occur for an infraction during the playoffs. If you have made a selection and want to change it, let me know.)
There will be prizes for the winner, but something came up that we wanted to pass along to you. In case you had not seen it, Patrick Eaves has teamed up with the Michigan Humane Society to raise money for the HS’ efforts to help pets who do not have homes. We think this is a fantastic idea, and all of us here are huge dog lovers, so we want to help them out. Together with our friends at The Production Line and On The Wings, we are going to give you the opportunity to donate what you can to the Humane Society and help Patrick Eaves get out of the doghouse. Please note this is NOT mandatory; you may donate as much as you wish, or not at all if that’s not your thing. Donations are also NOT necessary to enter the contest. However, for those that are so inclined, we’ve added a bit of an incentive to those who choose to give: the person who finishes the highest in the standings AND donates at least $10 will be eligible to win an additional prize. You can go here to donate, and if you would like to be considered for the secondary prize, e-mail me a copy of the receipt and I will make sure you are in the running.
Follow the jump for the entry form, because it’s a doozy.
Below is the entry form. Please remember one thing: the teams are re-seeded after each round, with the highest remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed in the subsequent round. Points will be awarded by picking the correct team ion that round, not by who they played. For example, if you picked the Wings to beat Anaheim in the second round in 6 games and it turns out the Wings beat Nashville instead, you will still get the pick correct. When you enter your picks, do it in this format: “_________ (team name) in ____ (# of games)”.
Enough of the rules: here’s the entry form. Have fun!
