Canes Country's 2016 Playoff Pick 'Em Challenge: Round 2

Unlike last year, the first round of this year's Playoff Pick 'Em Challenge had a decidedly unchalky flavor to it.

The big favorites - the Capitals, Stars (who only had one contrarian pick against them), Penguins - all won, but there were a bunch of upsets elsewhere. Only 11 folks out of 101 correctly picked the Islanders, 31 picked the Blues and 32 went with the Sharks.

Before we get to the second round, and taking into account that the Predators/Ducks series still hasn't ended (more on that in a second), here are the standings as of right now:

As you can see, if you are not Bob, Lrccolt4 or gregfrgusa, you have some catching up to do in the later rounds.

Now, a couple of housekeeping things.

First, I completely forgot when I was setting up this year's contest that we changed the scoring last year. The spreadsheet above reflects the correct rules: one point for the correct team winning, five bonus points (which will remain the same through all rounds) for also picking the correct series length.

Second - please read this carefully - because of building conflicts and the prospect of having two straight days without a 7:00 game, the NHL has scheduled the first game of the Lightning/Islanders series for Wednesday at 7:00, prior to Game 7 of Predators/Ducks at 10:00. While this is great for hockey fans, it's rather annoying for our contest, which usually locks at the start of a round.

So, for that reason, here are the rules for the second round:

• Picks for the three series that have been set (WAS/PIT, TBL/NYI, DAL/STL) must be in by Wednesday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m. Sorry...deadline is past for those three series.
• You may pick the Sharks before knowing the result of the Predators/Ducks game, but if you pick the Sharks before that game is over, your pick is locked for the second round and may not be changed.
• The comments on this post will remain open after Wednesday at 7, and after the Sharks/whoever Predators series is set, you may make your picks up until the start of game one of that series (Friday 4/29 at 10:30). At that game time, the comments will close.
• Yes, this means you will likely have to comment twice to enter for all four series. Sorry. Best I can do given the circumstances.
• Two points for picking the correct winning team, and five bonus points for also picking the correct series length.

Here are the picks for the CC staff. Good luck!