Canes Country’s 2023 Playoff Pick ‘Em: Stanley Cup Final

So here we are again, licking our wounds after the Hurricanes got goalied — again — in the conference final. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of watching this movie over and over again.

So, anyway, the pick ‘em rolls on. Unsurprisingly, the number of people to pick the Panthers was rather low. Congratulations gregfrgusa and Ronnie Franchise, you got your bleepin’ points, now go sit in the corner.

The number of people picking the Canes in the conference final meant that the other series had a big impact on the standings. If you picked Vegas, you’re in good shape. If you picked the Stars, you’ve got some work to do in the final round.

Here are the standings as of the end of the third round:

Rules for the Stanley Cup Final:

• Correct answers get 8 points, with the five point bonus for the correct winner and series length.
• In the Final, you need to also list how many total goals will be scored by both teams in the entire series. We use this as a tiebreaker, and we’ve had to go to it in two of the past three years, so it’s not just wallpaper!
• Entries are due by puck drop of Game 1: Saturday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m.

Also, I want to get all of your feedback on the scoring system. We’ve used this one for a few years and generally it works pretty well. The number of points on offer does decrease as each round progresses, because of the fewer number of series, but it isn’t simply cut in half each round: 48-28-18-13.

In the past we had doubled both the correct answer points and the bonus points, which put way too much emphasis on getting the SCF right; 24 points were on offer each round. I wanted to make sure we emphasized both accuracy and continuous play, and doing it that way allowed someone to swoop in in the third round and win the whole thing.

If we did an even step up each round (10-20-30-40 for the correct answer) and doubled the bonus points each round (2-4-8-16) the available points would go 96-96-76-56. It would still give an advantage to early round participation, but the necessity to pick the right team to advance would become more pronounced later in the playoffs.

Another option would be to go 10-20-30-40 with a flat five bonus points, which would offer 120-100-70-45. That would provide more emphasis on the early rounds than the current setup.

I’m leaning toward solution number three for next year, but wouldn’t mind your input. Please feel free to vote and when you make your entry, you can drop your thoughts in the comments as well.

Our picks for the Stanley Cup Final are below. Good luck!