Shooting Pool.

For those of you who give a rat's ass about these sort of things, be forewarned that what follows are the NHL Pool Picks for a few of us Sendai dwellers (Sendaites? Sendaians?) The *asterisked* comments are from our Pool-pro DJ Mokugohan (Alex). I expect him to do well since he actually plays the sport and knows who some of these players are. At the bottom of the page are the results of the first-round elimination with some surprising results...

DAVE'S British Bloke Blitzers
(F) ANDREI KOSTITSYN (MONTREAL)
(F) HENRIK ZETTERBURG  (DETROIT)
(F) EVGENI MALKIN (PITTSBURG)
(F) JOE THORTON (SAN JOSE)
(D) MIKE GREEN (WASHINGTON)
(D) MAREK ZIDLIEKY (NASHVILLE)
(D) PRONGER (ANAHEIM)
(G) MARTIN BIRON (PHILI FLYERS)
* I didn't tell Dave to avoid more than one player in the top 10 in scoring but I guess his powerhouse guys can balance his handicap (of being British). Zidliwhooey?

ROB'S Cup-Ring Ringers
(F) M. Hossa (PITTSBURGH)
(F) T. Selanne (SAN JOSE)
(F) C. Higgens (MONTREAL)
(F) S. Gomez (NEW YORK)
(D) Z. Chara (BOSTON)
(D) S. Zubov (DALLAS)
(D) D. Hamhuis (NASHVILLE)
(G) C. Price (MONTREAL)
* Wish I'd picked Gomez. He always shows up for the playoffs (3 points in his 1st game!). Another Nashville Player- another reason to cheer against the Red Wings.
(Aside from me: Hmmm. Rob cheated and chose two Montreal players!)

Andy's California Cup Contenders:
(F) A. Ovechkin (WASHINGTON)
(F) A. Kovalev (MONTREAL)
(F) J. Sakic (COLORADO)
(F) R. Getzlaf (ANAHEIM)
(D) N. Lidstrom (DETROIT)
(D) S. Gonchar (PITTSBURGH)
(D) B. Campbell (SAN JOSE)
(G) M. Brodeur (NEW JERSEY)
*Now Ovechkin isn't just carrying the Caps- he has to produce points for you when Kovalev starts coasting and the Sharks get knocked out in the 1st!

Mike's Conference Marauders:
(D) P. Brisbois (MONTREAL)
(F) J. Spezza (OTTAWA)
(F) J. Thorton (SAN JOSE)
(F) J. Carter (PHILADELPHIA)
(F) J. Sakic (COLORADO)
(D) D. Sydor (PITTSBURGH)
(D) S. Neidermeyer (ANAHEIM)
(G) M. Kipprosoff (CALGARY)
* Even though Spezza's from Brampton he's still a Senator, the team about to be bitchslapped by the Pens.

Alex's A-hole GoalGetters:
(D) C. Pronger (ANAHEIM)
(F) S. Crosby (PITTSBURGH)
(F) P. Forsberg　(COLORADO)
(F) T. Plekanec (MONTREAL)
(D) M. Green (CAPITALS)
(D) B. Rafalski (DETROIT)
(F) P. Marlau (SAN JOSE)
(G) M. Kipprosoff (CALGARY)
* Nobody tell my dad I chose someone from the hated Habs.

Andreas' Swedish Erotic Elite:
(Forward) H. Zetterburg (Detroit)
(Defense) Douglas Murrey (San Jose)
(Forward) Kristian Huselius (Calgary)
(Forward) Nicholas Backstrom (Washington)
(Defense) Kim Johnsonn (Minnesota)
(Forward) Peter Forsberg (Colorado)
(Defence) Mattius Norstrom (Dallas)
(Goalie) Henrik Lundquist (New York)
*Yes, Douglas Murrey IS Swedish. I looked it up in "The Big Book Of Skating Swedes". There aren't enough guys named Thor in the league.

I've put the surviving teams in italics, so you can follow us into the next round...

After 1st round:
Andreas & Rob- 26 points each, Mike- 27, Andy- 40, Alex- 41 and the winner so far is
Dave- 42!!

This post has been brought to you by SPAM, the luncheon meat of the Sendai NHL fanbase.