Pool Report: Week Eight Ends

Thinking I’d like to sound intelligent for just once as these pool reports dwindle down to a precious remaining few; I stopped by the local news agent this morning to pick up a copy of “The Hockey News”.

I saw it on the rack, wrapped in plastic, and snagged a copy as a big guy came striding toward me with the same issue in his hands.

“Hey Buddy”, he said, “Have you got a large one?”

Not the kind of thing you expect to hear before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee –- even living in a cosmopolitan setting.

I’d barely formed a “S’cuse me?” when he flipped over his magazine to reveal that the current issue of The Hockey News comes with a free pair of underwear inside the plastic packaging.

Unfortunately, it seemed I was only packing a “Medium”, so he brushed past to rummage the rack.

And while it’s probably thoughtful of “The Hockey News” to supply a spare set of skivvies to Playoff obsessed fans who may have forgotten to keep up with the laundry, I never really “get” these kinds of promotions.

I mean, how does spending $4 for a magazine that includes a $4 pair of briefs help the cause of keeping print journalists employed in this day and age?

That said, the way these Playoffs are going, it looks like a lot of people who claim to be hockey experts might soon be having to justify whatever their newspapers and networks pay them.

I honestly can’t remember a Stanley Cup that got this far defying everything the smart money is supposed to know.

Anybody in the pool have Colin Fraser or Anton Volchenkov?

Two guys who scored the only goals in 60 minutes of game one of the Final series. Two guys who have each scored exactly one goal during the entire playoff run.

All of which leads me to have even greater respect for the astute hockey minds who now sit atop the Infamous Writers Hockey Pool. I’d say we already know the names in the top four will be who makes the podium this year. But when you look at their picks and how this season is going, I wouldn’t pick a winner yet.

Maybe we’ll know more Monday.

Maybe not.