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As some of you know - mostly the Canadians on the board - the Stanley Cup playoffs are starting on Friday. After the lockout, this NHL season has been a great success, and the playoffs should be fantastic. So, I'm running an unofficial pool for KJ, that will last throughout all four rounds. Each round, every participant picks the winner of each series and in how many games. In addition, there are a number of questions about each round that should be answered. Furthermore, I'm setting up a set of questions for the entire playoffs that should be answered before the first round begins. Anyone who wants to join can, just post your predictions here. Please don't PM anything to me, there should be no worries about cheating with this.
Rules:
1. Predictions for round one and the whole-playoff questions are due by 6:00 pm Eastern on Friday, April 21 - an hour before the games start. No exceptions.
2. For the series predictions, please choose both which team you think will win and in how many games (remember, it's best-of-seven, so the first team to win four wins the series).
3. For the questions, just choose one answer (it'll either be a player, a team, or a series). There may be ties for some of the questions, but just choose one answer.
4. The scoring will be done as follows:
1 point for choosing the correct team
2 points for picking the right number of games (only if you also picked the right team)
5 points for each round question right
10 points for each full playoff question right
Any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to let me know. Without further adieu, here's round one:
ROUND ONE
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1 Detroit Red Wings vs. 8 Edmonton Oilers
2 Dallas Stars vs. 7 Colorado Avalanche
3 Calgary Flames vs. 6 Anaheim Mighty Ducks
4 Nashville Predators vs. 5 San Jose Sharks
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1 Ottawa Senators vs. 8 Tampa Bay Lightning
2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. 7 Montreal Canadiens
3 New Jersey Devils vs. 6 New York Rangers
4 Buffalo Sabres vs. 5 Philadelphia Flyers
QUESTIONS
1. Which series will last the fewest games?
2. Which series will last the most games?
3. Which series will have the biggest blow-out?
4. Which series will have the longest game?
5. Which team will score the most goals?
6. Which team will allow the fewest goals?
7. Which player will score the most goals?
8. Which player will score the most points?
9. Which goalie will have the best goals against average?
10. Which goalie will have the best save percentage?
FULL PLAYOFF QUESTIONS
1. Which team will be eliminated first?
2. Which team will play the most games?
3. How many seven game series will there be?
4. How many overtimes will the longest game go to?
5. Which player will score the most goals?
6. Which player will score the most points?
7. Which goalie will have the best goals against average?
8. Which goalie will have the best save percentage?
9. Who will win the Conn Smythe Award (playoff MVP)?
10. Who will be the Western Conference champion?
11. Who will be the Eastern Conference champion?
12. Who will win the Stanley Cup?
That's all for now, I hope lots of you predict and tell others to, as well. Good luck to everyone and GO OILERS GO!
At least that'll make my horrible predictions less horrible. I forgot about Hasek not even playing at first, and he was the basis of a large part of my entry at first. 
