CCHA Pick 'EM - Even though it's the Inaugural Season, We're Back Baby!!!

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Welcome Pick 'Em fans to the inaugural season of the CCHA Pick 'Em contest.  Once again I'm running the show over on USCHO and am making all this fun and excitement available to my fellow Falcons. We are Covid-free and ready for action!  Here are the rules:

Click the link, fill out the form (don't forget your screen name), submit your picks.  If you want to change any of your picks, simply fill out a new form.  I will take the last submission as your final answer.  If you are filling out picks for someone else, be sure to use the proper screen name - once the form is submitted no changes will be allowed.

Scoring:
3 points for a win (regulation or NCAA OT)
2 points for a shootout win (CCHA conference games only)
1 point for a shootout loss (CCHA conference games only)
0 points for a loss (regulation or NCAA OT)

For OOC regular season and specific tournament games there will be the option to pick a tie.  If the game ends in a tie at the end of the NCAA OT period, 3 points will be awarded.  If either team wins, zero points will be awarded.

Periodically there will be a bonus question (or two) worth 5-10 points.  There are also two bonus questions available only in week 1 that will cover the entire CCHA regular season.

Only NCAA sanctioned games will be counted (no exhibition games).

Playoffs will be single elimination.  Playoff participation and seeding will be determined based on the number of participants and overall standings.  More on the playoffs later.

Three awards are up for grabs:
o MacNaughton Cup - Regular season champion as determined by total points
o Bill Beagan Trophy - Highest regular season points percentage (based solely on picks, no bonus)
o Mason Cup - Playoff champion

Good luck!

Week 1 picks
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[footballguy51]

I’m ready to finish last again!

[jpfalcon09]

I signed up, first time. Thanks for doing this.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

There were a number of upsets which kept the field fairly bunched after week 1. Lots of contestants in first and second.

I'm having technical difficulties at home so we'll have to start the season posting the scoreboard using old school technology

Code: Select all

  Rank  Contestant (W/L/SOW/SOL)  This Wk  Points  Bonus   Total  Points % Games
   1    Soulbeaver (5-3-0-0)         15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    Redridge (5-3-0-0)           15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    potternmu (5-3-0-0)          15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    njmav1 (5-3-0-0)             15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    Manurespreader (5-3-0-0)     15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    John J. MacInnes (5-3-0-0)   15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    iwearpurple (5-3-0-0)        15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    GIWAN (5-3-0-0)              15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    Deejpuck (5-3-0-0)           15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    BGSURICK (5-3-0-0)           15      15      0       15     .625     8
   1    TalonsUpPuckDown (5-3-0-0)   15      15      0       15     .625     8
   12   SweeneyHawksHockey (4-4-0-0) 12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   Stauber1 (4-4-0-0)           12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   SectionP (4-4-0-0)           12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   mikeeddy19 (4-4-0-0)         12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   mbenecke (4-4-0-0)           12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   jpfalcon09 (4-4-0-0)         12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   Hockey John (4-4-0-0)        12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   GoNanooks (4-4-0-0)          12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   gochiefs (4-4-0-0)           12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   FadeToBlack&Gold (4-4-0-0)   12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   Douglas Deprest (4-4-0-0)    12      12      0       12     .500     8
   12   BillyLP (4-4-0-0)            12      12      0       12     .500     8
   24   Laker Dude (3-5-0-0)         9       9       0       9      .375     8
   24   Footballguy51 (3-5-0-0)      9       9       0       9      .375     8
   24   Critical Thinker (3-5-0-0)   9       9       0       9      .375     8
   24   Atanarjuat (3-5-0-0)         9       9       0       9      .375     8
   28   beaverhockeyfan (2-6-0-0)    6       6       0       6      .250     8

Week 2 picks
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[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Bump. Missing a bunch of AZZ regulars. Get those picks in!

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Week 2 is in the books.  BroncoHockeyFan, Deejpuck, giwan, GoNanooks, iwearpurple, and John J. MacInnes were this week's co-winners with 33 points. Can't quite say we're seeing separation at the top of the leaderboard as a number of regulars from previous WCHA seasons joined us this week.  Week 3 traditionally sees the bonus make its first appearance and this year is no exception.  Let me know if there are questions.  To make newcomers feel welcome I've also added a third year end bonus. 

I should mention that Northern's 8 goals this weekend against the Tommies sets the benchmark for the yearly bonus.

Week 3 picks
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[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Bump. Missing a couple AZZ regulars. Get those picks in.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Week 3 sees our season in full swing.  This week's co-winners with 28 points each are giwan and puckdude40 - congrats!  And with this performance, giwan becomes the first contestant to claim sole possession of first place - congrats!  Bronco Hockey Fan, Critical Thinker, and puckdude40 each went 7-for-8 on the picks this week.  As for the bonus, only giwan correctly picked 50 goals scored for the weekend (for those who like symmetry, it was 25 by the away team and 25 by the home team).  Here's how the bonus points shook out:

Code: Select all

Contestant        Bonus
GIWAN              10
mikeeddy19          9
Icd80               9
potternmu           8
<3_Blizzard         8
Wi.HuskiesFan       8
Soulbeaver          7
GoNanooks           7
puckdude40          7
beaverhockeyfan     7
Critical Thinker    6
SweeneyHawksHockey  5
gochiefs            4
MTUHuskyGold        4
Deejpuck            3
SectionP            3
jpfalcon09          2
John J. MacInnes    1

More bonus fun for week 4.

Week 4 picks
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[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Bump. Missing a couple regulars.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

The week 4 co-winners with 23 points each were Section P and Soulbeaver who was able to parlay this performance into a first place tie with giwan. I'd like to report that there was a lot of ground made up from this week's bonus, but with 99 assists for the weekend only yours truly was able to pick up a single bonus point. However, the Tommyknocker bonus paid off with the Tommies knocking off Ferris on Saturday. Rather than list the people who cashed in on this seemingly predictable "upset," I'll save everyone the time and space by saying there were seven (7) contestants who did not pick the 'Dawgs to be the inaugural victim (I was one of them - I feel shame). The Tommyknocker bonus is included in this week's standings.

Enough time has passed for us to begin analyzing the race for the Bill Began trophy which is awarded to the contestant with the best pick percentage (basically this would be your likely winner if there was no bonus and assuming everyone picked the same number of games). BroncoHockeyFan is leading the way with a blistering .800 pick percentage.

Code: Select all

Contestant		Pick %
Bronco Hockey Fan	 .800
puckdude40		 .767
Soulbeaver		 .711
<3_Blizzard		 .700

There's a pretty big slate of games for week 5 so no bonus.

Week 5 picks
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[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Bump. Missing one regular. Puck drops in a little more than 5h...

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

The bonus-less week 6 is in the books with mikeeddy19 and Wi.HuskiesFan leading the way with 30 out of a possible 36 points this week. Most of the picks this week were straightforward; only footballguy51 and Wi.HuskiesFan picked BG to upset the Beavers Friday night. No one picked the SLU/LSSU tie on Friday. giwan had a big week and has taken over the lead from Soulbeaver. In the race for the Bill Beagan trophy, puckdude40 is now riding the hot hand and is setting the mark with a .780 pick percentage.

Bonus is back in week 6. Post any questions and I'll answer them straightaway. Though this is the trickiest bonus of the season, I think by now everyone in the field has seen it at least once.

One more thing. In order to move the line on the Minnesota State at Ferris State matchup, picking Ferris State to win on either night is worth double points this week! That's 6 points for a regulation or OT win, 4 points for S/O win, 2 points for a S/O loss. Besides, McKay just broke the NCAA shutout record, what's he got left for motivation? So live dangerously; Save Ferris.

Week 6 picks
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[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Week 6 bump.

Reminder that for Week 7 there will be a Thursday game (Ferris at Michigan State) so those who traditionally post picks on Friday may want to "fall back" next week.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

This week, footballguy51 took it to the house in a very big way. Our lone week 6 winner not only correctly picked 7 of 8 games this week, he was the only contestant to cash in on the Ferris State 2-for-1 upset over the Mavs on Friday night. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Both nights, Northern Michigan scored the game winning goal against BU in the first period. I'll save everyone the math and simply summarize that no one was close to picking up a single bonus point. For this week, we'll try a new bonus question; post any questions here and I'll try to get answers quickly.

As for the leaderboard, giwan extends their lead slightly over Soulbeaver and mikeeddy19. BroncoHockeyFan is back in the lead for the Bill Beagan trophy flip-flopping once again with puckdude40.

REMINDER: There is a week 7 Thursday night game so get those picks in early.

Week 7 picks
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[TalonsUpPuckDown]

I’m ready to finish last again!

After your stellar week 6 performance, as long as you submit picks every week this scenario is now highly unlikely.