Wading into the Playoff Pool

So after a week-long hiatus to Cuba to talk to Fidel Castro about the possibility of importing a couple of new players for this summer's Headliners softball squad, I return from the sun to the ice. Yeah, the puck drops on the NHL playoffs tomorrow and 99% of the Great White North is salivating with anticipation. Most because it's the best hockey of the year, but many because of the investment opportunity known as the PLAYOFF POOL.

But before I dispense any advice, a couple of things.

1. Too much knowledge is a bad thing. I am fully convinced that there is an inverse relationship between knowing the numbers and winning a hockey pool. Chances are that the guy who picks players whose surnames remind him of Dungeons and Dragons beats the guy who can recall Pavol Datsyuk's Russian bantam stats. Or maybe you expected Cory Stillman to finish 2nd in playoff scoring last year. I think you get the point.

2. Think of the entry fee as a chance to rip the local loudmouth. You know the guy. There's one in every office. Most sentences start with, "Let me tell you how they should be handling Luongo..." or "If I was playing with the Sedins...". This is the one person you should NEVER take advice from nor partner with in your pool. But take notes on what he says during the draft because it will be good ammo in late May. The only thing you do know about this guy is that he will not win the pool. He should ask for a tax receipt upon paying his money.

So here's what I will say. Whether you want to put your money on a blue chip stock like the Sabres or a long shot like the Islanders, take two or three players from a TEAM you feel good about. Of the top 16 scorers in last year's postseason, only 3 were from teams other than Carolina or Edmonton. It's tough to win a pool with a player from every team. Half of your lineup gets whacked every round. Decide on a couple of clubs that you think will make deep runs and hitch your wagon to them.

And look for players who aren't known as big guns, but who play alongside them. Fernando Pisani won't be winning any Art Ross trophies any time soon. But he was getting powerplay time and playing on a line with a bunch of the Oilers' skilled players last year, so he picked up 18 points. The big names will always go first, but Matt Cullen had twice as many points as Joe Thornton in '06.

Finally, resist the urge to draft with your heart instead of your head. If it's the 13th round, go ahead and take a flyer on Alex Burrows if you really want. But drafting your favorite Canuck fourth-liner in the fourth round will leave you chequing Mel Kiper's NFL draft board in late April instead of adding up playoff points.

Of course this all comes from a guy who's in a no-win position in every pool he enters. If I win, it's because I'm a sports guy. If I lose, it's "What are you, an idiot? You talk about sports every day on the radio. How'd you lose to the coffee shop girl?". And if you read rule #1, you've got a pretty good idea of where I'll probably end up again this year. But that being said, I was swimming off the shores of Cuba this past week instead of watching the final week of the regular season. Perhaps wading in those warm waters with ice in my drink will have me treading water in this year's pools on ice.