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CCHA Pick 'Em 2022-23 - The Last Augie-Free Edition

gochiefs said:
I had 243 for the bonus question last week. I think you did give me the bonus points.
Click to expand...
Wow. I can't believe I missed that. I guess I skimmed the results too quickely.

UPDATE: There were two contestants who picked up bonus points last week, the good news is the commissioner simply misread the results...all of the scoreboards were and are correct.
Code: 
Contestant Bonus
beaverhockeyfan 8
LGRH 6

And now I know that LGRH=gochiefs which will help me when it's time for playoff writeups (I had LGRH down as a rookie). Glad to have you back again this year.
 
Here's an updated leaderboard that includes Bronco Hockey Fan and giwan. Apologies for the mess up on my part.

Code: 
RankContestant (W/L/SOW/SOL) Points Bonus Total Points % Games Team/Goal Bonus
1 Critical Thinker (68-38-11-7) 233 23 256 .658 124 MNST/9 : 3
2 Icd80 (69-37-9-9) 234 18 252 .661 124 MNST/8 : 4
3 Manurespreader (63-43-9-9) 216 26 242 .610 124 NMU/8 : 1
3 ClassyC (66-40-9-9) 225 17 242 .636 124 NMU/9 : 0
5 LGRH (64-42-10-8) 220 18 238 .621 124
6 beaverhockeyfan (58-48-11-7) 203 32 235 .573 124 MNST/9 : 3
7 mbenecke (66-40-11-7) 227 5 232 .641 124 MNST/9 : 3
8 Bronco Hockey Fan (66-40-8-10) 224 4 228 .633 124 MNST/8 : 4
9 TalonsUpPuckDown (66-40-7-11) 223 4 227 .630 124 MNST/8 : 4
9 Hockey John (60-46-9-9) 207 20 227 .585 124 MNST/8 : 4
11 MTUHuskyGold (61-40-9-8) 209 17 226 .622 118
11 BGSURICK (63-38-10-7) 216 10 226 .643 118
13 mikeeddy19 (61-45-10-8) 211 14 225 .596 124 NMU/11 : 0
14 SweeneyHawksHockey (63-43-8-10 215 9 224 .607 124 MTU/8 : 1
14 potternmu (59-39-10-6) 203 21 224 .627 114 NMU/9 : 0
16 CoHockeyMom (57-44-11-6) 199 24 223 .592 118 NMU/9 : 0
17 Soulbeaver (60-46-9-9) 207 13 220 .585 124 MNST/8 : 4
18 giwan (61-40-9-8) 209 10 219 .622 118 MNST/8 : 4
19 puckdude40 (58-45-8-9) 199 18 217 .582 120 NMU/8 : 1
20 iwearpurple (62-44-9-9) 213 3 216 .602 124 MNST/10 : 3
21 John J. MacInnes (61-45-10-8) 211 4 215 .596 124 MNST/9 : 3
22 SectionP (57-49-8-10) 197 15 212 .556 124 BG/7 : 5
23 <3_Blizzard (57-36-9-8) 197 14 211 .631 110 NMU/9 : 0
24 Tommiealum93 (60-46-7-11) 205 0 205 .579 124 MNST/9 : 3
25 Atanarjuat (54-47-11-6) 190 11 201 .565 118 MNST/151 : 3
26 GoNanooks (53-40-9-8) 185 15 200 .593 110 MTU/9 : 0
26 Footballguy51 (55-51-7-11) 190 10 200 .537 124 MNST/8 : 4
28 Ha Ha Clinton Dix (43-37-6-10) 151 0 151 .559 96 FSU/8 : 1
29 jpfalcon09 (25-22-6-3) 90 0 90 .600 56 MTU/8 : 1
 
TalonsUpPuckDown said:
Wow. I can't believe I missed that. I guess I skimmed the results too quickely.

UPDATE: There were two contestants who picked up bonus points last week, the good news is the commissioner simply misread the results...all of the scoreboards were and are correct.
Code: 
Contestant Bonus
beaverhockeyfan 8
LGRH 6

And now I know that LGRH=gochiefs which will help me when it's time for playoff writeups (I had LGRH down as a rookie). Glad to have you back again this year.
Click to expand...

Yes I changed my name. Also somehow my team bonus at the end of the chart seems to have disappeared.
 
It was a big week for Critical Thinker who took home the weekly honors with 26 points. Going 7-for-8 on picks (missing only the Tommies knocking off BG on Thursday) plus 8 bonus points not only provides a bit of a cushion for first in the standings but also let's him reclaim first in the Battle for the Beagan with a blazing .669 pick percentage. Stick taps go out to Footballguy51 who also went 7-for-8 on picks. Also, don't forget CoHockeyMom and Tommiealum93 who were the only two contestants to pick the Tommies to win over BG on Thursday (I won't call that an upset) and Atanarjuat, BGSURICK, and SectionP who felt something in the college hockey universe the rest of us didn't and picked up an extra bonus point for the Lakers OT loss to Mankato.

Now, onto the bonus. Congratulations to Icd80 who correctly picked 198 away team SOGs this week and picks up 10 bonus points. Here is how the rest of the bonus scoring played out (includes both the SOG bonus and Laker bonus)
Code: 
Contestant        Bonus
Icd80               10
Critical Thinker     8
TalonsUpPuckDown     8
GoNanooks            6
ClassyC              4
Footballguy51        3
Atanarjuat           1
BGSURICK             1
CoHockeyMom          1
SectionP             1

There was a slight shakeup in the race for the Sauer with Critical Thinker and Icd80 making their claim for bonus glory, however, beaverhockeyfan still clings to a 1-point lead.
Code: 
Contestant        Bonus    Season Bonus    Total Bonus
beaverhockeyfan     32            3             35
Critical Thinker    31            3             34
Icd80               28            4             32
Manurespreader      26            1             27
CoHockeyMom         25            0             25

As mentioned above, Critical Thinker has reclaimed the top spot in the Battle for the Beagan
Code: 
Contestant          Points %
Critical Thinker      .669
Icd80                 .653
ClassyC               .648
BGSURICK              .644
mbenecke              .643
<3_Blizzard           .638

No bonus this week, though I'll officially add everyone's yearly bonus to the standings for this upcoming week so it'll feel like a bonus week.

Week 17 picks
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The week 17 winners who were 7-for-8 on picks this week are <3_Blizzard, Atanarjuat, mbenecke, and TUPD. There was not a lot of movement at the top of the leaderboard. Critical Thinker maintains a lead over Icd80 with ClassyC close behind. These same three contestants are also locked in a dogfight in the Battle for the Beagan with .008 pick percentage separating first and third.
Code: 
Contestant        Pick %
Critical Thinker   .669
ClassyC            .664
Icd80              .661
mbenecke           .659
<3_Blizzard        .657
potternmu          .652

The leaderboard now reflects the yearly bonus. In the race for the Sauer, beaverhockeyfan maintains a one point lead over Critical Thinker and a two point lead over Icd80. The bonus will be in play throughout the rest of the season.
Code: 
Contestant        Bonus
beaverhockeyfan     38
Critical Thinker    37
Icd80               36
Manurespreader      28
Hockey John         28

Week 18 picks
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The week 18 winner is Atanarjuat who posted a high score of 22 points. Very nicely done! Icd80 inches closer to Critical Thinker who remains in first place. This was a tough week for picks as up was down and left was right in the CCHA this weekend. It turns out 5 contestants whiffed on half of the picks this week. No need to provide a list, you know who you are.

Not much movement in the Battle for the Beagan. Critical Thinker maintains a lead of 4 points over Icd80 and 5 points over mbenecke and <3_Blizzard.
Code: 
Contestant          Pick %
Critical Thinker     .660
Icd80                .651
mbenecke             .648
<3_Blizzard          .648

There were 247 home team SOGs over the weekend with mikeeddy19 picking up 9 bonus points. Only four contestants picked up bonus points this week so we can conclude the bonus for this week was a toughie. Here's the breakdown
Code: 
Contestant    Bonus
mikeeddy19      9
Atanarjuat      8
puckdude40      6
Tommiealum93    3

While there was no movement at the top of the leaderboard in the race for the Sauer, both Atanarjuat and puckdude40 have moved within striking distance. There are three weeks left with 30 bonus points available. This could be quite a finish.
Code: 
Contestant         Bonus
beaverhockeyfan     38
Critical Thinker    37
Icd80               36
Manurespreader      28
Hockey John         28
SectionP            26
puckdude40          26
Atanarjuat          26

As mentioned there are only three weeks left in the season. I find it hard to believe it's coming to an end. Next week we will start our annual bracketology series where contestants will see how they match up for the upcoming playoffs. The best way to improve your seeding is to get those picks in!

Week 19 picks
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Congratulations to our sole week 19 winner, MTUHuskyGold, who led the field with 23 big points. As far as picking...well...WOW!!! This was a tough week. First off, major shout out to Hockey John who was the only contestant to correctly pick Bowling Green's win over Tech Friday night. Well done, sir. As for Friday night, seven (7) contestants were successful with the anti-picking approach and were shut out. However, three recovered nicely by being perfect on Saturday for a well-earned 50% on the weekend. However (again), one contestant stood out above all others going 100% 0-fer on picks this week. I won't name names, but his screen name rhymes with chuckrude. If only he'd flipped the bit, turned a negative sign into a positive, circled False instead of True -- what might have been.

The MacNaughton appears to be a two-person race between longtime leader Critical Thinker and Icd80 who are now separated by only two points. ClassyC lurks in third but making up 15 points with 2 weeks remaining is a tall order. Another mid-week Bracketology bump is forthcoming. If you don't like who you're matched up against the answer is easy: either win big or tank.

Moving on to the bonus, there were 35 goals scored this weekend. It turns out this was an easy bonus question as every contestant picked up bonus points. For some of you, this may have saved your bacon (see first paragraph about how bad the picking was this week). Two contestants rose to the challenge and picked up all 10 bonus points. Stick taps to Bronco Hockey Fan and GIWAN for their perfect bonus picking. Here's how the bonus played out for the rest of the field:
Code: 
Contestant           Bonus
Bronco Hockey Fan      10
giwan                  10
Atanarjuat              9
GoNanooks               9
SectionP                9
SweeneyHawksHockey      9
beaverhockeyfan         8
ClassyC                 8
Footballguy51           8
Icd80                   8
MTUHuskyGold            8
potternmu               8
Soulbeaver              8
TalonsUpPuckDown        8
<3_Blizzard             7
John J. MacInnes        7
LGRH                    7
iwearpurple             6
puckdude40              6
Hockey John             5
mbenecke                5
Critical Thinker        4
mikeeddy19              4
BGSURICK                3
Tommiealum93            3

There was not much of a shakeup in the Race for the Sauer. beaverhockeyfan now has a 2-point lead over Icd80 and 5 points over Critical Thinker.
Code: 
Contestant            Bonus
beaverhockeyfan         46
Icd80                   44
Critical Thinker        41
SectionP                35
Atanarjuat              35

There was a big shakeup in the leaderboard in the Battle for the Beagan. With a solid 4-for-6 on picks this week, <3_Blizzard now leads by .002 percentage points over Critical Thinker and .005 over mbenecke. That translates into a 1 point lead. This race is wide open!
Code: 
Contestant            Pick %
<3_Blizzard            .649
Critical Thinker       .647
mbenecke               .642

There are two weeks left in the season with a big, bonus bonanza available in week 20. If you're planning to make a move, now would be a good time to do so.


Week 20 picks
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Last edited:
Congratulations to our co-winners GoNanooks and potternmu who each crossed the week 20 goal line with 24 points each. To say this was a wild week was an understatement. You either knocked it out of the park or you never got up to bat. Throw on top of that Northern's annihilation of Ferris. More on that later. First, stick taps to GoNnooks who went 5-for-6 on picking this week. Also, stick taps to giwan, manurespreader, mbenecke, and MTUHuskyGold who were a perfect 3-for-3 on Friday night while 3 contestants went 0-fer on Friday.

Icd80 had just enough mojo this week to knock Critical Thinker from his longtime perch atop the leaderboard -- a spot he has held since week 7! Just one point separates these gladiators from pick 'em immortality. ClassyC lurks 8 points back so while I hesitate to make this a 2-horse race, it'll take a strong week to make up 8 points. Let's see how this plays out!

The bonus paid out handsomely for the field. Every contestant picked up at least 5 bonus points. There were 3 one-goal games, no shutouts, one OT, and no shootouts. While no contestants were perfect on the bonus, 6 contestants picked up 9 points. Here's the breakdown:
Code: 
Contestant                1-Goal Shutout   Tied  Shootout Total
BGSURICK                    3       2       2       2       9
Icd80                       3       2       2       2       9
LGRH                        3       2       2       2       9
potternmu                   3       2       2       2       9
puckdude40                  4       1       2       2       9
SweeneyHawksHockey          3       2       2       2       9
Bronco Hockey Fan           3       1       2       2       8
CoHockeyMom                 2       2       2       2       8
giwan                       3       2       1       2       8
GoNanooks                   3       1       2       2       8
John J. MacInnes            3       1       2       2       8
mbenecke                    4       2       1       1       8
MTUHuskyGold                3       2       2       1       8
SectionP                    3       1       2       2       8
Tommiealum93                3       2       1       2       8
beaverhockeyfan             3       1       2       1       7
Critical Thinker            2       2       1       2       7
Footballguy51               2       2       1       2       7
Hockey John                 3       1       2       1       7
Manurespreader              3       1       1       2       7
TalonsUpPuckDown            3       1       2       1       7
Atanarjuat                  3       1       1       1       6
ClassyC                     3       1       1       1       6
iwearpurple                 3       0       1       2       6
mikeeddy19                  3       1       1       1       6
Soulbeaver                  2       2       1       1       6
<3_Blizzard                 4       0       1       0       5

Now on to the yearly bonus and Northern's shellacking of Ferris. I didn't expect to have to unwind/rewind the calculations so suffice it to say that most of the field lost points and a few contestants hit home runs. The new mark to hit is NMU/9. There are now four contestants picking up the maximum 5 points: ClassyC, potternmu, CoHockeyMom, and <3_Blizzard. Note the standings and the Sauer reflect the change in the yearly bonus. Speaking of the Sauer, beaverhockeyfan now has a 3 point lead over potternmu with puckdude40 and Icd80 4 points back.
Code: 
Contestant          Bonus
beaverhockeyfan       51
potternmu             48
puckdude40            47
Icd80                 47
Critical Thinker      46

There is a shakeup in the leaderboard in the Battle for the Beagan with mbenecke making a late surge to claim the top spot. Critical Thinker and Icd80 are close behind but this hardware will come down to the wire.
Code: 
Contestant        Points %
mbenecke            .647
Critical Thinker    .638
Icd80               .636
<3_Blizzard         .633

I'll post a bracketology bump mid-week.

This is it folks. The last week of the CCHA regular season is upon us. Insert your favorite sports metaphor here.

Week 21 picks
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First things first -- Week 21. Congratulations to potternmu who was the sole winner of the last week of the regular season with a high score of 20 points. Once again, the CCHA did not disappoint with 10 contestants (including yours truly) going 0-fer on Friday night. Stick taps to SectionP who was 4-for-4 Friday night. When you throw Saturday into the mix, 11 contestants failed to post double digit scores out of a possible 33 points. This has to be one of the worst weekly performances by the field since I've been running these contests. Blech is the word that comes to mind. Now on to the hardware

Icd80 is the 2022-23 CCHA Pick 'Em champion and winner of the MacNaughton Cup! Icd80 had a decent showing of 11 points this week which was just enough to fend off a huge charge by ClassyC whos bid for pick 'em glory fell short by a mere 3 points. Our longtime leader, Critical Thinker, finished in third place, 5 points out of the running. Where have I seen a February swoon before? Rounding out the scoreboard, mbenecke picks up the last first round bye along with LGRH who finishes in fourth.

Now on to the bonus. Congratulations to ClassyC who wins bonus honors this week with 5 bonus points. There were 27 away team goals and 16 home team goals scored this weekend so 15 contestants picked up at least 1 bonus point:
Code: 
Contestant         Away   Home   Total
ClassyC              5      0      5
Bronco Hockey Fan    4      0      4
potternmu            4      0      4
SectionP             0      4      4
LGRH                 3      0      3
SweeneyHawksHockey   3      0      3
beaverhockeyfan      2      0      2
BGSURICK             2      0      2
MTUHuskyGold         2      0      2
<3_Blizzard          0      1      1
Footballguy51        1      0      1
Icd80                0      1      1
mikeeddy19           1      0      1
puckdude40           1      0      1
TalonsUpPuckDown     0      1      1

As for the bonus hardware, Congratulations to beaverhockeyfan who wins the Jeff Sauer Trophy for the most bonus points this season by 4 points over potternmu and Icd80. Congratulations BHF!

Last by not least, the Battle for the Beagan was close heading into the last few weeks of the season, but one contestant stood on his head and ran away with the hardware down the stretch. Congratulations to mbenecke who wins the Bill Beagan award for the highest pick percentage! BGSURICK, Icd80, and ClassyC round out the action.

Whew. That was a lot to get through. If you're still with me, you have a lot of stamina. Now on to the playoffs!

We do a mano-a-mano playoff spread so weekly picks will NOT be available until Friday -- no cheating off your neighbor, you gotta earn it on your own. Five contestants receive a first round bye. All contestants should fill out all games this week (even if you have a bye) as it makes it easier on the Pick 'Em staff. Reminder that ties go the higher seed. The first round will consist of Friday's games, the second round will be the Saturday games. Good luck!!

Playoff Picks – First and Second Rounds



 
Let’s get in-depth on these matchups and see what’s what. First up is the Mankato bracket. But first, here is a link to the form for this week.

Playoff Picks – First and Second Rounds

(1) Icd80 vs. BYE – Our 2022-23 MacNaughton Cup champion was tough to beat down the stretch averaging a whopping .642 pick percent over the last 5 weeks of the season (for reference, .641 was enough to win the Beagan) along with 18 bonus points. Finishing with 300 points and 47 bonus points over the course of the season along with ten top-5 weekly finishes and 2 weekly wins makes Icd80 a contestant you don’t want to mess with.

(16) Hockey John vs. (17) BGSURICK – A couple of AZZers go head-to-head in this first round matchup of players from the middle of the pack. Hockey John found himself in the top 10 throughout the first 16 weeks of the season then seemed to lose some mojo with a below average performance in the last week of the season. His .571 pick percentage skews towards the third quartile of the field and his 33 bonus points are towards the middle, but five top-5 weekly finishes show that he can easily get back on track. BGSURICK came in second in the Battle for the Beagan with a .631 pick percentage with 25 bonus points. Had he entered all 21 weeks we’d be looking at a top-10 seed. The only weakness to his game is besting the field as he has only two top-3 finishes with no weekly wins. Who do you like here? Winner gets Icd80

(9) Bronco Hockey Fan vs. (24) CoHockeyMom – A standard bell curve describes Bronco Hockey Fan’s campaign this year. Starting out strong, cooling off in the middle (.591 pick %), coming on strong at the end (.627 pick %). While picking is solid, the 22 bonus points is bottom quartile. However, four top-5 finishes shows the potential. On other side of the coin stands rookie CoHockeyMom who also brings 4 top-5 finishes along with sharing first place in week 2 to the table. While the pick percentage is .589, the bonus play is strong with 38 points. This matchup will come down to the strength of Bronco Hockey Fan’s picking vs. CoHockeyMom’s bonus play.

(8) MTUHuskyGold vs. (25) Tommiealum93 – Eight top-5 finishes and two weekly wins highlight MTUHuskyGold’s 2022-23 campaign. What’s more important is those top-5 finishes came towards the last part of the season meaning the momentum could be a factor. Only a median of 35 bonus points could trip up this contestant. If there were a season award for homer picking, Tommiealum93 would be in contention. Picking the Tommies early dug this contestant a hole that was difficult to climb out of, however, as Rico’s boys stepped up their game over the course of the season, so too did Tommiealum93’s scores. The 16 bonus points for the season has to be concerning but if St. Thomas catches fire in the playoffs this matchup could be a lot closer that it would seem at first glance.
 
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Next we’ll do a deep dive into the Houghton bracket. But first, here's a link to the form:

Playoff Picks – First and Second Rounds

(2) ClassyC vs. BYE – What can you say about our second place finisher and top seed in the bracket besides WOW! ClassyC took the Pick ‘Em world by storm in their inaugural year with 3 first place finishes, 2 second place finishes, and 1 third place finish. Starting in week 3, ClassyC spent the remaining 19 weeks in either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. A pick percentage of .628 allowed for a strong run for the Beagan and 40 bonus points kept pace with the field in the running for the Sauer. With this balanced attack one has to consider ClassyC a strong candidate for the Mason Cup. As an aside, it seemed that every week the Pick ‘Em staff was writing something about this contestant. What a year!

(15) beaverhockeyfan vs. (18) GoNanooks – As the Jeff Sauer winner, beaverhockeyfan started the season in the doldrums, caught fire at the start of the second half, then seemed to lose that fire in the belly down the stretch despite the 3 second place weekly finishes. While a .538 pick percentage is bottom quartile, 51 bonus points(!) was more than enough to place in the middle of the field. GoNanooks finished the season with a slightly better .585 pick percentage and a more than respectable 40 bonus points. If you add GoNanooks’ one weekly win into the numbers, you find these contestants are eerily similar across the board. This matchup is basically even…a true Pick ‘Em pick 'em. And what awaits the winner??? A date with ClassyC

(10) SweeneyHawksHockey vs. (23) SectionP – As the most prodigious pick ‘em player on the USCHO boards, SweeneyHawksHockey’s 10th place finish has to feel disappointing as this contestant is historically in the hunt for a #1 seed. The first half of the season was solid; no worse than top 7 in the standings each week. However, the second half was a struggle; falling out of the top 10 and finishing with a rather pedestrian .601 pick percentage (3rd quartile) and 31 bonus points and no weekly wins or second place finishes. The other side of this matchup finds SectionP in the rather uncharacteristic position of also having never gotten any mojo going. Two second place finishes and a solid 37 bonus points was offset by a disheartening .523 pick percentage. It’s safe to say that whichever contestant can recapture their lost glory not only will win the matchup but could be a formidable opponent the rest of the way.

(7) TalonsUpPuckDown vs. (26) Footballguy51 – As last year’s Mason Cup and Bill Beagan trophy winner, I have inside knowledge that TUPD had his sights set on winning more hardware this year. However, a disastrous week 3 put him well off the pace with the next 11 weeks spent in pick ‘em purgatory well outside the top 10. After finally kicking it into gear and with a first round bye within his grasp, he again crapped the bed during the final week of the regular season and now finds himself up against fellow AZZer Footballguy51. While one may look askance at Footballguy51’s .521 pick percentage and 30 bonus points, don’t forget his week 10 pick 6 when he took it to the house and won the week with his gutsy Ferris-to-sweep-the-Mavs-in-Mankato double play bonus pick. And though he spent the season towards the back of the pack, his devil may care approach to picking hockey games is more than enough to offset his opponents .620 pick percentage and measly 29 bonus points. Draft Kings lists this one as a potential upset.
 
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