Wockey Pool Day Four - Wockey's Own Frozen Four

And then there were two!  Well, actually three.  No, hold on.  More like four.  AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR!  

 

Yes, Wockey 2015 has come down to this--either we have a true solo champ as has happened in seven of the previous eight glorious years or we end up with a bastardized version of a champ, one who is crowned solely by an arbitrary guess at how many goals will randomly be scored in a three-game span, in which case we would all feel dirty.  Then again, that’s what happens when you have a record-setting 358 entries in the pool!  Silver linings!

 

On Saturday night, Cinderella squad Providence will face off with their Hockey East foes Boston University for the national championship.  It will be a back-and-forth, electric, spine-tingling contest the likes of which many will have never seen before and many in the Midwest likely won’t see at all after both our schools got knocked out in the semis.  #MidwestMalaise.  Nevertheless, a Wockey Champion will be decided, and as I not so eloquently alluded to earlier, it will come down to our own Wockey version of the Final Four.

 

If Providence pulls the upset and beats BU, Lyle Jon Mathiasen will not only will be the youngest Wockey Champion ever, he’ll be able to hold it over younger sister Finley, our 2015 Wockey Puckhead, for the rest of their lives.  And really, $1700 and a bluetooth speaker are nothing compared to the opportunity to shove in your sibling’s face that you’re better than them at randomly picking the outcome of sporting contests for the rest of your life.

 

If Providence wins, crowning Lyle as Champion would be the easy part.  We’d have a five-way tie for 2nd-6th places between Erik Pederson, Lauren Floistad, Jason Kuss, Sam Buttweiler, and Ashley Walker.  Things would get easier at the end of the payouts as Chris Walker would finish in seventh place while Thomas Nikula would come in eighth.

 

If Boston University downs the Friars of Providence, things get a bit more hairy at the top.  A three-way tie would need to be broken between Sam Buttweiler, Erik Pederson, and former Wockey Champ Jason Kuss.  The first tiebreaker is Frozen Four goals.  13 goals have already been scored in the first two games.  Sam guessed 16 goals for his tiebreaker while Erik guessed 17 and Jason had 22.  Therefore, the Wockey Champion breakdown looks like this:

 

3 total goals or fewer:  Sam Buttweiler

4-6 goals:  Erik Pederson

7 goals or greater:  Jason Kuss

 

Once the tiebreaker determines the top three spots, things don’t get much clearer.  Thomas Nikula would finish fourth while fifth and sixth places would come down to a tiebreaker between Matt Laaksonen and Danny Swendra.  Drew Petersen would come in 7th and 8th place would be determined by a tiebreaker between Andy Brammer, Nick Swenson, Jon Libbey, and former Wockey champ Aaron Soroka.

 

I know, I know.  My head is spinning right now too.  Let’s take a break and look at this for a bit just to get things back in sync.

 

The good news is that despite it being an all-East final, it should be a hell of a game.  Both team have proven to be the best in the tournament to this point.  Both have scored goals in bunches and both have played stout defense.  If I were forced to make a prediction, if you’re really making me do this, and I know you are, I would have to say...I think we are ALL going to be winners because we get to watch this spectacular finale (see what I did there?!  HA!)  Most importantly, I’m guaranteed to finish higher than I have in years after I successfully predicted BU going to the title game.  And if there’s one thing this pool is really all about, it’s a gigantic ego stroke for meself.  Way to go me!

 

I hope you take the time to watch the game Saturday at 6:30 CT on ESPN.  I for one, will be glued to the TV.  Unfortunately, shortly after it’s end, I will be headed to church.  That’s right.  2015 marks the first time that I can recall that the culmination of the Wockey Pool overlaps with Pascha.  Believe me--it’s totally worth it.  Just know that I will likely be up until 3 or 4 in the morning that night and will be completely off schedule for the entire weekend.  I will do my Wockey best to provide an update before I have to head out that evening for the midnight service, but if I can’t, be sure that it will arrive in your eager inboxes within a day or two.  Regardless, I will post final results to our Facebook and Twitter pages that evening.  And you can also be assured that plans are already in the works to make sure this national hockey tournament never coincides with this internationally recognized holiday again.  Wockey will have it’s say and we will be acknowledged!

 

For those of you still in the money, good luck.  For those who wish they were, place a side bet.  And for myself, well done buddy.  To all, enjoy the final evening of Wockey 2015.  And if you can’t find excitement in that, maybe this is more your speed.

 

Your Preening, Pruning, Prancing Wockey Commissioner,

 

Alex