Wockey Pool 2015 - A Family Affair

Over the years, the Wockey Pool has evolved to become a family tradition for many associated with the Pool.  The Goodman clan generally enters several brackets each year.  One of the funnier subplots is seeing if “Original 16” Wockeyite Matt Kilby can place higher than his mom, Mary Jane (he usually can’t).  And of course, the only family able to boast both a Wockey Champion and Puckhead amongst the same gene pool is the first family of Wockey, the Walkers, with past champion Alex (that’s me) and former Puckhead Zach (that’s this guy).

 

Until now.

 

Ladies and Gentleman, it is my honor to introduce to you the second first family of Wockey...the Mathiasen clan!  Yes, 2015 was indeed the year of the Mathiasens as not only did 5-year-old Finley capture the not-particularly-ballyhooed title of Wockey Puckhead, but her older brother and father combined to become our first ever dual Wockey Champions!  “Wait, what?!” you ask as if I had just told you you had been selected to compete in the Nailympics.  It’s true!  That Lyle Jon I kept writing, tweeting, and texting about was actually an amalgamation of 6-year-old Grady Lyle Mathiasen and his father Matt Jon Mathiasen.  Interestingly, they were both named after Matt’s father, Lyle Jon Mathiasen, who apparently was the model for the Jewett Trophy.  So life indeed has come full circle for the Mathiasen tribe.

 

Not only do Matt and Grady earn the dubious distinction of being named co-Wockey Champions,  they’ll also receive $1,740.11 and this wicked aahsome bluetooth speaker!  Rumors have not been confirmed, but apparently Matt will put his share of the winnings into Grady’s college fund while Grady spends his on every Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure he can reach at Target.  And of course, he will forever be able to hold over his sister’s head that he was Wockey Champion while she went Puckhead, which is priceless.

 

As for the national championship game itself….whoa.  THAT is the reason college hockey is the best game out there.  For those that had been involved in some type of farming accident that can serve as the only explanation for why you would miss the game, Providence scored first before Boston University scored two goals within four seconds, the fastest back-to-back-goals in Frozen Four history.  Boston led 3-2 until with eight-and-a-half minutes to play, Providence scored on the flukiest of fluke goals as the Boston goalie literally dropped the puck into his own net.  You really just have to see it to believe it.  Providence would score again and then hold off a BU barrage at the end to hang on for their first-ever national title.

 

The Providence win marked the third year in a row a team has earned their first-ever championship.  It’s the second time in the last three years that the last at-large team to make it into the tournament, the 15th seed out of 16 teams, has captured the crown.  And you wonder why it’s so hard to pick the winner?  Once every forty years does an eight-seed win the men’s basketball tournament.  It’s practically commonplace in hockey.  It sort of makes you wonder why so many brackets still end up with North Dakota, Boston College, and Minnesota as their winners.  Just how many of the 358 submitted brackets had Wockeyites predict Providence winning?  Two.  Just two.  God, I love this sport.

 

Remarkably, the two who did have the Friars taking it all still didn’t win -- Grady and Matt had Denver taking the tournament.  In fact, the two who did pick Providence wouldn’t have won any money if we hadn’t expanded the payouts this year.  Lauren Floistad finished sixth and Chris Walker seventh.  The rest of the payout placeholders were as follows:

 

2nd - Jason Kuss (wins $522.03)

3rd - Erik Pederson ($348.02)

4th - Sam Butweiler ($278.42)

5th - Ashley Walker ($243.62)

6th - Lauren Floistad ($174.01)

7th - Chris Walker ($104.41)

8th - Thomas Nikula ($69.59)

 

Jason, Erik, Sam, Ashley, and Lauren all tied with 40 points meaning a tiebreaker had to be used to split them up.  Unfortunately for Lauren, she apparently didn’t understand the assignment when I said tiebreakers would be total goals scored in the Frozen Four and total goals scored in the tournament.  She guessed two goals would be scored in the Frozen Four and four would be scored in the entire tournament which caused her to finish last in the tiebreaker costing her about $350 despite picking the national champion correctly.  Also, she apparently never passed third grade.  While I don’t feel bad for her, it does only make sense that from here going forward, the first tiebreaker will be picking the national champion correctly.  Details will be worked out at the annual Wockey winter meetings (being held this year in Varosha, Cyprus) and will be shared approximately a day or two before next year’s tournament when, on the toilet, I suddenly remember that I have to send out an e-mail explaining the rule changes.

 

Interestingly, we had our first ever wedded Wockey winners as wife Ashley Walker and husband Chris both finished in the money.  Naturally, the wife finished ahead.  And Lauren not only works for Chris and Ashley, but is the long-time girlfriend of Ryan Graupmann, Ashley’s brother, who is likely slamming his head on a wall somewhere over the fact that his girlfriend, who knows so much about hockey that she picked four goals to be scored in a 15-game tournament, finished higher than him.  In all, it was an amazing tournament with twists, turns, thrills, spills, beeps, sweeps, creeps, and thanks to Wockeyite Matt Fox, the introduction of Jan Terri to our lives.

 

And with that, the 2015 edition of the Wockey Pool is all wrapped up...neatly...with a tiny little bow and rainbow-themed wrapping paper.  I must now, as I always do, thank YOU for not only your participation in and support for what I never imagined would grow into such a loved, celebrated, and occasionally tolerated endeavor, but for continually bringing more and more people into it.  For the first time this year, I didn’t hunt and hound for more entrants -- and still, thanks to you, we grew by nearly 60 brackets.  Keep spreading the good Wockey word!

 

Next year will be the <gasp> tenth year of the Wockey Pool!  To honor this truly remarkable anniversary, I’m going to drop not-so-subtle hints to my wife that my Father’s Day present should be a trip to Tampa for next year’s Frozen Four (also known as the first-ever St. Cloud State NCAA Championship Party).  Feel free to harass my wife in this effort as well.  She loves external encouragement.

 

Congratulations to Grady and Matt on their father-son championship effort.  Shame on five-year-old Finley for not being better at picking random hockey game outcomes.  Kudos to me for finishing 24th, which once again gets me no money.  And thanks one last time to YOU for bringing that Wockey magic during the best two weekends of the sporting year.  Until Wockey Pool X!

 

Your Tempered, Tampered, Tampa-Bound (?) Wockey Commish,

Alex