Severed Heads victorious!

Wow - I think I spent the whole of Sunday evening exhaling.

The first cup I won I was almost 100pts ahead of the pack by X-mas, and I knew with certainty that I was going to win. The second cup (the following year) saw my collection of Penguins explode offensively (Jagr and Kovalev) and when I picked up the un-retiring Mario for the stretch drive I knew my team was good enough to win it all - I just needed enough time to catch those ahead of me.

This season though, was nothing like either of those before. This year I never ever felt like the Heads were unbeatable. I never felt like I had patched all the holes in the roster, or even that I had a distinct edge over my competition. I didn't have any monster weeks that launched me into contention, and I don't think I even broke 50 pts for a week.

It was Jagr's worst year, maybe ever. Heatley missed time with injury and fell short of the 60 goal pace he started the season on. My goaltending as drafted was merely mediocre (not to mention still playing in his 40's), and while I had some talent on the farm, it was limited to one prospect who could safely be dressed, and that was the case only after the 25 game mark was passed.

All in all, I never felt like I was in the middle of a winning season.

It wasn't until Sunday afternoon when Jagr scored on Brodeur turning a 3pt Brodeur performance into just 2, and even more importantly, reducing the +2 Oduya to merely +1 (for a total 4pt swing on that one goal), that I really, really knew it was going to happen.

Lots of people deserve to be recognized for their efforts this year;

Thanks to Brian for his work keeping our spreadsheets updated and accurate.

Thanks to Doug for his work keeping us updated on all the stats.

Thanks to Bob, Rob and Dan for working the RC in an efficient (more or less ;-) manner, and for organizing and maintaining the WD's and ED.

You guys are all key to keeping the pool functioning at such a high level - and we couldn't do it without you.

I'd also like to thank everyone in the pool for making this year so special. We have the best pool in the world, and the best people in it.

Thanks to you all!

Finally, here's a warning to you all for next season;

Fear My Wingspan