The StatMan  

On our last show (Sun., 4/19), we had planned to do a recap on the final round of our house fantasy hockey league, the Puck & Stick Association.  But, we ran out of time before we could talk about it.

These are the final recaps in each Final.

The Goodman Cup Final, which is our Championship Game, went to the Long Island Sounds, which is owned by George Stathopulos.  The Sounds defeated the New England Slam Chowdah, which is owned by Jon Strauss.  The Newman Cup Final, which determines third place, was captured by the Stompin' Toms of Saint John, owned by Tim Bresnahan, and the Yukon Sunbathers fell to Saint John.  Yukon is owned by Eric Brown.  In the Loser's Bracket Playoffs, the Final is called the Hofmann Cup Final, where the Rochester Americans, owned by Greg Jorgensen, defeated the Pittsburgh Pumpkins, owned by Sarah Jorgensen.

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GOODMAN CUP FINAL

Congratulations to the Long Island Sounds, who are kings of the Puck & Stick Association for the second time in the closest Final in League history. Long Island held off a furious charge from the New England Slam Chowdah, which was also looking for its second title, in a game that was in doubt until the final whistle. The final margin was 7.7 points, as Long Island prevailed, 371.1 to 363.4.

Long Island jumped out to an early lead after the first week of the aggregate-score match, 136.3-98.3, and increased its lead by one point in Week 2, 135.9-134.9. But, New England had a great last stand, hanging 130.2 points compared to 98.9 for Long Island. But, the goodwill the Sounds built up over the first fortnight was enough to carry the lackluster third act.

Long Island won the 3rd challenge for the Goodman Cup in 2001, defeating Wall Street in the closest Final in history at that time, which was 10.9 points. New England (then Massachusetts) also defeated Wall Street for the Cup the previous season, in 2000, in a lopsided Final. New England is now 1-2 in Finals all-time while Long Island has won Cups both times the Sounds have reached the Goodman Cup Final.

#3 Long Island 371.1, #1 New England 363.4
WEEK-BY-WEEK
Week 1: LI 136.3, NE 98.3
Week 2: LI 135.9, NE 134.9
Week 3: NE 130.2, LI 98.9

TOP PERFORMERS
LONG ISLAND
PF Corey Perry - 9-5-14 (64 points)
D Mike Green - 3-6-9 (40)
F Jonathan Toews - 5-4-9 (37)
NEW ENGLAND
PF Ryan Getzlaf - 4-13-17, 22 PIM (63.5 points)
G Niklas Backstrom - 6-3, 2 ShO, 1.89 GAA, .941 SPCT (63.4)
G Tim Thomas - 6-0, 1 ShO, 1.82 GAA, .951 SPCT (56)

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NEWMAN CUP FINAL

Saint John sped off to a strong start and closed strong to pull away at the end in an upset. The fourth ranked Stompin' Toms defeated #2 Yukon, 455.5 to 359.5. Saint John scored more any other team in the Final Round and more than Goodman Cup Champion Long Island in both rounds, but did not have the good fortune of playing the Sounds in the playoffs. Yukon was the defending Goodman Cup Champion and won its division, but finished fourth among the four playoff teams.

After two weeks, Saint John and Yukon were separated by less than 10 points, but Saint John blitzed Yukon, 170.3-84.7 in the final week to provide a healthy 96-point margin of victory, which was, by far, the largest in the history of the Newman Cup Final. The previous record was in 2007, when Long Island defeated Rochester by 34.4 points.

The win was the second Newman Cup for Saint John, which won the Newman nine years ago with a 0.9-point win over Long Island. To this day, the 0.9-point margin is the closest of any postseason series in PSA history. The Newman Cup Final was the first appearance for Yukon. Saint John's Newman Cup victory increases the Stompin' Toms all-time Goodman Cup Playoffs record to 2-6 while Yukon's loss evened the Sunbathers all-time playoff mark to 4-4.

#4 Saint John 455.5, #2 Yukon 359.5
WEEK-TO-WEEK
Week 1: SJN 167.9, YKN 120.1
Week 2: YKN 154.7, SJN 117.3
Week 3: SJN 170.3, YKN 84.7

TOP PERFORMERS
SAINT JOHN
D Scott Niedermayer - 3-10-13 (67 points)
G Chris Mason - 8-1-1, 2 ShO, 2.09 GAA, .921 SPCT (61.4)
F Martin Havlat - 7-9-16 (53.5)
YUKON
G Roberto Luongo - 6-3, 3 ShO, 2.07 GAA, .930 SPCT (64 points)
F Henrik Sedin - 7-9-16, +11 (60.5)
F Daniel Sedin - 5-9-14 (50.5)

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