Results of our Coaches Poll Contest

This week, the 2009-2010 OHL Coaches Poll winners were announced.

The Eastern Conference winners can be found here.

The Western Conference winners can be found here.

As you may or may not remember, Ryan and I had a contest to see who could most accurately predict the outcome of the poll.

My predictions are here.

Ryan's predictions are here.

So...on to the results!

The scoring worked as follows (same as last year)...
1 point for nailing a player on the list
1 point for nailing a player in his correct spot
Bonus 2 points for nailing all the correct players in a category
Bonus 3 points for completely nailing a category, placement and players

So here is the breakdown:

Eastern Conference

Brock: 25
Ryan: 22

Western Conference

Brock: 34
Ryan: 31

Total

Brock: 59
Ryan: 53

So the winner is...ME! Congratulations to myself.

A tough loss for Ryan after he falsely proclaimed himself winner in the comments section of my predictions article this morning. Seems like Mr. Yessie didn't look up and use the scoring methods we used last year!

Until next year Ryan, for your revenge.

Just some loose comments on the poll results themselves:

• It's a hard pill to swallow to see Taylor Doherty left outside of the most improved players of the league. His improvement from game 68 of last year, to game one of this year, to game four of the playoffs (going tonight) has been remarkable IMO. He was the biggest (no pun intended) reason for Kingston's strong play down the stretch and there is absolutely no co-incidence that his first game back from suspension in the playoffs resulted in Kingston's first win of the series. He had 15 goals, 18 assists, and 33 points in the last 33 games of the season. It's pretty scary considering what he might accomplish next year.
• Really odd not seeing Stefan Della Rovere among the best body checkers of the East. While he has (at least from what I've noticed) toned his level of physical play, I don't think there is a better open ice checker in the league. Considering he was the runaway winner last year, doesn't make sense for him to be left out this year.
• Also odd to see Cameron Gaunce absent from the top defensive defenseman category, considering he won it last year. When Gaunce was out of the Majors line up near the end of the season, they were a mess without him and considering that they finished as the league's best defensive team, I'd say that makes him a pretty important defensive player.
• On the plus side, I should have definitely included Dalton Prout among the best defensive defenseman in the East. An oversight on my part. He belongs there and is one of the most underrated players in the league.
• I really can't see how Taylor Beck isn't the league's most improved player. We're talking about a guy who was criticized last year for his inconsistency offensively and for his lackluster skating, who suddenly became one of the league's best forwards this year and was in the top 5 of scoring for the majority of the year.
  
• What exactly is the goal area? I think I've got a different definition of what that category should and is than those voting. It seems like the voters are putting simply the best goal scorers or the players with the best hands. Where as I see the category and think of players who do the dirty work, who are dangerous because they're elusive, they're hard to move in front of the net, and (as they suggest) can score goals. More of your garbage goal beasts, and I certainly wouldn't classify Taylor Hall as that.
• Interesting to see John Moore left out of the hardest shot category considering he won the hardest shot competition at the all star game.

What are your thoughts on the coaches poll winners this year?