Welcome to year 6 of the annual Gretzky Memorial Cup, where 10 teams battle it out over the entire NHL regular season and then Stanley Cup Playoffs to see who can reign supreme. Last year (2002-'03) was a see-saw year, where 7 of the 10 teams ranked number one at one point during the season, but in the end the Brown Eyed Susan's were pissed on by the T-Wolves, having to to settle for second place with the Wolves taking top spot. The playoffs were even closer, as the Pirates were edged out in game 7 of the Cup final by the Cocks' and T-Wolves who wound up tied for the victory, one point ahead of the Pirates. This was very much thanks to the play of their respective goaltenders. Cocks' featured Cup MVP J.S. Giguere and the T-Wolved showed off Martin Brodeur, who in my opinion should have been the MVP, but was atleast recognized for his first Vezina. Nice game 7 SO marty!! Very timely for the Wolves. This year, 2003-'04 should see even more competitive teams as a few rule adjustments should serve to even out the teams a little due to GM's needing to pay more attention to the small name players to have decent 3rd and 4th lines. We are going back to the original 15.0 bank points to start off with, which is how this pool got started. With 20 roster spots available to gather points from (4 Centres, 4 RW, 4 LW, 6 Defenders and 2 goalies), an average player salary will be closer to that of real life as teams will have to manage their rosters with an average of 0.75 alotted per player (NHL average is $775, 000). This down from the 0.9 that we had last year. No more Super Star studded grinder lines gentlemen!! Also, only one starter goalie will count, and the second goalie spot will need to be occupied by a backup tender which will make goalies more important as it is not as easy to pick a stud backup. The mission card "free parking" account will stay, as it was fun to see everyone try so much harder for their category. A running total will be updated every trade day and be posted for all to keep track of. So Shawn pay attention!!! (LOL) See you all at my place Sept. 27, 03. Foozball and much drinking and maybe another 3 man re-match should make the day alot of fun. Does Shawn retain the Hat?? I have lots of room for those who want to spend the night, with a queen sized pull-out couch, twin spare bed and two double blow up dolls.... I mean mattresses for all to enjoy. Not to mention a sectional in the rec room, so no excuses for drinking and driving.