Two months ago, we started with a full field of championship hopefuls. Some knew they were facing long odds, but were willing to dream big dreams. Others were bathed in the soothing safety of favorite status. But they all had one thing in common: The abiding belief that this could be their year.Then the playoffs started, and it all went downhill.I’m referring, of course, to our annual playoff contest, in which I ask one simple question and almost all of you get it wrong. It launched a few days before the playoffs started, and over 850 of you entered.How many of those entries are still alive and in the running for the title? Um … two.Yes, we’ve got ourselves a Stanley Cup Final showdown. We’ll get to that in a second. But first, a quick refresher for those who missed the contest post.The contest features just one question: List as many or as few playoff teams as you’d like, in order of how many games you think they’ll win during the postseason, from most to fewest. That’s it. The correct answer featuring the most teams wins; the tie-breaker is total games won by all of an entry’s teams. Nice and easy, but with some obvious strategic considerations to navigate. How confident are you? How risky are you willing to get?The contest debuted in 2024, when the winning entry featured eight teams and was submitted by Sean M., who tragically was not me. Last year, the magic number was eight teams yet again, with Guarav A. narrowly beating out Tony D. based on the Stanley Cup Final result.After two straight wins, could an eight-team entry be the optimal strategy once again? Spoiler: Nope. Much like the Panthers, the eight-teamers didn’t come all that close to pulling off the threepeat.We’ll get to that. Let’s dive into the details and see how everyone did.The numbersWe’ll start with the basics. There were 854 entries in this year’s contest. With 14 series down and one still to go, here’s how you’re doing.