I don't know about you guys but so far this year it's been a real nightmare trying to cap the NHL - is there anything I'm missing because I'm seriously considering staying away from hockey for a couple of weeks.. or months.. time to try to figure out what's wrong with my betting system which has usually served me pretty well in the last 5 years.
Team vs Team trends seem to be good "go-against" this year.. seriously wondering why - anything to do with the "switch" between the home and visitor jerseys?? I have no idea :shrug:
I'll post my picks here on a semi-regular basis for the next week or 2 (unless I decide to take that break in a hurry) so maybe you guys can tell me what's wrong with them. Here they are for tonight (all lines from Pinnacle) :
New Jersey PK -141
There was a time when the Sabres had the best of the Devils over and over again - well at least during the regular season - but that was then.. when Hasek was still a Sabre. New Jersey is 5-1-2 vs Buffalo ever since Hasek left. Those same Devils are undefeated in their last 6 and are (*gulp*) 8-0-4 (undefeated) in their last 12 regular season road games if you go back from last year - can we call them the "Road Warriors".. again?
Or what maybe I should think differently.. think like - just say - the Devils are "due" to lose one (I hate the "due" theory as I just don't believe in it but still..) Or is it gonna be Schwab in net for New Jersey? They're playing another game tomorrow so it could be a good spot... or maybe they're too rusty as they haven't played for the last 3 days? Well so are the Sabres anyway so I'll lay the -141 for tonight even if it's not in my habits to bet favorites.
Ok NEXT I don't have all day:
Pittsburgh PK +287
Well here basically I'm not betting against those poor Penguins who are probably the worst team in the league - especially without Mario - but I'm betting against those unpredictable Rangers. You just never know when they're gonna play the way they're able to play so +287 is pretty attractive - no matter how weak is the opponent.
Another interesting point is that - for whatever reason - in MSG, the Rangers seem to do pretty ok (to be polite) against most of the teams but are having some serious problems when playing against very good teams OR very bad teams. I don't want to get into the details here as to what I refer to be a "very good team" or a "very bad team" but let's just say that I'm not as stupid as I sound so here is: Over the last 3 years the Rangers are 57-65-11 overall @ home. Against the low-average, average and high-average teams combined they are 39-35-5. Against the truly better teams they are 8-16-3 and against the truly worst teams they are 10-14-3. Go figure.
Calgary PK +121
The Flames have not done pretty well lately (1-5-0 in their last 6) but you can't say they're not trying as they've outshot the opponent 179-135 during the sequence. Hopefully their efforts will pay tonight as they visit a Chicago team still playing without their top 2 offensive players (Daz? and Zhamnov), the same Blackhawks that they've dominated in the last couple of years, as they are 9-4-3 (49 gf / 39 ga) against them since October 1999, and if you don't like to go back that far they are 3-0-1 (12 gf / 5 ga) just last year, including 2 wins in 2 games on the road.
Team vs Team trends seem to be good "go-against" this year.. seriously wondering why - anything to do with the "switch" between the home and visitor jerseys?? I have no idea :shrug:
I'll post my picks here on a semi-regular basis for the next week or 2 (unless I decide to take that break in a hurry) so maybe you guys can tell me what's wrong with them. Here they are for tonight (all lines from Pinnacle) :
New Jersey PK -141
There was a time when the Sabres had the best of the Devils over and over again - well at least during the regular season - but that was then.. when Hasek was still a Sabre. New Jersey is 5-1-2 vs Buffalo ever since Hasek left. Those same Devils are undefeated in their last 6 and are (*gulp*) 8-0-4 (undefeated) in their last 12 regular season road games if you go back from last year - can we call them the "Road Warriors".. again?
Or what maybe I should think differently.. think like - just say - the Devils are "due" to lose one (I hate the "due" theory as I just don't believe in it but still..) Or is it gonna be Schwab in net for New Jersey? They're playing another game tomorrow so it could be a good spot... or maybe they're too rusty as they haven't played for the last 3 days? Well so are the Sabres anyway so I'll lay the -141 for tonight even if it's not in my habits to bet favorites.
Ok NEXT I don't have all day:
Pittsburgh PK +287
Well here basically I'm not betting against those poor Penguins who are probably the worst team in the league - especially without Mario - but I'm betting against those unpredictable Rangers. You just never know when they're gonna play the way they're able to play so +287 is pretty attractive - no matter how weak is the opponent.
Another interesting point is that - for whatever reason - in MSG, the Rangers seem to do pretty ok (to be polite) against most of the teams but are having some serious problems when playing against very good teams OR very bad teams. I don't want to get into the details here as to what I refer to be a "very good team" or a "very bad team" but let's just say that I'm not as stupid as I sound so here is: Over the last 3 years the Rangers are 57-65-11 overall @ home. Against the low-average, average and high-average teams combined they are 39-35-5. Against the truly better teams they are 8-16-3 and against the truly worst teams they are 10-14-3. Go figure.
Calgary PK +121
The Flames have not done pretty well lately (1-5-0 in their last 6) but you can't say they're not trying as they've outshot the opponent 179-135 during the sequence. Hopefully their efforts will pay tonight as they visit a Chicago team still playing without their top 2 offensive players (Daz? and Zhamnov), the same Blackhawks that they've dominated in the last couple of years, as they are 9-4-3 (49 gf / 39 ga) against them since October 1999, and if you don't like to go back that far they are 3-0-1 (12 gf / 5 ga) just last year, including 2 wins in 2 games on the road.
