I am in a bit of a rush today but made time for the picks.

Here they are

Minnesota Wild 1.91 vs New York Rangers

Both teams have struggled a bit of late and with two fairly even teams and Lundquist will not be starting I will side with the home team to take a close one.

Boston Bruins vs Phoenix Coyotes and Under 5.5 for 1.74

I see the Bruins to continue winning especially back at home but I think coming back from Montreal will result in a defensive game which is exactly the style suited to Mike Smith and the Coyotes and the under is much more valuable than buying the Bruins for 1.51 as in a low scoring game I am not confident enough to pick a side with these two teams playing so well.

Carolina Hurricanes -1 at 1.83 vs Buffalo Sabres

I see Carolina getting another win here at home against a lost Sabres club that will need years before they will compete again. Carolina is not great, but are much better off than Buffalo especially given the home ice advantage. Lets go Canes.

Value Picks


Florida Panthers 3.15 at Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay has just been a mess, and they should get a win tonight, but in a rivalry game the odds have ran with the public and the value is certainly with Florida with five straight losses by Tampa Bay. Maybe the impact of St. Louis leaving was a little more devastating than management thought it would be.

Edmonton Oilers +1.5 at 1.91 at St Louis Blues

The Blues are very good but this is the NHL and any team can win of a given night and to get a chance to lose by a goal for almost even odds is far to good to give up in my mind. St Louis has dominated this series but Edmonton is used to being at the bottom without playoff hope so look for them to compete and upsets like this are just what they want to build on. St Louis in general plays fairly close games while still winning so although I still give the odds to win, I will take the chance plus a goal that it will be more competitive than the public thinks.

Okay we are on a roll so lets keep making sharp picks, please comment on any pick if you disagree, agree, or have any opinion on the game.


The picks of today are:

Boston -1 at 2.65 at Tampa Bay

Yes, Tampa Bay may have Stamkos back and they are quite impressive at home but Boston is just such a strong all around team that plays a great system and with history favouring the Bruins I still see Tampa Bay looking to find its rhythm against a Boston team who has already found theirs. I do not want to buy Boston however so I will take them at -1 to win by a couple.

Carolina -1 at 3.4 or +1 at 1.71 at New Jersey

These are two teams both playing back to back games and last night I saw a good fight from Carolina against a strong Rangers teams, while I saw little from the Devils against a banged up Detroit squad. With Carolina playing some tight games and from the previous nights performance I am going to take the much better odds of Carolina pulling out a victory. Play it how you want as each play has value for what it offers in my opinion.

St. Louis 1.87 at Colorado

I really did not want to pick three roads teams to try and go 9-0 but the picks are the picks and thats how they will play. I love Colorado, I think they have a solid group and I think Patrick Roy has quickly proven he can coach at this level. St Louis however I consider perhaps the best team in the league, Colorado being up there but just not on the same level and with that I am going to take the defensive Blues to shutdown the Colorado offense and once again get a close win.

Well, with a few ups and downs the past few days we are still over one thousand dollars, which I am completely satisfied with as this is a marathon and in no way a sprint. Although we all wish it could happen fast the truth is the faster it happens the greater risk you are likely taking that you may end up bankrupt.

Although I will admit I do play a considerable amount of parlays (multiple game bet, which all must win), some say it is better to just lay a single team, and usually it is in the long term. As long as I continue on the winning side I am comfortable expanding my betting profile to include parlays that  although add considerable risk to a bet, can be help introduce profits to your bankroll, but only if you bet within the risk. That means if I am willing to place $50 on a straight bet, do not play $50 on a four team parlay bet just because it pays big, the odds of winning are greatly reduced as multiple outcomes must occur however if you manage your bets and make smaller investments at the greater risk you can make some smart parlay picks.

At the end of the day most games are more equal than assumed and if each team stands a roughly 50% of winning, it is likely that out of two picks one may very well lose based on odds of the event occurring. That means the chance of winning your four or eight team parlay does not stand up very well. If you are playing parlays I would recommend a three team parlay betting strategy of about 20% of the amount you would on a single game pick.

Now with all that said here are some picks.

Colorado 1.91 at Detroit

Detroit has taken care of Colorado in its last four meetings however in each game they were outshot by Colorado. Once again with a banged up lineup I see Detroit suffering from the loss of a couple leaders and finally giving in to a Colorado team that just came off a regulation win in Chicago. At toss up odds take the better team even if both clubs were at full health.

Chicago -1 at 1.87 vs Columbus

Chicago is 10-0-0 vs Columbus. Although Columbus has been playing better and should not be underrated especially with strong goaltending on any given night. These past numbers can not be passed up and although I will take the chance of a two goal win by Chicago I will do so cautiously as the last four games Chicago has only won by a goal.

St Louis 1.65 at Nashville

I am not going too look much into this but I expect this line to keep falling as bets are made on St Louis. You can also try the -1 odds at 2.10 on St Louis.

As you will come to see I am a fan of -1 odds. They were recently not offered but appear to have made there way back. I am a believer that in terms of betting, a push is a win, it is as if the bet was never made. Now on teams such as Chicago or St Louis who are expected to win on most given nights especially at home the money line offers little value at times, while the -1.5 spread means a game must end in regulation by two goals. What a -1 spread means in a NHL game is that as long as your team wins, you win. You win by it either being a push saving you in case of a win in extra time or by greater odds if the team does win in regulation and like I said, empty net goals are huge in NHL Betting, they lead to 4-2 scores over 5.5 and they lead to two goal victories in otherwise one goal games.

That is all for now, many lines have not yet been announced and Stamkos return at home vs Buffalo may be something you want to bet as soon as the line is announced as I don't see the line moving much in Buffalos favor when it is.