View Full Version : NHL (4.10.2006)
Carolina-Buffalo 2,20 4,00 2,20
Toronto-Ottawa 2,40 4,00 2,10
Colorado-Dallas 2,00 4,00 2,50
from my local bookie!
hm... I don`t know a lot about NHL but i know that first games ussually go with a lot of goals. What about over in ay match tommorow?
HomeBrewed
04-10-06, 11:27
DALLAS @ COLORADO
Some critics think the Avalanche will not make the post season, well that may be the case. But, i have read some stats and i have come across, the Avs had a solid pre-season going 5-1, and beating the Stars 2x. They also beat the Detroit Red Wings 2x. They should be in good shape to beat Dallas at home in front of thousands of excited fans.
Colorado went 3-0 in pre-season shootouts.
Anyway Avalanche are my play.
2u to win 1.6
hanniball23
04-10-06, 13:30
Colorado Avalanche - Dallas Stars
COLORADO
The exodus is under way in the Rockies, where the Colorado Avalanche is moving into a transition phase, as a number of very familiar faces have moved on from the perennial Western Conference powerhouse.
A veteran symbol of the team's long run at the top, center Joe Sakic, will be in the fold for at least another season after he signed a one-year contract in June. The 37-year-old is entering his 18th season with the franchise, stretching back to its former identity as the Quebec Nordiques.
Sakic scored 32 goals and added 55 assists for the Colorado in 2005-06.
Also staying put will be last year's rookie sensation Marek Svatos, who scored 32 goals in 61 games before missing the remainder of the season with a fractured right shoulder. The Slovakia native - a seventh-round selection in the 2001 draft - would up third among NHL rookies in goal scoring.
Another veteran, forward Andrew Brunette, decided to stay put for the long term by signing a one-year contract extension following a season in which he played all 82 games and scored a career-best 24 goals to go with 39 assists. The 6-foot-1, 212-pound left wing has 145 goals and 262 assists in 624 career games.
Other additions include free-agent signee Tyler Arnason from Chicago and defenseman Jordan Leopold, who came over from Calgary in the deal that sent forward Alex Tanguay to the Flames. The other most notable departure was long- time standout defenseman Rob Blake, who signed with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent.
ON THE ATTACK
The aforementioned Sakic and new kid in town Arnason headline Colorado's playmakers at center.
Arnason, 27, scored 13 goals and had 32 assists while splitting his 2005-06 season between Ottawa and Chicago. He established career highs with 22 goals and 33 assists with the Blackhawks in 2003-04.
Also on hand for the future is Paul Stastny, the 20-year-old son of Peter Stastny, a star in the 1980s for the Nordiques.
Brunette and veteran Steve Konowalchuk add experience on the left side, along with tough guy Brad May, who had 82 penalty minutes in his first season with Colorado.
Antti Laaksonen scored 16 goals for the Avalanche last season and 20-year-old prospect Wojtek Wolski had a goal and three assists in eight playoff games.
On the right side, Svatos returns for his second season and is complemented primarily by veteran Milan Hejduk, whose goal totals have plummeted from a career-high 50 in 2002-03 to 24 last season.
The 30-year-old nonetheless remained a power-play threat, scoring 14 times with the man-advantage.
Ian Laperriere had 21 goals and 24 assists last season in his first year with Colorado after scoring 10 goals with the Kings in 2003-04.
ON DEFENSE
Blake left for his former environs in Los Angeles, but the Avalanche did re-sign the blue line tandem of Karlis Skrastins and Brett Clark, which combined for 12 goals and 38 assists as part of a defensive unit that was tied for first in the league in goals scored.
Skrastins appeared in all 82 games for the fifth straight season and was second to ex-Buffalo rearguard Jay McKee with 207 blocked shots.
Veteran Ken Klee came in the off-season from New Jersey, where he scored three goals and added 12 assists last season, and the Avalanche retained emerging talent John-Michael Liles, who posted 14 goals and 35 assists in 2005-06.
Also on hand are ex-Flame Leopold and 35-year-old Patrice Brisebois, who scored 10 goals with Colorado after coming over from the Montreal Canadiens.
Jose Theodore was 18-18 with an .882 save percentage in his initial stint with the Avalanche, then 4-5 overall in the team's early postseason demise.
He retains the No. 1 position heading in to the season, but could conceivably be challenged at some point by Peter Budaj, who was retained in the off-season after going 14-10 with a .900 save percentage as a part-time starts last year.
The future may one day lie with prospect Tyler Weiman, a 22-year-old who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs in at 165 pounds.
CONCLUSIONS
Truth told, things could go either way in Colorado.
Enough talent exists to again challenge in the muddled Northwest Division mix and, if the youngsters continue to produce and mature, the team will remain at or near its routine level of performance.
If too much is left to the veteran core, however, and if Theodore once again falls somewhere short of his Montreal MVP form, the long, slow fade to the lower end of the Western ranks is a certainty.
Expect a third-place finish in the Northwest and sixth or seventh in the West, good enough for a playoff berth, but probably not too much more than that.
Who's In:
C Tyler Arnason, C Ben Guite, D Ken Klee, D Jordan Leopold, G Kris Mayotte, LW Matt Murley, Mark Rycroft, RW, D Michael Vernace
Who's Out:
D Rob Blake, D Bob Boughner, RW Paul Healy, C Dan Hinote, LW Frantisek Skladany, D Tomas Slovak, LW Alex Tanguay, D Mikki Viitanen
DALLAS
For the second straight campaign a strong regular season was followed by a disappointing playoff performance for the Dallas Stars.
Defeated by Colorado in five games during the first round of the 2004 playoffs, the Stars came into the 2005-06 season without many of the players that laced up the skates in 03-04.
The team has let go of some key veterans in the offseason with the departure of forwards Jason Arnott and Bill Guerin and backup goaltender Johan Hedberg, but several players with some grit were added to toughen the team up.
Loud-mouth bad boy forward Matthew Barnaby was signed from the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington captain Jeff Halpern was signed for four years. Defenseman Darryl Sydor was welcomed back and he will be joined on the blueline with Jaroslav Modry, who came to the team in a trade with Atlanta that also saw forward Patrik Stefan join the team, and Niko Kapanen headed to the Thrashers.
One of the additions to the team that could have the most impact is the signing of oft-injured forward Eric Lindros. If he can stay healthy Lindros is still a potential point-a-game player, but the key words are "if he can stay healthy".
The new players will join the core group that is built around perennial All- Star Mike Modano, high-scoring blueliner Sergei Zubov, netminder Marty Turco and promising youngster Jussi Jokinen.
The Pacific Division will be better this year, but as long as they play up to their potential look for the Stars to be atop the group once again.
Modano is the best player in team history and one of the elite players in the league since he started playing in 1989. After a disappointing 2003-04 campaign during which he produced the fewest number of points since the strike-shortened 1994-95 season, Modano bounced back last year and led the team with 77 points (27 goals and 50 assists). Look for the 36-year-old veteran to reach the 500-goal and 700-assist plateau this year as he needs 15 goals and two assists to reach those milestones.
With the departure of Guerin and Arnott look for head coach Dave Tippett to lean more heavily on veterans Brenden Morrow and Jere Lehtinen to contribute on the scoreboard.
Morrow had his most productive season in 2005-06 and posted 23 goals and 42 assists. The bruising forward also led the team with 183 penalty minutes and a plus-30.
Jokinen, 23, tallied 17 goals and 38 assists in his rookie campaign. His real asset, though, was in the shootout. He led the league with a 76.9 percent average as he scored on 10 of his 13 attempts to help the Stars to a league- leading 12-1 record in shootouts.
Lehtinen, a two-time Selke winner, bounced back from a disappointing 2003-04 season and his 52 points were the most since the 1998-99 campaign. He led the team with goals (33), power play goals (14) and game-winning goals (six).
Stu Barnes is entering his 15th season and look for him to continue his solid play at both ends of the ice.
Lindros will be the big question mark amongst the forwards. Lindros has been a prolific scorer, but several concussions and various other injuries have limited his production over the years. The Stars gave him a one-year contract and the risk is worth the possible reward.
Look for Halpern and Stefan to center the third and fourth lines, respectively, with the possibility for promotion should Lindros go down.
Rounding out the forwards are right wing Antti Miettinen, left wing Nils Hagman and center Steve Ott. Possibly rookie additions could include wingers Loui Eriksson and Junior Lessard.
The Stars improved their defensive corps this offseason with the additions of Sydor and Modry.
Between the pipes, Marty Turco had a stellar regular season, but again faltered in the playoffs, but to be fair no one performed well for the Stars in the postseason. Last year he finished third in the league with 41 wins and posted a 2.55 goals-against average. He appeared in 68 games last season and posted an .898 save percentage.
In the playoffs, though, he gave up 18 goals in the five-game series loss with a miserable .868 save percentage.
It is unclear as of now who will back-up Turco as Mike Smith, Dan Ellis and Tobias Stephan will all vie for the job.
CONCLUSIONS
While the Stars have lost some scoring, they did improve their defense. The team will need some of its younger players to step up the scoring and if Jokinen could possibly be a 30-plus goal scorer. Dallas should be able to make the postseason again with ease, but will have a tough time winning a division that will see San Jose's Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo playing together all season.
Who's In:
Eric Lindros, Matthew Barnaby, Jeff Halpern, Darryl Sydor, Patrik Stefan, Jaroslav Modry, Michael Green, Marty Sertich
Who's Out:
Jason Arnott, Willie Mitchell, Patrick Traverse, Dan Jancevski, Johan Hedberg, Bill Guerin, Niko Kapanen, David Oliver
In this first fight i see Colorado( admit i am a fan of the AVALANCHES).
GL!
Maple Leafs
04-10-06, 14:47
Carolina - Buffalo 2 @ 2.60 NordicBet (Include OT)
I am definitely with the Sabres tonight. The Canes didn't proove something during the preseason. Only one win against a poor team and 4 lose.
Buffalo seems to be better during the preseason, 4 wins and 1 lose.
There is a value bet on Sabres. Canes will play without Kaberle, Buffalo full squad.
7/10
See my blog (in french, sorry.)
Carolina - Buffalo 2 @ 2.60 NordicBet (Include OT)
Its not the bet including overtime. Its bet on regular time win after 60 minutes. Price on Buffalo ML at Nordicbet which includes OT is 2.05.
Well, i definetly agree with Maple Leafs that Buffalo will beat Carolina tonight.
Imho Buffalo is the better team anyway with a better preseason and without Kaberle i dont think they can do something against the Sabres.
Anyway, i dont think that the Hurricanes can repeat their great performance of the last season.
Confidence: Buffalo 7/10
Ottawa @ Toronto
The senators played a great pre-season and they will be with no doubts one of the best teams this year even with heavy losts like Hasek.
Also the Maple Leafs lost many key players like Eric Lindros, Jason Allison and Ed Belfour. Their defense seems to be still very good but the offense with captain Mats Sundin who is not getting younger will struggly imho.
In that canadien duel my mones goes with the senators.
Confidence: Senators 8/10
Dallas @ Colorado
The Avalanche were in the last years one of the dominating teams in the NHL. This year they are very hard to predict its very interesting to see how they will perform? Imho it will be very hard for them to qualify for the playoffs on the first sight but a team like the Avalanche seems always dangerous even without Rob Blake, Alex Tanguay and Dan Hinote.
I think the Dallas Stars are the better team in this matchup. They have a great offense with Mike Modano, Jussi jokinen, Jere Lehtinen, Eric Lindros and Brendan Morrow. But their weakness will be the defense this season.
The most players are way over 30, sure Zubov and Boucher are great players but they are not fast enough for the entire season.
Really hard to predict but I go with the Stars 4/10
But nevertheless its the first game of the new season. Good pre performance doesnt count anymore. All teams start with 0 points, we will see what happen...
I agree with estimations that Buffalo are the better looking team, but I wouldn't base it only on the preseason record, the thing is Canes looked quite mixed up at times in the preseason and Buffalo are the fast skating team with, as it seems, more talent on board, but keep your stakes low anyhow, as long back as I can remember it's always the same thing, people rushing and forcing bets in the opening days then dissapearing afterwards, like kids who got bored with some new toy which isn't new any more after a few weeks. Be careful, and observe rather than rush into betting. Some teams that were horrid in the postseason could turn a new leaf now.
My choice would be Buffalo as well, but low stakes only.
cheers.
Wellcome to BA, but please try to keep up to the quallity of the board. /Strand
I would be careful with going against Maple Leafs today as who knows last season story between "fighters of Ontario", knows that Leafs have to be hot blooded motivated for win here. In some perspective, its maybe best opening game they could wish. Sens are without two major strenghts in defense from last year, Hasek and Chara and composition of compatibility of defensive lines can be questionable in start of sharp season.
Agree with Sabres also, Canes will have not easy season Imo as no defending champion has, lot of pressure of expectations on them and team under hawk's eyes really. Kaberle will miss today, of course it doesnt mean the world , its one player, but for sure he is one of most important and experienced ones in squad. I remember Sabres in sharp strong winning rows away from their ice and Ruff will continue with team where he finished last year. Value on away side for sure, as conclusion with my previous post, these are my two opening bets:
Sabres ML @ 2.20 with 5 units
Maple Leafs ML @ 2.25 with 5 units
BetOnBasket
04-10-06, 18:37
Ottawa Senators - Toronto Maple Leafs
The window of opportunity to win a Stanley Cup may finally be closing for the Ottawa Senators.
Ottawa again faces high expectations to avoid the failures of seasons past heading into their season opener Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre against their provincial archrivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Ottawa Senators have dominated the Toronto Maple Leafs of late going 7-1 the last 8 meetings. That includes going 3-1 at Toronto. The Senators goalie Martin Gerber is hands down a better goaltender than is the inconsistent Andrew Raycroft of the Maple Leafs. Look for the Senators to continue their domination in this series tonight.
Pick: Ottawa 1.699 @ PinnacleSports
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NHL 2006/2007 0 W 0 L +/- 0 units
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Toronto - Ottawa over 6.5 goals (1.89 @ Pinnacle)
A bit chalky, I'm aware, but it should be a winning pick if you ask me. I tend to keep it low this early in the season because we still have a lot to observe and determine the facts, but this canadian clash has always been a fiery one, and more times than not a high scoring one, at least when last couple of seasons are concerned. Plus Ottawa lost Hasek and Zdeno Chara, and will have to work hard to fill the shoes of the duo, if they want to take another shot at the cup.
It's Emery against Raycroft between the pipes and a lot of offensive potential on both sides. Ottawa the fast skaters and Toronto the team that are missing a few men in the D and RW positions (some of them playing in the 2nd line)(Antropov, Bell, Kronwall, Kubina, Colaiacovo, Ondrus).
Not going to overanalyze here, I like the over, 4 units is the call. Good luck to everyone with the new NHL season.
I would be careful with going against Maple Leafs today as who knows last season story between "fighters of Ontario", knows that Leafs have to be hot blooded motivated for win here. In some perspective, its maybe best opening game they could wish. Sens are without two major strenghts in defense from last year, Hasek and Chara and composition of compatibility of defensive lines can be questionable in start of sharp season.
I agree with your observations, the key thing is Ottawa aren't the same team without Chara and Hasek, that's for sure. They could be a hot team again, but too many questionmarks at the moment. Good luck with the play.
Toronto Maple Leafs (2.90 @ bwin.com) 4 units
I fancy the odds on Leafs here. Huge questionsmarks surrounding Senators this time around, and while they usually do extremely well against their rivals in regular season, i'm not so confident they will get it going tonight. They did manage to resign Redden, but solid players such as Chara, Havlat and Smolinski are all gone. The offensive still looks terrific with Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza, and it's a still quality team above average offcourse, but IMO they don't look as solid as last season, on paper at least, and I wouldn't be surprsied if we see a few defensive "holes". Toronto on the other hand, had an awful season, and big changes have been made. Patt Quinn and his old style hockey is gone, and Paul Maurice has taken over. That should mean we will see a team more adjusted to the new NHL. Defensive players such as Gill and Kubina have been brought in, a long with forward Peca and goalie Raycroft. Out with Lindros (always out injured anyways), Allison, Domi (retired), Berg and Eddie the eagle. But these changes don't look too bad, as Leafs were in desperate need of a "cleanup". Overall the team looks a lot stronger in defence and far more depth in that position now. Offensively i'm a bit more concerned considering the fact that they haven't done much here. Sundin will be the main man as always, but he will need support from the rest of the regular offensive line also, especially since forward Peca's main strength lies in his defensive skills. If Maurice can get the best out of youngsters such as Stajan, Steen and Wellwood, then Leafs might be way more dangerous than most people think. To sum it up, I would rate Leafs stronger at the back this season, but with some questionsmarks offensively. Anyways, enough about the preview stuff. I know Ottawa trashed Toronto in most games last season, but there are major changes now, and the Maple Leafs did hammer Sens in the last game of the season. Besides, these are huge "hate" games, only Montreal - Toronto can be rated as a bigger clash. With the support of the homefans in Air Canada Centre, plus the revenge factor here, I feel Toronto might be a bit underrated. Bwin with 2.90, nicely above average odds, so taking that with 4 units.
I agree with Satyr about OVER 6.5 goals in Toronto Ottawa.
And I'm still thinking about Ottawa to win even in OT @ 1.72 (Ladbrokes)
Here are some Ottawa's personal stats:
Denis Hamel scored 5 goals in 6 games with 1 assist
Dany Heatley 5 goals in 6 games with 4 assists
Mike Fisher 4 goals in 6 games with 6 assists
Chris Neil 4 goals in 6 games with 2 assists
Toronto will have 26-year old Andrew Raycroft in goal. He won competition with Ed Belfour. He's quite young and not so experienced.
Besides, Ottawa won 7 of 8 games against Toronto last
season...
And I think Senators will be contenders to win Staley Cup, again.
strangest way to make money...that can be the title of my last night's adventure lol.
Lost on Toronto-Ottawa over and my MLB pick was lost too, but I won a fun double instead (Carolina-Buffalo + Colorado-Dallas, both to end in OT)...
anyways, good stuff from all of you here, I hope NHL topics will be rich this season. Cheers.
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