Satyr
Paster of Muppets
Here it is! Hockey season has been underway for some time now but these are my first official plays of the season. The reason being, I wanted some time to watch the teams without any bias and try to determine their strengths and weaknesses, at least when we're talking about the beginning of the season (which may or may not have influence for the season as it goes by).
Two plays, and two of them derbies, a state one and a city one. So let's get underway shall we:
Tampa Bay - Florida
The Bolts have opened the season in a quite convincing manner, winning both games so far, Atlanta (5-2) and New Jersey (3-1), so far their special teams have been working fine, their offense is up and running and backline has been doing their job, regardless of which defense pairing we're talking about. They will be all fired up playing against the Panthers tonight, and the reason is, their state rivals have absolutely killed them last year (5-2-1, including wins in last 4 matches outscoring them 18-6).
Florida have been quite lacklustre so far, they brought in Tomas Vokoun from Nashville but he is totally out of form right now, as he already let in nine goals and I've been watching him - he doesn't look good, so far he hasn't clicked well with the defenders, in many situations they stood in front of him and he couldn't see the puck, in others he was to blame, these are classic situations when you have a new defense, you need to give them time to start clicking.
I'm just not sure they'll be able to contain Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier...I can't miss out on this one.
Tampa Bay (regulation win) (2.05 @ Pinnacle) 6 units
NY Islanders - NY Rangers
Big city clash, and the tension will be huge as always, last season we had Simon v Hollweg, Simon won't play today for the Rangers but I doubt it these teams will take tonight's clash lightly. Rangers have beaten Florida 5-2 but lost to Ottawa (0-2) in their 2nd game, combining for 0-for-10 in powerplay opportunities. The Isles, on the other side, have opened the season on a winning note, beating Buffalo both home (3-2) and away (6-4), before falling to the suddenly surging Capitals at home.
Again they play in front of their fans, and frankly I don't see a reason for the Rangers to be favored here, especially since these Isles have a lot to offer right now. Sean Avery (left wing) is out for the Rangers, while the Isles have strengthened their blue line by signing Bryan Berard.
I have to take a stab at the home dog here.
Islanders (moneyline) (2.22 @ Pinnacle) 5 units
Expecting both games to go over as well.
Other leans:
Montreal ML
Columbus (too short price for my liking).
GL guys. :shake: :cheers:
Two plays, and two of them derbies, a state one and a city one. So let's get underway shall we:
Tampa Bay - Florida
The Bolts have opened the season in a quite convincing manner, winning both games so far, Atlanta (5-2) and New Jersey (3-1), so far their special teams have been working fine, their offense is up and running and backline has been doing their job, regardless of which defense pairing we're talking about. They will be all fired up playing against the Panthers tonight, and the reason is, their state rivals have absolutely killed them last year (5-2-1, including wins in last 4 matches outscoring them 18-6).
Florida have been quite lacklustre so far, they brought in Tomas Vokoun from Nashville but he is totally out of form right now, as he already let in nine goals and I've been watching him - he doesn't look good, so far he hasn't clicked well with the defenders, in many situations they stood in front of him and he couldn't see the puck, in others he was to blame, these are classic situations when you have a new defense, you need to give them time to start clicking.
I'm just not sure they'll be able to contain Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier...I can't miss out on this one.
Tampa Bay (regulation win) (2.05 @ Pinnacle) 6 units
NY Islanders - NY Rangers
Big city clash, and the tension will be huge as always, last season we had Simon v Hollweg, Simon won't play today for the Rangers but I doubt it these teams will take tonight's clash lightly. Rangers have beaten Florida 5-2 but lost to Ottawa (0-2) in their 2nd game, combining for 0-for-10 in powerplay opportunities. The Isles, on the other side, have opened the season on a winning note, beating Buffalo both home (3-2) and away (6-4), before falling to the suddenly surging Capitals at home.
Again they play in front of their fans, and frankly I don't see a reason for the Rangers to be favored here, especially since these Isles have a lot to offer right now. Sean Avery (left wing) is out for the Rangers, while the Isles have strengthened their blue line by signing Bryan Berard.
I have to take a stab at the home dog here.
Islanders (moneyline) (2.22 @ Pinnacle) 5 units
Expecting both games to go over as well.
Other leans:
Montreal ML
Columbus (too short price for my liking).
GL guys. :shake: :cheers:
