NHL Betting: Now you see 'em, now you don't
NHL Betting: Now you see 'em, now you don't
Nothing is more frustrating in sports than when a player has a great season only to return the following year a mere shadow of their former self. Sometimes it is a case of a player just reaching the end of their career and not retiring soon enough. Other times it can be a minor, nagging injury that slows them just enough to fall off. Whatever the reasons, here's a look at five disappearing acts on the ice this season.
It’s one thing for an NHL team to lose a player to retirement, injury or free agency. But to have someone pull a disappearing act after putting up such good numbers? That’s gotta feel like a punch to the kidneys. Let’s see how the employers (or former employers) of five of this year’s Least Valuable Players are doing.
1. Mathieu Garon, Edmonton Oilers (24-20-3)
Garon had a lot of promise coming up in the Montreal organization, but has been up and down since leaving the Habs in the Cristobal Huet deal. One of those “up” periods came last year with the Oilers, when Garon (.913 save percentage) took the starting job from Dwayne Roloson. Garon is “down” again at .895 SV% and was dumped on Pittsburgh last week as injury insurance for Marc-Andre Fleury.
2. Dan Ellis, Nashville Predators (20-23-3)
It’s become a goalie’s graveyard at the Sommet Center. Ellis was brilliant as a rookie backstop for Nashville last year, posting a 23-10-3 record with a .924 SV% and convincing the Preds to send Chris Mason packing to St. Louis. But Ellis is in a sophomore slump with a .899 SV% and falling second on the depth chart to Pekka Rinne (.916).
3. Philippe Boucher, Dallas Stars (20-18-7)
The veteran blueliner was a first-round draft pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 1991, made his first All-Star team in 2006-07 (51 points, 12 power play goals in 76 games) as a member of the Stars, and promptly hit the skids last year. After just three assists in 16 games, Dallas shipped Boucher to injury-plagued Pittsburgh for Darryl Sydor. The Pens are 12-17-1 since.
4. Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks (34-6-5)
You know the Sharks are good when a player who scored 56 goals for them three years ago goes into career freefall, and yet the Sharks are better than they ever were. Cheechoo has seven goals and 18 points in 33 games and has seen his ice-time drop from 19:57 per game in 2005-06 to 15:53 minutes this season.
5. Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings (31-9-6)
The Wings have also managed to do just fine with Osgood’s save percentage plummeting from .914 to .883. Ty Conklin (.917 SV%) is splitting duties, and Detroit is scoring a league-high 3.65 goals per game. But Osgood’s reversion has the Wings struggling against the puckline at 16-31 (minus-10.37 units). Octopus soup again for dinner, I’m afraid.
Chicago (-120) at Anaheim (+100)
Wednesday, Jan 28, 10:00 p.m. (ET)
The Ducks have their own issues with Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has not gotten Jiggy with it for some time now. Despite getting invited to the All-Star Game, his save percentage of .904 isn’t cutting it; Giguere was pulled after two goals on seven shots by the lowly New York Islanders in last week’s 2-1 loss. Jonas Hiller (.928 SV%) has completely outplayed his more senior teammate and has three shutouts in his last six starts. Hiller was the winner in Tuesday’s 7-3 flattening of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Anaheim’s defense isn’t helping either netminder out much. The Ducks allow 30.9 shots on goal per game, or ninth in the league. Anaheim is third overall in penalty minutes with 857 and first in times short-handed at 252. With a mediocre 81-percent penalty kill, the Ducks have coughed up 48 goals while down a man. That kind of goonery requires better team defense to compensate.
Chicago takes fewer penalties (703 PIM), allows fewer shots (29.9 per game), stops more pucks (.919 team SV% to Anaheim’s .911) and scores more goals (3.33 per game to Anaheim’s 2.80). It’s a great formula for success against the puckline; the Hawks are smashing the betting odds at 19.63 units in the black on a record of 27-18 ATS.
The Hawks are expected to miss rookie winger Kris Versteeg (finger) after he had to skip the YoungStars game in Montreal. Defenseman Duncan Keith (concussion), on the other hand, should be ready to patrol the Chicago blueline after missing four games. Keith has 26 points in 41 games and is first on the Hawks at plus-23. Chicago was 1-2-1 without him.
Nothing is more frustrating in sports than when a player has a great season only to return the following year a mere shadow of their former self. Sometimes it is a case of a player just reaching the end of their career and not retiring soon enough. Other times it can be a minor, nagging injury that slows them just enough to fall off. Whatever the reasons, here's a look at five disappearing acts on the ice this season.
It’s one thing for an NHL team to lose a player to retirement, injury or free agency. But to have someone pull a disappearing act after putting up such good numbers? That’s gotta feel like a punch to the kidneys. Let’s see how the employers (or former employers) of five of this year’s Least Valuable Players are doing.
1. Mathieu Garon, Edmonton Oilers (24-20-3)
Garon had a lot of promise coming up in the Montreal organization, but has been up and down since leaving the Habs in the Cristobal Huet deal. One of those “up” periods came last year with the Oilers, when Garon (.913 save percentage) took the starting job from Dwayne Roloson. Garon is “down” again at .895 SV% and was dumped on Pittsburgh last week as injury insurance for Marc-Andre Fleury.
2. Dan Ellis, Nashville Predators (20-23-3)
It’s become a goalie’s graveyard at the Sommet Center. Ellis was brilliant as a rookie backstop for Nashville last year, posting a 23-10-3 record with a .924 SV% and convincing the Preds to send Chris Mason packing to St. Louis. But Ellis is in a sophomore slump with a .899 SV% and falling second on the depth chart to Pekka Rinne (.916).
3. Philippe Boucher, Dallas Stars (20-18-7)
The veteran blueliner was a first-round draft pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 1991, made his first All-Star team in 2006-07 (51 points, 12 power play goals in 76 games) as a member of the Stars, and promptly hit the skids last year. After just three assists in 16 games, Dallas shipped Boucher to injury-plagued Pittsburgh for Darryl Sydor. The Pens are 12-17-1 since.
4. Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks (34-6-5)
You know the Sharks are good when a player who scored 56 goals for them three years ago goes into career freefall, and yet the Sharks are better than they ever were. Cheechoo has seven goals and 18 points in 33 games and has seen his ice-time drop from 19:57 per game in 2005-06 to 15:53 minutes this season.
5. Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings (31-9-6)
The Wings have also managed to do just fine with Osgood’s save percentage plummeting from .914 to .883. Ty Conklin (.917 SV%) is splitting duties, and Detroit is scoring a league-high 3.65 goals per game. But Osgood’s reversion has the Wings struggling against the puckline at 16-31 (minus-10.37 units). Octopus soup again for dinner, I’m afraid.
Chicago (-120) at Anaheim (+100)
Wednesday, Jan 28, 10:00 p.m. (ET)
The Ducks have their own issues with Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has not gotten Jiggy with it for some time now. Despite getting invited to the All-Star Game, his save percentage of .904 isn’t cutting it; Giguere was pulled after two goals on seven shots by the lowly New York Islanders in last week’s 2-1 loss. Jonas Hiller (.928 SV%) has completely outplayed his more senior teammate and has three shutouts in his last six starts. Hiller was the winner in Tuesday’s 7-3 flattening of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Anaheim’s defense isn’t helping either netminder out much. The Ducks allow 30.9 shots on goal per game, or ninth in the league. Anaheim is third overall in penalty minutes with 857 and first in times short-handed at 252. With a mediocre 81-percent penalty kill, the Ducks have coughed up 48 goals while down a man. That kind of goonery requires better team defense to compensate.
Chicago takes fewer penalties (703 PIM), allows fewer shots (29.9 per game), stops more pucks (.919 team SV% to Anaheim’s .911) and scores more goals (3.33 per game to Anaheim’s 2.80). It’s a great formula for success against the puckline; the Hawks are smashing the betting odds at 19.63 units in the black on a record of 27-18 ATS.
The Hawks are expected to miss rookie winger Kris Versteeg (finger) after he had to skip the YoungStars game in Montreal. Defenseman Duncan Keith (concussion), on the other hand, should be ready to patrol the Chicago blueline after missing four games. Keith has 26 points in 41 games and is first on the Hawks at plus-23. Chicago was 1-2-1 without him.
