Panthers, Lightning heating up on the ice
Hockey in the Sunshine State is beginning to heat up just in time for the annual migration of snowbirds. Tampa Bay is on a 5-1-3 run their last nine games with Antero Niittymaki staking a claim as the team's No. 1 goalie. Tomas Vokoun is already his squad's top man between the pipes, with his three shutouts part of Florida's recent 8-2-1 streak that has lifted them from the SE Division cellar.
Before we launch into this week’s betting preview, there’s an interesting piece of news coming down the wire today: The KHL is expanding into Sweden next year.
Second-division AIK Stockholm plans to join the league’s 24 existing teams, all based in Russia and former Soviet republics. This appears to be the first real step toward the KHL’s transformation into a 30-team league called United Hockey Europe.
The KHL has already “poached” a number of talented players from the NHL, including Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Yashin, and Alexander Radulov. This could be the WHA all over again.
Way to Go, Dan
The Vancouver Canucks (12-11, 0.24 units) are nearly at full strength with top scorer Daniel Sedin returning to action Sunday night. But he and his teammates were held off the scoresheet in a 1-0 loss to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks (+115). Chicago can now lay claim to being the best team in the league with a record of 15-5-2 (3.22 units) and the best goal differential at 0.95 goals per game. But with Sedin’s return, Vancouver should be solid against the betting odds moving forward, and better still once Pavol Demitra (shoulder) starts playing in about a month or so.
Chicago Sopes
Chicago is doing so well because the roster is absolutely stocked with talent. Too much talent, as far as the league’s salary cap is concerned. The Hawks are about to hand big contract extensions to franchise cornerstones Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, as well as No. 2 defenseman Duncan Keith. But first, they’ll want to shed payroll in order to get under the $56.8-million cap.
Rumor has it Chicago will make a deal as soon as Monday, with names like defensemen Brent Sopel ($2.333 million cap hit), Cam Barker ($3.083 million) and even No. 1 blueliner Brian Campbell ($7.1 million) said to be on the block. Sopel would be a minor loss, but Barker is blossoming in his fifth year as a pro and Campbell is highly talented, if expensive.
On Bended Knee
The Detroit Red Wings (11-6-4, -4.23 units) refuse to say die, winning seven of their last 10 games, but they lost another important contributor when defenseman Niklas Kronwall sprained an MCL after colliding knee-on-knee with Montreal Canadiens enforcer Georges Laraque. He only got a two-minute tripping penalty on the play, but the scuttlebutt is that Laraque will be suspended by NHL brass on Monday. Kronwall (five goals, eight assists and a plus-3 in 21 games) is the heir apparent to Nicklas Lidstrom as Detroit’s top defenseman. He’s expected to miss at least a month of action. The Wings are still without Johan Franzen (knee), Valtteri Filppula (wrist), and Jason Williams (leg) up front.
Pascal’s Wager
Fans of the Ottawa Senators (11-6-3, -8.88 units) are holding their breath after goaltender Pascal Leclaire suffered ye olde “lower-body injury” in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres (+127 road dogs). Coach Cory Clouston didn’t seem too concerned about Leclaire, telling the Ottawa Citizen that his No. 1 goalie “will be fine.” Back-up Brian Elliott (.903 save percentage) is performing as well as Leclaire (.901 SV%), so the Senators should be fine for now, but they’re a horrible bet at 6-14 ATS, scraping by opponents with a goal differential of 0.15 per game. There’s no margin for error in Canada’s capital.
It’s Hot in Florida
The league standings are getting crowded. Some of the teams that got off to slow starts are heating up, including both the Tampa Bay Lightning (9-5-7, -2.68 units) and the Florida Panthers (10-9-2, -0.99 units).
The Lightning are 5-1-3 in their last nine games; Steve Stamkos has four goals and four assists in that span, and goalie Antero Niittymaki (.939 SV%) is making a good case to be elevated to No. 1 status instead of splitting time with Mike Smith (.886 SV%).
Meanwhile, in Miami, Tomas Vokoun (.923 SV%) has three shutouts in his last eight starts, and the Panthers are 8-2-1 in their last 11 to crawl out of the Southeast Division basement.
Hockey in the Sunshine State is beginning to heat up just in time for the annual migration of snowbirds. Tampa Bay is on a 5-1-3 run their last nine games with Antero Niittymaki staking a claim as the team's No. 1 goalie. Tomas Vokoun is already his squad's top man between the pipes, with his three shutouts part of Florida's recent 8-2-1 streak that has lifted them from the SE Division cellar.
Before we launch into this week’s betting preview, there’s an interesting piece of news coming down the wire today: The KHL is expanding into Sweden next year.
Second-division AIK Stockholm plans to join the league’s 24 existing teams, all based in Russia and former Soviet republics. This appears to be the first real step toward the KHL’s transformation into a 30-team league called United Hockey Europe.
The KHL has already “poached” a number of talented players from the NHL, including Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Yashin, and Alexander Radulov. This could be the WHA all over again.
Way to Go, Dan
The Vancouver Canucks (12-11, 0.24 units) are nearly at full strength with top scorer Daniel Sedin returning to action Sunday night. But he and his teammates were held off the scoresheet in a 1-0 loss to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks (+115). Chicago can now lay claim to being the best team in the league with a record of 15-5-2 (3.22 units) and the best goal differential at 0.95 goals per game. But with Sedin’s return, Vancouver should be solid against the betting odds moving forward, and better still once Pavol Demitra (shoulder) starts playing in about a month or so.
Chicago Sopes
Chicago is doing so well because the roster is absolutely stocked with talent. Too much talent, as far as the league’s salary cap is concerned. The Hawks are about to hand big contract extensions to franchise cornerstones Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, as well as No. 2 defenseman Duncan Keith. But first, they’ll want to shed payroll in order to get under the $56.8-million cap.
Rumor has it Chicago will make a deal as soon as Monday, with names like defensemen Brent Sopel ($2.333 million cap hit), Cam Barker ($3.083 million) and even No. 1 blueliner Brian Campbell ($7.1 million) said to be on the block. Sopel would be a minor loss, but Barker is blossoming in his fifth year as a pro and Campbell is highly talented, if expensive.
On Bended Knee
The Detroit Red Wings (11-6-4, -4.23 units) refuse to say die, winning seven of their last 10 games, but they lost another important contributor when defenseman Niklas Kronwall sprained an MCL after colliding knee-on-knee with Montreal Canadiens enforcer Georges Laraque. He only got a two-minute tripping penalty on the play, but the scuttlebutt is that Laraque will be suspended by NHL brass on Monday. Kronwall (five goals, eight assists and a plus-3 in 21 games) is the heir apparent to Nicklas Lidstrom as Detroit’s top defenseman. He’s expected to miss at least a month of action. The Wings are still without Johan Franzen (knee), Valtteri Filppula (wrist), and Jason Williams (leg) up front.
Pascal’s Wager
Fans of the Ottawa Senators (11-6-3, -8.88 units) are holding their breath after goaltender Pascal Leclaire suffered ye olde “lower-body injury” in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres (+127 road dogs). Coach Cory Clouston didn’t seem too concerned about Leclaire, telling the Ottawa Citizen that his No. 1 goalie “will be fine.” Back-up Brian Elliott (.903 save percentage) is performing as well as Leclaire (.901 SV%), so the Senators should be fine for now, but they’re a horrible bet at 6-14 ATS, scraping by opponents with a goal differential of 0.15 per game. There’s no margin for error in Canada’s capital.
It’s Hot in Florida
The league standings are getting crowded. Some of the teams that got off to slow starts are heating up, including both the Tampa Bay Lightning (9-5-7, -2.68 units) and the Florida Panthers (10-9-2, -0.99 units).
The Lightning are 5-1-3 in their last nine games; Steve Stamkos has four goals and four assists in that span, and goalie Antero Niittymaki (.939 SV%) is making a good case to be elevated to No. 1 status instead of splitting time with Mike Smith (.886 SV%).
Meanwhile, in Miami, Tomas Vokoun (.923 SV%) has three shutouts in his last eight starts, and the Panthers are 8-2-1 in their last 11 to crawl out of the Southeast Division basement.
