Detroit Red Wings finally getting healthy
Injury after injury hit the Red Wings this season, leaving Detroit struggling in the standings so far as the eighth-best in the West. Some of the struggles are ending, however, with the roster mending. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall made his way back to the ice on Tuesday, logging almost 22 minutes of action after a two-month layoff. Tomas Holmstrom and Jason Williams should be close behind, and not a moment too soon for Detroit.
Is Ryan Miller the best goalie in the NHL? All the numbers say so.
Miller leads the league in save percentage at .933, and the folks at Puck Prospectus had Miller on top of last week’s GVT (Goals Versus Threshold) standings at 25.7, miles ahead of Evgeni Nabokov at 20.7. Conveniently enough, we’ll see Miller and Nabokov square off next month in what promises to be a classic USA vs. Russia matchup in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, there’s this little thing called the NHL that we like to follow. Here’s some news you can use to sharpen your bets this week.
Kronwall the Defender
It’s been a rough year for the Detroit Red Wings. They’re in eighth place in the Western Conference at 25-18-9 (-9.16 units), and they’ve got enough injured players to fill the entire press box. But one of the fallen has finally returned to action: defenseman Niklas Kronwall,
Detroit’s heir apparent to six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom. Kronwall missed two months with a sprained MCL, but played a full 21:57 in Tuesday night’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Phoenix Coyotes (+160).
There’s more where Kronwall came from. Left-winger Tomas Holmstrom (sore foot) is expected to suit up either Friday against the Nashville Predators or Sunday in Pittsburgh against the Stanley Cup champion Penguins.
Forward Jason Williams (broken leg) believes he will also play Friday, giving Detroit an almost complete lineup and a serious boost in betting value as we approach the Olympic break. The Wings have lost five of their last six games and 11 of their last 18.
Trouble is Bruin
Things haven’t gone so smoothly in Boston, either. The Bruins (23-20-8, -1.65 units) have spit the bit in eight of their last nine games to fall into a tie for 10th place in the Eastern Conference. The final straw for coach Claude Julien was Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (+105 at home), the worst team in the East.
Julien called a special dry-land practice on Tuesday that was held in private – no media allowed. What happened there remains a mystery as we go to press.
There were three Bruins on the ice during all this: injured forwards Marc Savard (knee), Byron Bitz (undisclosed) and Steve Begin (undisclosed). Savard and Bitz are both aiming to return on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres; Savard (88 points in 82 games last year) is the team’s top skater, while Bitz is a fourth-line lunchpail guy in his second year at the NHL level. Every little bit helps at this point. Boston is last in the league in scoring with 2.37 goals per game, and the UNDER is a juicy 30-21 as a result.
Oil Spill
Carolina used to be the last-place team in the entire league, but that dishonor now belongs to the Edmonton Oilers, losers of 11 straight games at 16-29-6 (-18.87 units). Their most recent loss was Tuesday night’s 4-2 defeat at the hands of the mighty Chicago Blackhawks (-230 road faves).
The Oilers are now 8-19-3 since No. 1 goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (.909 SV%) suffered a herniated disc in his back. Filling in for Khabibulin are the overmatched rookie combination of Jeff Deslauriers (.896 SV%) and back-up Devan Dubnyk (.869 SV%). The OVER is 7-2 in Edmonton’s last nine games.
This team has been laid flatter than a pancake by injuries and illness, even worse so than Detroit and Boston. Edmonton’s top skater, winger Ales Hemsky, is out for the year with a torn labrum. And the Oilers have just about run out of centers: Mike Comrie (mononucleosis), Gilbert Brule (flu) and Ryan Stone (knee) are all out of commission, although Brule is expected to return any day.
This has become a lost season for the Oilers. Watch for them to shed a number of big-name players by the trade deadline, including blueliner Sheldon Souray (13 points in 34 games) and center Shawn Horcoff (19 points in 45 games).
Injury after injury hit the Red Wings this season, leaving Detroit struggling in the standings so far as the eighth-best in the West. Some of the struggles are ending, however, with the roster mending. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall made his way back to the ice on Tuesday, logging almost 22 minutes of action after a two-month layoff. Tomas Holmstrom and Jason Williams should be close behind, and not a moment too soon for Detroit.
Is Ryan Miller the best goalie in the NHL? All the numbers say so.
Miller leads the league in save percentage at .933, and the folks at Puck Prospectus had Miller on top of last week’s GVT (Goals Versus Threshold) standings at 25.7, miles ahead of Evgeni Nabokov at 20.7. Conveniently enough, we’ll see Miller and Nabokov square off next month in what promises to be a classic USA vs. Russia matchup in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, there’s this little thing called the NHL that we like to follow. Here’s some news you can use to sharpen your bets this week.
Kronwall the Defender
It’s been a rough year for the Detroit Red Wings. They’re in eighth place in the Western Conference at 25-18-9 (-9.16 units), and they’ve got enough injured players to fill the entire press box. But one of the fallen has finally returned to action: defenseman Niklas Kronwall,
Detroit’s heir apparent to six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom. Kronwall missed two months with a sprained MCL, but played a full 21:57 in Tuesday night’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Phoenix Coyotes (+160).
There’s more where Kronwall came from. Left-winger Tomas Holmstrom (sore foot) is expected to suit up either Friday against the Nashville Predators or Sunday in Pittsburgh against the Stanley Cup champion Penguins.
Forward Jason Williams (broken leg) believes he will also play Friday, giving Detroit an almost complete lineup and a serious boost in betting value as we approach the Olympic break. The Wings have lost five of their last six games and 11 of their last 18.
Trouble is Bruin
Things haven’t gone so smoothly in Boston, either. The Bruins (23-20-8, -1.65 units) have spit the bit in eight of their last nine games to fall into a tie for 10th place in the Eastern Conference. The final straw for coach Claude Julien was Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (+105 at home), the worst team in the East.
Julien called a special dry-land practice on Tuesday that was held in private – no media allowed. What happened there remains a mystery as we go to press.
There were three Bruins on the ice during all this: injured forwards Marc Savard (knee), Byron Bitz (undisclosed) and Steve Begin (undisclosed). Savard and Bitz are both aiming to return on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres; Savard (88 points in 82 games last year) is the team’s top skater, while Bitz is a fourth-line lunchpail guy in his second year at the NHL level. Every little bit helps at this point. Boston is last in the league in scoring with 2.37 goals per game, and the UNDER is a juicy 30-21 as a result.
Oil Spill
Carolina used to be the last-place team in the entire league, but that dishonor now belongs to the Edmonton Oilers, losers of 11 straight games at 16-29-6 (-18.87 units). Their most recent loss was Tuesday night’s 4-2 defeat at the hands of the mighty Chicago Blackhawks (-230 road faves).
The Oilers are now 8-19-3 since No. 1 goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (.909 SV%) suffered a herniated disc in his back. Filling in for Khabibulin are the overmatched rookie combination of Jeff Deslauriers (.896 SV%) and back-up Devan Dubnyk (.869 SV%). The OVER is 7-2 in Edmonton’s last nine games.
This team has been laid flatter than a pancake by injuries and illness, even worse so than Detroit and Boston. Edmonton’s top skater, winger Ales Hemsky, is out for the year with a torn labrum. And the Oilers have just about run out of centers: Mike Comrie (mononucleosis), Gilbert Brule (flu) and Ryan Stone (knee) are all out of commission, although Brule is expected to return any day.
This has become a lost season for the Oilers. Watch for them to shed a number of big-name players by the trade deadline, including blueliner Sheldon Souray (13 points in 34 games) and center Shawn Horcoff (19 points in 45 games).
