[Reck]

I have been a follower for many years and love participating in the contests. This year I vow to try to be a better forum contributor.

Early thoughts before picks later:

I have been able to google team records for games while raising the cup. Seems like LA lost the opener last year. Any Ideas?

Secondly, how important do you think preseason results are. I realize teams play a lot of extra guys. Veterans don't always travel to road games, etc. But the Leafs sure seemed to have trouble scoring goals which makes me lean Mont. But -135 for a road team seems a lot as well. Leafs have new staff and home ice advantage.

disclaimer...I am a Ranger fan and admittedly do not follow the West as much.

Thanks guys and welcome back NHL!!!

Lastly if I do not have time to post, I am always in LT's contests.

[Vegas39]

GL this year

Don't read anything into preseason as coaches looking at lots of young players and line combos.

Love NY tonight as fading team raising banner as well as other Chicago issues like Kane rape investigation

[goduke]

chicago won the year before that at home for their banner night. The big difference last year was kings were the one that knocked out sharks the previous playoff so there was more motivation there to ruin their banner night. Blackhawks have already done this before theyll be ready

[Vegas39]

chicago won the year before that at home for their banner night. The big difference last year was kings were the one that knocked out sharks the previous playoff so there was more motivation there to ruin their banner night. Blackhawks have already done this before theyll be ready

Little tougher fir Hawks tonight. 2 years ago they opened vs a Caps team that had huge defensive issues. as 6-4 score showed. NY solid D and much better goaltending

[byzness]

Some opening night leans:

MTL over TOR: Don't overthink this one. TOR will be an excellent fade all season long. -135 is only a problem if they lose...which they won't.

CGY over VAN: Same. VAN has aging Sedins, aging goalie & lost Bieksa & Lack last year. Plus with a 100+ point season last year they will be super overvalued in the early going. CGY is ascendant. Easy fade.

SJ over LA: LA is in some disarray right now and SJ's new goalie, Martin Jones, just came from LA and knows all their shooting tendencies.

WPG over BOS: With a huge amount of turnover in BOS in the offseason plus Chara coming off an injury, they will need time to gel in the first month. Plus Byfuglien will want to put on a good show if he wants to get traded to BOS. Physically WPG can go head-to-head with the toughest teams in the league. WPG should be a high-value dog.

OTT over BUF: BUF will be better this year, no question, but with a ton of new players and a new coach they will need time to gel. A good October fade, esp. since they will be likely overvalued. OTT comes in with a basically unchanged roster, except for Lehner which will be the only wrinkle in this prediction.

PIT-DAL Over 5.5: If you really need me to explain this one you are betting in the wrong sport.

WPG-NJ Under 5.5: See above. B2B east coast games this early in the season will not be a factor.

EDM probably won't beat STL but their game vs. NSH on Saturday might be more promising.

FLA over PHI (Saturday night): I like FLA a lot this year. Great scoring D (Ekblad + Campbell) and maybe the league's weirdest top line of Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr, plus Luongo is still solid. PHI can score lots of goals but if Mason regresses just a little bit they're screwed. FLA will also probably be undervalued, a good lean. With PHI playing TB tomorrow I can easily see them opening the season 0-2, except I'm staying away from most TB games - zero value.

[YOUNGBUCK]

So Martin Jones will know all of the Kings tendencies? Why won't Lehner know the Sens tendencies?

[byzness]

Well...I agree this is the problem. But I think OTT has a better chance overall of beating BUF, regardless of goalie, than LA has of beating SJ

[Vegas39]

Well...I agree this is the problem. But I think OTT has a better chance overall of beating BUF, regardless of goalie, than LA has of beating SJ

Kings fan but disagree on your argument.Think shooters at advantage knowing a backups weaknesses after facing in practice daily

[byzness]

Guess not...

[whareouttogetme]

Simple rules for betting on the Sharks

back them against strong teams, bet against them when playing bad teams

[Reck]

1-1-1 last night.

Lucky empty netter gets habs -1.5 over leafs. Matt Hunswick wearing an A and number 1 D pair shows lack of depth for leafs. Last year on Rangers (Who may have the best defense group in hockey) he was number 7 at best for most of year. You guys thinking fade Leafs may be right, especially until they fully understand the Babcock system.

Rangers push on over/under. Don't know how Hawks guys was not offside on first goal.

Flames lose to Canucks. Guess we better not count them out yet. (Didn't see much of game though.)