I normally do not bet hockey games unless I see some value in a game. I really like Carolina in this game. Carolina is at home and is -165 favorite and is facing a Vancouver team that it has not beaten since 1998. Vancouver played last night at Columbus and won 4-2. Hockey is a very physical sport and rest is more important. Carolina had the night off and will be ready to play Vancouver tonite and beat them. So far this season, the Vancouver Canucks are 3-0 on the road and are due for a road loss. Vancouver plays Carolina only once a year and the only way they will play against each again would be if both teams make it to the Stanly CUp Finals. Although Vancouver has had Carolina's number for the last 8 years, Carolina will put end to this streak. That is why the oddsmaker put a Carolina as a respectable -165 home favorite. So far this season Carolina has play well and is coming off an overtime loss at Philadelphia. Playing back to back nights in hockey is not easy. Winning the first road game is tough. Vancouver won Sunday night and is back on the road again tonite. Winning on back to back nights is very difficult. Even the best teams in hockey struggle in the 2nd game after winning the first game. So far this season, if the road team wins the first game and has another road game the next night, the odds are really stacked against that road team. Please do some research on these trends of playing back to back nights in hockey. I would take also Carolina on the -1.5 goals which is +170.
-
-
I used to believe that the team playing back to back nights would be at a disadvantage. After seeing many games where the team that was rested wasn't very sharp and lost to the "tired" one I learned not to put too much faith in this logic.
I actually like Vancouver tonight, Luongo will be starting after having Sunday off and the Canucks are very capable, the "value" is on Vancouver @ + 137. Not a big play though.Comment -
What betplom said!
Comment -
Good point Betplom on not betting against teams on the 2nd game of a back to back. However i still believe the games with the most oppurtunites for value are the back 2 back ones and they should be analyzed carefully. And also Ive experienced the same frustation in seeing a rested team lose to a tired team but you need to analyze further because sometimes the tired teams goalie stand on his head and thats how they win...in those cases i would consider that a good loss. Anytime where my team outshoots the other team by a huge margin and loses, I'll take that any day as i know 8 out of 10 times in those situations, I'm going to win...we all know hockey is like poker in that we all can and do suffer bad beats.
As for Van and Car, I'm personally going to stay away as I can't get a good read on this game. Here is my analysis in a nutshell...on one hand you have a tired Van team who will have their #1 goalie in net, on the other side you have a rested team who has 3 injured forwards (walker, Cole , Ladd).Comment -
figgy:
I agree, I'm playing Van for a small amount as they are the dogs in this one and I'd rather play a + M/L.
I remember last year Vancouver came East and beat Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo & Montreal all within a week. I went against them in a couple of those games and got schooled, well they won 8 in a row or something like that on the road.
I don't doubt Carolina can win the game but the big juice is a turnoff. I'll stick to the Canucks.
I was looking to see how Vancouver did last year in back to back road games, i could only find one stat:
Mar 08, 2007 @Phoenix Coyotes W 4-2
Mar 09, 2007 @San Jose Sharks W 2-1Last edited by betplom; 10-22-07, 03:14 PM.Comment