How to make money on the remaining NHL season. (If you happen to be visiting Vegas of course)

Betting against poor teams on the road really raises your odds on making money. We did some research today on Anaheim, Edmonton, New York Islanders and Toronto to see where we would be come today profit wise. Lets take a look.

Anaheim so far has been unpredictable. However, with their poor defense, they haven't been great on the road. Anaheim is so far 4-9 (including overtimes/shootouts) on the road. If you had bet to win $100 on each road game, you would be up $140. You would have $900 in the bank based on the 9 losses. The money lines for their four road wins are as follows:

Phoenix -180
San Jose -200
Dallas -165
Philly -215

That's a total of $760. Take your $900 winnings and subtract $760 and your profits are $140. Nothing special, but whenever you are ahead, you'll take it.

Next up, the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers had 9 wins on the road last season and this year doesn't look like they will see much of an improvement. Edmonton is 3-9 on the road and with betting to win $100 on each of their 12 road games, you would have a profit of $290.

Edmonton has beaten Chicago twice and Anaheim on the road. Money lines:

Chicago: -185
Chicago: -245
Anaheim: -180


A money line total of $610 on the losers subtracted from $900 on the winners gives you your $290 profit.

Next up, Toronto.

Toronto has struggled so far this season, and still can't find the winning ways especially on the road. They are 2-8. Toronto hasn't won a road game since October 15th, losing 8 straight since. So say you bet to win $100 on each of their 10 road games. You would win $800 on their 8 losses. Toronto beat the Rangers and Penguins on the road with money lines of -140 at NYR and -165 for Pittsburgh. Take your $800 winnings and subtract your $305 from your loser bets and you have a profit of $495. Not to shabby on just 10 road games.


Last and least. The New York Islanders. In the last two seasons, the Islanders won just 20 of 82 roads games under Scott Gordon which is one reason why he may have lost his job. So far this season, the Isles who have had a road heavy schedule are just 2-11. The Isles beat Toronto and Tampa in back to back road games early in the season. Money line in Tampa was -170 and in Toronto -180 for a total of $350. Take $1100 for the 11 losses and your profit would be $750.
$750 is a pretty impressive number.

Let's add up the profits: Anaheim $140, Edmonton $290, Toronto $495 and NYI $750.

That's a total of $1,675.

Going forward, safe bets on road games against Edmonton, Toronto and the Islanders are the way to go. While Anaheim has produced a profit, it might be safer to stay away from them as they have been unpredictable.

We will take a look again at the progress come the halfway point of the season to see if your theory stays true.

Monday Minutes

The Atlanta Thrashers may only draw 12,000 fans on weekends, have perhaps the worst uniforms in hockey. Sorry, but the powder blue home jersey's have to go. But they are playing the best hockey of any team that I have seen lately by beating Detroit, Washington, Montreal, and Boston all in the last ten days. Not only are they winning these games, but they gave up a total of 2 goals in all those games combined. They embarrassed the Wings 5-1 and shut out the Capitals 5-0. Is this shocking to anyone? Since recovering from a concussion, Ondrej Pavelec has been tremendous in net. Moving Dustin Byfuglien to defense has been a brilliant move which has allowed him more ice time. Andrew Ladd is averaging a point per game, and Evander Kane is proving why he was drafted so high two years ago by already scoring 9 goals. Hopefully the fickle fans of Atlanta will start supporting this exciting team once it returns from a tough 3-game road trip against Colorado, Pittsburgh, and the before mentioned Capitals.

Another team that rarely gets any press and still continues to win are the Phoenix Coyotes. Phoenix recently had a seven game win streak snapped by Anaheim on Saturday night, but still sit atop the Pacific Division with 27 points. The Coyotes are doing this without Shane Doan, who is still injured, and with their leading scorer Ray Whitney only netting 16 points. Once again, Ilya Bryzgalov has been stingy in goal and Keith Yandle has really improved defensively for Phoenix. Teams such as Phoenix in the Pacific Division can ill afford to slump. The difference from first place to last point is a mere 2 points. Look for the Coyotes to get back on track Tuesday at Nashville.

It may only be the end of November, but have we mentioned how competitive the Western Conference is yet? Take Edmonton out of the mix, and the difference between first place and fourteenth place is only 12 points. That's why I think tonight's game between Minnesota and Calgary is important. Calgary, as with any Canadian team, is under immense pressure daily. Currently, the Flames sit in 14th place with 20 points. It will be extremely difficult to leap frog six other teams to make the playoffs with so many three point games in the NHL these days. The Wild have 24 points, and Calgary needs to stay within striking distance or major changes will be happening. Will Jarome Iginla be traded? The Kings, and the rest of the league could only hope.

Monday Pick: Calgary -145

We just mentioned that Calgary is a desperate team right now. They just finished a so-so east coast road trip 2-2-1 and return home to face their Northwest Division rival Minnesota Wild. Take Calgary to win a low-scoring affair at the Saddledome.

Quick Hits from around the NHL

While attending last night's Kings-Sharks game it appeared to me that San Jose is sick of hearing about the Kings and are not ready to relinquish the Pacific Division that easily. Here's an interesting quote from Sharks head coach, Todd Mcllelan, " They've reset the bar, and they did it themselves. L.A. is obviously the measuring tool in our conference, maybe in the league." Give the Sharks credit last night. They got scoring from all four lines, scored two power play goals against the Kings vaunted penalty kill, and answered every time the Kings got within one goal. Perhaps the most surprising move of the night was by the Kings to not start Jonathan Quick against their division rivals. Although Jonathan Bernier did not play well, the Kings defense didn't really help him. The next time these two teams meet is on December 27th at the Shark tank which is must watch TV.

Can't say enough about Flyers goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky and his 11-2 record with a .934 save percentage. Great moves also for the Flyers by locking up Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux to long term contracts, and less money. They're clearing buying into what Philadelphia management is selling... Didn't expect the Blues to miss T.J. Oshie as much as they have since his injury. Blues are 0-3 since he got hurt... Another night and another loss for the Devils. Once again they were shutout, this time by the Bruins and Tim Thomas... Sean Avery proved once again why he is the league's most hated player. He ignited the brawl between the Oilers-Rangers on Sunday night by checking Colin Fraser into the boards which was clean, but was challenged by Ladislav Smid of the Oilers and waited till he was not looking to sucker-punch him. Avery is not only known for his "sloppy seconds" comment, but also as someone who backs down from anyone that challenges to fight him. His antics are sickening in my opinion. Speaking of the Rangers, Brian Boyle who has 8 goals thus far, is probably the biggest surprise of the season. New York appears to have more depth than in years past, and in a weaker Eastern Conference they could make noise in the postseason...Keep an eye on Detroit as they are flying under the radar as most of the Western Conference hype is surrounding the Canucks, Kings, and Blues. The Wings are 11-3-1 and in their customary first place position. They are relatively healthy, and getting brilliant goaltending from Jimmy Howard.

Tuesday Pick: Montreal -115 over Philly

The Flyers are white-hot right now by winning nine out of their last ten games. Montreal is 7-3 in it's last ten and is riding a three game win streak. It's difficult to bet against the Flyers, but keep in mind this is the first meeting between these two teams since the Flyers eliminated the Canadiens last spring. This game has been circled on the calendar for the Canadiens far awhile. We like the way Carey Price is playing in goal for the Habs and think they will beat Philly who is playing on back to back nights.

Islanders make coaching change, sorta.

A quick thought here tonight on the re-assignment (what a joke) of Scott Gordon. I can't kill Gordon although I don't love his system. He is without Okposo and Streit.

As a fan that follows the team closely and rarely misses a home game, two things are evident. The first thing is that for whatever reason, the players have simply quit the last 10 games during the losing streak. They can say whatever they want but the effort is not there and young players like Tavares, Bailey and Comeau have taken steps back when the Islanders needed them to take major steps forward. For a while, it looked like Bailey and Comeau had taken those steps forward. They had a combined 13 points the first 6 games of the season and routinely going to the net and keeping possession of the puck. However, they have recorded 1 point combined since those 7 games.

The 2nd thing is, the team sucks. You can't put Micheal Grabner (a waiver pickup) with 8 career goals on the first line with John Tavares and if that doesn't work try P.A. Parenteau. Am I blaming Gordon for this? No. I blame management for not doing what they need to do to get someone better than a waiver pickup to play with Tavares. Not fair. However the step back that the Isles youth has taken since last season is evident and some of that blame falls on Gordon.

What blows my mind the most is that the Islanders have basically replaced Scott Gordon with Scott Gordon. No disrespect to Jack Capuano, but if the Islanders were to make a coaching change because they felt Gordon wasn't doing a good job or the system wasn't working, why bring in their minor league Bridgeport coach that teaches the same system? It makes no sense.
If the Islanders don't go out and hire a real NHL coach with experience in the next couple of weeks, I will donate my tickets to the organization that best deserves them. In all seriousness, if you know of one that will give tickets to kids and families that normally can't go to games, let me know and I'll look into them.

Hopefully the Islanders make a major change in their organizational plight, but don't count on it. Wang will make Gordon work his contract out as an Advisor to GM Garth Snow and a coach with experience won't be brought in because Wang wont pay for one.

Tuesday Timeout

Read the Toronto newspapers and you would think Ron Wilson is on the verge of being fired as coach of the Maple Leafs.

Go to the Islander message boards and fans are calling for the head of the coach, Scott Gordon.

Devils president, Lou Lamoriello has already defended coach John Maclean after a poor start of 4-10-1.

Rumblings out of Buffalo mention that Lindy Ruff may be on the hot seat as coach of the Sabres.

Yes, a head coach in the NHL usually gets canned early in the season, particularly in November, but is 15 games a true test if a team is good or not? I like to think of Thanksgiving as a measuring stick to really assess teams. Just think two weeks ago the Islanders and Maple Leafs were in first place. Now their respective coaches are on the hot seat. The NHL is like no other sport as far as coaches go. I say let things play out and have some patience till the end of November and then decide on a coaches future.

Are the Blues the best team in hockey?

Look at the rankings on ESPN and TSN and they all have the Blues as the best team in the league. St. Louis has a record of 9-1-2 and has given up a league low 18 goals in 12 games. Even when Jaroslav Halak takes a night off, they still got a shutout performance by backup Ty Conkin on Sunday night. Obviously the defense led by Eric Johnson is tremendous, but they are also getting timely scoring from Alex Steen, David Perron, T.J. Oshie, and Matt D'Agostini. Watch this team the rest of the year.

Are the New Jersey Devils the worst team in hockey?

The standings certainly indicate that as the Devils have a league low 9 points. The good news is that they should be getting some players back in Colin White, Brian Rolston, and Marty Brodeur. However, they will not be getting Zach Parise back for awhile. In my opinion, until the Devils acquire a defenseman who is able to create offense by rushing the puck up the ice they will continue to struggle. The good teams in this league get offense from the blueline.

Tuesday Pick:

A decent slate for a Tuesday night in the NHL featuring seven games. We'll take a shot with Carolina at home over Edmonton. The Oil is in the midst of a road trip and shocked Chicago on Sunday, but lost captain Shawn Horcoff in that game and he is doubtful. Carolina is a better team and is coming off a win at home Saturday over Florida.

Carolina -140

New wallpapers of Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber with heart wallpaper
Justin Bieber in the doctor pics
New song of Justin Bieber
Justin ensaying songs

Justin Bieber in concert walking

New wallpapers of Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber with heart wallpaper
Justin Bieber in the doctor pics
New song of Justin Bieber
Justin ensaying songs

Justin Bieber in concert walking

Flyers at Islanders 7pm EST

The Islanders have lost 6 in a row, and many of them in crushing fashion. The Islanders have given up 29 goals in their last 6 games including a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Flyers last Saturday night. It got ugly at the end and we expect tonight to be chippy as well. The more chippy the game is, the more it lends to the Flyers who are a much tougher and physical team.

To make matters worse for the Islanders, they have beat the Flyers just once in their last 17 meetings. After watching the Islanders during this 6 game losing streak, you keep thinking they will come back with a hard and tough effort after a few butt kickings, but they haven't. They look deader than they have under Scott Gordon and we wonder if players have stopped playing for him, or if they don't like playing in front of Rick Dipietro.

Dwayne Roloson is the confirmed starter tonight and unless he stands on his head and makes saves like Jesus, the Islanders are in serious trouble.

Lock of the week: Philadelphia -150.