Only four games in the NHL tonight, but there are some intriguing match ups and some sharp bets.
Season Record To Date: 37-46 for -9.59 units.
Colorado Avalanche @ Calgary Flames
The two worst teams in the West square off tonight in Calgary. I’ve been fading the Flames all season, but tonight I’m taking them because even though they played last night in Chicago, as bad as they will be will likely be better than the Avs, who have won only 2 of 15 games on the road this year and have just looked awful even with Ryan O’Reilly back in the lineup. The Avs and Flames are likely the two worse managed teams in the NHL over the past few seasons, and of course it was these teams that were at the center of the O’Reilly debacle about a month ago. Now they are both sitting with very little hope of the playoffs. The Avs trading their first round pick for Varlamov was one of the worst trades I’ve ever seen and that pick will almost certainly now be a top 5 pick in the upcoming draft. The team won’t make the playoffs next year either, which will result in them losing O’Reilly for nothing after they can’t offer him $6.5 million per year as a grinder with “character”. Just mismanagement all around by both of these teams. Anyways take the Flames tonight.
Play: Flames -115 (5Dimes.eu)
Phoenix Coyotes @ Minnesota Wild
I’m not a fan of the Minnesota Wild, but I can’t deny that they are playing some good hockey of late. They’ve won 6 in a row and seem to be a shoe-in for the playoffs. Phoenix on the other hand have lost 6 in a row and I don’t foresee either of these streaks ending tonight. The Wild are 11-3-1 at home this season, while the Coyotes are 3-8-3 on the road. It’s also very surprisinig to me how good home records are this season and how bad road records are for the majority of teams. There are only 2 teams in the West who have lost more games than they’ve won at home. This same phenomena is in the East with only 4 teams having losing home records. With every game being played within the Conference and thus fewer long road trips I would have thought home ice would mean less in this shortened season.
Play: Wild -145 (5Dimes.eu)
Tagged with: Calgary Flames • Colorado Avalanche • Minnesota Wild • Phoenix Coyotes