Posts Tagged ‘detroit red wings’

Red Wings Stanley Cup Odds 2010-2011

October 12th, 2010 by Brent | Comments Off | Filed in NHL Betting

After the heart breaking elimination that occurred last year in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, many bettors are writing off the Detroit Red Wings this year as being as safe a bet as they have been in the past. However, this is a serious mistake.

There are a couple of major factors that will contribute to a strong season for the Red Wings – perhaps as a good wager at betting sites to win the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year.

Stanley Cup Betting Odds for Red Wings:

Sportsbook.com has the Wings listed at +800

Click here to bet on the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup in 2010-2011

During the 2009-10 season, Detroit made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 19th consecutive time but just lost out on the Central Division win – something they’ve not lost for the past eight seasons. Last year, the large problem with the Wings is that their team lacked the normal depth that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on the team. According to the head coach, Mike Babcock, “We’re trying to get back to being the Red Wings.”

This year, the Wings have hit the ice with a very mature and strong team – maintaining a staff of 12 skaters that are a minimum of 30 years old. One of the obstacles that the Red Wings will face this year is avoiding injuries.

As long as these older skaters can stay off the inactive list, they have a strong shot at lighting some nets up for the long run. With a lot of returners, you can expect to see similar home game results. In fact, home games for the Red Wings will be one of the safest bets this year – they’re 137 and 57 at home (over the past 194 games).

Babcock is looking to three key players to improve on last year’s strong showing. Jiri Hudler has returned and the Wings are counting on him to be one of the leading scorers for the team. Another veteran hockey player that has joined the Wings line up this year is Mike Modano – a skater more than capable of bringing some heat to the ice.

Finally, the goalie Jimmy Howard has shown that he belongs in the big league and will be getting a lot of time between the pipes this season.

While you will not see the Wings listed as an underdog too often this season, look to home games as a safe bet this year and start thinking about a Stanley Cup investment. The odds at sports betting sites are only going to get less favorable as the season progresses.

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Pens Take It All – What's Next?

June 13th, 2009 by Brent | 1 Comment | Filed in NHL News, Opinion

First things first, congratulations to captain Sidney Crosby and his Penguins for winning the 2009 Stanley Cup. Well done, guys, you put on quite a show. It was a hard fought series, right until the final seconds when goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had to dive across the crease to rob Detroit captain Niklas Lidstrom of a sure goal. Wondering what Fleury was thinking when all that was happening? Take a look:

Now while Pittsburgh soaks up the next few days, you can guess what the other 29 teams will be thinking about. Next season, starting with the Draft, then the opening day of free agency. You can tell that’s what they’re thinking about just by looking at some of the stories that have been reported in the past few days.

Lets start with the Flyers and their goaltending situation. Earlier this week the Flyers announced the signing of Ray Emery to a one-year $1.5 million contract. Many see it as a low-risk, high-reward kind of deal. I think any time you deal with Ray Emery, the situation is high risk. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, but he has the capability of bringing down a team from the inside. What’s the best scenario? He has a stellar year, the Flyers go far in the playoffs riding his play, and he asks for major bucks in the off season, or leaves the team. That being said, this is Emery’s second chance at an NHL career, so to speak. He blew his first chance in Ottawa, so you can bet he won’t want to screw up his second chance in Philly. I really hope he stays on his best behaviour and succeeds, I really do. Then today we are hit with another shocker. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Flyers are interested in bringing Robert Esche back! He had a stellar year playing in the KHL, posting a 1.87 goals against average and .912 save percentage. If that report turns out to be true, you can kiss Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki’s butts goodbye.

But then we’re forced to wonder, is a Emery-Esche tandem that much of an upgrade over a Biron-Niittymaki tandem? Is it even an upgrade at all? Sure they save a few bucks under the cap, but is it really worth taking such a risk with your goaltending situation? Only time will tell.

Then there was the Score’s report of Pronger being traded to LA for Jack Johnson and the 5th overall pick in this year’s draft. I saw that as soon as I turned on my TV and sat back, thought about it for a second, then muttered “What the hell is Los Angeles thinking??” Sure, lets trade away the 5th overall pick (Who I have as Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson in the Everything Hockey mock draft) and Jack Johnson, a former 3rd overall pick, for an older Chris Pronger, who has 1 year left on his contract and makes just over 4 million dollars more than Johnson. I really really hope LA has some kind of plan for this, like signing him to an extension and naming him captain or something. Seems to me like they could have just kept Rob Blake, a much cheaper leader.

I said that 29 teams will be thinking of next season already, but one team has a very unique situation. The Phoenix Coyotes aren’t just worried about their product on the ice, they are also worried about where the ice they will skate on will be located. Let me begin by saying I am a completely biased Hamiltonian. I have refrained from writing about the deal because of my bias. I would thouroughly enjoy having an NHL team in this city, as would hundreds of other people I know, but especially me seeing as how it would open all sorts of doors for jobs, especially in the media. So when you make the argument about how moving the team out of Phoenix will take away hundreds of jobs, think of all the jobs it would open up, especially to people like me! We all know what’s happening in terms of the court preceedings and so-on, so I won’t bore you with that. I just want you to know that the fan support for an NHL team in Hamilton is very real. The team will be immensly popular, and the area is a hockey gold mine. Oh…and Jim Balsillie for Prime Minister!

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