Dropped my first play of the MLB playoffs last night as the Giants hitting with runners in scoring position was atrocious yet they still did enough to get the win and advance.

It’s on to the NHL tonight though as it’s the start of the hockey season and it’s got many folks here in Canada bursting with anticipation for the upcoming year. Personally I am not one of those as I’m more of a football/basketball guy and only start to really focus on the NHL once the Super Bowl has come and gone. Hockey is a difficult sport to beat betting-wise in that it’s similar to baseball where taking underdogs is the bulk of my strategy because you can be sub-50% and still come out ahead. Tonight we’ve got one pick’em game (Montreal/Toronto) and three other underdogs (Philadelphia, San Jose, Calgary).

All lines taken from Pinnacle Sports with bet amounts ‘to win’ on favorites and flat on underdogs

Play of the Day in Bold

Free Play Records

MLB Pre All Star Break: 101-107-13 (+$691)

MLB post All Star Break: 47-43 (+$2817)

MLB Playoffs : 4-1 (+$970)

CFL YTD: 6-8 (-$266)

NCAAF YTD: 10-11 ATS (-$341) 

NFL YTD: 7-8 ATS (-$198)

NHL Thoughts

I don’t have enough information to put out an official free play on any of tonight’s NHL contests but have sent one premium play out to clients. I will say this though, I have to disagree with D Rock’s free play on the Canucks tonight because there are just too many factors I don’t like about backing that team this year.

For one, many believe Vancouver has added the necessary pieces to be a contender again but I just don’t see it. The Sedins are a year older, they are out on an island by themselves most of the time and G Ryan Miller hasn’t been good since the 2010 Olympics. Yes Vancouver went 5-0 SU against the Flames last year but in my opinion that actually puts the Flames in a great revenge spot tonight after repeatedly getting losses handed to them by this team last year.

The fact that I see 90%+ on Vancouver for this game is also a huge red flag, especially at such a short price. This Calgary team may be young and full of talent that aren’t household names yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t surprise some this season. This game feels a lot like everyone is simply taking the Canucks based on all the household names they do have and fearing backing the unknown Flames. That’s a recipe for disaster more often than not when betting and I think the books get the result they need with a Calgary victory tonight.