Boxing Day Special

There are 13 games on the NHL schedule tonight so let's get to picking! With a record of 36-26, I am looking to improve with a big night tonight.

Ottawa @ Buffalo - Both struggled in their last outing prior to XMas so this will be an important game for both teams. I'll give the edge to the Sabres since they are at home and will win 4-2.

Montreal @ Toronto - This is going to be a great game, a battle north of the boarder. Toronto is extremely unpredictable, and the Canadiens are on a nice little four game win streak. But the Leafs will find a way to win in a shootout...5-4.

NY Islanders @ NY Rangers - This will be the third meeting between these teams within the past two weeks. This one should be a great one as well. The Rangers have just ended their home losing streak and will look to start a good one, a winning one. Blue Shirts win 3-1.

New Jersey @ Washington - Another great one, which is difficult to call. I'll say the Devils pull it out 3-2.

Philadelphia @ Carolina - The Flyers have about a 75% chance of winning in my opinion, and I will take my chances. The Flyers win 5-2.

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay - I like the way the Thrashers play...aggressive, hard, and fast. I have not seen the Lightning play at all this season so I don't have anything to compare with. That is my disclaimer for this one. Thrashers win 4-1.

Columbus @ Detroit - The Red Wings were embarassed against Chicago prior to Christmas so they will come out hard. I would be shocked if Detroit does not find a way to win. Scoreline...5-2.

Chicago @ Nashville - The Blackhawks have been great lately, but the Preds are always a challenge at home. I would not be surprised to see the Preds establish themselves in this one. I'll go out on a limb here and say Pred win 4-3 in a shootout or overtime.

St. Louis @ Minnesota - The 'Baby Blues' continue to slide, and Minnesota is playing pretty well at home. The Wild win this one 4-1.

Los Angeles @ Phoenix - I would love to see the Coyotes continue to role. LA is an intriguing and exciting team as well. Whoever wins, I will be happy...But that means nothing for you. Coyotes win 3-2.

Dallas @ Colorado - Another great game. I'll give the nod to the Stars 5-3.

Edmonton @ Vancouver - Since I have several Canucks on my fantasy teams, I'd love to see an offensive explosion from them. I have no other reason for my prediction. Canucks win 6-4.

Anaheim @ San Jose - The Ducks will not be shutout again but will lose their second straight. The Sharks will take a bite out of the 'sitting' Ducks. San Jose 4-1.

Let's see what happens. Merry Holidays, Happy Christmas, and have a great night.

The Results Are (finally) In

I am a few days late in updating this blog, but that is okay because I have a valid excuse. It is the Holiday season and I spent the past couple days enjoying the company of friends and family. But let me take a few steps back and evaluate how my picks ended up from a few days ago.

Let's talk about the wins first. I called for a 3-2 Bruins win against Atlanta. Double the score for each team and I nailed it. Bruins won 6-4 in a scrappy game. The Islanders managed the Leafs at home 3-1. The Pens handled the Sens 8-2 - staying true to my prediction that the Penguins would entertain the home crowd. The Hurricanes continue to struggle, losing to the Canadiens 5-1. Dallas took care of Columbus by the same score at home, staying on top of their division. The only other win came in the NY Rangers - Panthers game in which the Rangers ended their six game home losing streak in a 4-1 victory. In all, that leaves me with six wins on the night.

That means I end the night with a .500 record (6-6). Perhaps the most surprising and also impressive result of the night came out of Phoenix, in which the Coyotes and Ilya Bryzgalov shutout the Ducks in a 4 bagel victory. The 'Wings passed along the torch in the Central Division to the upstart 'Hawks in a 3-0 loss...at home.

Well, that is all for now. My record stands at 36-26. Tonight's games will be interesting, and my predictions will likely come soon.

Stretch Run

There are a dozen games set to be played today so I have a lot of picking to do, besides just my nose. I have been removed from the day-to-day scene of the NHL for the past few days, thus my stellar picking record could suffer a blow as a result. Regardless, as always, I will use my gut along with some small bits of relevant information here and there to make my choice. So lets see what we have...

Atlanta @ Boston - The Bruins we able to put an end to their 4 game losing streak two nights ago in a 2-0 win in Ottawa. However, the coaching staff have switched up the lines and it was pretty obvious against the Sens. The B's are out of whack. The Thrashers aren't playing great either but sit in second place in the Southeast. Both teams will look to head into the break on a positive note and given the B's are at home, they get the edge and win 3-2.

Toronto @ NY Islanders - This is going to be a very interesting game. Both teams have been all over the map this season, winning some great games and losing some pretty bad ones. I will stick with the home team as the Islanders pull out a 4-2 win.

Florida @ NY Rangers - The Rangers have lost their last five games at home and have not lost six in a row since 1993. The Panthers' goalie, Tomas Vokoun is 3-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA in his last four starts against NY. Clearly, one streak will come to an end. Rangers win 2-1.

Ottawa @ Pittsburgh - The Pens will surely not lose a second straight at home, will they? As bad as Boston looked on Monday night, Ottawa could not take advantage. Pens entertain the home crowd and win 5-3.

Buffalo @ Washington - This will be a great game, a measuring stick for both teams, and a playoff preview...all in one. Both are red hot and have split the season series 1-1 so far. I give the edge to Buffalo because of the recent form of goalie Ryan Miller. The Sabres will again ride him to victory 3-1.

Montreal @ Carolina - Montreal wins 4-2. I have no explanation. Montreal is better and Carolina is struggling.

Edmonton @ Minnesota - Both are hovering on the edge of playoff contention. If the Wild can keep the goals down, they have a chance to win. If the Oilers score more than three, they will win. Edmonton wins 5-2.

Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay - The Flyers will look past this game to their game against the Bruins in Fenway. Despite the leadership that is loaded throughout the team, the Flyers have struggled this year and will have a hard time challenging the Bolts. TB wins 6-3.

Chicago @ Detroit - The torch will be passed in this symbolic game from the once-dominant Wings to the younger and energetic 'Hawks. But the 'Hawks will need one more lesson to learn, never underestimate your opponent. The 'Wings walk out with the win 4-3.

Columbus @ Dallas - Dallas had a rough road trip last week and they will get back on form against the Blue Jackets. This works out well for the Stars heading into break, they win 5-1.

Anaheim @ Phoenix - The Coyotes seem to win the games they shouldn't and lose the ones they should win. Since they have been playing well, and are at home, and have a hot goalie, they should win. Thus, they will lose. Ducks win 3-2.

St. Louis @ Calgary - The Flames impress the home crowd and win 4-1.

I am feeling bold today and my predictions are decidedly one-sided for the most part. With some many games to pick, my 30-20 record could look very different tomorrow.

Weekend Wrap-Up

So I gave myself the weekend off from predicting and updating. Since it is the start of another week, it is time to get back into things. Here is how my Friday predictions turned out...

Washington jumped out to an early lead against Vancouver but was shut down for the final two period and eventually fell 3-2. I called for a Caps win, incorrect.

Tampa Bay was able to put some goals on the scoreboard as they stormed into St. Louis and crushed the Blues 6-3. It is nice to see the Bolts showing signs of life and the loss is a bit disheartening for the baby Blues, especially at home. I called for a Blues win 4-1, now leaving me at 0-2.

The rest of the night went my way as I picked up four wins, narrowly missing a couple more bullseyes.

New Jersey defeated Ottawa 4-2 against my 3-2 prediction.

Florida did not need to rally from a two-goal deficit as I predicted but still won 6-3 over Carolina.

I was only one goal away from a bullseye in the Sabres-Leafs game where the Sabres defeated TML 5-2 against my 5-3 prediction. So so close.

Finally, as predicted, the Bruins fell in a shootout to the Blackhawks. I will not give myself a bullseye for this game however because I called for a 3-2 defeat where in reality the game ended in a shootout at 5-4.

It is nice to keep putting up more wins than losses on an average night and my season record now stands at 30-20. More predictions to come.

Finally Friday

With six games on the schedule, there is plenty of action around the NHL tonight. Heres what's going to happen...

Ottawa @ New Jersey - Like earlier in the week, Brodeur will keep the Devils in any game and help them win another close one. Devils win 3-2, with Bergfors scoring the game-winner.

Toronto @ Buffalo - The Maple Leafs are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. On the road, they tend to be rather predictable and frequent losers. Sabres win at home 5-3.

Carolina @ Florida - A battle within the Southeast Division sees Carolina jumping out to an early lead. Florida will rally from 2-0 down to win 4-3.

Tampa Bay @ St. Louis - I love this matchup...baby Blues against the Bolts. Tampa will not be shutout for the second straight game and make this one interesting before the Blues close it out. Blues win 4-1.

Boston @ Chicago - The Bruins have been struggling but this week they should be rested and ready for a battle in Chicago. The B's aren't great in close games this year so they will have a tough time winning this one. Blackhawks take it 3-2 in overtime/shootout.

Washington @ Vancouver - The Caps continue their road trip in Vancouver. The Canucks will put together a solid first two periods but will fall apart in the third. Caps win 4-3.

In the spirit of the Holidays, I will be taking the weekend off and enjoying a much deserved break from work, predictions, and all things normal. Have an exciting weekend!

Frizzle Frazzle

A great night for me and my predictions. Only two mishaps left me with a nice little 7-2 record for the evening.

Again, I predicted the score line, just in the wrong direction. Minnesota arrived in Montreal and stormed away winners 3-1.

Phoenix continues to impress and pulled out a close one, 2-1, against my 6-4 prediction that they would lose.

With only two losses, there is not much more to say about the wins. The only thing I can think is...I told you so or I was right. I narrowly missed getting a couple more bullseyes which would have been nice heading into the weekend but I'll take the wins regardless.

My record improves to 26-18 with a nice 7-2 record last night. I just want to keep putting some distance between the wins and loss totals. Slowly but surely I should have a pretty good record.

So Cold

Thursday night is full of action, which means I have a lot of picking and choosing to take care of...so pay close attention.

Minnesota @ Montreal - This promises to be a low scoring game, so if you are betting on the over under, unless the line is three...take the under. Montreal wins at home 3-1.

NY Rangers @ NY Islanders - A rematch of the rivalry sees a venue swap as the Rangers travel east to face the Islanders in the Coliseum. The Rangers will hold the back the young guns and pull out a victory 3-2.

Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia - Another rematch. Same result. Pens win in a closer game 4-3.

Dallas @ Atlanta - Atlanta is finally playing at home but Dallas suffered an embarrassing loss to the Carolina breeze last night. This is a difficult game to call and I would be shocked to get it correct. Dallas wins 2-1.

Phoenix @ Columbus - The coyotes manage to stick around and continue to pile up wins. Against the mediocre Jackets they will fall short 6-4.

Tampa Bay @ Detroit - The Wings are tough at home, the Bolts continue to disappoint. But Detroit is not the giants they used to be in Hockeytown. Bolts make it close but fall 4-2.

LA @ Calgary - So long as Mikka Kiprusoff starts in net, the Flames will win this game. He has been stellar all year. As I type this I have second thoughts though...eh, ah, ummmm...Flames win 3-1.

Nashville @ Edmonton - The Oilers will struggle at home against the below-the-radar Preds. Nashville 5-3.

Anaheim @ San Jose - A few years ago this would have been a much anticipated game. With both teams underperforming so far, the hype is lost but the quality and excitement remain. San Jose wins 4-3.

There are some great games tonight and will make for an interesting Friday.