NHL Marketwatch Edition 14 2009-10

Sports Marketwatch – NHL Edition
1/27/2010 5:00 PM EST
by The Team at SportsInsights.com

Welcome to the 2010 NHL Sports Marketwatch, where the Team at SportsInsights gives sports fans unprecedented insight into the sports marketplace. If you ever wanted to know what was really happening on the sportsbook side, you now have an all-access pass with Sports Marketwatch! Sports Marketwatch- NHL Edition will be published weekly on Wednesday, around 5PM Eastern Time.

Sports Marketplace – NHL Edition

With the Sabres losing to the Kings last week in a shootout, we added to the loss column and dropped a unit. This was the King’s Sixth straight shootout victory, all of which occurred at home. Jonathan Quick stopped Jason Pomnville and Tim Connolly, allowing only Drew Stafford to score in the shootout. While Quick’s future Team USA teammate Ryan Miller stopped Jack Johnson, but allowed goals by Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, to give the game to Quick and the Kings.

Hockey can be a very profitable sport to bet on when you base it off moneyline odds, especially when betting underdogs. The “plus odds” is a reason that NHL moneyline dogs can show value over time. Most people like to win – thus overvaluing winning teams. Our selections on moneyline underdogs will normally hit at less than 50%, but the “plus odds” payoff makes it a profitable investment.

2009 NHL Games to Watch: 8-6, 57.1%, +4.87 units*
*Source: SportsInsights.com

Sports MarketWatch – NHL Games to Watch  

New Jersey Devils +124 over Buffalo Sabres

For our first game tonight we are taking the New Jersey Devils (34-16-1) to beat the Buffalo Sabres (30-14-7) on the road. This will be the third meeting between these two teams, with the road team taking the victory in the past two. Neither team has been outstanding as of late with the Devils going 4-6-0 and the Sabres going 4-3-3 in their past ten. The Devils will look to streaking forward Zach Parise, who has four points in his last four games and leads the team with 23 points. While the Sabres will hope to have better luck at home then they did on the road (the Sabres went 2-3-2 on the 7-game road trip).

The Sabres opened at -133 at Matchbook but has since dropped down to -127 with the public backing them with 56% of moneyline bets. Other books have seen similar movement or held still at the opening numbers. We like to see lines drop or hold steady when the public is heavily backing the other side, and for this reason we will take the Devils to go into Buffalo and wipe the floor with the Sabres.

New Jersey Devils +124 (Matchbook)

Calgary Flames +110 over Dallas Stars

Kicking off an hour and a half after our first game we are taking the Calgary Flames (26-20-6) to defeat the Dallas Stars (22-19-11). This too will be the third meeting of these two teams with the road teams taking one each. The big question in the past few weeks is: What is going on in Calgary? The once red hot Flames have been nearly extinguished as of late going 0-5-1 in their last six games at home. Dallas is still on the outside looking in at the playoffs, and is starting to hear talks of trades involving goalie Marty Turco and perennial Star Mike Modano. Being on the road may be just what the Flames need to get back that spark, and back into playoff contention.

The Stars opened at -130 at Pinnacle but has since dropped to -114. The public is fairly undecided on which side to take on this game, with each team being favored by 2-5% at any given time, with the lion’s share being given to the Stars most of the time. We will take this information into consideration and take the Flames to win in Dallas.

Calgary Flames +110 (Matchbook)

Games to Watch (8-6, +4.87 units)
New Jersey Devils +124
Calgary Flames +110

We are looking forward to another exciting night in the NHL, and the sports betting marketplace.  Keep the Sports Marketwatch – NHL Edition picks handy and your browser pointed to SportsInsights.com for the latest real-time updates, using our exclusive Sports Investing tools. We’ll be back Wednesday with the new edition of the Sports Marketwatch – NHL Edition.

Enjoy the games!
The Team at SportsInsights.com