If I was a gambling man

Let's put the hockey hunch to grind in some money. The local betting office posts the ratios for win, loss and a regulation tie. And since it all seems so clear in the ways of the league, it's about time to do a reality check of sorts. I'll just pick up a few games that are sure, easy money and another bunch of a bit longer shots but bigger potential payout. Five bucks each. Short analysis for each pair and a remorseful recap in the morning to close up the post. Don't worry, I won't tamper my original estimates and try to appear smarter than I am. Let's face it, if it would be this easy, it wouldn't be available for the common audience. Let's go then!

Sure bets, absolutely cannot go wrong with these, right?

NYI-PHI: Well, Philly takes this easily. They're bigger, meaner, stronger and have loads of more talent throughout the roster. Islanders still wonder what hit them on Monday, something black and yellow and #87, and forget to play the game. Returns 1,95:1, ka-ching.

PIT-STL: Crosby honeymoon is on and St. Louis is not the team to challenge that. Sid the Kid will deposit a few more points and the supporting cast wants to prove they're right on par with the wonder boy. A night to forget for coach Hitchcock's band. Another multiplier of 1,75:1 for my bucks.

BUF-BOS: The Sabres are very similar to the Bruins, just worse on every aspect at the moment. The teams play similar style of hard working, evenly balanced lines. Thomas outduels Enroth easily and Boston's boys just walk over their counterparts for the victory #10 in the current hot streak. Finalizes my sure money bet with complimentary 2,20:1.

I'll bring home a sweet pot of €37,50 for an investment of $5,00. Like taking candy from a kid.

Then the trickier bet. Not that this is too difficult either, but there's a remote chance that someone somewhere along the line screws up my moneymaker.

WAS-WPG: Boudreau's big guns are soon all on the shelf with the new style of boring, non-scoring game plan. Today they give this style the final try and get crushed by the inconsistent, but capable-when-given-the-opportunity, Jets. For the next game Bruce gives up on the plan for the playoff grind and lets the two Alexes play like they like. Then it'll be very difficult to say what will happen on the ice. This sleeper starts my bigger cash-in with a whopper 3,55:1.

NJ-CLB: The Blue Jackets seem to have found some groove now that they can just play for fun for the rest of the season. The Devils are a perfect opponent for that kind of approach, being the gloomy, play-the-gameplan, uninnovative team that they are. Carter puts in a pair and Nash complements with two of his own. Curtis Sanford wants to prove he can be the long lost number one netminder and who would be better opposing goalie to take for the comparison than the best ever to stand between the pipes, Martin Brodeur. Jackets' third in a row multiplies my dough by 3,45:1.

MIN-NAS: These teams will play another very low scoring game. Minnesota finds itself on top of the league, but absolutely cannot score. Nashville had major difficulties against the young Oilers' squad and need to prove that they're actually way better. Pekka Rinne will shut the door after being benched after the first on Tuesday and the team will play much more solid game today. However, they're against the ultra defensive Wild who can throw either goalie out there and keep the score low. As much as I hate to bet on ties, this sure looks like one. Hell, we might be looking at a 0-0 in the end. The sleepy effort will not match the money invested in tickets, but will finish my triple with a sweet 3,65:1 cherry on top.

My second crumpled note of five euros will explode to a highly satisfying payout of €223,50 in the end of the day.

-- end of evening brag.

-- beginning of morning whine.

Okay, this got rather ridiculous. I was expecting that I can somehow explain myself out of a slight deviation from the original guess, but the reality requires a bit more. I outright busted on the bets in the end. No need to consider a new career here, yet.

Sure picks, right? Philly won the Islanders, but barely and only in overtime. So that ended in a tie on the betting results. Sid the Kid fell short and somehow the Blues ended up taking the game. Again in the overtime, so another tie. And Boston Bruins then? They got the victory, but only with the slightest of margins and after a third period rally. Another tie in regulation and the victory only in the overtime. Three out of three wrong on the sure picks. What a way to start.

Well, after that it's pretty obvious that the higher degree of analysis didn't go much better. The Capitals did eventually beat the Jets, again on the overtime. Not an easy victory, but not the result I picked either. The Blue Jackets did have the moral victory in totally dominating the game against the Devils. However, it was Martin Brodeur, who stole the show, not Curtis Sanford. A regulation tie again and shootout victory to New Jersey. Finally, I can end this disastrous recap of my prophetic abilities on a regulation victory. It was close as I predicted, but Minnesota Wild ended up scoring one more than the Nashville Predators. I need to point my finger at Pekka Rinne on this one, the third and decisive goal was rather embarassing. Solid three out of three wrong here too.

This was a fun excercise, even though the results were downright awful. Maybe I need to get another crystal ball and give it a try somewhere in the future. Can't really go much worse than this, right? With so many regulation ties this night, I'd bet (huh!?) that very few got their picks right. The betting offices were the big winners on this round.