Speaker 1: It's time to place your bets. Let's talk to the pros.
Speaker 1: Welcome in everybody to betting pros. It's me Joey p
Speaker 1: Joe pis Apia, and today we're taking you through some
Speaker 1: NHL talk with one of my favorite people. He's one
Speaker 1: of my co hosts over at Sports Grid for the
Speaker 1: last few years.
Speaker 2: And you may know.
Speaker 1: Him possibly, oh, I don't know, maybe from his many
Speaker 1: years of wrestling on your television, whether it in WWE,
Speaker 1: NXT or of course Impact Wrestling, where he is now
Speaker 1: violent by design.
Speaker 3: He's a fantasy maniac. He's also my good friend. He's
Speaker 3: the Eric young e Y.
Speaker 1: It is so good to see your beautiful bald face
Speaker 1: and get two handsome bald guys here in the program
Speaker 1: today and talk a little NHL with you.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: And I know you're dealing with that knee injury, so
Speaker 1: you had some extra time and we're grateful that you
Speaker 1: could share it with us today.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, man, good to see you. Good to be talking
Speaker 4: sports and even better to be talking hockey. I mean,
Speaker 4: seasons wind down, playoffs are coming. I'm I'm basically a
Speaker 4: one legged man and can't do a whole lot, so
Speaker 4: I will not miss a game.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't. Let's be honest, Joe, I wasn't gonna miss
Speaker 2: a game anyways, But yeah I will. I will not
Speaker 2: miss a game in the playoffs. It looks like my
Speaker 2: Preds could even sneak into the playoffs. So I'll be
Speaker 2: I'll be heading down to Bridgetone.
Speaker 4: I think we're gonna raise it to fifty per capacity
Speaker 4: and I'll get my hit, my tickets all set up
Speaker 4: and check out some live playoff action.
Speaker 2: Nothing's better than the edge on playoffs.
Speaker 3: Nothing beautiful, baby. And you know it's funny.
Speaker 1: I remember doing the props in the beginning of the
Speaker 1: year and some of the futures in the beginning of
Speaker 1: the season with you over on sports Grid and we
Speaker 1: talked about it. I can't believe now we are already
Speaker 1: at the end of the season. It seems like just yesterday, right,
Speaker 1: I was around the holidays. I feel like you and
Speaker 1: I were doing that and here we are and it's
Speaker 1: at the tail end. And yeah, I guess one of
Speaker 1: the bonuses if you're gonna be hurt during this time,
Speaker 1: at least during playoff hockey time where you get to
Speaker 1: sit around and you know, EYU and I do a
Speaker 1: lot of football together most of the time. So I
Speaker 1: got to ask you your Tennessee Titans real quick, would
Speaker 1: you think of their draft? Would you think of their offseason?
Speaker 1: And Johnny Smith's gone, Gory Davis is gone. It's a
Speaker 1: lot of open targets. It didn't feel like they really
Speaker 1: addressed some of those needs on offense. I love the
Speaker 1: bud Dupree. It's a great signing, great bringing him in,
Speaker 1: but it kind of feels like the offense is kind
Speaker 1: of missing some pieces, doesn't it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean the bud dupre signing, the cornerback they
Speaker 4: took in the first round, I think those are going to.
Speaker 2: Help bull through their defense. I mean that's what they needed.
Speaker 4: They needed to be able to stop people on third
Speaker 4: down and get some takeaways, which they lacked heavily in
Speaker 4: last year. The offense is obviously still going to run
Speaker 4: through my man Mike King, Derrick Henry. I mean, as
Speaker 4: long as you got a running back that's running like that,
Speaker 4: you know who's on the field that much, I don't think.
Speaker 2: It really matters. I think A. J.
Speaker 4: Brown is going to take a big step this year,
Speaker 4: and Tannehill is playing with supreme confidence, and you know,
Speaker 4: running this system to prefestion. So this is is going
Speaker 4: to be a dangerous team again this year. I think
Speaker 4: the surprise of people last year me but I think
Speaker 4: this year. I mean, obviously, you mean, you know that
Speaker 4: you've got to stop Derrick Henry, but good luck, no
Speaker 4: one's been able to do that yet.
Speaker 2: And I don't think it's going to happen this year either.
Speaker 1: And anybody who's talking about the demise of Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: is a couple of years ahead. I'm telling you right now,
Speaker 1: it ain't coming this.
Speaker 2: It's coming this year. This year.
Speaker 4: It's a stat last year, and you know, anything you
Speaker 4: hear from people that are around the team, if you
Speaker 4: follow him on Instagram or anything like that. He's one
Speaker 4: of the most talented athletically players on the team. And
Speaker 4: he's the hardest worker. I mean, he works out like
Speaker 4: a savage. Uh he's massive, you know.
Speaker 1: Man, His workout video is unbelievable, unbelievable, And uh, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be more Derrick Henry, for sure.
Speaker 3: I would think for the Titans this year. But I
Speaker 3: love aj.
Speaker 1: Brown, I loved Henry, but I don't know, man, I'm
Speaker 1: a little worried about the rest of the pieces. I
Speaker 1: hope they all come together for your sake and for mine.
Speaker 1: Hopefully we'll be back again talking football, have you I
Speaker 1: on our football shows as well, But today m BP,
Speaker 1: we're talking about hockey. So let's start with the President's Trophy,
Speaker 1: and let's start with the odds there, because we got
Speaker 1: the consensus betting pros tell us the Hurricanes are at
Speaker 1: minus two fifty for that, the Avalanche at four to
Speaker 1: fifty and the Golden Knights at plus four fifty as well,
Speaker 1: So you got the minus the Hurricanes there is the
Speaker 1: big favorite. Is this kind of locked up in your opinion?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I don't know about locked up.
Speaker 4: There's you know, there's you know, five to eight games
Speaker 4: depending on what team you're talking about. I'll say that
Speaker 4: the Hurricanes play in the Central Division where my hometown
Speaker 4: Nashville Predators play, and they are a juggernaut right now.
Speaker 2: They're so deep, the team speed is off the charts.
Speaker 4: They're so aggressive on the fore check, so aggressive in
Speaker 4: their structure and their system.
Speaker 2: It often feels like there's six.
Speaker 4: Guys on the ice when you know, if you follow hockey,
Speaker 4: if there's only supposed to be fine, So it does
Speaker 4: feel like when you're watching it that they have an
Speaker 4: extra guy because they're so aggressive, and it's because of
Speaker 4: their team speed. They're not afraid to be out of
Speaker 4: position because they know they can get back, and that
Speaker 4: is in today's hockey where skating is everything. I'm not
Speaker 4: betting against the Carolina Hurricanes. I think they win the
Speaker 4: President's Trophy. I think Colorado could be rated in there
Speaker 4: as well. They're another really really deep team that I
Speaker 4: really like. But I think Caroline is gonna pull it off. Now.
Speaker 1: Look, eventually we'll get to all the Stanley Cup picks
Speaker 1: and everything like that with Ey, but we're gonna go
Speaker 1: through some other things too. So Hurricanes do look like
Speaker 1: the favorite. Seems like it now. I'm gonna ask you
Speaker 1: a question about this. Is the minus two fifty a
Speaker 1: good wager in your opinion because it feels like, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a lot. You're laying two fifty to one one
Speaker 1: hundred there the avalanche of the gold Knights, like you said,
Speaker 1: you know, still kicking around there. Vegas is telling you
Speaker 1: one thing. Do you think you just stay away from
Speaker 1: this or is this a wager where you feel confident
Speaker 1: enough in the Hurricanes locking this up?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: For me, and I understand not a lot of people
Speaker 4: are like this, but I'm an aggressive better and I
Speaker 4: mean there's just there's not you know, the odds aren't
Speaker 4: enough there where if they win where it's worthwhile, you know,
Speaker 4: Like I think you would be better off to take
Speaker 4: a team like Colorado or Vegas or you know, or Toronto,
Speaker 4: a team like that that could, you know, rip off
Speaker 4: five or six wins here at the end of the
Speaker 4: year and overtake Carolina.
Speaker 2: I don't see that happening, But for me, I would avoid.
Speaker 4: I would avoid batting on this because I think at
Speaker 4: this point, like we're so late in the year, it's
Speaker 4: pretty set. All right.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to the Calder Trophy odds a career
Speaker 1: Kaprosov for the Wild is minus two thirty Jason Robertson
Speaker 1: the Stars plus one fifty. Caprosov obviously had a great
Speaker 1: season there, but the odds here, you know, the plus
Speaker 1: one fifty is not bet On Robertson. Do you want
Speaker 1: to make a case for him? Is this a stay away?
Speaker 3: What do you think about the Calder Trophy?
Speaker 4: I mean, look at Robertson has had a great season,
Speaker 4: and I can say as a guy that knows every
Speaker 4: single player in the NHL. I'm a complete psycho when
Speaker 4: it comes to this. I watched two hundred to three
Speaker 4: hundred games a year. I'm in twelve fantasy hockey pools.
Speaker 4: I'm sick. I can tell you that I was unaware
Speaker 4: of who really Jason Robertson was. I know Nick Robertson
Speaker 4: plays for the Toronto main PLEAEFS and he was going
Speaker 4: to be an up and coming star, but I hadn't
Speaker 4: heard of Jason. He's having an unbelievable year and there's
Speaker 4: no doubt that he should be in the Rookie of
Speaker 4: the Year talk. But from last night, I think Carill
Speaker 4: Coprosov's set another two goals one to send them to
Speaker 4: overtime and salvage a point for Minnesota.
Speaker 2: As a person that watches a.
Speaker 4: Ton of games, Minnesota has been a team that has
Speaker 4: been basically unwatchable for five or six years. I barely
Speaker 4: have missed a game of Theirs this year, and it's
Speaker 4: because of him. He is such a dynamic player, plays
Speaker 4: so loose plays, He's physical, can hold the puck, has
Speaker 4: crazy vision. This guy is going to be a star.
Speaker 4: For years and years, Minnesota has been waiting for him
Speaker 4: to come over from the KHL. And the argument with
Speaker 4: him is he's twenty four. But I mean, it doesn't
Speaker 4: specify on the trophy that you have to be under
Speaker 4: a certain age.
Speaker 2: It just says rookie. And this is rookie season playing
Speaker 2: in the KHL.
Speaker 4: He's playing against mad and he's playing a professional hockey
Speaker 4: for sure, but it is not the same. You know,
Speaker 4: do not kid yourself. There is nothing like the speed
Speaker 4: of the NHL, the competitiveness of the NHL as far
Speaker 4: as ice hockey goes. And Kaprosov has been dominant all
Speaker 4: year and he's been doing it, you know, week in
Speaker 4: and week out.
Speaker 2: The trophy is his.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 1: I remember it tro Suzuki coming over and I want
Speaker 1: to say he was like twenty eight or something like that.
Speaker 3: Doesn't matter however old you are. You're a rookie. Year
Speaker 3: a rookie, you win the award.
Speaker 1: Now, speaking of the young teams and stuff, before we
Speaker 1: get to the Vesnat Trophy, I was having a hockey
Speaker 1: conversation yesterday with my cousin, long suffering Ranger fan, and
Speaker 1: she was very.
Speaker 3: Excited about this team and the youth on this team.
Speaker 1: And she thought, although this was not their year, clearly,
Speaker 1: but there was a lot of good things going forward.
Speaker 1: And since we're talking about young players, I kind of
Speaker 1: wanted to get somebody who watches as much hockey as
Speaker 1: you your input on this team because they've had a
Speaker 1: lot of hot draft picks lately. And do you think
Speaker 1: that this is a team that's starting to emerge maybe
Speaker 1: the next couple of years with some of this young
Speaker 1: talent they have.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I thought in that division, I picked
Speaker 4: them to be fourth, and I thought that they would
Speaker 4: make it into the playoffs this year. They started really
Speaker 4: well and surprised a bunch of people. They're loaded with
Speaker 4: young players, they have some good veteran players. Their goaltending
Speaker 4: was supposed to be better than it is, and I
Speaker 4: think will right it, will right the ship. They had
Speaker 4: a problem with one of their star players being a
Speaker 4: bit of a knucklehead.
Speaker 2: Uh. They basically sat him.
Speaker 4: He's still under contract and they're paying him a ton
Speaker 4: of money for the rest of the year, and so
Speaker 4: they're at a deficit of defense, you know, and that
Speaker 4: that's reality. Adam Fox will get nods for the Noris Trophy.
Speaker 4: I don't think he's going to win it. But that's
Speaker 4: a guy that came out of nowhere. He's been a
Speaker 4: good player for a couple of years, but he's having
Speaker 4: an unbelievable season. He's going to be, you know, a
Speaker 4: star for them on their blue line for years. Uh
Speaker 4: La Furnier is coming into his own. I don't think
Speaker 4: he's Uh, he's not giving the impact that people thought
Speaker 4: he was going to be. He's a big guy that
Speaker 4: can really skate and shoot the puck. I think he's
Speaker 4: got I think he's got nine goals or ten goals. Uh,
Speaker 4: they need more out of him for them to be
Speaker 4: ultra competitive. But pederin Is is a star, Sabinajad is
Speaker 4: the star.
Speaker 2: Crider is the star.
Speaker 4: That they are set for success for sure, and I
Speaker 4: think it could happen as soon as next year.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to talk about that. Next season with
Speaker 1: you is gonna be some exciting stuff. Let's do the
Speaker 1: Vesna Trophy here. Obviously no surprise, andre Vassilevski at the
Speaker 1: top there minus one fifty consensus number, Grubauer of Colorado
Speaker 1: plus two to fifty, and Mark Andrew Fleury of the
Speaker 1: Las Vegas Knights at plus three fifty, So your take here.
Speaker 1: Once again, these are some better odds.
Speaker 3: Actually.
Speaker 1: You know, when it comes to awards, it's media driven
Speaker 1: and we all know that. So is it Vasilevski at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, or do you want to
Speaker 1: make a case for somebody else because you are an
Speaker 1: aggressive wager. You're aggressive guys why I love you, It's
Speaker 1: why we get along so well. So give me your
Speaker 1: take here on the Vesna Trophy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think this is set.
Speaker 4: I think vashi Leski because of the amount of games played,
Speaker 4: his backup goalie barely plays. He plays almost every night.
Speaker 4: His numbers are out of this world. Grubauer has had
Speaker 4: definitely his best season to date. The big thing out
Speaker 4: of him was could he play more than twenty or
Speaker 4: twenty five games. I think he's proven that he can.
Speaker 4: He has been banged up a couple times this year,
Speaker 4: but when he's played, he's given Colorado a chance every.
Speaker 2: Night to win. My heart wants Andre Marc Andre Fleury
Speaker 2: to win.
Speaker 4: This, you know, I mean, just the reality is this
Speaker 4: is one of the good guys in the league, a
Speaker 4: guy that everybody loves, has been an unbelievable player for
Speaker 4: so long, and people thought that he was done going
Speaker 4: to Vegas that he was going to be a backup,
Speaker 4: and Robin Leonard gets hurt, he steps in and he's
Speaker 4: having one of his best statistical seasons to date. I
Speaker 4: think a lot of that has to do with the
Speaker 4: team in front of him, but this guy has been
Speaker 4: playing unbelievable. I think he's thirty eight years old and
Speaker 4: people were writing him off last year and I don't
Speaker 4: think anybody thought he would be in the Vesta Trophy.
Speaker 4: And I do want to give a shout out to
Speaker 4: my man, UC Sorrows. If we're looking from March first on,
Speaker 4: nobody has a better goals against average than UC Sorrows.
Speaker 4: He's actually, statistically off the charts the best goalie in
Speaker 4: the NHL.
Speaker 2: From March on.
Speaker 4: They had a poor start, the team was off in
Speaker 4: front of him and he was not good.
Speaker 2: He got hurt, was out for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 4: Pecarine stepped in, the team started the gay momentum, and
Speaker 4: then you see Staro step back in and took the
Speaker 4: start increase over and he has not looked back. This
Speaker 4: guy is a god of goaltending this year. Like his
Speaker 4: numbers are unprecedent. I think he has a nine to
Speaker 4: forty eight save percentage, which.
Speaker 2: Is is insane. I mean, it's absolutely insane.
Speaker 4: He will not win the Norris, but I think he
Speaker 4: should get nods, and that's important for player, and especially
Speaker 4: a player of his age and where he's coming up
Speaker 4: with contract stuff and being the print starting goalie. But
Speaker 4: this is vache Leski's trophy, There's no doubt in my mind.
Speaker 4: The NHL is a wild place, so it is a
Speaker 4: crazy place, true, and Vacheleski should win it, and I
Speaker 4: think he will.
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you, ay Man, that's something keep in
Speaker 1: mind for next year with him, because obviously you're talking
Speaker 1: about finishing strong in contract years coming up. That's something
Speaker 1: to keep in mind for the player when you're looking
Speaker 1: at twenty twenty two and going forward there. All right,
Speaker 1: let's shift gears a little bit to some division winners
Speaker 1: right now. Let's start with the East, where the Caps
Speaker 1: are minus one three on the betting consensus pros and
Speaker 1: the Penguins are plus two thirty. So the Caps right now.
Speaker 1: Look again, different teams have different games left here. So
Speaker 1: how do you see the Caps and Penguins here in
Speaker 1: the East. Do you think the Caps are just going
Speaker 1: to win out here as we get down these last
Speaker 1: few games of the season, or do you think the
Speaker 1: Penguins can catch them here late there's only a game
Speaker 1: or so separating them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the Capitals hold on. And I think
Speaker 4: a week ago, if you would ask me that, I
Speaker 4: would have doubted it. Pittsburgh was coming on. They've got Crosby,
Speaker 4: they were getting Malcolm back, krit Tristan Jarry was playing unbelievable.
Speaker 2: The Penguins were on a real role.
Speaker 4: And on the other side of that, Washington Lasso Vechkin,
Speaker 4: Kunetsov and Samsonov for goalie are both in COVID protocols,
Speaker 4: And you're thinking, Man, I don't know, but I think
Speaker 4: the Washington Capitals right now are maybe playing some of
Speaker 4: the best hockey that they've played all year, and I
Speaker 4: don't see them relent relinquishing the top spot, especially if
Speaker 4: they get O vech and those guys back to when
Speaker 4: I think they shortly.
Speaker 3: If that's the case, that's not a bad line.
Speaker 1: The minus one forty three especially, it seems pretty confident
Speaker 1: enough that if you're willing to lay a little bit
Speaker 1: more than you can actually win some money on that one.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the West too, because that one's the
Speaker 1: You know, most of these seem like they're kind of
Speaker 1: decided right now, especially when we look at the schedule
Speaker 1: and who's paring against you. But the West still slightly
Speaker 1: up for grabs too. The Avalanche minus one thirty the
Speaker 1: Golden Knights plus one ten, only a couple of games
Speaker 1: separating these two. We've talked about the Golden Knights goaltending,
Speaker 1: how good it's been late. Do you think that the
Speaker 1: Knights can catch the Avalanche? And if so, at plus
Speaker 1: one ten is pretty good number.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think they can.
Speaker 4: I don't think they will, but I think it is possible,
Speaker 4: and that is exciting for a guy that I mean,
Speaker 4: I definitely had these guys exactly where they were. I
Speaker 4: said at the start of the year in the West
Speaker 4: it was going to be Colorado and then Vegas just
Speaker 4: behind them, pressuring them all year. I think the same
Speaker 4: as the Washington Capitals. The Colorado Avalanche are playing their
Speaker 4: best hockey right now. Rantan And Andckinnon are just a
Speaker 4: dynamic duo that are just shooting the lights out. Grubauer
Speaker 4: seems to be back in his groove, and I think
Speaker 4: they have the best the best current blue.
Speaker 2: Line in the NHL.
Speaker 4: They're a hard team to play against because they have
Speaker 4: they can play it any which way. Vegas is the same,
Speaker 4: but they do not have the star power that Colorado has.
Speaker 4: I think having McKinnon, having Branton, and having Landeskog, even
Speaker 4: Kaudre Brandon, sad guys like that is what's going to
Speaker 4: maintain them holding on to first place. I think Colorado
Speaker 4: if you wanted to get aggressive, I mean Vegas could
Speaker 4: do it.
Speaker 2: I mean they could overtake them. I don't see it happening.
Speaker 4: If I was to bet on a team to win
Speaker 4: the West, it's going to be Colorado. But I think
Speaker 4: a good aggressive bet would be Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: All right, I want to talk to you about a
Speaker 1: team that could or could not make the playoffs. We've
Speaker 1: got a plus three fifty on betting pros and the
Speaker 1: consensus and the Dallas Stars. So do you think the
Speaker 1: Stars are going to find their way into the playoffs
Speaker 1: when all said and done.
Speaker 4: I do not, And that could be my predator's bias.
Speaker 3: Are looking pretty good right now.
Speaker 4: They've been playing very good hockey.
Speaker 2: They lost last night.
Speaker 4: They if they would have won last night and Dallas
Speaker 4: lost last night, they would have clinched, so they really
Speaker 4: only need to win one other game.
Speaker 2: The problem with that is Saturday they're playing Carolina.
Speaker 4: So my hope is, and I think the Predator's hope is,
Speaker 4: is that Carolina has let their foot off the gas,
Speaker 4: knowing that they've clinched the playoffs, knowing that they're going
Speaker 4: to be in first. I don't think Dampa Bay is
Speaker 4: going to catch them, and I think they're going to
Speaker 4: think the same thing.
Speaker 2: Come this Saturday and Predators get a.
Speaker 4: Win and Dallas notches another loss, and then the Predators
Speaker 4: are in.
Speaker 2: They've clinched that spot.
Speaker 4: I think as of yesterday they were at seventy eight
Speaker 4: percent to make it. To me, I mean, Dallas is
Speaker 4: too much of a far shot, too much of a
Speaker 4: long shot to win and make the playoffs. And the
Speaker 4: truth is, if you look at the record they have,
Speaker 4: I think it's fifteen losses in overtime.
Speaker 2: That's a team that does not have a k or instinct.
Speaker 4: You know, that's they left you know, that's seven to
Speaker 4: ten points they've left on the table. And if they
Speaker 4: win those games, we're not even having this conversation. They're
Speaker 4: in the playoffs and the Preds are on the outside.
Speaker 4: Look again, which everyone thought, you know, and people are
Speaker 4: still saying it.
Speaker 2: Those people are wrong. The Preds are going to make
Speaker 2: the playoffs. Dallas does not have.
Speaker 4: A killer instinct, They do not have the firepower, They
Speaker 4: do not play a system that can win close games.
Speaker 4: So yeah, they're I mean, I get that they played
Speaker 4: in the Stanley Cup last year, but that was a
Speaker 4: bit of a miracle run. Who Dobin is not the
Speaker 4: same goalie. Jay Odinger is a rookie and he is
Speaker 4: not good enough to carry this team like who Dobin
Speaker 4: did last year. They are not making the playoffs all right.
Speaker 1: Before we get into Stanley Cup odds, I want to
Speaker 1: ask you a couple of hockey related questions here. Oh,
Speaker 1: you think towards the end of this year is really
Speaker 1: played very well, because we all know when you get
Speaker 1: into this time of year and you're getting into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: sometimes it's those teams that are very hot or certain
Speaker 1: players that are really impressing you playing well. And conversely, too,
Speaker 1: who's kind of slowing down here at the wrong time?
Speaker 1: Who do you think is kind of maybe hitting a wall.
Speaker 1: We'll get to the favors, we'll get to the numbers
Speaker 1: in a second. But you do watch so much hockey,
Speaker 1: you do play in all the leagues and do all
Speaker 1: the stuff, so I know you're turned into this better
Speaker 1: than anybody who's hitting this time of year in the
Speaker 1: right way and who's hitting this time of year in
Speaker 1: the wrong way.
Speaker 4: I mean, he's been doing it all year, but right
Speaker 4: now he is just on this unbelievable miracle run. Connor McDavid.
Speaker 4: I know, you know it sounds obvious, but I don't
Speaker 4: think people are talking about enough that he's I believe,
Speaker 4: and I think most people believe he's going to end
Speaker 4: a fifty six game season with over one hundred points.
Speaker 2: That's absolutely instandity.
Speaker 1: Well, there's not even odds anywhere they pulled out all
Speaker 1: the all the MVP odds are all down like.
Speaker 4: Nobody without anyone's mind, he's definitely winning it. And not
Speaker 4: only is he winning it, he's doing stuff that we
Speaker 4: I don't think anyone thought we would see in hockey. Again,
Speaker 4: this is Gretzky kind of performance where he's so dominant
Speaker 4: every night.
Speaker 2: It's just like he's going to have two points.
Speaker 4: He's going to you know, every single night he's got
Speaker 4: he has two points. We haven't seen that since Wayne
Speaker 4: Gretzky because of the change of the game, because of
Speaker 4: the advancement and equipment, because the advancement and goaltending. You know,
Speaker 4: I don't know if Wayne Gretzky in today's game could
Speaker 4: could score like he did back then it was a
Speaker 4: different game. I think Gretzky is still the best player
Speaker 4: to ever play the game. But Connor McDavid is making
Speaker 4: a real case for himself, man, and it is it's
Speaker 4: so cool to see. Is all the coverage on NBC
Speaker 4: about the Capitals and the Rangers, because all the fighting
Speaker 4: and stuff, it's like we're completely missing the boat on
Speaker 4: this star player that everyone should be talking about. You know,
Speaker 4: we might never see a dominant of the season like
Speaker 4: this ever again. And it's happening in a shortened season
Speaker 4: where they can't even practice. It's it's absolute miracle.
Speaker 3: Actually, well it's kind of amazing.
Speaker 1: It's cyclical too, because it felt like for a while
Speaker 1: Crosby was that guy and Avekin was that guy, and
Speaker 1: you know, is it just us being caught up in
Speaker 1: the moment of that dominating player, or is this guy
Speaker 1: even a tick above those in their best runs?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he is a tick above them.
Speaker 4: I mean, yes, they were, you know, Crosby and Ovechkin
Speaker 4: dominant players. Crosby a more all rounded player, right, Ovechkin
Speaker 4: more of a dominant scorer. But the reality is Connor
Speaker 4: McDavid is doing both. You know, his defensive numbers. I
Speaker 4: heard a thing on a podcast this morning that the
Speaker 4: Edmonton Oilers are like, are like plus thirty eight when
Speaker 4: he's on the on the ice, and they're like negative
Speaker 4: one oh two when he's not on the ice.
Speaker 2: That's insane, Like it's it's just insane.
Speaker 4: And by any metric, any measurement any way you want
Speaker 4: a word, the Heart Trophy, it's about the most valuable
Speaker 4: player to their team. There is no more valuable player
Speaker 4: than Connor McDavid. And he's having an absolutely historic year.
Speaker 4: And because of COVID, because fans aren't in the building,
Speaker 4: and you know, he's only playing in Canada and he's
Speaker 4: not playing at all in the United States. They're not
Speaker 4: talking about it enough and they should be. And it's
Speaker 4: unfortunate for him, it's unfortunate for hockey, unfortunate for the NHL.
Speaker 4: And uh yeah, he is just rolling. As far as
Speaker 4: people that are sliding, you know, I think the Dallas
Speaker 4: Stars are a disappointment to most people as a team.
Speaker 4: You know, they played in the Stanley Cup finals. They were,
Speaker 4: you know, a few goals away from being the Stanley
Speaker 4: Cup champions. And this year they've been, like I said,
Speaker 4: just very inconsistent, no killer instinct.
Speaker 2: They've been dealing with injuries, they were dealing with COVID.
Speaker 4: They started the season ten or twelve days after everyone
Speaker 4: else started. Then the crazy ice storm in Texas put
Speaker 4: them out, so they they played a very condensed schedule.
Speaker 4: As a person that follows this and as a person
Speaker 4: that gambles on hockey as well, I could have told
Speaker 4: you that they weren't making the playoffs after the Christmas
Speaker 4: break because they were going to have to play like forty.
Speaker 2: Games in sixty five days.
Speaker 4: That is, it's insane, Like it's just insane, and there's
Speaker 4: nothing they can do about it. They can't complain because
Speaker 4: it's just the way the world is right now. But
Speaker 4: I think they are a massive disappointment to most people.
Speaker 4: And I think I had them in the playoffs in
Speaker 4: the Central so that would be a that's.
Speaker 2: A big des moment for Dallas and Dallas Stars fans.
Speaker 3: All right, well, let's talk about the end game here.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about Stanley Cuff playoffs.
Speaker 1: The favorites are obviously plus four twenty five, the Colorado Avalanche,
Speaker 1: the Golden Knights at plus five to fifty. You've had
Speaker 1: a great couple of years here, and then the Lightning
Speaker 1: at plus six fifty. So those are kind of your
Speaker 1: major contenders and your Leaves at plus seven to fifty.
Speaker 1: I don't want to leave them out. They're still out there.
Speaker 1: So taking everything into account hot streaks, players, the situations
Speaker 1: in terms of who's played who and who hasn't, we've
Speaker 1: got the Leaves at plus seven to fifty on betting
Speaker 1: pros and the consensus we've got the Lightning plus six fifty,
Speaker 1: the Golden Knights plus five to fifty, and the Avalanche
Speaker 1: plus four to twenty five. Where would you lay your
Speaker 1: money and how?
Speaker 4: And I know this is going to sound like a
Speaker 4: Homer pick, but the Toronto odds and the fact that
Speaker 4: I think them playing in the North, which I think
Speaker 4: is it's not a weaker division, but I think the
Speaker 4: pass their path to the semifinals is the easiest out
Speaker 4: of those teams. They don't really have to eat any Juggernuts,
Speaker 4: and I'm going to go back to the Carolina Hurricane.
Speaker 4: I don't know what their odds are, but the fact
Speaker 4: that you didn't say them means that they're probably pretty good.
Speaker 4: I mean, look at this team is insane, in my opinion,
Speaker 4: one of the best coaches in the league, Rob Brindamore.
Speaker 4: And they are so deep, and they can play you
Speaker 4: any way you want. You want to play fast, they
Speaker 4: can play fast. You want to slow it down and
Speaker 4: play defense, they can do that too. They've got three
Speaker 4: unbelievable goalies, Yes, three unbelievable goalies, and the best of
Speaker 4: the three, I think is the rookie Netschevik, and he
Speaker 4: has just been absolutely unbelievable stopping everything this year. A
Speaker 4: big reason why they're in that position. But I think
Speaker 4: just because of their style of play, how aggressive they are,
Speaker 4: and how they just are on you.
Speaker 2: You mean it just they're going to wear people out.
Speaker 2: And I believe that.
Speaker 4: Those two And I think I would give a nod
Speaker 4: towards Colorado as well.
Speaker 2: It's going to be one of those you.
Speaker 3: Would spread it around.
Speaker 1: So in other words, you got the Cads at six fifty.
Speaker 1: So let's say I gave you I gave you a
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, how would you spread it out between those
Speaker 1: teams in your opinion in terms of how much equit
Speaker 1: do you want to where?
Speaker 3: And I'll give you the odds one more time, just
Speaker 3: so you have them all.
Speaker 1: So the Avalanche at four to fifty the favorites right now,
Speaker 1: but again not a heavy favorite. We're used to seeing favorites.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the are more like a plus two or something
Speaker 1: like that. This time of years plus four fifty, it's
Speaker 1: a very different year. It feels like five hundred for
Speaker 1: the Golden Knights, six fifty for the Hurricanes. This is
Speaker 1: updated as of just a few minutes ago. And the
Speaker 1: Lightning at plus seven hundred, so that line's actually moved
Speaker 1: since before this morning when I actually put all the
Speaker 1: lines together, so it's actually a little different. So, Loon,
Speaker 1: you run that one more time. Lightning plus seven Hurricanes
Speaker 1: plus six fifty Golden Knights plus five hundred, Avalanche plus
Speaker 1: four to fifty.
Speaker 3: How would you spread a grand over those?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I think right now my gut feeling is I would
Speaker 4: go probably five hundred on Carolina and then two fifty
Speaker 4: on Toronto and two fifty on Colorado.
Speaker 2: That's how iways put one thousand dollars amongst those teams.
Speaker 4: I think that is look at it's the NHL and
Speaker 4: it's seven game series and all kinds of wacky stuff happens.
Speaker 4: I don't think a President's Trophy winner has won the
Speaker 4: Stanley Cup in over twenty years.
Speaker 3: Uh truly, really well, I think it might have.
Speaker 4: It might be even longer than that. It is just
Speaker 4: so unpredictable. You know a lot of times. You know
Speaker 4: a term you hear in hockey all the time is
Speaker 4: they got golid. And this happened recently with the Toronto Maypleefs.
Speaker 4: They played Vancouver. Vancouver didn't know if they would even
Speaker 4: finish their season. They had all these guys sick with
Speaker 4: this new strand of COVID and they couldn't get out
Speaker 4: of bed, and their families are sick, and the coaches
Speaker 4: are sick. They couldn't even ice a full team like
Speaker 4: that's how many guys were sick.
Speaker 2: So they had two weeks off. They came back.
Speaker 4: You know, the NHL pushed them. There was some pushback
Speaker 4: from the player saying we're not going to be ready,
Speaker 4: We're going to get hurt. Everyone was expecting Toronto may
Speaker 4: be leiefs a roll in there and roll over them,
Speaker 4: and branden Holby had one of the best goalie performances
Speaker 4: of his entire life, and and the Vancouver Canucks won
Speaker 4: that won the first game. So that happens in hockey.
Speaker 4: It's happened before, and it could happen again. I think
Speaker 4: a perfect example was last year Dallas. No one thought
Speaker 4: they were going to play in the Stanley Cup, and Hudobin,
Speaker 4: who has been a career backup, just got on this
Speaker 4: role where.
Speaker 2: He wrote it, scoring on them, And that happens all
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 4: I think Carolina's advantage is they have three goalies that
Speaker 4: have played very good, and not only are they playing
Speaker 4: good right now, they've been doing it all year in
Speaker 4: this kind of a rotation that is unheard of in hockey.
Speaker 2: Normally it's one guy and it's kind of his job.
Speaker 4: But you know, they're going away from that with resting
Speaker 4: players more and guys, you know, load management and stuff
Speaker 4: that is pretty heavy in basketball and stuff right now.
Speaker 4: So it's happening in hockey now. And the truth is
Speaker 4: is with three goalies like that, I think you know,
Speaker 4: you ride the hot hand until he's not and then
Speaker 4: you switch out and now you've got another hot hand.
Speaker 4: So if I'm betting, I'm betting Carolina to win the
Speaker 4: Stanley Cup.
Speaker 2: I can't wait for.
Speaker 1: Yeah, have you only got one wager? That's the one
Speaker 1: for you. If you want to spurt it around. Ey
Speaker 1: helped you with that as well. You can follow on
Speaker 1: the Twitter machine at the Eric Young and of course
Speaker 1: check them out on Access TV on Impact.
Speaker 3: He's hurt right now, but he's still a maniac.
Speaker 1: He's still one of my favorite people, one of my
Speaker 1: favorite performers, and one of the best sports fans. And
Speaker 1: I'll tell you a lot, do you why you know?
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a football guy at heart. I do
Speaker 1: love the baseball, but there is nothing better than playoff hockey.
Speaker 1: Like that's sorry, there's just nothing better than it. And
Speaker 1: it's and if you don't watch, you should And hopefully
Speaker 1: we gave you some ways to watch with a little
Speaker 1: bit of wagering on the side for you here at
Speaker 1: Petting Pros today.
Speaker 3: So that'll do it for you, know that, always, baby, always?
Speaker 3: Why I love you, man, It's so good to see
Speaker 3: you and talk to you a little hockey. Hopefully we'll
Speaker 3: get you on the summer for some football too. I
Speaker 3: want to thank you again for your time, and that'll
Speaker 3: do it for us today. But the story of the
Speaker 3: game goes on for the Eric Young. I'm Joe Pisapia.
Speaker 3: We'll see you next time. Kids,