Green Street Hooligans (-275)
Mavericks (+190)
Green Street Hooligans (-2.0 Goals) (-120)
Mavericks (+2.0 Goals) (-120)
Over 7.5 (-120)
Under 7.5 (-120)
Notes: Quick and short previews this week as we have 5 games, many of them featuring a bunch of subs. The first contest of the evening is a bit of a mismatch as the Hooligans will have most of their roster showing up and boast the 2nd best PPG in the league while the Mavericks are looking for their first win of the season and will be missing multiple players, as usual. I still think the Mavericks could be a top team but with their 1st rounder only making one game and their 3rd rounder making 0, it’s tough to compete in what is essentially a salary cap league. Malik will thankfully be back for red and Austin Lyons will be out for green with an upper body injury but I’m not sure if it will matter. Until Ludwig or Jack are either back in the lineup or traded for similar talent, Mavericks will struggle to beat top teams. Team Makeout is in big trouble. I’m taking the Hooligans moneyline and sprinkling on the puckline as well. Also Ryann might be a leprechaun; pass it on.
The Blue Balls Of Sex (-130)
My Cup Size Is Stanley (-110)
Over 8.0 (-120)
Under 8.0 (-120)
Notes: Both teams in this one are hurting as blue will be missing Sam, Sully, Ariel, Garrett, Dave Liang, Zach and Caitlin while black will be missing Shelly, Sean Gavin, Jeremy, Matt and Tracy. Subs galore for this game that sees Dave make his 2nd straight start in goal. Black will be using the services of Yehuda and possibly Eric Phelps (red’s goalie) as a forward sub while blue will be using goalies as forwards as well with Casca subbing in and Campbell playing out as usual in addition to some dude Cat Tremble is friends with and a random sub or two TBD. Much up in the air here as blue, after scoring 14 goals in their first two games, has all of a sudden had trouble scoring the past few games with 3 goals in their past 3 games. To be fair, all those games were against top goalies as Casca, AJ and AJ again shut the door and left blue feeling, well, blue. Dave will look to do the same tonight while Jacob looks to help team Balls get off their recent skid. There’s been talk of line shuffling, trades, even a possible rebrand on blue team reddit. Without multiple top players, tonight’s game will be a huge challenge for both teams. Line feels like a trap; stick to the over.
Royals (-150)
East River Kraken (+110)
Over 8.0 (-120)
Under 8.0 (-120)
Notes: Wow, a matchup that doesn’t need any subs and it features the Kraken? Color me shocked as the expansion team has been plagued by poor attendance this season but could be in 5th place by the end of the night. That might seem shocking but they’re still the only team to have beaten the 1st place Goaldiggers and have played well enough to win all of their games except for last week’s 10-1 revenge shellacking at the hands of those same Goaldiggers. Lily remains out, as is tradition, but most of the Kraken’s roster will be in for this one including Devils legend Mike Schwartz making his D5 debut, 3 full years after I last saw him play hockey at Mofo. His cardio wasn’t great back then and I am super excited to see what it looks like tonight. Meanwhile the Royals continue their quest for league best attendance which doesnt get a trophy but certainly a well-earned high five from me (possibly a hug but don’t push your luck) as the only player on their injury report is McNeil. By now Zisser should also be fully recovered from Vegas which should come in handy as Braun fires 20 snapshots at him from all angles; TBD if Chris has gone to Vegas anytime in the last week. If he has, orange might win by 20. If he hasn’t, this should be a fairly close game and one in which I’m hammering the over.
The Grapes (-155)
The Blue Balls Of Sex (+115)
Over 8.0 (-115)
Under 8.0 (-125)
Notes: Blue rolls into their 2nd game of the evening with the same absences as game 1 while The Grapes will be without Seth, Liz, Hilary and their captain Jack for this matchup. Jess will sub in for purple while Kev will wear the C and better put up a big game seeing as the only reason we didn’t postpone this is because his parents are in town and want to see him ball out. I honestly have no idea what to expect from this game as this league seems to be surprisingly religious and the amount of travel during Passover/Easter week is borderline shocking. Blue could be nice and warmed up from playing at 7:30 or could be completely dead. Purple could come out totally flat without Jack or might decide they’re better off without their captain. Either way, this one feels like an under play.
Hungry Hippos (+120)
The Goaldiggers (-160)
Over 8.0 (-105)
Under 8.0 (-135)
Notes: The west coast game sees the 1st place Goaldiggers face off against the 2nd place Hippos, fresh off yellow laying claim to that slot in a historic emergency Thursday night beerpong series taking place in a backyard patio setting that lookecd classier than expected but still resembled some sort of bizarre cult ritual. Tonight they will face some tough sledding against a Goaldiggers team that, aside from a 4-3 OT loss to the Kraken, has outscored their opponents 25-4. Tash is out for white while Satok and Carley flying in for this game and trying to make it directly from the airport. Not ideal but they will still have Guido, Tarnow and Miles up front with Hogg, currently #1 in the GAA race, between the pipes. The Hippos will be missing Jon Herman, Robyn, Chris, Eli and AJ with Mel a GTD. Steve Friedman will step in for the Hippos in his first sub appearance since Spring 2021 when he subbed in for the Hippos and led them to a 5-2 win over the very same Goaldiggers. Well, very same is a bit misleading since rosters change every season but Guido/Tarnow will be out for revenge if they even remember that game; odds are they’ve scrubbed that entire season from their memory. This is a huge game for both teams: a win for white solidifies their hold on 1st going into the home stretch while a win for yellow would vault them into 1st place after most pundits had them finishing middle-bottom of the pack before the season. They’ll need a big performance from Friedman to pull it off but I think they can do it. I’m not brave enough to bet on it, but I think it’s definitely possible. In the meantime I’ll be ripping the under with two elite goalies closing out the evening and hopefully sending us home at a fairly reasonable hour.