Bada Bing (+210)
96th Street Bastards (-340)
Over 8.0 Goals (-120)
Under 8.0 Goals (-120)
Notes: Finally, the playoffs are back so this calls for the Tony Soprano gambling pic. This is the Bing after all and although it has for sure been a down year, they enter this game with their best lineup maybe of the season. After losing Mahoney and Tony D during the hiatus they for some reason declined to take a sub for them in-season, opting to wait-and-see. Well, a few losses and one wild trade later, purple is in the play-in against the very team they made the trade with in what many (especially on red) are dubbing “The Collusion Bowl.” Purple will have D5 vet Lew Bonder in for Mahoney and Kev donning the purple once more in place of 3rd round pick and top 10 point scorer Dave Liang. I actually think Kev has a purple jersey with a C on it and I sincerely hope he wears it tonight and asserts control. That said, while purple is the people’s pick based on heart, when money is actually on the line…
The Bastards aren’t the sexy pick but they are pulling in 87.9% of public opinion. There is very little weakness on this black team except for one major one: speed. Purple is going the all-grit route and will have a major edge in footspeed in this one. Black has more top-to-bottom skill though. Two battles to watch: in net, where the goalies were traded for each other and are the only two still remaining for the inaugural Summer 2018 season, and behind the bench where Rich and Jack will engage in an epic contest to see who can cheat more. My gut says to take Rich, but if you’ve ever seen Jack play flipcup you know there’s no low he won’t stoop to. Hard pass on betting this one. Watching, however, should be electric.
Merry Pranksters (-135)
Jewish Golden Calfs (-105)
Over 7.5 Goals (EVEN)
Under 7.5 Goals (-140)
Notes: Sonj will be in net for gold in this one while Cam continues his hot streak and minds the cage for tie-dye. Legitimately anytime this entire season were this game put in front of me, I would have gold favored. But there’s no doubt about it – this Pranksters team is hot and Cam is playing arguably the best hockey of his career. And, of course, there is the matter of public sentiment which is basically split but slightly favors tie dye.
I still think gold is a highly highly underrated possession team that can really cause matchup problems when they have their full line-up. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened really ever this season and tonight they don’t have Max, who incredibly they did not lose a single game with. Sonj will give them great minutes off the bench but they are going to have to do a much better job defending than they did in a final week 8-3 drubbing at the hands of these same Pranksters. I’ve been told that tonight they have their full roster in. I like the under in this game with two hot goalies, but I am also intrigued by the Calfs as a surprising underdog.
BING / BST (+2.0 Goals) (EVEN)
Shooting Blancs (-2.0 Goals) (-145)
Over 7.5 Goals (-120)
Under 7.5 Goals (-120)
Notes: The Blancs won’t have Storer for this one but I don’t think the public cares in the slightest. Not even a little.
An interesting wrinkle is that if Bada Bing wins game 1, then Jack will be compelled to play for the purple team he captains vs the white team he goaltends for. As such they will get Jacob in net for that game; he’s on call from the Upper East Side and ready to be activated. I think against black everyone will look to the game they recently dominated them in a couple weeks ago while against purple people will just assume they’ll dominate that one too. I kinda think the people are right. Blancs -2.
PRK / JGC (+2.5 Goals) (+145)
Bluebies (-2.5 Goals) (-200)
Over 8.0 Goals (-130)
Under 8.0 Goals (-110)
Notes: This is the most lopsided public split I have maybe ever seen in my many years of running this poll then shamelessly mining it for content.
That said, blue has a full roster in tonight for the first time since October and Phelps in net. I think gold is better than tie-dye, but tie-dye is a trickier matchup. Either way, I would still go with blue.
Bada Bing (+1200)
96th Street Bastards (+400)
Shooting Blancs (+135)
Big Deke Energy (-165)
Over 7.0 Goals (-270)
Under 7.0 Goals (+185)
Notes: Ah yes, our final game of the night and the league’s first street fight line. I’m just going to list all four possible candidates for your consideration here. Bing may seem like a steal at +1200 but amazingly not a single person picked them to make it to the final four.
Seeding truly doesn’t seem to matter as more people are picking the 5th seeded Blancs, who may not even make it to this game, over a yellow team guaranteed to be there waiting. Of course, anything can happen – purple will have by far their best roster since the restart tonight. And it’s easy to forget but black was considered a frontrunner just a few weeks ago. But most likely, this is going to be a yellow vs white blood war, a rematch from two weeks ago when white stormed out to a 4-0 lead only to narrowly escape with a shootout win. Had white won that game in regulation they would be the 2 or 3 seed. Had yellow found a way to complete the comeback and win in OT, they would have been the 2 and in the final four automatically. Instead, they’ll face off tonight in a matchup between two teams who could legitimately win the title. I think missing Storer will prove to be the difference as yellow brings all their horses into this matchup. Yellow to make the final four for the first time in the Mel era.
Ridzik Parlay Super Boost:
Pete Anytime Goalscorer vs Purple
Female To Score Point In Calfs/Pranksters
Blancs -2 vs BST/BING Winner
Blancs TT over 6 goals vs BST/BING Winner
Phelps under 2.5 goals allowed
Was: +1350
Boosted to: +1700
You can still fill out a free playoff bracket if you haven’t already. And the draft order for the Spring 2024 season will be determined based on the results of tonight’s games.
See ya tonight.