Merry Pranksters (-2.5 Goals) (-130)
The Golden Girls (+2.5 Goals) (-110)
Over 8.0 (-130)
Under 8.0 (-110)
Notes: Both teams, after requesting the first week+ off for Passover, should have most of their players in for this one. The Pranksters are probably the most under-the-radar team in the league this season as even though they’re 1-0 no one is really giving them much of a shot to win it all. But this is a far more solidly drafted Pranksters team in years past as they’ve augmented their standard offensive punch with some honest to god defense and goaltending. Gold, on the other hand, lost 10-1 in their first game of the season last week and are being counted out by pretty much everyone. But how much can really be learned from a game in which they were missing most of their top players and gave up 10 goals? In a way, this is their real debut and although Amanda is out for the season (questionable how much this actually hurts the team), they will have most of their players in for this one. These early season games are so difficult to handicap because we don’t know a ton about any of these teams. I pretty much have to make gold a multi-goal underdog because that’s how the public will be going but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make this a game. Some decent value in gold +2.5. We’ll see.
Bonus Lines
More Goals In This Game
Jo Robin (-145)
Minsky (EVEN)
More Points In This Game
Joel + Maddie (-130)
Joe + Brad (-110)
The Smurfs (-4.0 Goals) (-145)
The Golden Girls (+4.0 Goals) (EVEN)
Over 8.0 (-130)
Under 8.0 (-110)
Notes: This game will be a little tougher for gold as they take on a blue team that is 3-0 and averaging 5 goals per game. With no supplementary picks this season, just Sam as captain slated in the 1.1 draft spot where he would almost definitely be drafted, people are running out of reasons to cite why blue teams keep winning games every season. Voodoo curses and magical spells are next on my personal bingo card but in this league truly anything is possible. In any case, while I do think this gold team is getting somewhat unfairly thrashed by the public for getting taken to the woodshed in a game where they didn’t have their regular roster, I also think that The Smurfs in particular are a matchup nightmare for The Golden Girls and losing Joe for Game 2 is certainly not going to help matters at all. The over would be intriguing if the goalies were shittier. Classic stay away game with a spread like this. Bet at your own risk.
Bonus Lines
More Points In This Game
Chad + Sam (-225)
Minsky + Joe + Tom McGuire (+150)
Mel’s Power Trip (-120)
Merry Pranksters (-120)
Over 7.5 (-120)
Under 7.5 (-120)
Notes: These are two darkhorse teams and in my opinion this is the most interesting matchup of the night. Yellow was rated super highly by most pre-season and while they’ve been impressive so far, I have some doubts about their ceiling. That said, they won’t have Yehuda for this one so team chemistry and general cohesion should exponentially increase at a rate that breaks through the aforementioned questionable ceiling and destroys the chart. Meanwhile tie-dye was not given much respect by anyone but me but against all odds I actually like this roster. The goalie matchup for this one is electric as in the battle of Ridzik’s former teams he’ll jump in net for yellow while the Pranksters will suit up Sonj, fresh off scoring two points for camo on Tuesday. Brooke and Jack Cooley also face off against their teams from last season but I doubt that matters unless there was some secret locker room drama that’s going to explode today. Would be fantastic, but seems unlikely. I have reason to believe the public is going to be all over yellow for this one but I actually like the Pranksters just a little bit more. Toss-up odds seem fair.
Bonus Lines
More Points In This Game
Mike Pelletier (-110)
Sam Gelman (-130)
The Smurfs (-1.0 Goals) (-185)
The Hart Foundation (+1.0 Goals) (+140)
Over 7.5 (-120)
Under 7.5 (-120)
Notes: The final game of the evening is a possible championship preview as blue takes on pink. The Hart Foundation lost a 3-1 decision to Mojo Jojo in their opener on Tuesday, a game where they dominated the 3rd and were repeatedly stoned by Corey which is ironic when you really think about it (DM me if you need this joke explained to you). They’ll be missing Rockoff and DRo tonight along with their goalie possibly for the rest of the season. Ridzik will get the call in net and face off against the #1 team in the standings averaging 5 goals per game, as I mentioned earlier but I’m running out of material at this late stage of writing. Blue will be missing a bunch of people including Mikey, Brett and Len and will have someone subbing in, TBD who. My general thoughts on this game are about what you’d expect – I think the public is going to be all over blue and they should probably win, but pink is also being underrated after just barely losing on Tuesday to another top team in a game that could have certainly gone the other way. Last game of the night. Everyone’s mind will probably be on Dorrian’s by this time anyway.
Bonus Lines
More Points In This Game
Chad + Sam (-120)
Miles + Stern (-120)