Silver Stallions (+1.5 Goals) (+185)
My Cup Size Is Stanley (-1.5 Goals) (-300)
Over 7.0 Goals (-110)
Under 7.0 Goals (-130)
Notes: I can’t believe the day has finally come when Cup Size is not only not a massive underdog, nor just slightly favored on a sub-filled Friday, but actually a fairly sizable favorite. But the D5 season is a long and winding road and we have made it to this point where, after a series of trades that went from lose-lose to actually-not-so-bad, they will have a close to full roster coming out against a silver team which is very short and for whom I am actively finding subs. Add this to the fact that these teams just met on Friday night when Cup Size notched a 4-0 victory, their 2nd in a row since tradeapalooza, and I fear it could be a tough one for the Stallions. They certainly have the firepower to win any game, but particularly with Ken out I’m not sure if this matchup will work for them as attendance makes a huge difference this time of year. 5-2 Cup Size.
Silver Stallions (+2.5 Goals) (+125)
Talking Reds (-2.5 Goals) (-170)
Over 5.5 Goals (EVEN)
Under 5.5 Goals (-145)
Notes: After spending a game with Campbell at center, red is almost definitely putting him back between the pipes, and wisely so as the one game without him in goal did not go particularly well; they gave up over twice as many goals in that one game as the five that preceded it and suffered their first loss of the season to a previously winless (but much improved) black team. This week, they’re not fucking around and I’m expecting a much different result. In five games this year he’s got three shutouts and two games allowing one goal. I’m expecting more of the same here. Slam the under. Also note for rest of the season: all bets on red games void if Campbell doesn’t play in goal. But pretty sure he will for this one.
Talking Reds (-120)
The Blue Streakers (-120)
Over 5.0 Goals (-130)
Under 5.0 Goals (-110)
Notes: Honestly, this game could go a number of ways and nothing would really surprise me. Red wins 2-0 – probably what the public expects. Blue wins 3-1 – sure, why not. Red wins 4-2 with an empty netter – very feasible. Blue wins 6-2 – actually, that one probably isn’t happening unless Jack does something to Campbell, which is distinctly possible. Red has a lot of speed at forward between Kittridge, Oskar and Len which should annoy the blue defense but their own defense may be somewhat susceptible to counterattacks. I’m labeling this a true coin flip, with a 5 goal over/under also set at true coin flip status. The classic McQuade stay-away special, although if he was here he would surely max bet this.
Team Pie Pie (-2.0 Goals) (-145)
The Grassholes (+2.0 Goals) (EVEN)
Over 6.5 Goals (-135)
Under 6.5 Goals (-105)
Notes: Jake was telling me at BTSH this week that his team has possibly the hardest strength of schedule in the league and after taking a look at it, I can’t really argue they’ve had a tough go so far and now have three brutal ones to end the season with two against orange and one against red, the two top teams in the league by points-per-game. They also will have to play this one without Zisser who is currently touring Rome and sending me his critiques on Italian art.
It’s really something to wake up to that and very different from the standard Zisser texts that I sometimes wake up to. Anyways, I do think green may be getting somewhat underrated by the public, but I also don’t quite know how they’re going to win this one unless Ridzik goes god mode as Zisser has been a huge part of their victories this season. Orange is missing Russo, DRo and Caitlin but I don’t think it matters. 6-3 cats.
Pizza Rats (+2.0 Goals) (EVEN)Beatin’ Meat Crankin’ Hog (-2.0 Goals) (-145)
Over 6.0 Goals (-145)
Under 6.0 Goals (EVEN)
Notes: The over/under for this game is one of the toughest lines of the night. Hog is traditionally super high scoring with little attention paid to defense and the two games of the post-trade era have been on brand with 6-2 and 6-3 wins. Hicks teams normally follow that same blueprint but this season has been an anamoly as they’ve been riding a Jeff Green legacy season. But they’ve also scored the fewest goals in the league thus far (Maddy’s recent goal of the week notwithstanding) and will need to step that up bigtime to have a chance in this game. Corey’s back from injury and looked great in his return Friday; if he’s back in form by playoff time, Hog will no doubt be a trendy sleeper pick to make the finals, if not win it all. I want to see a bit more from them before going that far, but I do think they have a distinct edge in this one. If Jeff Green goes god mode, anything can happen. But the most likely result is some Hog getting cranked.