Silver Stallions (+2.5 Goals) (+125)
The Pie Pie Strikes Back (-2.5 Goals) (-170)
Over 8.0 Goals (-130)
Under 8.0 Goals (-110)
Notes: After a long wait for orange, Jeff Green is back in action for Team Pie Pie just in time for the stretch run. Ryan played admirably in relief these past few weeks and even got some extended time as an extra attacker in the o-zone (totally legal in this league), but Jeff will take over between the pipes and will look to get his team out of the play-in bracket. They likely need just one win in their final four games to avoid the 10/11 Thursday night matchup and maybe 3 of 4 to avoid the 7-10 matchups entirely. I’m not sure if that’s in the cards with a slate of tough matchups and Ken’s attendance super questionable, but I do think they should be good tonight against a silver team that continues to experience some of the worst attendance luck I’ve seen in recent seasons. In addition to missing Tom and Minsky Thursday, they have multiple players who have played 1-2 games and are now done for the season, plus co-captain Reid just realized this morning that he’s out for Thursday as well. Brutal stuff for the Stallions. I’m hoping they can notch at least one win this season, but I don’t think tonight is the night. Orange by 3.
Slime Time Live (+1.5 Goals) (+120)
Purple Nurple (-1.5 Goals) (-160)
Over 7.0 Goals (-105)
Under 7.0 Goals (-135)
Notes: Slime Time has been looking better the past few games after a difficult start but still sit in 10th place out of 11 in the standings and need to win a few games fast to avoid having to play a playoff game on Thursday night. This is as good a night as any to start although they’ll be facing two tough opponents, starting with purple boasting the top two picks of the draft in Jo and Caleb. Green will of course have Ariel back after an extended absence but the lack of speed has proven to be a bit of an issue to start the season as their fastest guys seem to be Rockoff, this new guy Klein and possibly Rys who’s deceptively quick but might need to throw up on the bench if he goes too hard. With Stern gone that move is now his personal IP. I think this game will be close than you might believe looking at records but I still think purple will have enough firepower to pull it out. Nurple 5-2.
Purple Nurple (-120)
Sex Education (-120)
Over 6.0 Goals (-105)
Under 6.0 Goals (-135)
Notes: A goalie showdown for the ages as Sonj makes her return to D5 after missing half the season on vacation in Europe (if I find out she and Jeff Green were actually vacationing together it’d be one of the greatest stories in D5 media history). She gets to face off against Campbell, playing his final of three games for purple and against an opponent he specifically requested. Is this to try to help out red’s own odds of climbing in the standings or revenge for blue eliminating red from the playoffs the past two seasons? Whatever the case may be, even in a season of crazy high goal scoring, I have to bump the total down significantly with these two legends in the crease. Purple should have a full lineup in for this one and certainly looked strong in dismantling black last week making this game likely too close to call. Under does seem a good bet but with both goalies possibly rusty from extended layoffs, I’m likely avoiding that one as well.
Slime Time Live (+1.5 Goals) (-120)
The Mighty Ducks (-1.5 Goals) (-120)
Over 7.0 Goals (-120)
Under 7.0 Goals (-120)
Notes: One of the most incredible stats of this summer is that 5 total games have gone to OT this entire season, 4 have involved the Ducks and they have won all 4 they’ve been involved in. That puts them in the rather incredible position of ranking 1st in the league in wins, but 7th in regulation wins which is unfortunately for them the first standings tiebreaker. They’ve still got an outside shot at 2nd place and a direct bye to the final four but the most likely result for them is a 3rd or 4th place finish where they’ll have to win one game next week to get to the final four. Still an amazing result for a first season as a franchise, but for that to happen they’ll have to take care of business in this game. These teams just met in the west coast game of Wednesday night and the Ducks just barely edged out Slime in an extra innings shootout. If Slime proceeds to lose their first game tonight vs purple, which I think will happen, I think their desperation will reach a season high and be enough to carry them through this one. I’m taking original, slightly darker green to cover the spread against upstart lighter green and possibly win outright.
Sex Education (-1.5 Goals) (-200)
Mean Girls (+1.5 Goals) (+135)
Over 6.5 Goals (EVEN)
Under 6.5 Goals (-145)
Notes: The final game of the night. I have no idea who’s in for either team but I do know the last time these teams met it was a 3-1 result for blue with an empty netter – much closer than most prognosticators would have believed. I kind of see this one going a similar way. Spread is too close to call but with the two best (and only) female goalies in league history facing off, I’m taking the under. See ya tonight.