The Pie Pie Strikes Back (-2.5 Goals) (-200)
Mean Girls (+2.5 Goals) (+135)
Over 8.0 Goals (-120)
Under 8.0 Goals (-120)
Notes: Had orange lost to purple last night and pink beaten silver in regulation, this would have been an insane playoff-style game wherein the loser would have to play later that night with a short roster in the 10/11 play-in that they definitely wanted no part of. Instead, it will be pretty much just a playoff tuneup for pink as they are locked into the play-in vs silver later in the evening while for orange, there are a host of possibilities. If they lose they finish 8th and play Slime Time in the 1st round Tuesday, a rematch of last night’s contest which green won handily. If they win by 1 or 2 goals, it’s a 7th place finish and a 1st round date with the winner of Mean Girls / Stallions. But if they are able to win by 3 or more, they would just barely edge Cup Size for the 6th seed, making a 3 goal win the basic equivalent of a playoff win. Mean Girls will have Simon in net, Emma playing her first game since she buried four last week and an all-around solid lineup. But they won’t have the motivation of Pie Pie who is rocking a short lineup but will have Ryan in net, Gelman/James/Sheila forming a top line to give other teams nightmares and possibly a special guest sub on the blue line. I’ve got Pie Pie by 3 to complete a miracle late season run that moves them all the way up to 6th in the standings.
Reds N’ Roses (-120)
The MilkMob (-120)
Over 7.0 Goals (-120)
Under 7.0 Goals (-120)
Notes: A fascinating game on so many levels. These teams demand to meet every season and with no games scheduled between them yet but me needing to work out the final nights schedule, this was a perfect fit even last week before the seedings had crystallized. But the way this worked out, this is one of the most impactful regular season games we’ve had possibly ever. The loser likely finishes 5th and has to win 4 games to win the cup while the winner has a legit shot to finish 2nd and thus go directly into the final four where they’d only need two wins for a championship. That gives this game an insane amount of leverage and quite honestly I’m not even sure what a fair line would be. Red has looked tremendous in winning 5 of their past 6 games, the lone loss being to 1st place blue. Doug had two more goals last night and is going to finish top 10 in scoring as a super late round pick which I don’t think has ever happened in the history of this league. MilkMob, however, are just as hot with 5 wins in their last 6 and are the only team in the league to hand blue a regulation loss. They are absolutely rolling with two powerful lines of offense, KG holding down the blueline and Corey feeling right at home wearing his stripper-themed jerseys on a team featuring two of the all-time strip club legends in history, Joe and Hicks. The stakes couldn’t be any higher for this one and honestly it’s a total toss-up in so many ways that I went back and forth on who to pick all day. But ultimately, with MilkMob really needing this win to minimize their games next week as Fusco isn’t in town (but now will be for championship week), plus the franchise having never won a game against red, and a Dorrian’s night on the horizon…it’s looking like it could be a milky night in Manhattan. MilkMob to win and punch their ticket to at least a 3 seed and possibly a 2. More info on that later.
Silver Stallions (+150)
Mean Girls (-230)
Over 8.5 Goals (-110)
Under 8.5 Goals (-130)
Notes: These teams have met twice this season and split; Mean Girls won 7-5 last week and Stallions won 5-4 last night. So the over is basically a lock, but who’s taking the rubber match? There are a host of absences for both teams with Simon in net for Sophia and Jeff Campbell still a GTD for pink while silver will have to play without both of their top picks in Minsky and Tom. But they have for sure looked better in recent weeks and now look to shock the league (and the world) by following up their first win of the season last night with another one over pink. I don’t know if having an earlier tuneup game will make pink sharper or a bit tired going into this one, but I do know they have sorely missed Emma this season. I think having her in the lineup will be enough to put them over the top. A hard fought game and probably a lot of scoring, but losing your top two picks for a playoff game is brutal. Pink ML and Yehuda to live to kiss another day.
Sex Education (+1.0 Goals) (+135)
Fertilizin’ Eggs (-1.0 Goals) (-200)
Over 6.5 Goals (-120)
Under 6.5 Goals (-120)
Notes: The final game of the regular season. Two franchises who have combined for 18 straight final four appearances and won 4 of the last 5 cups. The top two teams in the standings. It should have all combined for an instant classic…and yet, unless MilkMob wins their early game by like 8, this is pretty much just a playoff tuneup for blue as they are locked into top two seeding which both carry the same prize of a trip directly into the final four. Chad is out for this one and regular blue goalies choices are all out as well (Carl in Sweden, Max sore, Jeff having sex, Sonj actually on the yellow team) so they will turn to the man who generally hates doing multiple games on summer nights but will do both blue and white a solid here in Corey. In fact, with Hicks subbing as well, should MilkMob win their earlier game against red, both he and Corey will come into this with more motivation than anyone on blue as a win over yellow would clinch 2nd overall for Milk. It’s a fascinating game as yellow will be rocking a full roster (too full?) while blue will be rocking an insanely short bench (too short?). As of this writing, even with Hicks, there are 5 total players in for blue. Sure, the average attendance at a Sex Ed game this season is about 7 players but still. We’ll see what the lineup/sub situation looks like closer to gametime but with Egg presumably wanting this game to clinch top two seeding themselves, MilkMob game being a tossup and blue players possibly drinking on the bench, I have to give the edge to yellow here. Dorrian’s to follow. See ya tonight.