2006 NHL Hockey Preview

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Okay, so quickly who do I like this coming 2006 / 2007 season? Well, first lets define "like." I like teams that make my clients money. And in the East I think a lot of wagering opportunities – especially early – will come from two teams.

The East
The club I like in the East is Atlanta. Now, that's not to say the Thrashers are going to win the Stanley Cup. But I think Atlanta may be the best sleeper to come along in quite a few years. They missed the playoffs by a point last season for one reason: their goaltender Kari Lehtonen was out for nearly 30 games. The Finn is back and in shape for the first time in his life. This guy is without question one of the best goalies in the world and he's flying completely under the radar. And look at Atlanta's firepower! The loss of Mark Savard to Boston is big but Kovalchuk, Hossa, & Mellanby remain and have been joined by Steve Ruchin and Nico Kapinen. The only team less known than Atlanta is Columbus –another team starting to make a move. But Atlanta could be a real good bet especially against teams in the West.

The other eastern conference team I like is Montreal. The Canadiens made their playoff run late last year after they unloaded goalie Jose Theodore to Colorado and got David Aebischer in return. I like this Swiss goalie a lot and his backup, Cristobal Huet from France could be starting for some other teams. Plus the Habs added one of the most underrated forwards in the league in Sergei Samsonov who with Kovalev, Suray and Rider should score a boatload of goals. But mostly, I just think Montreal has been down for so long that they too are flying under the radar. At some point early on I predict they will gather momentum and a win a bunch of games. I'll be ready for that spurt. They start with three on the road but I don't expect them to go winless in that stretch.

The West
In the West I like Vancouver. The Canucks collapsed after Todd Bertuzzi's attack on Colorado's Steve Moore in 2004. They started to get it back together last season but just missed the playoffs to the aforementioned Edmonton Oilers. Well, Bertuzzi and all his baggage is gone. The new face is Roberto Luongo. Luongo was miserable in Florida. A new, huge contract and a new venue will give rebirth, I believe, to this goaltender. Like most goalies, when Luongo gets hot he can stop anybody but this guy can stay hot. He just needs a little bit better supporting cast than he had in Florida and an organization he wants to play for. He claims to have both in British Columbia.

My other pick in the West is Nashville. This is a good club that's gotten better. The Predators picked up JP Dumont from Buffalo – a loss I think the Sabres are going to regret. Then they scored by signing Jason Arnott and Jozef Vasicek, And it looks to me like Paul Kariya is back to skating and shooting as well as he ever did on the left coast. But the Preds main asset is goalie Tomas Vokoun. If he hadn't developed blood clots at the tail end of last season there is no way San Jose would have ousted Nashville in just five first round games. Now again, these are teams that I believe will provide good early betting opportunities. There are other clubs that may go further but they are much better known commodities. For instance, betting on Anaheim which now boasts the incomparable blue liner Chris Pronger in addition to a great overall lineup might be a waste of time early on because of the poor odds the Ducks might garner. And Dallas, now with Eric Lindross will get a lot of early press attention and suffer the same overblown expectations from the oddsmakers. Betting against those two teams early seems the wiser choice.

Good luck and here's looking to a great year in the NHL!