Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
Finally, the National Hockey League is back tonight with 5 games including a pair of games in the newly minted Scotiabank NHL North Division, a.k.a. the All-Canadian Division.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Montreal Canadiens tonight while out west the Edmonton Oilers entertain the Vancouver Canucks.
The remainder of the schedule has an all-Pennsylvania game in Philadelphia as the Flyers host the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning open at home against the Chicago Blackhawks, plus the Colorado Avalanche will face the St Louis Blues in Denver.
The last check I made of the Stanley Cup odds had the Avalanche as the favorite going in, as Colorado was listed at + $ 750, that is a $ 100 bet on Colorado to win the Cup would pay you $ 750 if that comes to pass.
Rounding out the Top 5 in order on the bettors board are Vegas, the defending champion Lightning, Boston and Philadelphia.
Here’s where my eyes perked
In the Scotia NHL North Division the highest rated team, # 6 overall, is….. the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I almost believe that………except;
– Toronto hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since before Trudeau was Prime Minister ( I’m talking about the pompous old man, not the current clown )
– Toronto hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004 and even that was aided greatly by Ottawa’s Game 7 collapse
– Toronto is coming off a playoff series in which they blew a 3 goal lead in Game 3 and later overcame a 3 goal deficit in Game 4 and then laid an egg in the deciding contest in the Columbus series.
& Toronto, along with their fans & media, is holding high hopes for the leadership and experience that Joe Thornton, Wayne Simmonds & Jason Spezza provide. If this was 2009, okay…
However, this is 2021 and there’s no way I’m betting on the Leafs, even with a + 1500 payoff.
I’m Fred Wallace