2011-12 Boston Bruins Preview

Hockey Betting Lines

09/28/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took just one year for the Boston Bruins to put the biggest collapse in NHL playoff history behind them, as they claimed the franchise's first Stanley Cup title since 1972.

In 2010, the Bruins blew a 3-0 series' lead en route to losing in the Eastern Conference semifinals to Philadelphia, becoming just the third team in league history to suffer such a collapse. Last spring, however, Boston won a record three Game 7s, including a victory in Vancouver on June 15 to end the club's 39-year championship drought.

The task this year for head coach Claude Julien and company is to do what no other Bruins team has ever done -- win back-to-back championships.

Boston owes much of the credit for last year's title to goaltender Tim Thomas, who won the Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophies in 2010-11. At 37, it's uncertain how many playoff runs Thomas has left in him, but after last year it would seem that he still has plenty left in the tank.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli was quiet this offseason, so the B's will have largely the same cast back to try and defend their title.

FORWARDS - The Bruins are known more for defense than scoring, but Boston did manage to finish fifth in the league with 244 goals last season after placing last in that category in 2009-10.

Boston's top offensive weapon is winger Milan Lucic, a power forward who led the club with 30 goals in 2010-11 and tied David Krejci for the team lead with 62 points. It was easily the best NHL season for the 23-year-old Lucic, who has two years left on a contract extension he signed during the 2009-10 campaign.

Lucic plays the role of Boston's go-to scorer, a function that Marc Savard served before concussions wreaked havoc on his career. Savard, who is under contract with Boston through 2016-17, hasn't played since last January and has already been ruled out for this season. In fact, many folks, including Chiarelli, have hinted that Savard's playing career is over.

Without Savard, Krejci assumes the role of Boston's top centerman. Like Savard, Krejci is a tremendous playmaker and he led the Bruins with 49 assists in 2010-11. Krejci also had the best offensive numbers for the B's during the Cup run, pacing the team in goals (12) and points (23).

Right wing Nathan Horton joins Krejci and Lucic to complete Boston's solid top line. Horton had 26 goals and 53 points in his first season with the Bruins and had a strong playoffs with eight goals and nine helpers.

Patrice Bergeron, Boston's No. 2 centerman, is a fine offensive player and one of the best defensive forwards in the league. His 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists) last season are the most he's had since posting back-to-back 70-point seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Bergeron's 80 games was also his highest total since skating in 81 contests in 2005-06.

Brad Marchand will try build off a strong rookie season after notching 21 goals and 20 assists in 77 games. Marchand really impressed in the postseason, scoring 11 goals to help Boston reach the mountain top.

Boston hopes Tyler Seguin can take a big step forward this season. The second overall pick of the 2010 draft had just 22 points (11g, 11a) in 74 games as a rookie. However, he had flashes of greatness in the playoffs, recording three goals and four assists in 13 postseason tilts. With Mark Recchi's retirement and Michael Ryder's departure to Dallas, more ice time is expected for the 19- year-old Seguin this year.

After the top-six forwards, the Bruins will expect complimentary scoring from guys like Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly and Gregory Campbell.

Benoit Pouliot was the only significant offseason acquisition on offense for the Bruins. Pouliot played the last two years in Montreal and had 30 points (13g, 17a) and 87 penalty minutes in 79 games with the Habs last year.

DEFENSE - The Bruins defense is unquestionably led by the mammoth Zdeno Chara, who possesses possibly the most impressive combination of size and skill in the history of the sport.

Listed at 6-foot-9, Chara's reach and his 255-pound frame help make scoring against Boston such a difficult task. Thanks in large part to Chara, the Bruins had the second-best defense in the 2010-11 regular season and they allowed a league-best average of 2.12 goals per game during the run to the Cup.

Chara, who won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman in 2008-09 and was a finalist for the award last year, also has the hardest slapshot in the world and scored 14 goals in 81 games last season.

Despite Chara's howitzer from the point, the Bruins struggled all last year on the power play. They had a success rate just over 16-percent during the regular season and that number dropped to 11.4-percent in the playoffs.

The Bruins added offensive defenseman Tomas Kaberle before last year's trade deadline in an attempt to spark the power play, but that failed to do the trick. Chiarelli hopes that the offseason trade for Joe Corvo will be a better fit for the struggling unit.

Corvo is a solid offensive blueliner who recorded 11 goals and 40 points in 82 games for the Hurricanes last season.

Dennis Seidenberg is expected to be partnered with Chara again after experiencing a career year. Seidenberg, 30, set personal bests in goals (7), points (32) and games played (81) and tied a career mark with 25 assists.

Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ference made up the second pairing on most nights last year. Boychuk was third among Boston defensemen with 16 points, while Ference was one point behind.

The Bruins are still high on 24-year-old Adam McQuaid, who had 15 points in 67 games as a rookie in 2010-11 and figures to round out the top-six.

GOALTENDING - Thomas has won the Vezina Trophy in two of the last three seasons and is coming off one of the best statistical seasons in NHL history.

Thomas set an NHL record with a .938 save percentage over 57 games during the 2010-11 regular season and that number actually increased to .940 in 25 playoff games. After going 35-11-7 with a 2.00 goals-against average during the regular season, Thomas was 16-9 with a 1.98 GAA in the postseason to become the oldest player ever to win the Conn Smythe.

The best news for Boston was that Thomas was not hampered by hip issues, which caused him to take a back seat to Tuukka Rask in 2009-10.

Rask, who began last season as the team's No. 1 goaltender before Thomas regained that role, is just 24 years old and he still projects as Boston's No. 1 netminder of the future.

Rask wound up starting 29 games in 2010-11 and was 11-14-2 with a 2.67 GAA and .918 save percentage. He fared much better in 2009-10 when he went 22-12-5 with a 1.97 GAA and .931 save percentage.

With Thomas getting up there in the age department, expect Rask to garner at least as many starts as he did last year.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - It's been 13 years since an NHL team last won consecutive championships (Detroit Red Wings - 1997-1998) and it would be surprising if Boston was the club to break that streak. The Bruins rode Thomas to last spring's title and one wonders how much longer Thomas can continue his crease domination. After all, he'll be 38 years of age by the time the next postseason gets underway. That being said, the Bruins have an excellent chance at winning the Northeast Division, but claiming a second straight Cup is another matter altogether.

Casioonnet Hockey Betting News

<< 2011-12 Anaheim Ducks Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thanks in large part to a late-season Corey Perry scoring surge, the Anaheim Ducks were able to call themselves a playoff team last season. With the club's No. 1 goaltender, Jonas Hiller, sidelined for most of the second

<< Vick to practice Wednesday
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick took part in Wednesday morning's walk-through session and head coach Andy Reid expects him to practice in the afternoon. Vick suffered a hand contusion durin

<< Ravens put CB Foxworth on IR
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth, who missed the entire 2010 campaign after undergoing surgery for a knee injury, has been placed on injured reserve. Foxworth has been struggling to c

<< Holden faces another operation
Bolton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden is set to miss the next six weeks because of another operation on his knee. The USA international sustained ligament damage last March after a tackle from Manchester Unite

<< Heisman Hopefuls - Not just the usual suspects
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2011 campaign is now a month old and the Heisman Trophy race is starting to take shape. While no one wins the award solely on their play in the month of September, a few surprise entries have thrown

2011-12 Buffalo Sabres Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Since the departure of Chris Drury and Danny Briere in the summer of 2007, the Buffalo Sabres have operated like a small market team. For the most part, that meant the club avoided the big expenditures that come with adding t

2011-12 Calgary Flames Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seven years ago, Jarome Iginla helped lead the Flames to an amazing run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course, they were eliminated in Game 7 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the future appeared bright for Calgary and its power

2011-12 Carolina Hurricanes Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been five years since the Carolina Hurricanes won their one and only Stanley Cup, and those years have not been kind to the franchise. In fact, the Hurricanes have made the postseason just once since Rod Brind'Amour,

2011-12 Chicago Blackhawks Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the biggest stories last summer was the dismantling of the Chicago Blackhawks just weeks after they won their first Stanley Cup in nearly half a century. A dismal salary cap situation prompted Blackhawks GM Stan Bow

Marlins name Ozzie Guillen manager >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hours before the team played its final game at Sun Life Stadium, the Marlins named Ozzie Guillen manager on Wednesday. Guillen agreed to a four-year contract reportedly worth $10 million. "It's a big step in my

Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.