messierforlife

Now THAT is what you call a rebound week! ! After experiencing my 1^st sub .500 week since last spring, I came back with a vengeance last week nailing EVERY winner! Not only did I sweep the sched, but I decided seriously go on a limb with an EXTREMELY BOLD prediction for an underdog... (I made the gutsy call to select the New York Islanders to defeat the New Jersey Devils in Jersey). Now take a second to let me put this into perspective for you. The Isles had lost 4 in a row, 14 of their previous 16 and hadn’t nailed down a single victory on the road all season, heading into Jersey vs a Devils team, who was hot, winning four of their previous five!! Despite all the odds against them, the Islanders actually came through! Now that is the Gold I provide!

Phew! The law of averages saw this coming since last spring…but last time out my column resulted in my 1^st sub .500 card since April 8^th of last season. Time to bury last week’s rare outlier with another dependable lineup, so without beating around the bush, let’s cut right to the chase this week.

Good afternoon poolies! Firstly, off the bat, I just wanted to give a thumbs up to my colleague Marty who last week managed to nab 5 of his 6 winners, despite evening out in ProLine terms. If you followed his winners moneyline through offshore wagering, you were pretty happy. Anyhow, on my front, I remain on the verge of hitting at a rate of 60% thus far in 2011-12, and feel confident I can spike that back up further this week.

After a decent start to an already riveting 2011-2012 campaign, taking two thirds of my choices, I’m looking to maintain or dare say increase that pace! Last Saturday’s trip into Boston made for quite the visit. I witnessed the defending champs in all their glory, taking the Leafs to school with TD BankNorth Arena chanting in unison “Thank You Kessel!!” with feverish aplomb. (Insert “Aren’t you a Leafs homer?” comment here..shhhh.)

Give Anthony a follow on Twitter - @Anthisdaman

We’re in the stretch run now!  Although it may not officially be playoff time just yet, it certainly feels like it with more intense races to get into the dance than we’ve ever seen before, involving more teams still fighting than accustomed to.

Commissioner Bettman wanted parity, and boy did he ever get it. With under three weeks left in the season, by my count, only five teams are legitimately out of the chase. This weekend’s matchups provide plenty of meaningful games, with each passing day intensifying the grind that much more. Come the official 1^st puck drop of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, almost all of the top 16 will be more than ready, having being forced into playoff atmosphere games for the better part of a month already! Now without further ado, let’s get to it.

Greetings Hockey Fans! After a rough Saturday night two columns ago where my streak of continually improving on my prior week’s record ended, I rebounded quite nicely choosing four of six winners two weeks ago. (Although I went five for six (83%), if you count my selection of the Bruins in SO, despite them getting the job done in regulation.) I also wanted to give Marty a standing O for his dead-on call last weekend of the Oilers impending repeat whipping of the Avs. He even nailed the score! Anyhow, here’s to a 3^rd straight impressive week from the Dobber 6-Pack Saturday night crew!

While you’re deciding whether to spend your weekend working on a six-pack of Labatt suds or still somehow striving toward your NY’s resolution of sculpting a six-pack of abs, here’s my NHL Saturday Night Six-Pack Special for you to chew on. With a new precedent set by Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke since I last spoke to you, the glorified madness of Deadline Day has seemingly lost a bit of its lustre. A monkey-see monkey-do reaction by eager GMs league-wide has resulted in an early and frankly unprecedented frenzy in the market in the weeks prior to the traditional deadline caving.  Thus, with tonnes of new faces zipping off to strange settings and meeting new teammates all over the league, new chemistries will be abuzz, making for an interesting weekend for sure.

Let’s cut to the chase...