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Let's begin this blog with our standard disclaimer; this is not a tip. OK, now that I'm free from persecution from the tipping Gods, let's discuss this evening's hockey games. I think, maybe, possibly, there's a surprise in store.

Boston play the Carolina Hurricanes in Boston. I cannot see past a comfortable Boston win here. I'd price this up as Boston 1/3 if I weren't a bookie and concerned with securing a profit. I'm not, so I will. The bookies are and haven't, but you can get 2/5 which is good enough.

However, IF you're feeling saucy - are you feeling saucy cause I am - Detroit play Anaheim at 7pm our time, which is 1pm Central Time and it is here where the monies can be made.

While this looks like a home banker - as comfortable as Boston's game - shhhh come here....I fancy Anaheim to win tonight.

Here's the thing people. With sports betting one has to back ones own judgement, else wise you may as well play Bingo or roulette. If you cast your mind back to my initial preview of the play-offs I prophesied that the Redwings would not win the Stanley Cup because they gave up too many goals. Tonight, I feel this judgment will be put to the test.

If I'm right about Detroit's blue line and goaltending, this is exactly the kind of game that will find them out. The Redwings won game 1, but only after scoring the winning the goal in the last 50 seconds and they were also helped along the way with some creative officiating.

The Joe Louis Arena is the Old Trafford of Hockey. I'm telling you though, Anaheim were in that game all the way until that last minute and had they been on home ice would have won the game.

Anaheim fly below the radar see, because they're located near Disney Land and were named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim until recently, so no one takes them seriously. They ought to - just ask San Jose who were the best team in the NHL in the regular season, but beaten by the Ducks in the first round.

The Redwings fans have a tradition of throwing octopuses on the ice when they score - harking back to the days when it took eight games to win the cup - I fancy they won't be throwing them on the ice tonight or if they do there will be more of whatever the few traveling ducks fans want to throw on the ice when they score.


They're missing Brian Rafalski tonight - see Chelsea without John Terry - and AND it's a day game! A day game you say? Now I know hockey is played indoors and the time of day shouldn't count for nothing, but it do. It do it do.

Maybe hockey players' bodies get acclimatised to playing in the evening, or something, but the intensity is not the same and this helps the road team as the home crowd advantage becomes somewhat dilluted.

I feel it in my water. Detroit to lose this game. Yeah I said it, I said that shit. However, obviously no one will be placing wagers based on this advice, cause it's not a tipping blog, but if it was, and people did, what you might want to do is take the 3.0 on an Anaheim win available on Betfair - but as an insurance policy also take the 2/5 on Boston and the 4/9 on Detroit as a double.

If you put £100 on both you'd either end up with a £100 profit if I'm right about Anaheim, or win your stake back if Detroit somehow contrive with the officials to win and Boston beat Carolina. Clear as octopus wee.

Of course if Anaheim lost and Boston some how lost also you'd lose £200 and not be my friend anymore. Thank the lord this isn't a tipping blog is what I always say else wise having pals could get expensive.

I'd almost forgotten what it feels like to get money back from a bet. I'm not one to find amusement in another mans misfortune, not often anyway, but every time I see pictures of Ricky Hatton unconscious on the canvas I can't help but laugh.

I didn't watch the fight but I did listen to it on radio 5 live. All I really remember was hearing a noise like a manc being dumped on his arse and the commentators screaming hysterically "HATTON IS DOWN!! HE'S NOT MOVING!! IT'S ALL OVER"


It's not that I don't like Ricky Hatton, I just have a problem with English sports-smiths accepting the exaggerated levels of respect they get and building careers on it. For an example see the English cricket team who won the Ashes, Tim Henman, Amir Khan and most of our footballers.

I think this spectacular knock-out which would have ruined my bet had it occurred seven seconds earlier - puts his career in perspective. A good fighter, but when confronted with genuine world class fighters, he was out of his league.

Ricky Hatton may have lost but even spark out in the canvas he was still more compos mentis than most of his fans. I got out of there just in time. Ricky bless him is probably wishing the same thing.

My first Yankee sports wager since my repatriation which we hope will return enough to pay for the deposit on a new car I sacrificed in order to subject myself to eleven days of mental and physical torture at the wrinkly hands of a species of aggressive Chinesers;

I've been very impressed with the Blackhawks. A lot of the team are incapable of growing play-off beards as they're such young pups - especially Patrick Kane - but they've shown so much guts in making it past Calgary and coming from 3-0 down in game one in Vancouver to level at 3-3. They lost eventually, but they proved they belong in the play-offs and they can score past Luongo and if they play this game the way they played the 3rd period of game one then odds-against has to be gobbled up like a white-eye at a limit poker table.