---
The New York Hockey Talk show on WGBB-1240AM with Rob Kowal kicked off the new season this past Sunday, October 5th. Rob's main guest was Dave Maloney.Guests on the show included insidehockey.com's James Murphy, followed by former New York Ranger and current radio announcer Dave Maloney. Then njdevs.com site administrator and frequent guest Matt Sweetwood talked some Devils hockey with Rob. Former Islanders television play-by-play announcer Jiggs McDonald then came on the program to talk some Islanders hockey, followed by Bridgeport Soundtigers PA announcer and Zambonis lead singer Dave Schneider, who closed out the show.New York Hockey Talk is broadcast Sunday evenings from 9:00pm to 10:00pm on Long Island's 1240AM-WGBB, and can also be heard during the hockey season live from their website during the show.
----
The odds are long, but the Rangers are a nice "value play." Now all they need is some value for their pay.The Spread / Rangers Season Odds:
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBG Global have listed the Rangers odds to win the 2009 Stanley Cup at 10/1. Bodog has New York at 12/1, while Sportsbook.com gives the Rangers a 20/1 shot.
Oddsmakers have also listed New York at 7/1 to win the Eastern Conference this season.
The Rangers seemed poised to make another playoff run this year with all of their offseason additions, but they must get better against Western Conference opponents this season. The boys in blue were 1-7-2 against the West last year and that must improve if they want to be serious contenders. But aside from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Rangers are the best in the Atlantic Division and might be a nice value play this season...
----
Show me the Borscht.Daniel Tolensky / HockeyBuzz - From Russia With Numbers: Inside Malkin’s Magnitogorsk Contract
I thought it would be interesting to also take a detailed look at Malkin’s last Russian contract (with Metallurg Magnitogorsk) to see what he was making before joining the Penguins and the bonuses that were available...
----
From the "Dah" file.Rory Boylen / Inside Hockey - Hollweg needs to smarten up:
Give me Sean Avery. Give me Jarkko Ruutu. Give me Chris Neil, Dan Carcillo and George Parros, to name but a few. But get rid of this Hollweg clown because his act is old, stale and dangerous. Plus, it was never funny to begin with.
He reminds me of a minor peewee-aged kid who grew six inches over the summer, returning to the ice for his first year of bodycheck ing hockey. He doesn’t know his strength, isn’t used to his new-found size and so he has difficulty with balance, and, most importantly, he doesn’t know the fundamentals of what makes a good, clean, honest hit.
You’re not in minor peewee anymore, Mr. Hollweg. Learn how to lay a hit correctly or else one day you’ll be the one destiny curses with the weight of having been responsible for crushing someone’s spinal cord...
----
Beyond the BlueShirts / Jagr Amongst the KHL’s Players of the Week:Jaromir Jagr has been named the top forward in the KHL for the week beginning on September 28th. Jagr tallied 3 goals and 4 assists in 3 games for Avangard to earn the accolade...
----
FYI, the favorite athlete of Brooklyn born actor Tony Danza: Christos Kostas Tselios.
The odds I find most interesting are sportsbook.com. The favorites for the Cup are:
Detroit +350
Montreal +800
Sharks +1000
Rangers +1200
Pittsburgh +1200
Ducks +1200
In the east Montreal is +300 and we and Pittsburgh are at +500.
You can certainly read into this that the three Western teams are considered the strongest and we are considered tied for second in the East.
Of course, these are just odds - but at least people are putting money behind their opinions.
It sort of looks like the odds changed on the Rangers at sportsbook given their "good" start. The article quote said sportsbook had the Rangers at 20 to 1 to win the cup. If sportsbook is now at +1200, or 12 to 1, that's inline with bodog.
I think that NY City teams always skew the odds slightly because there's more gamblers familiar with them and willing to put money on them. And the bookies need to keep the books balanced and keep bets spread evenly over the field. I can see a lot of people putting money on the Rangers at 20 to 1 and pushing the odds down.
section 335 & jb-A fool and his money are soon parted, they say.