I’m betting most of you NHL fans knew who rounded out my top five before I posted, as Brayden Schenn is a consensus pick to go No. 5 on almost every mock draft board.

The comparison i’ve seen most is Bryan Trottier — pretty lofty. Scouts say Brayden is a power forward/playmaker hybrid, reportedly driving to the net hard, getting physical with defenders, and extremely tough to move from the front of the net. He also is said to have a quick release and great passing skills. Sounds to me like he projects to have a Mike Richards-like impact on daily sports picks in the NHL.

The front-runner to get Brayden is, naturally, the Los Angeles Kings, who hold the No. 5 pick. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs may consider making a play to acquire the No. 5 pick and pair Brayden with brother Luke on the same team. Will he be worth the price per head (speaking of which — how much are UFC 100 fight card tickets?) ? Only time will tell.

Like GSP in the UFC odds, our next prospect on the NHL draft board may offer the best power/speed combination of any forward on the list. Evander Kane, compared by scouts to Jarome Iginla (and, in my opinion, Jeff Carter), has a chance to be the NHL’s next great power foward.

He’s big enough to make an impact on the forecheck and he reportedly plays even bigger than his size, as he drives to the net fearlessly and is very hard to knock off the puck. He has sniper skills but is also defensively responsible, wanting to kill penalties play in all situations. He’s the kind of player who wants to be on the ice when the game’s on the line, and I’m betting management in Atlanta would relish the chance to draft him.

He’s not an absolute can’t miss prospect — big wingers rarely are — but he’s a promising youngster. It remains to be seen if he can make an impact at the sportsbook next season or if he needs to fill out more. If you make daily sports picks and follow the draft, Kane should be in your top five.

We’re not as murky as the UFC odds heavyweight division, but the NHL Draft certainly gets tougher to pick after the No. 3 slot. Center Matt Duchene seems to be the consensus choice to go third (just as Novak Djokovic is locked in with the third-best Wimbledon odds).

Not the biggest guy out there by any means at 5′11″, Duchene compares favorably to Steve Yzerman and, interestingly enough, Joe Sakic. The latter name deserves mention as Colorado looks like the frontrunner to land Duchene.

Even though he could theoretically pushed around, he has a ton to offer NHL teams. He has great speed and is a natural goal-scoring shooter (great shot from pretty much anywhere). He has playmaking skills and he’s hard-nosed, not afraid to go into high-traffic areas. He also can contribute to many different situations that help influence sports predictions — the penalty kill, the power play….he can even play the point with the man advantage.

I haven’t heard whispers of anyone trading up to third in the draft (unless you count rumors of Brian Burke acquiring every pick), so I’m betting management in Colorado goes with Duchene. He’s considered the most complete, NHL-ready player in the draft, so I can’t fault the pick.

Plenty of MLB odds to keep an eye on this week, but we winter-sport guys are already looking ahead to the NHL draft. Today’s prospect to discuss: Victor Hedman.

If Tavares is the X-Factor type of player, Hedman is much more the physical specimen teams are salivating over in the draft. Since it’s been proven (more so in the NFL) that some teams like talent over polish, I wouldn’t necessarily bet at your offshore sportsbook that Hedman automatically slips to the No. 2 overall position.

The scouting report is pretty awesome — he’s 6′7″, giving him the size of Chara or Pronger, but he supposedly skates and positions himself like Lidstrom. So instead of Chara 10 years ago, he already has the scouting report of Chara in his prime, though I’m not convinced he has the mean streak/killer instinct of Chara. We’ll have to wait and see on that.

It wouldn’t be a huge stretch for the Isles to go with Hedman, as I’m betting management sees a hole at pretty much every position there (including “owner” and “general manager.”) If they do and Tavares slips, it’ll throw a crazy wrench in the draft. If I’m making my daily sports picks for the draft right this second, though, I still think Hedman slips to second or third.

While the pansies cry over US Open odds getting rained out (OK, I’m included — I like golf), it’s time to get reflective…as in, reflective on the future…as in, reflective on the NHL draft, which is just a week away.

Let’s go over some of the top prospects with scouting reports. They will be layman scouting reports re: I’m lazy and it’s Friday, but we’ll see what we can do. We’ll start with John Tavares, of course.

What’s the report on him? Well, we know what we can’t do: skate. He’s like Nikolai Valuev in boxing betting; OK, he’s not that slow, but Tavares’ stride isn’t exactly breathtaking. We also know he does almost everything else well — really well. He’s a solid playmaker, he uses his body to protect the puck in a way that reminds me of Jaromir Jagr and Joe Thornton, he has good hands, and he has the weird, inherent nose for the net. He just seems to know where to go and always ends up with the puck on his stick in the blue ice, you know?

Don’t misquote me here, but he sometimes reminds me a TINY bit of Wayne Gretzky; he’s not a gifted skater yet he still finds a way to score. He’s just always…there. It’s a sixth sense.

I think Tavares will be a perennial 90-point plus guy and Garth Snow would be dumb to pass on him…but crazier things have happened in sports predictions, agreed? I’m betting management cans him from Long Island if he messes up the draft for a second straight year.

If your’e a true online sports wagering playa, you probably have some bets going on the NHL Awards tonight. I know I do. it should be an interesting award show because, unlike Tiger’s US Open odds, there don’t seem to be too many locks. Here are my award picks.

HART TROPHY (Ovechkin, Malkin, Datsyuk)

Who should win: Alexander Ovechkin

Who will win: Alexander Ovechkin. Don’t let Malkin’s playoff performance influence you — that’s not part of the Hart consideration. Ovechkin was the best player on Earth for the second straight year.

VEZINA TROPHY (Thomas, Mason, Backstrom)

Who should win: Tim Thomas

Who will win: Tim Thomas

Mason was the most valuable goalie in the league, but this award is for the BEST. Timmy was the man this year, leading the league in save percentage and GAA.

VEZINA TROPHY (Chara, Green, Lidstrom)

Who should win: Zdeno Chara

Who will win: Nicklas Lidstrom

Hopefully I’m wrong. it’s Chara’s year — Lidstrom is amazing but he wasn’t quite as good as always this season. Very tough one to predict — some special betting software would help.

CALDER TROPHY (Mason, Ryan, Versteeg)

Who should win: Steve Mason

Who will win: Steve Mason

Columbus was nothing without Mason. I still think he should win the Hart too, but the Calder will suffice for the upstart goalie.

SELKE TROPHY (Datsyuk, Richards, Kesler)

Who should win: Mike Richards

Who will win: Pavel Datsyuk

Datsyuk is the standard for defensive excellence and he’ll be rewarded, but I think Richards, the shorthanded dynamo, had a bigger impact in terms of his ability to seriously disrupt opposing offenses.

Hope you enjoyed these sports predictions! Enjoy the awards and watch out for Ron MacLean!

While some NFL odds action may top it before the end of 2009, I think I found the hit of the year…while there were some doozies in the NHL this year, I don’t think it comes from the ice…

It comes from — the Tony Awards??? Yessir. Check out what happened to poor, poor Brett Michaels:

WOOOO! I am a better person for having seen that. Aren’t you? I’m betting management of the stage production got a little paycut after that one. Can the hit be topped? There was a pretty sweet hit by the security guard at the U.S. Open when that guy rushed Federer — maybe it’ll be topped in the Wimbledon odds? You never know.

Of all the awesome hitters we imagined making waves in our sports predictions this season, who knew they’d all be topped by a giant stage prop?

Am I crazy? Betting US Open odds against Tiger kind of crazy? Maybe. Because I’m about to defend Marian Hossa.

As much as we love to drag athletes through the mud, condemn them for being selfish and spoiled and call them bad role models — and I’m part of this populus — it’s time to point a finger the other way and call the lot of us sports predictions pundits a bunch of hypocrites.

Everyone giggled with glee at the site of Hossa being on the wrong side of the Stanley Cup result yet again. Har har! He shunned Pittsburgh, switched sides and gets shafted again! Everyone loved to see Hossa lose because he was “selfish” and bolted for Detroit.

Let me ask you something though — what is it that usually makes us call a player selfish? it’s greed, right? Being a merc, signing with a crappy team for a big payday, right? So why are we suddenly chastizing Hossa for signing with the team he felt gave him the best chance to win? Isn’t that supposed to be a virtue — caring more about the sport, about winning, than the money?

Keep in mind that…

(a) Hossa owed nothing to Pittsburgh — he didn’t sign there, he was traded there at the deadline.

(b) Hossa signed a one-year deal with Detroit in hopes of winning a cup. He could’ve hit the jackpot with a seven-year deal somewhere else but he risked, say, losing it all to a career-ending injury and chose Detroit.

So I say we leave Hossa alone. I never liked him a lot as a player — I’ve always felt he wilted when the going got tough — but I have no problem with his motivation. It’s not like was Johnny Damon in baseball or even Brett Favre hinting at going to the Vikings to boost their NFL odds — Hossa didn’t jump to a bitter divisional rival. He just left a team he’d been a part of for a few months.

If he had special betting software that could’ve told him the Pens would win, I’m sure he would’ve stayed. You can’t blame a guy for just wanting to win.

Well, anyone who bet on sports has to be smiling right now. The Pens and Wings treated us to one of the best Cup Finals in recent memory and the Pens shocked the sportsbook universe with their come-from-behind victory. It was a series of unsung heroes — Maxime Talbot, Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy proved that — but I want to give special props to a man unsung even among the unsung, if that makes sense: Brooks Orpik.

The beefy Pens blueliner was a MAN in Game 7, dishing out nine hits and blocking five shots. Huge! Better yet, he showed amazing discipline throughout the playoffs. He’s a rare player in that he can be physical without getting reckless and taking too many bad penalties. I’m betting management in Pittsburgh is pretty happy it signed him to a six-year deal at the end of 2008.

I hope you enjoyed sports wagering on hockey this season, my friends! Don’t worry — I’m not leaving. There will be plenty to talk about throughout this offseason…

I’ll leave you with the immortalized image of “the save” — one that should become iconic among those who wager online for years to come.

Well, after that nice lead-in, I can’t find the picture. So how about Penguins drunk instead!?

It’s almost time for UFC betting, boxing betting and all those things not named hockey. Sniff, sniff…the dream is almost over! One game left, but I really shouldn’t be complaining — how awesome is a Stanley Cup Game 7?

I just realized something, though; here I am, spouting off on my hockey BETTING blog all year, and I’m not sure if I’ve made one pick for y’all (actually, I suppose I did it in rap form, so there!). So let’s make one now.

I think Detroit wins 4-2 with an empty netter tonight. Home ice goes a looonnnnng way in this sportsbook pick; the home team in Game 7 of Stanley Cup betting is 12-2 all time and has won seven straight. No road team has one in this series. Sidney Crosby has no points in three games at Joe Louis Arena in this series. Even Marc-Andre Fleury plays with far less confidence on the road.

We can’t follow every single trend we’ve seen, as anything can happen when you’re betting online, but they’re still pretty good indicators. Chances are, Chris Osgood will be steady, Marian Hossa will be invisible, Detroit’s power play will flourish if the Pens lose their discipline. The true variables tonight are Pittsburgh’s stars. If Sid and Malkin are really among the top three players on Earth, they have to show it in this game. Marc-Andre Fleury also needs to play like he doesn in Pittsburgh. Will it happen? Maybe, but even if the Pens are firing on all cylinders, they’re still playing Detroit, here.

It’s been a great run, but the Wings dynasty continues. Enjoy the UFC betting tomorrow.