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.

Sometimes NHL betting has to come to a halt so we can just take in greatness. And who’s greater than Alexander Ovechkin? Yeah, the Caps are taking a nosedive in online betting circles and lost the most recent clash against the rival Penguins…but could you ever bet at the offshore sportsbook on Crosby or Malkin pulling off this brilliance?

Wow. Remember, online betting players — this is the most charismatic player in NHL betting. That should tell you a bit about hockey players.

Well, well, well…just when we think the scandal machine has calmed down…just when we were ready to put our feet up and enjoy a long Saturday of games followed by the UFC 95 odds…a doozie of a controversy hits Montreal.

Yep — you’ll have to forgive Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, not to mention Roman Hamrlik, if they struggle to help their team in NHL betting matchups for the next while. La Presse broke the story — Pasquale Mangiola, who was recently arrested for drug trafficking and illegal weapons, is apparently a good chum of said Habs trio, especially the brothers from Belarus. The way I see it, the scandal can break three ways…I’ve created some sportsbook lines for you online betting nuts.

OPTION 1: KOSTITSYNS ARE ALSO CRIME BARONS/HIRED MUSCLE FOR MANGIOLA (+200)

They may seem like pansies on the ice, but NHL hockey players look like football players when they’re in public. Maybe they’re Pasquale’s muscle…nicknamed the “Sticks Brothers” for their ability to whack information out of suspected rats.

ANDREI: “YOU. YOU, BAD MAN. ARE YOU WEARING WIRE?”

SERGEI: “WE WILL PUNISH YOU!”

(hockey stick beating ensues)

OPTION 2: KOSTITSYNS “DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS A MOBSTER” (-100)

It sorta makes sense, right? Fairly new to the country, you run into a guy who adores you…buys you stuff…wines and dines you…goes to all your tennis matches….oh, wait. I was thinking of Sergei Fedorov and Anna Kournikova.

OPTION 3: KOSTITYSNS ARE UNDERCOVER COPS (-350)

It’s the perfect trap! The Feds (the RCMP in this case?) Find out Mangiola loves hockey…plant the Kostitsyns in a bar…and voila! Mangiola takes the bait. How else could all the phone calls have been recorded? Huh? This option gets my NHL betting pick.

It’s funny — March Madness betting has a lot of meaning to hockey fans, but it has nothing to do with basketball. It’s all about the trade deadline! March 4 looms and, last week, we broke down the Jay Bouwmeester rumors and pretended to be Panthers GM Jacques Martin. Let’s never pretend to be Jacques Martin again, OK? Next up, NHL betting fans, we’ll play Brian Burke. If you want to wager at the sportsbook that Burkey will be making some moves in the next few weeks, you ain’t stupid. But what about his biggest trading chip - Tomas Kaberle?

Since Tomas has a no-trade clause, let’s assume for argument’s sake that Burke gets an offer from a team on Kaberle’s “OK list.”

NHL betting fans know Kaberle’s situation is more complicated than the soon-to-be unrestricted Nik Antropov; Kaberle still has two years remaining on his contract at $4.25 million per season, which is a phenomenal bargain. If Burke thinks the Leafs could be competitive by 2011, a 32-year-old Kaberle would still have plenty of good puck-moving years left.

The way I see it, Burke is in a win-win situation here. Any deal good enough to make him part with Kaberle will be so great that it will accelerate the Leafs’ rebuilding process tremendously (say, James van Riemsdyk, Scott Hartnell and a first-rounder from the Flyers, which is the rumored offer for UFA Bouwmeester right now) If the offers are sub-par, Burke can stand pat. Then he can deal Kaberle to any team with no restriction when his no-trade lifts this summer or even hold onto him. Plus can still hold the league hostage at the trade deadline next year, can’t he?

Ultimately, NHL betting fans should realize that Burke is doing exactly what he should be right now — waiting for the price to rise, not forcing the issue and letting the offers determine the course of action.

Last night brought some exciting news to Richard Zednik and hockey betting fans and some sad news to Daytona 500 betting fans. Yes, “Richard Zednik cut by skate” is no longer the first video that pops up when you type his name into YouTube. Obviously, that’s disappointing news for those who bet on NASCAR, as seeing competitors cheat death is more important to them than the sport itself.

But NHL betting fans are happy…why? Because Zednik may have scored the goal of the year last night. What do you think, online betting fans? If you bet sports, this is a must-see. Don King — yes, that Don King — was at the game and made his own crazy call of the goal (I think he also called the Panthers the “Tigers”), but I can’t find that version yet. Until then, enjoy this blood-free Richard Zednik goodness:

While many sports fans await March Madness betting, let’s discuss some “February Madness” in the NHL.

Well, maybe it’s finally time for Pucking Bets to weigh in on the fighting debate. If you don’t think the topic affects NHL betting, you’re wrong. If fighting was gone from the game in, say, 2007, would the rough-and-tough Ducks still have beaten the flashy Senators for the Stanley Cup? Who knows?

Should it stay or should it go? It’s a tough question with good arguments on both sides. I understand the assertion that one death is enough and that players are so much bigger and stronger today that they can do much more damage to each other. On the other hand, I do worry about cheap shots becoming more common without fighting. If you can’t drop the mitts with someone, how else will you avenge a dirty on on a teammate?

My fave argument, however, relates to that new phenomenon of “fighting a guy after throws a clean hit.” Based on this new logic, fighting seems to be curbing hitting in NHL betting. So removing fighting may bring hitting back up? If I had a choice, I’d take hitting over fighting.

What do you think?

hitting…

fighting…

Until March Madness betting heats up, keep checking back here for hockey betting news…

Looks like the reality check has finally arrived for the Ottawa Senators. After being pummeled by the Caps yesterday, they canned head coach Craig Hartsburg this morning. Can’t blame them. When you’re 14 points out of a playoff spot with March Madness betting and World Baseball Classic betting within view on the calendar, it’s time to stop denying the crappiness of your team.

Yep, the Sens are toast. Hey, you! Yeah, you! The one NHL betting fan still sitting on the Sens bandwagon! Time to hop off, friend.

The good news for Sens fans: they’re so much wose than hockey betting fans expected that they have a very realistic shot at nabbing John Tavares in the draft this summer. If that can’t produce a quick turnaround, nothing can.

So, I was wrong when I made my NHL betting pick last week and told you to pick Detroit. What can I say? I was hypnotized by Emma Andersson. In what many are calling the “game of the year,” the Sharks beat the Wings 6-5 in a thriller. How big of a hockey betting matchup was it? The two combatants had the highest combined win percentage for a regular season game in NHL history.

Heading into Saturday’s contest, those who bet on hockey were on the verge of anointing Detroit as the hockey betting “team to beat.”

What now? The Wings trounced the Sharks 6-0 in December, then the Sharks bounced back and triumphed Saturday. Maybe we have to call them online sports betting Pick 1 and Pick 1A as the top sportsbook choices. Mind you, San Jose just called up almost-fossilized Claude Lemieux. Could he help the Sharks in the clutch the way he used to help Montreal, New Jersey and Colorado? We’ll see.

Here’s the goal that really Put Claude on the map — a series winner with the Habs in 1986. After that came plenty of goals, turtling and cheapshots..