How do you say, “Hello, I am Randy Cunneyworth and I am doing everything that I can to try and help this team win?” It may not matter much longer the way that the Montreal Canadiens are playing lately, as Cunneyworth will be the easy target for dismissal if they continue on their recent slide. The Canadiens entered the Christmas break with a 13-16-7 record after managing to string together five straight losses to send their NHL fans home unhappy for the holidays, and as they continue their six-game road trip against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, they better come out with some more juice and find a way to break out of their awful slump.

The reason’s for Cunneyworth’s ultimate dismissal are obvious, and while many will focus on the language barrier, that isn’t his biggest problem. It has to be said that Cunneyworth does not speak a word of French, which is considered a crucial asset in a city dominated by the language, and a prerequisite that has been met by several coaches before him, and should lead to several after him. More importantly than his inability to speak French however is his lack of presence, as during Montreal’s current slide he has shown little tenacity or depth, remaining calm on the bench and at most times quiet while his team gives up another crucial two points in the standings. At least with former head coach Jacques Martin the Canadiens understood the system they were playing, and knew their roles. While Cunneyworth has said the system is largely the same, Montreal has failed to execute on the ice, and that should lead to more change, including its status as potential favorites on betonline.

It must also be said that this roster largely resembles the one that went to the Eastern conference finals just two years ago, and then pushed the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins to seven games in the opening round of last year’s playoffs. The absence of captain Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, and Andrei Markov have to be regarded for what they are, as Gionta and Gomez were regular members of the Canadiens’ top-six forward lines, while Markov was one of the top offensive defenseman in the game before his injury. When those three will return to the lineup is not yet known, but the sooner the better for a Canadiens’ team that is in its worst slump since Gionta joined the team a couple of years ago and helped make them a contender according to the pay head bookies.

For what it is worth, goaltender Carey Price has been brilliant for Montreal, one of the few reasons why they were even in some games over the past couple of weeks. But Price can’t do it on his own, and as a restricted free agent this summer, he will have to consider all offers on the table for him if the Canadiens do not regain some structure. Montreal will have every opportunity to bounce back this week against the Senators, Lightning, and Panthers, and if they aren’t able to get the sports betting job done, expect more change to come in Montreal.

The NFL and NHL represent two of the biggest niches in the sports betting world today. Generally speaking, the NFL is considered the more profitable league, as they average several billion dollars in gambling revenue according to bookie software agents. However, for handicappers, the NHL in theory could provide more value. Today we’ll look at why the NHL has more value then the NFL.

As handicappers, we pride ourselves on being knowledgeable on the big four major sports, NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. Around October annually, bettors are filled with excitement, as the NFL season reaches its midway point, the MLB playoffs are starting and the NHL is kicking off the start of its season. As a result, the average bettor, will circle October on their calendar, as this is where they can receive their most value for their money.

For the reason that you want the most value for your money, handicapping the NHL can be the best route to go. Consider, that in October, football games only happen once a week, and baseball goes from a daily event to an every other day or one series a night event. Therefore, bettors looking to make a parlay, would be good to use the NHL as their main niche, as on any given night to start the season, there is between seven to 10 games on the card to add to your parlay.

The two main reasons you want to make hockey your niche is because of the sheer amount of games on any night, and the odds provided by the bookmaker. While the bookies generally focus on the NFL and MLB in October, they pay less attention to the NHL lines. Meaning to say, that you can find excellent value on the hockey lines early in the season, because the bookies aren’t focusing on it.

Chicago is rocketing up the NHL standing with a current five-game winning streak, and they’ll look to extend it to six games on Tuesday when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins, who will be without their captain once again.

Blackhawks Penguins Odds – Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET

The Blackhawks (21-8-4) defeated Calgary 4-2 at home on Sunday, and some sportsbook reviews would point to Chicago’s ability to win close games during this streak as they have won all five by two goals or less, and three of the games have gone to overtime or the shootout. Steve Montador, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa lit the lamp for Chicago, while Ray Emery stopped 22 shots in his seventh straight start. The Blackhawks are a favorite among those who use price per head services, even though they’re on the cusp of a goaltending controversy as Emery is taking the No.1 spot from Corey Crawford; in fact, it may already be gone and that will be a major decision for head coach Joel Quenneville, who picked up his 600th career victory in the win against the Flames.

The Penguins (18-11-4) had been struggling with four losses in five games, but they awakened enough for an 8-3 romp over Buffalo at home on Saturday. Pittsburgh was powered by a hat trick from Evgeni Malkin, while Jason Williams, Simon Despres, James Neal, Deryk Engelland and Chris Kunitz notched singles for the Penguins, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 stops on the night. On the same day that the Penguins put captain Sidney Crosby on the injured list with more concussion issue, it was fitting that Malkin stepped up and led the Pittsburgh offense because they’re going to need him to do that regularly until Crosby comes back. Remember, Malkin was hurt most of last year with a knee injury and if the Penguins are going to stay in the good graces of those that use price per head sports software, Malkin has to inspire his teammates.

Pittsburgh should be the favorites at home in this contest, although the Blackhawks are 10-6-1 on the road this season, while the Penguins are 9-3-2 at CONSOL Energy Center. Both of these teams figure to be in the hunt when it comes to Stanley Cup betting favorites and even without Crosby, there is a lot of offensive skill on the ice. The Penguins will have their hands full with a deep Chicago lineup, but Malkin is the player on either side that can take over a game by himself (with all due respect to Chicago captain Jonathan Toews and Kane). We’re riding with the hot team and taking Chicago away from home at our favorite sports betting sites.

A quick glance at the Eastern conference standings wouldn’t reveal much in terms of surprise, unless that is you notice the Florida Panthers in third place overall, and in the top spot in the Southeast division despite being labeled as sports betting underdogs. In a group that at least for now includes the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning, it’s rather strange to see the Panthers sitting in first place as we make our way through the month of December. But on the heels of consecutive losses, now is the time when Florida’s slide could begin, and that will open the door for a true Eastern conference contender to move up in to a playoff spot.

It isn’t that the Panthers haven’t played good hockey, or that Panthers’ general manager Dale Tallon didn’t do an excellent job of bringing quality players in to the fold down south with limited resources this past summer according to the numbers on the Betonline site. After all, Kris Versteeg seems to finally be ready to reach his potential with 13 goals and 31 points, while Brian Campbell already has 22 assists as the two biggest free agent pickups from the summer of 2011. Stephen Weiss is playing excellent two-way hockey with an incredible plus-17 rating, and the team has some solid depth at both ends of the ice. But the biggest problem for the Panthers at this point is in goal, where the team was forced to pull Jose Theodore, and allow Scott Clemmensen to play the final 20 minutes of a 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers. For now, Florida wants rookie netminder Jacob Markstrom to concentrate on improving for another year before they make him their starter, which leaves the job up to Theodore and Clemmensen. While neither has been an awful option so far this year, it is hard to argue that either one can be the No. 1 for a legitimate playoff contender. Despite getting good goaltending so far and playing sound fundamentally, the Panthers still have the worst goal differential among the top five teams according to the numbers the pay head bookies look at, and many feel as though it is likely to get worse as teams begin to figure them out.

The Capitals have too much talent to remain on the outside looking in, and if the Lightning can get some quality play from their goaltending, they should be back in the mix. While this could take time, Washington will be in first place in the Southeast division by February, and that will leave the Panthers fighting for a spot in the top-eight. The Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, and New Jersey Devils are all teams currently on the outside looking in, and considering that Montreal is finally getting healthier and the way that the Devils closed out last season, it will only be a matter of time before one of them emerges as the legitimate Eastern conference contender that overtakes the Panthers in the standings.

Monday night midway through the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers sports betting game, the board of governors and NHL league offices announced a radical chance to the league for the 2012 – 13 season. For those who couldn’t tune into the game, what you missed, was the announcement for realignment next season. The concept of realignment next year was met with mixed results, as there is still plenty of bookie software details to iron out. Today we’ll examine the realignment plan and how playoffs will work.

The NHL will have a whole different feel next year, as the league adapts a four conference format that some argue was built for 32 instead of 30 teams. With this in mind, there is speculation, that the NHL may indeed expand to two more markets, allowing 32 teams to be in the league. As it stands for next year, the Eastern Conference has been split into a two seven team conferences, while the Western Conference with the addition of Winnipeg, has been split into two eight team conferences.

The conferences are as followed, conference A will include the current Atlantic Division along with Carolina and Washington, conference B will be the Northeast division with Florida and Tampa Bay, conference C will be Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Winnipeg, Minnesota and Dallas, and conference D will be Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, San Jose, Colorado, Phoenix, Anaheim, and Los Angeles.

One of the more confusing aspects of the new realignment is the playoff seeding. Essentially, the top four teams in each conference make the playoffs, for a total of 16 teams. The first round of the playoffs will have the top seeds in each conference face the fourth seed in their conference, while seeds two and three face off. Then in round two, the winners of the first round matchups, will face each other, with the winner of the conference playoffs, moving on to face another conference in the semi finals, before two teams meet up in the Stanley Cup Finals.

After Toronto Maple Leafs fans watch their team host New Jersey earlier in the night, they should turn to the state of California for their late game as there is an interesting matchup brewing in Anaheim. The Ducks are now 0-for-2 under new head coach Bruce Boudreau, and they’ll be hoping that the third time is a charm when they host the Los Angeles Kings at the Honda Center.

Kings Ducks Odds – Tuesday, 10:00 PM ET

The Kings (13-9-4) came up just short in a 2-1 loss at home to Montreal on Saturday, as Dustin Penner netted a power-play marker in the second period, but Los Angeles couldn’t find the game-tying goal in a scoreless third period. Companies that use bookie software should have Jonathan Quick near the top of the Vezina favorites right now, but he was given a rest and Jonathan Bernier still played well, stopping 25 shots for the Kings, but their offensive troubles continues in the early part of the season. Only Anaheim and the New York Islanders have scored fewer goals than the Kings, and offense was supposed to be the least of their worries, so Los Angeles fans can only hope that the team gels soon up front.

The Ducks (7-14-5) have now dropped nine of their last 10 overall (two in overtime) after a 5-3 loss at home to Minnesota, losing an early two-goal lead along the way. Ryan Getzlaf, Saku Koivu and Cam Fowler all found the back of the net for the Ducks, but price per head sports companies that help set lines aren’t going to get behind Anaheim until they get their defensive act together: to go along with their woeful goal scoring, the Ducks are fourth-worst in the league in goals allowed and that simply isn’t going to cut it in the NHL. Jonas Hiller made 31 saves for the Ducks, who were outshot 36-27.

The NHL betting odds for this game could go either way, given the way that Anaheim is floundering right now. The Ducks are 2-3 SU and ATS in their last five at home against the Kings with three games going under the posted total, and a sportsbook review of their history shows that Anaheim has already lost twice to Los Angeles this season, a 2-1 shootout loss at the Staples Center on November 16th and then a 5-3 loss at home the next night. Simply put, Anaheim is in danger of losing their entire season and a loss at home to a division and state rival would be a huge blow. The Kings are playing well as of late and they’ll jump on any reason to pile more pressure on the Ducks, so go with Los Angeles in your online sports book.