Hmpf. Many of the online betting fans following the Blue and White are happy with Brian Burke’s offseason but I have to wonder if they’d be saying the same if it weren’t for one key signing — the Mike Komisarek deal, of course. That’s a great deal but it’s the only major move the Leafs have made so far.

In my sports predictions, I have to wonder if there’s a bit of collusion happening against Brian Burke. He’s always been a colorful, brash, in-your-face speaker, but he did so in West Coast markets or in Hartford, which may as well have been Greenland. Now, every sound bite he gives has a much bigger ripple. Saying stuff like “we’re trading up, we’ll aggressively pursuing so-and-so” — almost daring the league to stop him — may have ruffled a few feathers.

Overall, I like Burke’s style and I’m willing to accept the consequences that go with his actions. But I’d bet at the offshore sportsbook that more than one GM said “You know what? He made me a good offer but I’m sick of his antics and don’t want to get pushed around, so I’m not trading with him.:”

Am I crazier than someone picking Roddick’s Wimbledon odds Sunday? Maybe, but I’m betting management in several NHL cities could prove me right.

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.

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!

You have to love Dana White’s UFC betting approach. If a fighter loses more than two bouts in a row, he almost always gets booted from the league, at least until he finds himself.

It seems the NHL betting universe treats things a bit differently. The Dallas Stars just hired Marc Crawford as their new head coach — a man who hasn’t won anything significant in quite some time (boxing betting does it too — the Holyfields, Tysons and Foremans of the world got second, third and fifth chances).

I really, really don’t want to knock Marc Crawford. I met him a few years ago at a celebrity golf tournament and he was the nicest guy there — total class act. I respect his understanding of the game, too. But, aside form his success with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche over 10 years ago, what has he accomplished?

Let’s look at his seasons with Vancouver from 1998-2006:

- Missed playoffs

- Missed playoffs

- First-round exit

- First-round exit

- Second-round exit

- First round exit

- Missed playoffs

Now, his most recent head coaching job with Los Angeles:

- Missed playoffs

- Missed playoffs

Pretty ugly. Now, in fairness to Crawford, he inherited bad teams in Vancouver and L.A., the kind that bled money at the offshore sportsbook, but it’s still concerning that he didn’t take those teams very far at all. I really like Marc and hope he succeeds — I think the Stars will be the best team at the start of his tenure since Quebec — but I wonder if he should’ve earned his way back as an assistant coach first.

I guess the Stars online wagering prospects have improved slightly, but Crawford needs to get some results fast.

Sigh. In Stanley Cup betting, the big question entering Game 7 will be whether or not the Penguins can mature.

i don’t know about the Penguins, but the Flyers sure can’t.

Ray Emery? RAY FRIGGIN’ EMERY?! Sheesh.

I’m not a total Emery hater and I’m not planning to harp on him for his off-ice issues today. This is just a silly move for the Flyers’ NHL betting hopes based on Emery’s skill level.

For two decades, the Flyers have iced contender after contender and seemingly never addressed their goaltending problem. Over and over, they try to plug a hole with a cheap grap (Martin Biron) or over-the-hill vet (John Vanbiesbrouck, Sean Burke). If pretty much anyone who likes to bet on sports can plainly see that the Flyers simply have to shell out cash for a marquee goalie if they want to win, why do they never figure it out?

Ray Emery. A respectable but unspectacular 2.71 career average and .907 save percentage. A man who allowed three or more goals four times in five games in 2007 Stanley Cup betting against the Ducks. Is he not just another Biron/Nittymakki/Chechmanek/Esche?

This one boggles my mind. It seems like an LA-Clippers type move. How are their NBA Final odds looking right now? Let’s revisit in 2020.

So much for knowing anything about NHL betting. Thanks, Chris. Thanks, Marc-Andre.

There I was on Friday, discussing Pittsburgh’s goaltending advantage, and both Osgood and Fleury make me look like an idiot.

The Red Wings appeared ready to start up a new Stanley Cup Final odds dynasty in Games 1 and 2. Brilliant gameplan — they fired shots at Fleury from every possible angle, with as many bodies in front of him as possible, never giving him clean looks. Now they’re in his head and he looks shaky. Osgood, on the other hand, not only saw everything shot at him, he was rock solid in stopping it. Was I wrong about the Penguins odds having a chance because of “better goaltending”?

Well, only time will tell. I think the Pens will bounce back in Game 3. But Fleury has to be better — and so do the defenseman protecting him, who are getting beat to the outside repeatedly. If not, Pittsburgh’s chances to come back are the same as mine if I was jockeying in the Belmont Stakes odds.

Some NHL betting fans are tired of hearing that Chris Osgood is underrated. Others are tired of hearing that’s he’s overrated.

Well, when it comes to assessing the Stanley Cup Final odds, I’m sick of both sides! Why? Because it doesn’t matter. Pittsburgh has the goaltending edge no matter what anyone thinks. The Osgood haters will tell you he rides coattails, that he gives up soft goals, that he was garbage in the regular season (and he was — 3.09 GAA, .887 save percentage). The lovers will tell you he was good outside Detroit (Had a season with 30-plus wins and a .910 save percentage in Long Island and Detroit).

But neither opinion matters, as Marc-Andre Fleury is still better. He’s matched Osgood’s great playoff stats, he’s younger, he’s more athletic, he likes pressure and, perhaps most importantly, he’s good enough to steal a game. No matter how much you may like Osgood in NHL betting, he doesn’t steal games. Fleury can — and maybe he will against Detroit, just like he stole Game 5 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final odds. He’s a big reason why I think the Pens will win this series…

Worse than no Kobe/Lebron in NBA odds (well, it sure looks that way for the final), steroids — yes steroids — have suddenly been linked to the supposedly squeaky-clean NHL.

Ugh. Everyone knows Sudafed gets passed around dressing rooms like candy, but the NHL odds of steroid use seemed slim to me. But why? Why would NHL players be any different — in fact, speed, strength and explosiveness are as crucial to hockey as they are to any sport, so steroid use in hockey betting would make sense. So maybe I was just in denial.

Worse yet — the Florida couple busted with large amounts of PEDs on them claimed they sold to the Washington Nationals (I doubt that; we’d be seeing results) and, gulp, the Washington Capitals. Unless it was the Penguins, there’s probably not a worse team to pop up in this scandal. The prospect of the world’s best player, Alexander Ovechkin, being linked to steroids is heartbreaking.

How much longer until we concede that every athlete juices and everything returns to normal? Sigh.

Sorry for the downer post — I’ll crank things up tomorrow with a full-fledge rap song previewing Stanley Cup betting. The Penguins vs Red Wings odds should be a sports wagering doozie.