NHL Props Lead To Excitement

As the 2005/2006 NHL season finally gets underway tonight, the story lines that have been built up through a full year of over-anticipation are almost ready to explode and certainly promise to deliver season-long entertainment for all hockey fans even if their favorite teams find themselves out of the hunt, record-wise, before too long.

Three of the best story lines to follow are all listed in the NHL Props/Futures at www.BetUS.com and we can break them down now.

The Philadelphia Flyers are the odds on favorite at 5.75 to 1, but the problem is that they don’t have a reliable goalie. The Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins are next at 10 to 1, and Pittsburgh is looking very good. The Ottawa Senators are listed at 12.5 to 1 and then come the Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs, all at approximately 15 to 1.

Sidney Crosby -175, Alex Ovechkin +415, The Field +765, Jeff Carter and Keri Lehtonen +1215, Dion Phaneuf +1315, Cam Barker +2050.

The odds on favorite, Sidney Crosby has received more hype then any other rookie since Wayne Gretzky, but the smart play here is the Washington Capitals’ rookie Alex Ovechkin.

There are too many scorers on Pittsburgh this year to think Crosby will lead that team in scoring, but Washington is a different situation and Ovechkin should get all the ice time and points he needs to dominate in this category.

Jerome Iginla +250, Rick Nash and Dany Heatly +400, Markus Naslund +500, Ilya Kovalchuck +600, Marian Hossa +800, Joe Thornton +900, Vincent Lecavelier +1000, Todd Bertuzzi +1200, Keith Tkachuk and Jason Spezza +1500, Sidney Crosby +2000.

There should be an increase in scoring this year if the refs continue to clamp down on the clutching and grabbing like they did in the preseason. That being said, don’t be surprised to see a little speed demon like Lecavelier be able to dominate under the new rules.

You can take advantage of all the NHL props that www.BetUS.com has listed by checking out the Props/Futures section of the BetUS.com sports book.