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Who’s hot in the NHL?

The Boston Bruins are grabbing all the hockey headlines and NHL picks at the moment, and for good reason. The Boston side are stunning opponents left, right, and centre, and have such quality running through both the spine of their team and the other guys on the roster that the thought of the franchise bringing in a couple of new players up front and at the back is a proposition terrifying enough to give even the best NHL players sleepless nights.

With the Bruins first in goals for and first for goals against, it’s difficult to imagine a side capable of toppling them at the moment. Perhaps, if there were to be a side to grab away the limelight from the bustling Bruins, it would be the Blues in St Louis, an unlikely candidate for stealing the headlines and NHL betting tips, but one deserving of doing just that nevertheless. The Blues are 5-0-1 this calendar year and have that precious commodity running through their ranks that no amount of dollar can buy: confidence and self-belief.

Other movers and shakers in the NHL include the Canucks and the Blackhawks, Chicago making the most of a strong week to prove a point to the likes of Detroit, while there have been significant signs of improvement from the San Jose Sharks.

At the other end of the picture, however, lie the likes of the Flames, who are fresh off the Mike Cammalleri saga and four points off a playoff spot, with top teams keeping them out of contention at the moment.

There is still a whole load of NHL action to come this season, but with the likes of Boston and the Blackhawks starting to prove their class, now is the time for the best of the rest to put forward their case for playoff contention.

Red Wings home record shows the importance of home comforts

Everyone with even a slight awareness of the sport of ice hockey knows that road trips are a tough task for all NHL teams, especially when the trips take teams not only across their division but also across conference, perhaps to face teams on the other side of the coast. However, there are a few NHL teams that, despite being able to put on a show in front of their home fans, struggle significantly when they leave their home comforts. No team perhaps embodies that trend more than the Detroit Red Wings.

With the Wings now having won a total of 14 games on the bounce at home, they have made fixtures in Detroit one of the most terrifying prospects for hockey teams facing the misfortune of heading there to compete, with the majority of teams as well as their fans watching live hockey online from home expecting to slip to a heavy defeat before they even arrive in the city.

However, home dominance aside, the Red Wings need to improve both their form and their road trip percentages if they want to reach the playoffs and prove themselves worthy of the NHL betting tips being flung their way. With playoff games split between home and road games, the simple fact of the matter is that all teams know they have to be half decent in both ties in order to progress far into the playoffs.

Should the Red Wings fail to learn the habit of winning away from the comforts of home, they will know that their chances of beating the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks, in the process becoming the new NHL champions, will be greatly reduced.

Giants quarterback issues rallying call

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has delivered a ‘loud and clear’ message to his teammates saying they need to approach the remaining days before the Super Bowl with a business like mentality.

Unlike a number of his colleagues, Manning has played in the Super Bowl where he was the MVP as the Giants beat the New England Patriots 17-14 and has told them they must leave no stone unturned as they look to once again defeat the Patriots when the two sides meet at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 5th. Anyone looking at the Super Bowl 2012 betting will know the size of the task facing them.

The playmaker is known throughout the NFL as someone who likes to let his actions do the talking. This means whenever he does make a speech, everyone takes notice and knows he means everything he says.

“We got an excellent message from Eli,” safety Antrel Rolle said. “It was very well-needed. For players like myself who have been to a Super Bowl, it is still great to hear someone speak with that kind of leadership. And you know, Eli doesn’t say much. When he says it, he means it and you know it is coming from the heart.”

The 31-year-old has become notably more vocal this season and years of being reluctant to speak to the press. At the beginning of the season he was if saw himself as an elite quarterback and immediately said ‘yes’. This has led to his performances coming under even more scrutiny this term but he says it’s not something he regrets. Fans of Betfair NFL action should bear this in mind.

“I thought I gave an honest answer,” he said. “I didn’t regret it at the time or think anything of it. Obviously it has been made into a big deal and I can’t always control that. My job is to play the game, it’s your job to talk and make up stories.”

49ers need to decide if Smith is the right man for the team

Although the San Francisco 49ers have enjoyed an unbelievable campaign compared to what was expected of them at the start of the regular season, there’s no doubting the fact that they managed to overachieve thanks in large part to a defence that played out of its skin enough times to make up for the failings of a slightly dodgy offence.

After spending the year ensuring that his team was defensively as solid as possible, Jim Harbaugh has now been faced with one of the biggest decisions of his career to date, with the manager needing to decide whether to cash in on Alex Smith while the QB still has some value and respect attached to his name before moving for another QB, or else stick with a man who may be on the up at the moment but seems to have reached the zenith of a career that hasn’t exactly set the NFL on fire. Those looking at the Super Bowl Betting odds will know this.

With Smith enjoying a relatively good season, pulling off a number of plays he hadn’t previously looked capable of completing, including that pass to Vernon Davis, the fact remains that when it really counted in the Conference game against the New York Giants last night, the San Fran man simply failed to step up to the plate often enough at crucial moments.

With no Super Bowl on the horizon for them, the 49ers now have the chance to enter a crucial period of reflection, which should allow them to start unpicking the details and reasons for their eventual defeat that can be so difficult to identify in the heat of the moment. Fans of Betfair American Football Odds need to bear this in mind.

The coaching team, with this in mind, will know all too well that they now need to make the very best decisions for the future of a franchise starting slowly but surely to come back into the fold after a number of years in the wilderness. Perhaps the first step in this process, though, revolves around Jim Harbaugh  dumping Smith in order to hand the 49ers a real chance of putting together an offence capable of creating as much terror as their defence does at the moment.

Toe woe sidelines Wood

Tom Wood hopes to play some part in England’s Six Nations campaign despite being ruled out of the first two matches against Scotland and Italy after picking up a toe injury.

The Northampton Saints flanker has been told that he will have to wear a protective boot on his left foot for the next four weeks.

Wood, who was one of the leading candidates to captain the England side in the tournament following Lewis Moody’s decision to retire from the international arena, will still attend the team’s pre-Six Nations training camp in Leeds next week. People looking at the pre-tournament 6 nations betting will be wondering if he can get back into contention.

He said: “There is never a good time to be injured and I’m obviously very disappointed but I’m working closely with the medics, at both Northampton Saints and England, who will be keeping a close eye on it and assessing it day by day.”

An injury in one area is also an opportunity to develop strengths and improve in others. I will still travel to Leeds next week so that I am part of the squad as it gels and begins to establish its own culture and values.”Interim England head coach Stuart Lancaster already has a host of injuries to contend with. Leicester Tigers trio Toby Flood, Manu Tuilagi and Louis Deacon are all sidelined through injury, at least for the Scotland and Italy games, while Northampton lock Courtney Lawes is battling to overcome a knee problem.

In Wood’s absence, Lancaster could hand number eight Ben Morgan his Test debut in the Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland, while Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw has emerged as the favourite to captain his country.

Vulcanite throws his hat into Supreme Novices ring

Charlie Longsdon looks to have a potential live outsider for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, the opening race on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival (March 13), his useful ex-Flat racer Vulcanite having hacked up at Southwell recently giving the impression there is even better to come, writes Elliot Slater.

The five-year-old broke his duck over timber at only the second time of asking, barely breaking sweat under a confident ride from Paddy Brennan to justify long odds-on of 1/4 in beating second-favourite Spiekeroog by an eased-down seven-lengths, giving a performance that oozed class and suggested that despite Cheltenham being a very different ball game the son of Dubawi will not be without a chance in the big league contest. Those placing free Cheltenham bets should bear this in mind.

Trained on the Flat by Ralph Beckett, (for whom he won five of his 12 outings and achieved a rating as high as 103), Vulcanite joined Longsdon in mid-December and after less than a week with his new handler made his hurdling bow in a hot contest at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, where despite a couple of early mistakes he still had enough left in the locker to move menacingly upsides the favourite Tetlami at the second last.  A combination of a lack of experience and a nine-week absence from the track caught up with him at that point and he could only keep on at the one pace, but Vulcanite still put in an eye-catching performance to finish an honourable second to a good horse. Fans of Betfair Cheltenham horse tips should remember this.

Longsdon believes that the guaranteed strong gallop of the Supreme Novices Hurdle will almost certain help his horse who will have one more outing before taking his chance in the coveted race, a contest for which he is on offer at 33/1, tempting odds for a horse with more than touch of class about him.

Don’t Push It retires

2010 Grand National winner Don’t Push It has retired at the age of 12 after failing to impress on the gallops this season.

The Jonjo O’Neill runner gave champion jockey Tony McCoy his first success in the race in his 15th attempt two years ago, and ran a respectable third last year behind winner Ballabriggs.

The J.P. McManus-owned horse was subject to a huge gamble on the morning of the race in 2010 as he was backed from 20-1 into 10/1 join favourite along with Big Fella Thanks, before finishing ahead of Black Apalachi by five lengths.

The victory in the race was also the first for O’Neill as a trainer or jockey, and for owner McManus, who together, have dominated the sport in the last two decades but were without a Grand National win to their name before Don’t Push It. Anyone following the best Grand National betting odds should remember this.

O’Neill has admitted that he was tempted to keep the horse in training, but came to the conclusion that the 12-year old had lost his sparkle.

“We thought we had him right again this year after he ran so well over hurdles at Cheltenham, but he’s now telling us that enough is enough,” he said.

“He’s been an unbelievable horse and I’m sure he will be well looked after at JP’s – he will have a great retirement.”

McCoy may choose to ride synchronised this year after teaming up with the horse to win the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown last month for O’Neill and McManus.

The nine-year old does have an entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but could bypass the festival for a shot at the feature race of the National meeting in April.

Hobbs expecting big run from Wishfull at Ascot

Philip Hobbs has passed on an upbeat assessment of the chance of his talented performer Wishfull Thinking ahead of Saturday’s feature event, the Grade 1 25th Anniversary of Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot, writes Elliot Slater.

The Diana Whateley-owned gelding bounced back to form at Kempton’s Christmas fixture when running his best race of the season so far in finishing a three-quarters-of-a-length runner-up to Finian’s Rainbow in the Grade 2 Desert Orchid Chase, a performance that came as a great relief to the Minehead-based handler who had reportedly been on the verge of sending the nine-year-old for a breathing operation having seen his charge stop quickly in his previous two outings. Anyone following the best ante-post horse racing betting should bear this in mind.

Made 7/2 favourite for the ultra-competitive twenty-runner Paddy Power Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in November, Wishfull Thinking ran well for a long way and led until the third last where he faded quickly to eventually trail in a well beaten sixth behind Great Endeavour. It was much the same story in the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown a few weeks later where Hobbs’ bold front-runner was clear at halfway but stopped as if shot when headed at the fourth from home, fading rapidly to finish a disappointing 38-length fifth behind the impressive Sizing Europe.

His Kempton effort however has brought the smile back to Hobbs’ face and the trainer reports Saturday’s intended runner as being in great heart ahead of a rematch with Finian’s Rainbow, and more than up for the fight of also tackling the up-and-coming Paul Nicholls-trained Al Ferof and his stable companion the exciting Kauto Stone, as well as smart performers Gauvain and Somersby.

Bookmakers currently rate Wishfull Thinking a general 7/1 chance behind his Kempton conqueror Finian’s Rainbow, a rock solid 2/1 favourite.

Smith still has a lot to prove

So the headline writers got their story and the Niners got all the way to the NFC Championship game, but the sad truth remains that although the San Francisco 49ers can be branded a top franchise, they are currently arguably a representation of a franchise that might just be able to win the Super Bowl without being able to boast a top class QB as part of their team.

Apart from the last minute heroics that Smith somehow pulled off, the 49ers squandered numerous promising return positions, and once again relied heavily upon their defence to give them even a small chance of making it to overtime. Those looking at the American Football Betting should remember this.

Compare this to the performances that the likes of Tom Brady and Eli Manning displayed this weekend and you can start to see why the 49ers fans may feel respect for Alex Smith but in truth desire a far stronger “big game” player to allow a franchise that has had real potential over the last few years actually go on to achieve the hopes and dreams of the players who are now a part of a franchise that has come back from the depths and is set along the right path.

Should the 49ers do what many considered impossible and go all the way to the Super Bowl, perhaps even getting themselves some sparkly new rings in the process, then Smith will no doubt be lauded as a hero. The real heroes of the 49ers’ season, however, have come in the form of the defence and the fans who have stuck with the franchise despite the pain and suffering that they have endured for far too long now. The Super Bowl betting odds at betfair show they could still struggle.

With all this in mind, one can’t help but hope Smith enjoys the rest of the playoffs, before graciously moving on to new pastures, perhaps as a motivator for sportsmen who have thought about giving up.

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Recent Articles

• Who’s hot in the NHL?
• Red Wings home record shows the importance of home comforts
• Giants quarterback issues rallying call
• 49ers need to decide if Smith is the right man for the team
• Toe woe sidelines Wood
• Vulcanite throws his hat into Supreme Novices ring
• Don’t Push It retires
• Hobbs expecting big run from Wishfull at Ascot
• Smith still has a lot to prove
• Playing poker like a business

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