I am a big fan of online wagering, not the “pawn your wedding ring, drain the kids college fund” type of wagering - but the wagering where IF it hits its HILLARIOUS!  Tonight is one of those nights.  I just logged off of my BoDog account where I placed a three team Parlay for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes and the Toronto Maple Leafs … ALL TO WIN!  Now for those who are not familiar with the gambling lingo … a Parlay is a bet you make where you pick however many teams you want to win and every team you pick MUST win or else your wager is No Good!  I laid down a fat $1 wager on these three teams and if ALL three teams win … its a crazy payday of $14 to my account - and for the record … that’s U.S. $14!!!

Tonight I went with all underdogs.  Each team I have in this parlay is not favored to win. Here are the reasons why I chose these three teams:

Tampa Bay plays Detroit … I’ll be at this game to witness that massacre tonight IF Detroit wins.  This will also mark the 17th straight win over the Bolts should Tampa Bay lose!  If Detroit does not play Osgood tonight, Tampa might have a chance.  Osgood is 16-0-0 against Detroit … however, Osgood had a complete meltdown in front of the net during the 3rd period against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night!  We’ll see who Babcock plays, I would love to see Conklin as the net minder tonight.  Small things play in Tampa’s favor, their recent loss to the Panthers (YEA, I KNOW!!!) - Vinny, St Louis and Stamkos all somehow have a lack of goals, assists, points, ANYTHING!  Lecavalier leads the team with only six this season. St. Louis has only three goals, and Stamkos has none in his last six and only two overall.  It’s going to be up to them to pull this one off toinght - plus the fact that either Smith or Kolzig both have SUCKY records against Detroit does not help!  I feel a turn around point for Tampa Bay tonight.  Call it a “gut feeling” - or maybe that’s the pizza from last night … we’ll find out soon enough.

Yotes play the Wild … we’ll see how that plays out Bryzgalov has a 0-5-0 record against the Wild and he was in net last night for their 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets … Gretzky might rest Bryz and put Tellqvist in net tonight.  If Tellqvist is in net … this is a perfect chance for him to show the “Great One” (Gretzky, as if you didn’t know) how really truly awesome he is - Or Not!  The Wild have not lost to the Coyotes since Nov 2006 … Backstrom is sitting with a 7-0-0 record against Phoenix, however, the Wild are staring straight down the barrel of a 2-4-0 record in their last 6.  Another long shot … my faith is in the Coyotes captain Shane Doan!

Leafs play the Oilers in Edmonton … the Oilers are home after an NHL record long 12 games on the road.  Coming in off of a high that beat the Rangers, I am not sure if the Leafs will have what it takes … however in their favor the Leafs have defeated Edmonton 4 out of the last 5 meetings!  One thing standing in the way of Ron Wilson and his Leafs is the rookie in net for Edmonton - Garon has been struggling and Drouin-Deslauriershas taken his place … The 24-year-old rookie was outstanding in both recent contests, making 37 saves in a 2-1 win over the Devils on Sunday and 40 stops to defeat the Rangers 3-2 in a shootout the next day.  Drouin-Deslauriers faced 20 shots in the second period of each game and rose to the challenge, turning aside 39 of those 40 total shots.  Out of these three teams … this wager is the one that worries me … Toronto is looking to turn around their 1-3-1 record and as anyone knows, Ron Wilson likes to send messages to the league.  Tonight would be a good time to send a message … someone wanna let Ron know?  Tell ‘em Brister said so!

So there ya go … don’t go bettin the farm on these lines!

Tags: Lines, Phoenix, Ron Wilson, Tampa Bay, Toronto