Sports Betting Overview This is it for the Calgary Flames, but they need a lot of help. As the baseball betting gets rolling, the Flames prepare to play their last game of the regular season. At this point, the NHL news is not good for Calgary. The Flames sit in 10th place in the Western Conference and are two points out of a playoff spot. But, in order for the Flames to have any chance at making the post season, the Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks would all have to lose their final two games of the season. That does not seem likely, which means a Calgary playoff berth does not seem likely either. The Vancouver Canucks have already won the dreaded President’s Trophy as the best team in the regular season, and are getting ready for the playoffs. Price per head Canucks fans watched in horror as Vancouver started resting starters in anticipation of the playoffs. But the nosedive that the resting of key players caused was shocking even to the Canucks themselves, and the starters were immediately put back to work. Only seven of the previous 24 winners of the President’s Trophy have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. But this is Vancouver’s first President’s Trophy, and they are hoping to break the mold. Calgary Flames For the Flames, it is not as romantic as the notion that if they win, then they are in. In the last 10 games, Calgary has a 5-3-2 record and is riding a three-game winning streak. The fact is that the Flames just cannot put together a consistent string of wins this season when they need to. When Calgary was in the top 8 of the Western Conference earlier in the season, they would regularly put together streaks of losses that eventually knocked them back out of the playoffs. The Flames just seem uninterested in playing consistently strong defense and maintaining offensive intensity. They will need all of that if they intend to beat the Canucks and at least put themselves in a position to be considered for the final playoff spot. Vancouver Canucks The Canucks tried to rest goalie Roberto Luongo and star forwards like the Sedin twins, and the result was an embarrassing loss to the Edmonton Oilers. That is not going to build momentum going into the playoffs. Vancouver is 7-3-0 in the last 10 games, and is coming off of an impressive 5-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. The Flames are not the difficult test that the Canucks were hoping for to help get the President’s Trophy winners ready for the playoffs, but it is still a game that the Canucks need to dominate. Considering how these two teams have been playing lately, the Canucks should have no problem dominating this game. The Bottom Line The Flames look ready to go out with a whimper in this regular season. Their play has been spotty and frustrating at times. This is not a bad hockey team, but it prefers to play like one more often than it should. The Canucks just want to roll into the playoffs with a win, and they should be able to accomplish their goal with this game. Pick: Vancouver Canucks
