What Are The Ottawa Senators Playoff Chances At The Midway Point?

As we all know the Senators were ranked 30th in the league in almost any “power rankings” article or list you read prior to the season starting.  Then the Senators came out of the gate and went 1-5-0 in their first six games and all the so called “experts” were saying we told you so and Senators fans were bracing themselves for a long season.  Since then the Sens have gone 20-10-5 and currently sit in 5th position in the Eastern Conference with 47 points in 41 games.  The position might not be as accurate as it seems however, because the Senators have played more games than any other team in the East, but if you look at points per game played they are still slotted in at the 7th position (Penguins and Capitals jump ahead).  If the season ended today and every team went by points per game played the Senators would be facing the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.

Can They Keep It Up?

If the Senators can do the exact same in the second half of the season they would finish with 94 points, which would surely earn them a playoff spot.  Last season 94 points would have resulted in an 8th place finish, while the year before it would have resulted in a 5th place finish (which just so happened to be where the Sens finished that season with exactly 94 points).

So the question becomes can they do at least the same in the second half.  In my opinion, yes and possibly even better.  As mentioned earlier the Sens got off to a horrible start and that likely will not happen in this second half, which means they will not have to be “catching up” the entire time.

The Kyle Turris trade filled a whole that was created when Regin was injured and so far Turris has looked fairly good and I only expect him to get better as his confidence builds (his beauty tip goal last night should help this).  In net Anderson has been playing tremendously, but the team does need Auld to win a game here and there to give Anderson some time off now and then.

The third and fourth line players on the Senators have been over performing compared to preseason analysis, which is a big reason the Sens have been playing so well and I don’t see this slowing down anytime soon.  Eric Condra and Zack Smith are two great penalty killers with offensive upside, each of whom are big +’s on the team.  Another big surprise would have to be the play of Jared Cowen who could easily be in a competition with Karlsson as the team’s top d-man.  The two compliment each other so well and they should be a great tandem on the back end for the Senators moving forward.

Do The Sens Have A Chance at the Stanley Cup?

The oddsmakers still do not believe in the Senators this season.  Sportsbook 5Dimes.com has the Senators at +10,000 odds to win the Cup, which is only better than 6 other teams.  Even teams that are almost out of the playoff hunt such as the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning have shorter odds.  If you do want to place a bet at 5Dimes, make sure you use a 5Dimes marketing code to get the best bonus possible.

In my opinion the Senators don’t have a great shot at the Stanley Cup this year, but nothing is out of the question.  Craig Anderson could stand on his head and the team has the offensive fire power and experience to make something happen if they do make the playoffs.  The big bad Bruins would be extremely hard to beat however.

Canada vs Russia 2012 World Junior Championships Semi Finals Prediction

This is likely one of the last matchups the Canadians would have liked in the semi-finals of this years IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, but it’s the one they got after the Russians defeated the Czech’s in overtime last night.  Now the rematch of last years wild final is set to take place tonight at 9:00pm EST.  We all remember how last year turned out with the Canadians heading into the 3rd period up 3-0 before allowing 3 quick goals to start the period and 2 more later to lose the game 5-3.  This year revenge is in order.

It looks like Scott Wedgewood will be getting the nod in net for the Canadians, which I believe is a good decision, not only because he has been the better goaltender so far in the tournament, but also because Visentin was the one who allowed the 5 goals last year to the Russians and putting him back in the same situation could prove costly.  Wedgewood has been great, but so has Russian goaltender Vasilevski who stopped 38 of 39 shots against the Czech’s last night.

Sports Interaction currently has the spread in the game at 2.5 goals with Canada as the favourites, while Bodog has the spread at 2.  This may be because SportsInteraction.com is primarily a Canadian sportsbook, but this makes it a great place to wager on Russia.  If you do sign up at SportsInteraction.com be sure to leave the Sports Interaction refer a friend code empty in order to receive the 100% up to $125 bonus.

The moneyline at Sports Interaction is -500 for Team Canada and +300 for Russia.  I don’t think the two squads are as far apart in quality as these lines suggest, but I do expect Team Canada to pull this one out.  Therefore I like the +2.5 puckline bet at Sports Interaction on Russia with odds of -130.  Vasilevski should be able to keep the Canadians to a reasonable number of goals and the Russian snipers should provide a little bit of offense in order to keep the game close.

Expect Team Canada to wear down the Russian defense with the strong forechecking game that Canada has become known for in this tournament and employed for a great deal of success over recent years.  The winner of this game will surely go into the Finals on Thursday with the label of favourite, so this is a huge game for both teams.  The loss last year should be enough to keep Canada from getting complacent this time around if they are able to build a lead.

Visit SportsInteraction.com to bet on this Canada vs Russia semi-final!