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Zak’s Puck Picks! is back! I started in Cash with Flash Handicapping Challenge and have been heating up. I am super excited to keep the momentum going and win some serious money with all of you!
A big part of my life is my 3 kids. Each one of them holds a different attribute that I would personally use to aid me in deciding what picks to make. My twins Pork and Ribs and their little brother Bean (not their real names but very appropriate nicknames).
Pork is a doer. He is one to dive into a situation and figure it out as it unfolds, usually with great success. In terms of the puck pick, it will be a gut feeling pick and be backed with some stats to explain the feeling.
Ribs, he likes to observe the situation, take in all the information, and then make an educated decision on what his next step will be. His puck pick will be focused around teams that are on hot streaks, either against a team in a matchup or on a winning streak.
Now Bean may sound cute and innocent, but he is a wild man. Not a lot of thought goes into actions and if there is some thought, its geared towards “how can I push Dad’s buttons”. His puck pick will be a little more on the risky side. There will be reasons why I think we should go this way.
As cook by trade and hockey as a passion since I was 3 years old, let’s get some puck picks in the oven and make some dough shall we?
All odds are referenced from vegasinsider.com.
Puck Record. The month of January #30dayhandicappingchalenge (42-40) article picks (15-16) (2-0 Wednesday one pick was a gut feel added pre-game on Discord and twitter). I also put up a Liverpool ML winner on Twitter and Discord, But this is Puck Picks so that clearly doesn’t count!
All-Star competition Edition! Disclaimer; as I usually play all the picks I write about, the all-star game is really anyone’s so I will make reference at the end of the write up about which ones I will be putting money on!
FASTEST SKATER; Connor McDavid.
Not only has this guy won this event every year he has been in it, but I also heard a reference today from Sportsnet 960’s Ryan Pinder on my way to work where he said: “This guy would get a speeding ticket in a school zone”. Even coming off of an almost year-ending knee injury, he still has the best jets in the NHL. McDavid will be the 3-time champ!
Potential upset: Nathan McKinnon.
I will be betting on this one!!
SAVE STREAK- Jacob Markstrom
This is a tough event where you always seem to have a guy come out of nowhere to take this win. I was thinking about the home town hero Jordan Binnington, but that’s too obvious. BIG SAVE DAVE Rittich? Nah, he’ll get a little goofy in this one I think. Markstrom has been a solid puck stopper in Vancouver this year and really has a shot. According to records.nhl.com, Markstrom holds the second-highest career save percentage in a shootout with a minimum of 40 shots against, within this group of goalies. The only one that is higher…
Potential upset: Andre Vasalevski– he sits second all-time on the list mentioned above where Markstrom sits 15th.
I feel good about this pick and will put a little on it
Accuracy shooting. Leon Draisaitl
You are not tied for 6th in league goal-scoring if you don’t have an accurate shot. Oh and the guy he is tied with is also the best player in the game. With an 18.8% shooting percentage and sitting second on this list. This German puck Sniper really has a solid chance to take this one home
Potential upset: Mark Scheifele
Boasting a 19.8% shooting percentage, he is the only one higher than Draisaitl on the list of the shooter. Stats gathered at foxsports.com
Will play this one small, but I like my chances
Hardest shot: John Carlson
He has won it the last three years running and currently leads the NHL with 11 goals by a defenseman. 102.8 mph was his win last year and his mark to beat this year. This guy can hammer a puck!
Potential upset: Elias Peterson!!! Only kidding. This guy weighs 120lbs after showering with his equipment on. Victor Hedman is my potential upset. Stats for D at NHL.com
I like this one too. I will probably play a unit here as well.
Shooting stars- David Pasternak
This is a new event where the players are in the stands and try to fire pucks out onto the ice and hit certain targets. Pasternak seems like he might be good at this as he won the accuracy competition last year. The only time I have seen anyone else do this is Malkin and Crosby in a YouTube video, and of course, they aren’t in it. So why not take Mr. Accuracy.
Potential upset: Patrick Kane
Women’s 3 on 3 tournaments. – Canada
Now I try to write unbiased and follow the facts, however, as a proud Canadian, I can not possibly go against this proud nation and creator of Vulcanized Rubber (the material pucks are made of). The stats don’t follow this trend as the US has had Canada’s number in the last two tournaments. As fellow proud Canadian Allan ( Win Daily Writer of NHL Stack and Track) we just can not bet against the home team here.
Potential upset: Me, if anything other than a Team Canada Victory.
I have to put my money where my mouth is now!
As this is a once a year thing with some new events I warn you to tread lightly on these puck picks as all of these guys are really good and anything could happen, but these are my thoughts through the research I have done.
I am very excited to join this team of highly skilled people at Win Daily. If you have any further questions, please feel free to find me on the Win Daily Discord chat (@Zak PRB) or on Twitter (@PRBpuckpicks) Thank you to you all for reading, let’s go make some bacon.
