The NHL schedule for Thursday night features a much bigger selection of games to watch compared to opening night on Wednesday. Two teams that will open their seasons tonight are Anaheim and Pittsburgh, who both have Stanley Cup aspirations. Both of these teams ended last year with disappointing finishes in the playoffs. Each club made some key changes in the off-season to improve for this year. We like Anaheim on the road as they steal a victory to begin the 2014-2015 NHL season.
Ducks leaning on new center to improve offense
Ryan Kesler joins the Ducks after spending the last 10 seasons as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Anaheim set a club record for points in a season with 116 last year and led the league in goals scored per game with 3.21. The Ducks dropped their second-round playoff series to the Los Angeles Kings by scoring two goals or less in five of the seven games played in the series.
Penguins open season under new head coach
Dan Bylsma is no longer the head coach of the Penguins. He was replaced by Mike Johnston in the off-season. Evgeni Malkin might not be on the ice tonight after suffering an undisclosed injury recently. He said the chances of him playing tonight is 50-50. He hopes to remain healthy this season in an effort to secure the Penguins first Cup title since 2009. Gone are defensemen Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, who left via free agency for the Washington Capitals.
On Thursday night we will place our NHL bets over at BetOnline.ag, where the visiting Ducks are underdogs in this contest. We will drop 15 percent of our bankroll on the Ducks and the OVER 5.5 total goals scored as these two teams explode offensively in their season openers. Tonight’s NHL action should be much better than Wednesday night, so get ready for the puck to drop.
Chris Wassel
AA, AAS
CURRENTLY
Sports Writer and Journalist
RESIDES IN
Rahway, NJ
EDUCATION
Union County College, Montclair State University
EXPERTISE
Business, Writing, Sports, Food, Grilling, Olympics, Injuries, Politics, and more
Summary
Member of FSWA, FSGA, and a variety of Sports Betting Groups.
Lead arranger of news and injury reports for Rotoballer Hockey. Also did the news lead for NASCAR on the same site coming out of COVID.
Strategy and mapping out of various sports betting and sports articles for MyNHLTradeRumors and gambling.com.
Runs a hockey and fantasy hockey podcast that teaches fantasy hockey players how to improve their skills.
Experience
Chris Wassel has 20+ years of sports journalistic experience in various disciplines..
His ability to play sports is well documented. Most people in the business just write. However, Chris will race cars and even a super Moto bike from time to time. There is that fitness and hiking/cycling aspect too.
Chris has climbed mountains from Mount Washington to Mount San Jacinto in Palm Springs, California. For those that do not know. Chris also dabbles in food eating contests and challenges. Having a unique background with friends including Joey Chestnut and Casey Webb, Chris has the ability to eat a whole 16-pound turkey or a 32 inch meat lover's pizza.
Since 2013, Chris has primarily focused on sports writing and fitness. On social media, he will answer any question in many different aspects. Even Chris's ability to wager on Entertainment and US Elections is well documented. He was able to predict Joe Biden's inevitable dip in approval rating below 40%.
Throughout his career, Chris has worked at a lot of places from DraftKings to USA Today and much more.
Finally, Chris has been nominated for quite a few awards from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association for Hockey Writer Of The Year. Also, there have been a number of amazing fantasy hockey championships from expert to high-stake leagues.
Education
Chris received an Associates from Union Country College for business and accounting. Chris did sports journalism work at Montclair State University covering the hockey, baseball, and football teams.
Quote from Chris Wassel
"Do Not Think, Just Do.”
Education
1999 Graduate of Union County College
1993 Graduate of Rahway High School
Professional Achievements
Media credentialed member of the New Jersey Devils since 2010
Covered several NHL Drafts including the one day event in Newark in 2013
Been on countless podcasts, TV shows, and more including Sportsnet and even NHL Network