The official end of the NFL season, marked Sunday by a 31-17 New Orleans win over the Indianapolis Colts, is also the unofficial start of hockey betting season for a lot of people. This year the shift happens to coincide with the countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and we are already starting to hear a lot of players and coaches throw around terms like “desperate” when describing their situation heading into the break.

In betting talk that translates into “Must win” and as we usually learn one way or the other, “Must win” does not mean “Will win” for teams in any sport. Clubs with a losing record during the past four months do not have a magical power that enables them to flip a switch and start winning vs. better opponents. With six weeks of regular season play still to come followed by four rounds of post-season action, bettors may want to try and avoid temptation this week to jump on teams for the simple sake of that team saying it really wants to win a game.

Monday Lineup

New Jersey was the winner of the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes and after coming back late in the third period against Toronto must feel like it’s on a bit of a roll as they head into Philly (-115) to take on the Flyers. Philadelphia was 1-2 on a recent road trip and will have its hands full dealing with a Devils team that clearly has momentum on its side.

San Jose (-165) did not take kindly to losing two of its final three home games before their current six-game road swing and so far has taken the punishment out on St. Louis and Detroit. Tonight in Toronto the Leafs will go back to J.S. Giguere who is 1-0 with his new team. The total on this game has seen significant movement as 76-percent public money has shifted the line from 5.5 UN (-130) all the way to 5.5 OV (-135).

The Blues are back in their comfort zone away from home following another winless stint the past four days vs. Chicago and San Jose. St. Louis travels to Colorado (-140) to take on an Avalanche squad coming off a 3-0 shutout win vs. Edmonton Saturday (Feb. 6). St. Louis is 3-1 in its past four games on the road.

The Oilers are in Phoenix (-245) and in Anaheim (-115) the Ducks will look to halt a five-game slide the team has gone through against their division rivals, the LA Kings. Los Angeles is 3-0 this season vs. the Ducks and with a win tonight can extend its current, franchise record-breaking win streak to 10 games.

The Kings are high off a comeback win over the weekend against Detroit and with eight players in double-digits for goals bring an offense with very few holes into the Pond in a deadlock for second in the Pacific with the Phoenix Coyotes.