While channel surfing last night between hockey games, I stumbled upon the Chicago Blackhawks pre-game ceremonies and they were raising Tony Esposito’s number 35 to the rafters.

Growing up in Ottawa and playing ball hockey in the streets, when I was in nets, I was either Tony Esposito or Ken Dryden. During the guest presentation, I love the way his brother Phil (Esposito) came up behind Tony and gave him the big brother type punch in the arm and saying, I’m here brother. In fact, you could really sense the great atmosphere at the United Centre and in a way; it felt like they were in the old Chicago stadium during the national anthem. Plus, talk about a classy individual Tony Esposito, as both goalies took the opening face-off and Tony thanked both goalies (Kolzig and Khabibulin) for doing this and he appreciated it.

However, I believe allot of the credit to this evening goes out to the Blackhawks front office and Rocky Wirtz! How can you not love a guy in hockey named Rocky who is making things right again in the windy city and hitting the right notes in his speech, addressing the fact radio and home games are back on television again! Rocky seems to be old school and we need more Rocky Wirtz in this world who’s for doing the right thing in sports and making people feel good again. Plus, how fitting the Blackhawks won by a 5-0 shutout vs. the Capitals on Tony Esposito night. Love it!

Which brings me to today’s issue, NHL teams vs. None Conference opponents. In fact, when St.Louis beat Montreal 4-3 the night before in Montreal, I was thinking how other teams do against none conference foes. Few things came to mind when analyzing these none conference games and you might want to look at this in handicapping none conference games.

Since teams are facing more division foes these days, there seems to be less preparation and adjustments vs. an opponent you haven’t seen all year. In fact, it seems by the over/under numbers, most of the trends favor the under in these matchups, as it looks like teams aren’t familiar with each other and coaches play more reserve until they know what they are dealing with and then make their line adjustments. So, who exactly are the teams that are having success vs. none conference teams.

The teams with the best records are Pittsburgh, Colorado and Anaheim at 8-2 SU, while New Jersey and Detroit are 7-3 SU, with Washington, Boston, Dallas and Columbus sit at 60% at 6-4 SU.

As for teams who struggle vs. none conference teams, the NYR are king, as they own the worst record at 1-8 SU. Furthermore, when you look at teams who are currently making the playoffs, Ottawa is 3-6 SU and Montreal is 3-7 SU, which means look somewhere else for Stanley Cup futures.

In fact, here’s 3 teams I feel are good value for the Stanley Cup futures and you could be in a good hedging situation if they can escape the first 2 rounds.

Carolina Hurricanes +3050: The Canes are peaking at the right time of year and they are one of 5 teams who own 10 wins or more in their last 14 games. Plus, the Canes have one of the most important pieces of the puzzle come spring hockey; goaltending! Cam Ward has won a Stanley Cup and at +3050, you have great value here and I look for Carolina to be a sleeper.

New Jersey Devils +1215: It seems each year I’m recommending the Devils, but how can you ignore them with the top goalie in hockey on your side? Plus, you look at their coaching and management team, they will win the strategy games, so you will not outthink this group which includes, Sutter, Robinson, Burns, Stevens and Lamorrello.

Calgary Flames +1815: Looks like a pretty good mixture here; a 45-goal scorer in Iginla, good goaltending in Kipper, gritty defenseman in Phaneuf and a coach like Keenan who’s won a Stanley Cup with the Rangers. Plus, the Flames are one of the grittiest teams in the league and they will pound you into submission in a 7 game series.

In closing, it was awesome hearing the TONY, TONY, TONY chants in Chicago last night and good for you Rocky Wirtz for bringing the NHL back to Chicago and making people talk Blackhawks hockey again!