Hockey Trade Rumors

Over the course of the next month or so many hockey players are likely to change teams.  Some of the players include Hemsky, Miller, Mike Cammalleri amongst others.  One of the interesting things about player trades besides the fact that there are some teams gearing up for the cup and others selling players to make their team better is the notion of how trades may effect sports betting, hockey in particular.

Are you more likely to bet on a team that has just made a significant trade. One of the things that I have discovered over the years is that trades can have an effect to lift a teams play for the short term. This improvement in play may be because players are excited to have new teammates, are showing off for new teams or because they do not want to be the next to go.

While not a trade, but  the recent coaching change in Winnipeg is a classic example of how a change can impact a team. While Noel is a good coach it seems that the addition of Paul Maurice was able to  give the Jets an immediate lift as the Jets blew out the Coyotes on Tuesday night 5-1.

So the question that I propose is, are you more likely to bet on a hockey team (that has just recently fired their coach or made a big trade) on sites such as http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-ca/betting/y/10/Ice-Hockey.html;? Do you agree that a significant change to a team can have a significant impact on a team and increase the likelihood that a team will win their next few games?

Although not a time of a big trade or a coaching change, it seems that at times near the end of the season teams who are out of the playoffs have nothing to loose when they player teams and often like to play “the spoiler?”  Do all teams play the spoiler role or do you think that there are times that you can predict who will play the spoiler in a particular game?