Tomorrow night in Las Vegas, the Denver Pioneers play for their 11th men’s college hockey national championship, and the case for backing them is about as strong as it gets.

Start with the goaltender. Johnny Hicks has not lost a college hockey game in regulation. Not once. Since taking over the starting job in late January, he has gone 14-0-1 with a save percentage and goals against average that look like a typo. His career high 49-save performance against Michigan in the semifinals last night stopped the most offensively dominant team in the country.

The path Denver has taken to get here tells you everything. They shut out Cornell 5-0, dismantled defending champion Western Michigan 6-2, and then dug out of a third-period deficit against the number one team in the country to win in double overtime. They have not lost since January.

Wisconsin deserves genuine credit for what they have accomplished. They were blown out by Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament and somehow remade themselves into a team capable of upsetting two top seeds on the way to a national championship game. Against North Dakota in the semifinals they were outshot 30-18 and still found a way to win. That is a resilient group playing with nothing to lose.

The problem is that Wisconsin's penalty kill ranks in the bottom five nationally, and Denver is too disciplined and too experienced to not exploit that. Coach David Carle has built a program that performs at its best when the stakes are highest, and he is 14-3 in NCAA tournament play.

This is a dynasty completing what it started. Hicks has been otherworldly, the offense has depth throughout the lineup, and Wisconsin simply does not have enough weapons to keep pace.

Back the Pioneers to win. This one feels inevitable.

⚾ Stop Guessing on Home Run Props

Jaxon's Home Run Sheet gives you everything you need to find the best bets before first pitch:

Projections & Odds – See Jaxon's HR projection alongside live over/under odds
Hit Rate – Track how often each player has gone deep over their last ten games and more
Confidence Score – Know which plays Jaxon likes most at a glance

Click on any player to view detailed stats!

⚾️ MLB Home Run Spots

On the MLB side, we have been running Friday's pitching matchups through Jaxon and asking it a specific question: which starters are most likely to get hit hard, and which hitters in those lineups are best positioned to take advantage? That will help us narrow a crowded slate down to a few actionable spots rather than guessing blindly at a long list of home run props. Here is what we came up with for Friday.

Vinnie Pasquantino (KC) Anytime Home Run (+700)

Davis Martin (CWS) has been solid to start the season but he is a fly-ball pitcher who does not miss many bats, projecting for fewer than five strikeouts Friday. The Royals have seen him enough to know what is coming, and Pasquantino has 3 hits in 10 at bats against Martin in his career with 2 home runs on the ledger.

Left-handed hitters have feasted on Martin historically, accounting for 60% of the home runs against him last season. Pasquantino has yet to go deep in 2026 and the matchup is pointing directly at him. He is overdue.

Sal Stewart (CIN) Anytime Home Run (+410)

Jack Kochanowicz (LAA) heads to Great American Ball Park, which is one of the most hitter-friendly venues in baseball, and his profile is not built to survive it. He has walked 75 batters in 185 career innings and projects for fewer than five strikeouts Friday.

The Reds' lineup at home against right-handed pitching is a difficult assignment, and Sal Stewart has been one of the most exciting young power hitters in the early going, posting three home runs and a .366 average through 12 games. His hard-hit metrics and patience at the plate make him the most dangerous option in this lineup.

Brice Turang (MIL) Anytime Home Run (+500)

Jake Irvin (WSH) projects for the highest earned run total of the three starters we analyzed, and Milwaukee has been one of the more disciplined offensive teams in the early season.

Turang is slashing .270/.413/.514 with a home run, four doubles, and a triple already this year. He missed the last two games with a minor ankle issue but is expected back in the lineup for the series opener. His ability to punish right-handed pitching and his speed on the bases make him the most complete threat in this matchup.

🌲 The Pine Line

🏒 The Avalanche just sealed the top spot. They have a chance of joining elite company.

⚾️ It’s been 5 years since his last MLB win. Don’t sleep on Anthony Kay after his resurgence in Japan.

🎯 Four-of-a-kind in Augusta. Aces everywhere at the Par-3 contest including a repeat customer.

🏎️ Have you ever wanted to own an iconic F1 car? Four historic cars are going up for auction.

⚽️ Another one of soccer’s biggest names linked to MLS. We could see the Brazilian superstar in Cincinnati soon.

⛳️ Three Masters Bets Before Round Two

by Ed Egros 👉️ Follow on X @EdWithSports

The first round of the 2026 Masters felt like the tournament simply picked up where it left off a year ago.  Rory McIlroy needed a playoff to win last year, now he’s tied for the lead again.  Scottie Scheffler finished three strokes behind McIlroy in 2025, now he’s three off the pace after 18 holes.

Iron Play Tells the Story

As I discussed earlier this week, what happens between the tee box and the green may tell us more about who’s winning the green jacket than any part of the game.

DataGolf has calculated Strokes Gained: Approach the Green statistics and four of the top six after Round 1 are comfortably in contention, including McIlroy and Sam Burns, who is also tied atop the leaderboard.  How golfers use their irons both at Augusta National and in other tournaments this year serve as valuable information for what to bet going forward.

Past Success Matters

Among all golf tournaments on the calendar, few tend to have more repeat winners than the Masters.  After all, there’s a reason Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have a combined 11 of the 90 green jackets awarded.

After Round 1, three of the top nine golfers have won this tournament before.  If a newbie breaks through, he’ll have earned it, navigating past the best in the sport.

Best Bets

Let’s combine our knowledge of past success and the importance of iron play with Jaxon’s AI tools to place more winning bets before Round 2 begins:

Scottie Scheffler Top 5 Finish (-140)

It’s not just that Scheffler has won this event twice or ranks in the 99th percentile in Strokes Gained: Approach at Augusta (+0.9 SG), he also ranks among the best in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (+0.37 SG) and Strokes Gained: Putting (+0.57 SG).

You may be wondering if he’s this dominant why you don’t simply bet on him to win.  There is randomness when McIlroy and Patrick Reed are right there with him.  

There simply aren't enough golfers who can consistently outperform him over four rounds, which makes the implied odds on a Top 5 finish, even at -140, look underpriced.

Justin Rose Top 10 Finish (-102)

Last year, Justin Rose finished third in Strokes Gained: Approach at the Masters.  He has been incredibly consistent, almost mechanically so, having finished second on three occasions.

So when Rose starts this year’s Masters coming in 37th with irons after one round according to DataGolf, we can expect his past play will improve.  

We’re not betting on him to win, we’re just betting on history even somewhat repeating itself thanks to having one of the higher floors at Augusta National.

🧀 Stay Sharp 

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