Hockey Handicapping Articles

Free NHL Picks: New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Second Round Preview
by Chris Vasile - 4/26/2016

As the NHL gets set to kick off the second round of playoff action, the two teams who were almost certainly picked to lose their first-round matchup will get the chance to do battle for a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/25/2016

Somewhat tough to scout the week ahead because the NHL hasn't yet announced the schedule for the conference semifinal round of the playoffs. In the West, Dallas has advanced after taking out Minnesota in six games. That one was an easy call. I didn't expect to see San Jose eliminate the Los Angeles Kings, but the Sharks did so in five games. That had to be sweet redemption for San Jose after blowing a 3-0 series lead against L.A. in 2014.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/18/2016

In my opinion, the big winner of the first week of the Stanley Cup playoffs was the Western Conference top-seeded Dallas Stars. The big loser? The greater Los Angeles area. I didn't give the Stars a great chance of winning the West because while it's a fabulous offensive team, Dallas wasn't great on defense during the regular season. But with has happened to the two L.A. teams thus far, now I'm rethinking that.

NHL Playoffs Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 4/13/2016

There is nothing better than playoff hockey in the NHL, and starting this Wednesday night with the Game 1 action in the Conference Quarterfinals there will be eight best-of-seven series on the betting board that could go either way no matter what the regular-season records or the current betting odds say.

NHL Playoffs Betting Picks: Series Underdogs Worth a Wager
by Trevor Whenham - 4/12/2016

The first round of the NHL Playoffs are set. As a Canadian I can't help being a little sad that no teams from my country are represented, but sadly that just means that the hockey will be better this year - we invented hockey, but our teams are all terrible at it. Without the Canuck influence, what we have are eight pretty compelling playoff series - or, more accurately, seven compelling series and Nashville and Anaheim.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/11/2016

Certainly the top storyline has to involve the Chicago Blackhawks, the team of the decade. Chicago has won three Stanley Cups in the past six seasons but has yet to repeat. The last team to go back-to-back was the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 & '98. These Hawks don't look as good as last year's club, but if any team knows how to flip a switch, it's this one. Patrick Kane finished with an NHL-high and career-best 106 points to become the first American-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy as top scorer.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/4/2016

Rather hard to imagine already, but it's the final week of the NHL's regular season. And if you happen to be living north of the border or are a fan of a Canadian hockey team, well, sucks for you. That's because all seven teams from that country will miss the playoffs. It's the first time since 1970 that no Canadian team will compete for Lord Stanley's Cup. Back then, the only Canadian teams in the 12-team league were Montreal and Toronto, two of the Original Six franchises.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 3/28/2016

For the most part, we know which teams are in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the West, it will be Dallas, St. Louis and Chicago from the Central Division. Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose will make it from the Pacific Division. And Nashville and Minnesota from the Central should claim the final two wild-card spots. The Wild got a huge win in that regard on Saturday against Colorado; the Avs are now five points behind the Wild for that final wild-card spot and Minnesota holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 3/21/2016

We are witnessing something pretty unusual from an individual perspective in the NHL this season that you may not be aware of. Take a look at the NHL points leaders. You have Ottawa's Erik Karlsson tied for fourth in the league with 73 points while leading with 60 assists. And you have San Jose's Brent Burns 10th in points with 65. He has 26 goals. What's so unusual about that? Both are defensemen.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 3/14/2016

One could make the argument that home-ice advantage is more important in the NHL than in the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball (they don't have ice, but you get the drift). That's because home NHL teams actually have a schematic advantage in that they get the last line change off a stoppage of play. Thus the coach can manipulate matchups if need be.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 3/7/2016

A lot of people thought last season's Tampa Bay Lightning resembled the 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks. By that I mean, a young team with a few rising superstars -- Steve Stamkos, Victor Hedman particularly -- ready to be a perennial Stanley Cup contender. Of course, the Bolts lost last year's Finals in six games to those Hawks, but everyone assumed the Lightning would be back.

NHL Handicapping: Teams Most Improved at Trade Deadline
by Trevor Whenham - 3/2/2016

There were a lot of deals dome at the NHL trade deadline and the days leading into this year. The problem, though, is that they weren't really the big deals that people love and were hoping for. A lot of the names that seemed to inevitably be heading elsewhere ended up staying with their teams. On the actual deadline day the problem seemed to be Calgary. The Flames got a very strong price for defenseman Kris Russell from Dallas in the morning, and that seemed to embolden sellers and scare off buyers to the point that the market wasn't there anymore.

NHL Trade Deadline Major Moves and Updated Futures Odds
by Chris Vasile - 3/1/2016

The NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and nobody even batted an eyelash. What was once a very exciting day in the hockey world is now as watered down as three-dollar drinks in any local watering hole. For months, speculation and rumors have run rampant across major hockey markets (all of which are seemingly in Canada) in the hopes of turning plug-and-play roster players into future draft picks and with a high upside.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 2/29/2016

The NHL trade deadline is no different than those in Major League Baseball or the NBA: the rich get richer and the bad teams throw in the towel and accrue assets for the future. Can I tell you with certainty who will win the Stanley Cup after Monday's NHL trade deadline passed? I can't, but I can tell you which teams to bet against the rest of the season.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 2/15/2016

Here's hoping you didn't place a bet on the Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup early this season when the Habs looked unstoppable for a while and became the betting favorites to hoist the Cup.The season went downhill once star goalie Carey Price, the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner, went down with an injury, and last week came news out of Canada that Price won't return this season.

NHL Betting Outlook for Four Disappointing Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 2/9/2016

We're past the all-star break in the NHL and closing in on the trade deadline. As teams decide whether they are buying or selling leading up to the deadline, it can be a depressing time for the fans of some teams. Teams that came into the season with high hopes and are struggling by now probably need to accept that it isn't going to happen for them - that this is a lost season. Yet another lost season in many cases.

NHL Handicapping: Betting Against Taking Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 2/9/2016

Last year the Buffalo Sabres made an art form of tanking. They traded away anyone with a pulse. If they had a goalie playing well they shipped him out and replaced him with someone less competent. They hung head coach Ted Nolan out to dry and then fired him after the season. It was a work of art, except for one thing - they still didn't wind up with the top pick thanks to bad lottery luck. Missing out on Connor McDavid stung, but Jack Eichel was a heck of a consolation prize.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 2/1/2016

After a very entertaining new format in the All-Star Game, the NHL is back in action on Tuesday night. The Washington Capitals enter the second half of the season with an NHL-best 74 points. They have a 15-point lead over the second-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division and an 11-point lead over Atlantic-leading Florida for the East's top seed in the playoffs. At Bovada, the Caps are +400 favorites to win the Stanley Cup and +175 for the East title. Tampa Bay is next in the East at +550.

NHL All-Star Game Free Picks - Fatal Four-Way Edition
by Chris Vasile - 1/29/2016

The biggest story up until recently was the format change in which four teams will take part in a 3-on-3 tournament and will play a semi-final to see who plays for the championship. Each game will be a 20-minute period in which the winners will play for the right to claim the $1 million grand prize.

NHL Handicapping and Betting: Blackhawks Providing a Boon for Bettors
by Trevor Whenham - 1/19/2016

The Chicago Blackhawks are the defending Stanley Cup champs, and they are serving notice that they have no intention of giving up their crown. They are ridiculously hot right now, having won 11 straight and 14 of their last 16. It's dominant, impressive hockey, and it makes it tough to believe that anyone in the West can match up to them. So, how are they doing it? And what does it mean for bettors? Here are seven factors to consider when pondering those two questions: