Hockey Handicapping Articles
NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/12/2015
We saw our fourth NHL coach fired this season last week as Toronto's Randy Carlyle not surprisingly got the hook. Carlyle's regular-season record in Toronto was an average 91-78-19. The Leafs are the Yankees of the NHL, so they should be a Cup contender every year, salary cap or not. Carlyle led the team to just one playoff berth, and the Leafs were eliminated in the first round by the Boston Bruins in 2013 -- you may remember that epic Game 7 collapse by Toronto. Carlyle was supposed to be a defensive guy, but the Leafs were outshot by 1,254 shots in his tenure. They are No. 2 in the league in scoring but 25th in goals against this season.
NHL Handicapping: Teams That Could Play Differently in Second Half of Season
by Trevor Whenham - 1/9/2015
The turn of the calendar in the NHL is significant each year not just because it marks a new year but also because the middle of the NHL season comes early in January for most teams. That means that early January is a good time not only to make resolutions you’ll never keep but also to look at where teams are at and where they might be headed. Each year we see teams that look very different in the second half of the season than they have in the first. Spotting those teams in advance can obviously be nicely-profitable.
NHL Handicapping: Evaluating the Montreal Canadiens Success
by Trevor Whenham - 1/8/2015
You can’t exactly call the Montreal Canadiens, who are tied with Pittsburgh for second in the Eastern Conference just two points behind Tampa Bay, a surprise this year. After all, they had 100 points and played in the conference finals just last year, and they had a solid offseason. No matter what, though, you would have to say that the team is definitely achieving at close to their full potential — or at least much closer to their full potential than many teams are.
Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 1/6/2015
The Flames and Red Wings meet for the first time this season as these matchups don’t happen as often as they used to now that Detroit is an Eastern Conference foe. Calgary wouldn’t mind playing them more like they used to — they have earned 12 points from the last 10 meetings between the teams, which is well above what they have done against some other decent teams.
NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/5/2015
It's not exactly breaking news to recommend that you bet against the Edmonton Oilers this NHL season as they are the worst team in the league and the only club yet to reach double-digit wins. However, really start wagering against the team now because it appears the Oilers already are waving the white flag on the year after two trades last week.
Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 12/29/2014
It’s like deja vu all over again. The last time we did a Flames preview it was when they are playing the Kings — just like they are now a week later. It’s all part of a weird stretch of games for Calgary — L.A., Edmonton, L.A. and Edmonton over a four-game stretch. The difference between this game and last week’s though, is that Calgary was in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and faltering last time. Now they have won their last two — starting with a crazy comeback against L.A. — and seem to have some of their mojo back again.
NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/29/2014
Hockey being what it is, I will rarely lead this column looking forward to an actual game that isn't a playoff matchup. However, the NHL's signature regular-season event is the Winter Classic, and that is staged Thursday for the first time in Washington, D.C. Nationals Park is the location as the Capitals host the Chicago Blackhawks.
Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 12/22/2014
Well, it is officially and unquestionably getting ugly. The Flames have lost eight games in a row, and with that they are at real risk of seeing their once immensely-promising season dissolve into a pile of frustration. Where they are now — out of the playoffs and really struggling to make anything happen — is where a lot of people, with me among them, thought that they would be at this point at the start of the season.
NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/22/2014
The Chicago Blackhawks have pulled away from the field by quite a margin in the odds to win the Stanley Cup at +400. The Hawks, who still trail Anaheim for the most points in the West, lead the NHL in goals-against average despite No. 1 netminder Corey Crawford missing a large chunk of the season with injuries (back now). They are No. 1 in penalty killing and No. 4 in goals per game. It's a team that doesn't appear to have any major flaws.
NHL Handicapping: Betting and the Buffalo Sabres Hot Streak
by Trevor Whenham - 12/19/2014
Out of the gate it seemed certain that the Buffalo Sabres were going to be the worst team in the NHL. On Nov. 13 they were just 3-13-2 and seemed poised to challenge historical records for futility. Since then, though, they have been a different team. They have won seven of their last 10 games, and 10 of their last 14, and are like an entirely different team. It’s a shocking turnaround — and one that has been very lucrative for those bettors who were savvy enough to get on the bandwagon early.
Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 12/15/2014
We knew that the hard times were coming at some point for these overreaching Flames, and now they are here. The team has dropped five games in a row, and for the first time all year would not be in the playoffs if they were to start right now.
NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/15/2014
I mentioned last week when Ottawa fired head coach Paul MacLean that on any short list of the next coach to go had to be Edmonton's Dallas Eakins. I just didn't expect that to come true so quickly. Eakins was fired Monday, with general manager Craig MacTavish to serve as the interim coach until handing over the job to Todd Nelson, who will be promoted from Edmonton's AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City and learn under MacTavish's wing for a while.
NHL Handicapping: Edmonton Oilers Coaching Situation
by Trevor Whenham - 12/15/2014
I live a short three-hour drive from Edmonton. Growing up, there was nothing I likeed more than hating the Oilers. They were bitter rivals and worthy enemies. When my hometown Calgary Flames beat them — and that didn’t happen much in those days — the city partied. The Flames have gone through some rough years in the last few seasons.
NHL Betting: Handicapping Home and Road Discrepancies
by Trevor Whenham - 12/11/2014
When it comes to evaluating NHL teams over the longer term, one of the simplest but most powerful ways to do it is by looking for significant differences between their records at home and on the road. Playing on the road is very tough — rinks have different characteristics, trips can be long, and crowds can have clear impacts on officiating. If a team is as good on the road as at home then they are reasonably easy to respect — unless they are lousy in both places, of course.
Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 12/9/2014
It’s a good old Canadian contest on Tuesday night in Toronto. These cities don’t like each other very much — Calgarians think Torontonians are stuck-up and convinced that they are the center of the universe, and Torontonians think Calgary is full of rednecks and hicks. This one has a personal angle to it. The teams don’t play each other often since they are in different conferences, and they have been reasonably frequent trade partners — including when the Flames gave Doug Gilmour to the Leafs for essentially nothing in one of the worst trades in league history — so there are plenty of reasons for this one to matter more than a typical Tuesday night nonconference affair might.
NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/8/2014
If you wagered before the season at Bovada on the first NHL coach to be fired and you chose Ottawa's Paul MacLean, congratulations because I didn't expect MacLean to be the first one to go. After all, the guy won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's Coach of the Year only two seasons ago.
Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 12/4/2014
This game is, in so many ways, like a team playing themselves in the mirror. The Colorado Avalanche at this point last year had much in common with Calgary this year. They were a very young team that was playing to the absolute maximum of their capabilities because of outstanding play from young players, very strong coaching, good goaltending, and benefiting from every possible bounce going their way. They were atop their division for a long time, and they rode their momentum all the way into the playoffs. Sounds a lot like the path Calgary is on now.
NHL Handicapping: Sorting Out the Logjam at the Top of the Standings
by Trevor Whenham - 12/3/2014
Things atop the NHL standings are ridiculously congested right now. The Tampa Bay Lightning are at the top with 37 points, but three are right behind with 36, and there are nine teams within three points of the NHL lead. So, 30 percent of the league could find themselves atop the NHL standings following a successful back-to-back. It’s a big shift from last year. On Dec. 1, 2013, the Blackhawks had 44 points — three more than second-place San Jose and five more than the Blues, who were alone in third.
Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 12/2/2014
This pick is all about a long love affair I have had with a particular kind of bet. There is no bet in all of sports — at least outside of horse racing exotics — that I enjoy winning more than the puckline in hockey. In this defensive era in the NHL, we have to be very choosy about when to make the bet. However, when the time is right it’s a chance to receive a very solid payout on a favorite that may otherwise be unattractive.
NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/1/2014
After the NHL emerged from the lost 2004-05 season due to the lockout, the league changed some rules aimed at helping to boost offense. Because, let's face it, American sports fans like scoring, not 1-0 NHL games (or soccer matches). It seemed to work for a while. In 2005-06, there were seven players who totaled at least 100 points.
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