Hockey Handicapping Articles

NHL Betting and Handicapping: Navigating the New Hockey Playoff Format
by Trevor Whenham - 4/9/2014

The NHL has tweaked their playoff format this season. At first glance the changes aren’t significant — there are still 16 teams, with eight coming from each conference, and the top eight records in each conference are very likely to advance. The more you think about the changes, though, the more you realize how significant they could be. Heading into these playoffs bettors should be familiar with what has changed and what those changes might mean.

NHL Handicapping: Biggest Games to Close out Regular Season
by Trevor Whenham - 4/8/2014

We are getting close to the bitter end of this NHL regular season. No team has more than four games left, and a week from now it will be all over. There are a lot of games in the closing week of a season that just don’t mean much — either because the teams are just desperate for their season to end or they have their postseason fate determined and are just waiting and trying to stay healthy. For some teams, though, nothing matters more than these last few days.

NHL Handicapping: Teams that Could Close Strong
by Trevor Whenham - 4/2/2014

Less than two weeks from now the NHL season will be over. For some teams — like the two teams, Calgary and Edmonton, that are closest to where I live — that is exceptionally good news. It’s the merciful end of months of suffering. For other teams, though, there is a lot left to determine and a lot to play for. That means pressure. Some teams thrive under pressure and elevate their game. Others feel the weight of the world on their shoulders and can’t bear it.

NHL Handicapping: Demise of the Vancouver Canucks
by Trevor Whenham - 3/11/2014

There has been no worse team to bet on in the NHL this year than the Vancouver Canucks. They have burned money at a shocking rate — especially because they are still one game above .500. It’s not surprising that bettors haven’t adjusted to the new reality of this team, though. They have been the model of consistency, winning their division five years in a row. Suddenly, though, they look old and ineffective, and they aren’t likely to make the playoffs. So, what has gone wrong? And can they turn it around?:

NHL Futures Picks: Odds and Pretenders and Contenders
by George Monroy - 2/28/2014

The NHL season resumed from the Winter Olympic hiatus with most teams ready to make a full-on sprint to the finish line. The season has a little over a month, and around 23 games, left to be played before the playoffs begin. Nearly every team in the league is still jockeying for position in the standings, but the upper-echelon squads have already been earmarked by sports bettors and NHL experts.

NHL Post-Olympics Futures Odds Update with Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 2/25/2014

If you are like me, the Olympic men's hockey tournament is the most exciting hockey you will see, and that includes the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thus, it will be shame if NHL owners don't let their players compete in 2018 in South Korea, which seems rather likely. In all honesty, the NHL hasn't seen any tangible boost in popularity from allowing pros to play in the Olympics, so it makes no business sense for the owners to shut down for nearly three weeks in the middle of the season.

NHL Trade Deadline Betting Opportunities
by Trevor Whenham - 2/24/2014

The NHL trade deadline comes up on Wednesday, March 5 at 3 p.m. EST this year. This is a relatively unique year because there was a trade moratorium during the Olympic break. That means that the lead-in to the event will be more condensed and harried than usual — and it’s always chaotic. The NHL trade deadline is by far the busiest of any of the sport, and it can have significant impacts for bettors leading up to the big day. Here’s a look at five potential storylines to follow as the deadline nears:

NHL Betting: Review of Season at Olympic Break
by Trevor Whenham - 2/11/2014

As we take a couple of weeks to enjoy great hockey action that doesn’t count towards the NHL standings, it’s a good time to look back and assess what we have seen so far in the NHL season, and what it means for bettors:

NHL Handicapping: Toronto Maple Leafs
by Trevor Whenham - 1/16/2014

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a divisive team for hockey fans. If you like them then you are likely really, really obsessed. If you don’t like them, though, then there is no team you would rather see lose — and lose in spectacular fashion. No market is more invested in their franchise, and no organization has delivered less over the years despite essentially bottomless resources.

NHL Handicapping: Vancouver Canucks Hottest Team in West
by Trevor Whenham - 12/19/2013

After a rocky start to the season, the Vancouver Canucks are the hottest team in the Western Conference. They are 7-0-1 in their last eight games. It is a remarkable turnaround for a team that was 4-6-4. They are certainly more talented than they looked before this month. The question for bettors, though, is whether this recent uptick is a sign of a real turnaround or whether it is just a streak before an inevitable return to disappointment. To decode what is likely, here are six factors to consider:

NHL Handicapping: Chicago Blackhawks
by Trevor Whenham - 12/4/2013

The Chicago Blackhawks were very impressive Stanley Cup Champions last year. This year they haven’t missed a beat, leading the league in points among several key statistical categories. Handicappers need to be cautious about this team. They are a very public team, so the value is limited on them in even the best circumstances. So, do they have what it takes to defend their title and add a third Cup in five years?

NHL Handicapping: Conference Disparity
by Trevor Whenham - 11/26/2013

Through more than a quarter of the NHL season, we have seen a disparity between the strength of the two conferences. Simply put, the East isn’t very good when you compare it to the West. The eighth-place team in the West — Phoenix — would be sitting in second in the East, just two points behind conference-leading Boston.

NHL Handicapping: Worst Teams to Bet On
by Trevor Whenham - 11/11/2013

We are already 20 percent of the way through the NHL season. There is a whole lot of hockey left to play, and anything can happen at this point. If a team has tallied fewer than 15 points by this time, though, they just aren’t very good. Their season isn’t over, but if they don’t get back on track soon, then it will be. There are six teams below that mark at this point. Let’s look at each to see if they can get back on track — and deliver some betting value at the same time:

NHL Handicapping: Goalies to Keep an Eye On
by Trevor Whenham - 11/11/2013

There isn’t a single player in any major North American team sport who has more of a direct impact on the outcome of a game than a goaltender in the NHL. An amazing effort in net can turn an average or even poor performance from a team into a win. Shaky goaltending, on the other hand, can transform an outstanding team outing into a loss.

NHL Handicapping: Teams Off to Hot Starts
by Trevor Whenham - 11/5/2013

We are nearly 20 percent of the way through the NHL season already. At this point there are 10 of 30 teams that are off to a strong start — at least 20 points tallied in the standings. Some of those teams are off to the start expected, and they are going to stay strong. Others are overachieving, and then there are those that are just too tough to really call right now. How do the 10 squads break down? (odds to win the Stanley Cup are from Bovada):

NHL Handicapping: Colorado Avalanche Fast Start
by Trevor Whenham - 10/15/2013

It’s early in the NHL season, but so far the biggest surprise of all has to be the Colorado Avalanche. Last year they wound up with just 39 points, which was the second fewest in the entire league behind only Florida. The team even won the draft lottery. The disaster of a season led to an offseason overhaul, with Patrick Roy brought in to coach the team and to have a significant say in personnel decisions along with Joe Sakic.

NHL Handicapping: First-Week Disappointments
by Trevor Whenham - 10/8/2013

We are just a week into the NHL season, so we still really have no idea of what is going to happen and who good, or bad, teams are. Through the first week, though, a few things have stood out from a betting perspective as real disappointments — places where I was hoping to find value but now fear I won’t:

Bold NHL Predictions for 2013-14
by Trevor Whenham - 10/3/2013

The offseason is over, and the NHL season is underway. It’s about freaking time. As we get ready for a long winter of excitement, here are six bold predictions about what is going to happen and how the season, and the postseason, will turn out:

NHL Handicapping: Biggest First-Week Games
by Trevor Whenham - 10/1/2013

After a long offseason, the NHL gets rolling again on Tuesday night — thankfully on time this year after the torture of last year’s prolonged delay. While it is dangerous to base too much on what we see early in the year, there are some games in the first week of action that can give us clues about what to expect in the coming weeks.

NHL Handicapping: Hard Teams to Get Read On
by Trevor Whenham - 10/1/2013

Heading into the NHL season, there are some teams that seem to be easy to predict. We know that Pittsburgh and Chicago are likely to be very good, for example, and that Florida and Calgary really, really aren’t. There are other teams, though, that are much harder to understand. They have the potential to be solid contenders, but they also could really disappoint and flounder their way through the season. These five teams are the hardest to put a finger on and get a real sense of what to expect from them through the first month or so of the regular season: