Hockey Handicapping Articles

2010-11 NHL Predictions: Boston Bruins Futures Odds and Hockey Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/23/2010

Fairly or unfairly, the 2009-10 Boston Bruins season will forever be defined by a 3-0 playoff series collapse. How this season is defined has a lot to do with how the Bruins rebound from blowing a 3-0 playoff series lead to the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and how they bolster an offense that rated worst in the NHL last season.

2010-11 NHL Predictions and Picks: Buffalo Sabres Odds for Futures Betting
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/23/2010

Last season Buffalo got away from its all-offense, all-the-time mentality and coincidentally got back into the playoffs. Scoring the fewest goals since the 2004 NHL lockout, the Sabres leaned on their defense and returned to the playoffs after a two-year absence.

2010-11 NHL Predictions: Ottawa Senators Odds and Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/23/2010

If you can’t beat them, sign away their top defensemen. That must have been Ottawa’s thinking this offseason after watching their second consecutive playoff run end in the first round to Pittsburgh. The Senators went ahead and signed veteran and former Penguin Sergei Gonchar to a three-year deal.

2010-11 NHL Predictions: Columbus Blue Jackets Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/23/2010

We start our NHL Central Division previews at the bottom, as the Columbus Blue Jackets finished the 2009-10 season with 35 wins and just 79 points, 11 behind fourth-place St. Louis. It was the first time the team had finished in the Central cellar since 2003 and the campaign was considered a huge disappointment after Columbus reached the playoffs the season before. That cost Coach Ken Hitchcock his job last winter; Scott Arniel is the new coach.

2010-11 New York Islanders NHL Odds and Predictions with Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/22/2010

There are two ways to look at the New York Islanders current situation. There is the positive of an 18-point increase from the 2008-09 season to last year, but a third consecutive Atlantic Division last-place finish also lets you know just how far of a hole the Islanders were in.

2010-11 Philadelphia Flyers NHL Odds and Predictions with Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/21/2010

The Flyers 2009-10 regular season came down to a shootout in the 82nd and final game of the season. The Flyers won that shootout, earned a No. 7 seed and proceeded to shock everyone and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

2010-11 NHL Predictions: Pittsburgh Penguins Odds and Futures Picks for Betting
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/21/2010

Last time we saw the 2009 Stanley Cup champions they were skating off the Mellon Arena ice for the last time in disbelief after a 5-2 loss in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Montreal. It was a long offseason for hockey fans in Pittsburgh as the loss lingered. However, as October approaches anticipation is at a fever pitch for the Penguins, who will play in two new home venues this season: their new arena and Heinz Field for the Winter Classic.

2010-11 NHL Season Predictions: New York Rangers Betting Picks and Futures Odds
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/21/2010

Their postseason fate came down to a shootout with Philadelphia in the final game of the regular season. The Rangers were on the wrong end and sent into the offseason to wonder ‘what if’ while the Flyers came out on the right side of things, reached the playoffs and eventually the Stanley Cup Finals.

2010-11 New Jersey Devils NHL Predictions with Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/20/2010

Be careful what you wish for, New Jersey Devil fans. The Devils got the players they sought last season at the trade deadline and the player they negotiated throughout the summer with, but at what cost? The Devils have their man: 27-year old forward Ilya Kovalchuk. But they also have salary cap headaches and plenty of future repercussions.

Free NHL Picks: Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia Flyers, Game 6 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/9/2010

The Blackhawks can bring the Stanley Cup back to suddenly hockey-mad Chicago tonight for the first time in 49 years, while the Flyers face their sixth elimination game since April 11 (five in playoffs and needing a win over the Rangers in the season finale just to reach the postseason).

Free NHL Picks: Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia Flyers, Game 4 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/4/2010

Only two teams have overcome losing the first two games on the road to win the Stanley Cup, but the Flyers have looked like the superior team for most of the past two games. They are down 2-1 after Claude Giroux's deflection goal 5:59 into overtime of Game 3 before the largest hockey crowd ever in the state of Pennsylvania. Here’s an odd stat: Philly’s victory broke a four-game win streak for road teams in Stanley Cup Finals overtime games.

Free NHL Picks: Blackhawks at Flyers Game 3 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/2/2010

The Hawks won one-goal games in Chicago, although the two games couldn’t have been much different. Now the Blackhawks are where they want to be: on the road. Chicago has tied an NHL record with seven consecutive playoff road wins in a row (Hawks won twice in Nashville, three times in Vancouver and twice in San Jose by a combined score of 31-13). Five other teams have done that and three of those won the Cup.

Stanley Cup Odds and Predictions - Blackhawks Vs. Flyers Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 5/27/2010

On one hand you have the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that is no surprise to be here. They are a young team that has built from within over the last few years of strong drafting and have added some nice free agent pieces to complete the puzzle. They were the second overall team in the Western Conference, but they were very easy to like.

Free NHL Picks: Flyers at Canadiens Game 3 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/20/2010

Yeah, I will take a few days off from baseball recommendations after a bad day on Wednesday as both the Yankees and Dodgers (my picks on the run line) got routed -- hey, it happens to the best of us. At least the NHL finally got its head out of its you-know-what as it has broken up the two series so we don’t have hockeyless nights and then two games the next.

NHL Handicapping: Can Flyers Continue Hot Play?
by T.O. Whenham - 5/17/2010

For only the third time ever, and the first time since 1975, an NHL team has come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a seven-game playoff series. Philadelphia not only found themselves down three games to none to the Boston Bruins, but they found themselves on the ropes twice after that - they needed overtime to win the fourth game, and they fell behind 3-0 early in the second game before fighting back to win it 4-3.

Free NHL Picks: Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/14/2010

Well, it should be an interesting 24 hours in Boston. Either the city will be rejoicing again – in the wake of the Celtics’ win over the Cavs, which I missed on the side but hit on the LeBron props – or it will be drowning its sorrows if the Bruins become the third team in NHL history and fourth in North American major sports team history to blow a 3-0 series lead.

San Jose Sharks vs. Chicago Blackhawks Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 5/13/2010

Unlike their counterparts in the East, the Western Conference playoffs has followed the script and the two top seeds are through to the Conference Finals. The Sharks silenced plenty of doubters with six wins in their last seven games after falling behind the Avalanche 2-1 in the first round. It took them five games to cruise past the Red Wings in the second round.

Free NHL Picks: Canadiens at Penguins and Bruins at Flyers Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/12/2010

This could be the final game ever at Mellon Arena, as the Pens are moving to a new building next season. However, Pittsburgh has won its past four Game 7s, albeit all on the road. Pittsburgh definitely needs to shadow Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri. He has scored 11 goals in these playoffs (the most of anyone), including three two-goal games.

Jaroslav Halak of the Canadiens Taking Over NHL Playoffs
by T.O. Whenham - 5/6/2010

Quite simply, the Montreal Canadiens should not still be in the NHL playoffs. They limped into the playoffs, barely securing the last spot in the weak Eastern Conference. Virtually no one gave them any chance against the Washington Capitals - the best offensive team in the league by a wide margin. I thought that the Habs would be lucky to win a single game.

NHL: Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/29/2010

The Boston Bruins may be as surprised as anyone they have home-ice advantage in the second round of the NHL playoffs. They entered the playoffs as a No. 6 seed and ran into the red-hot Buffalo Sabres and their goalie Ryan Miller. After one game they were already facing a 1-0 deficit. But thanks to a three-game winning streak, a 4-3 win at home to clinch the series in Game 6 and the first-round upset barrage that was the Eastern Conference playoffs, and now the Bruins are hosting Game 1 against the No. 7 seed Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.