Hockey Handicapping Articles

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/29/2010

This is as lopsided of a series price you will see in the NHL Playoffs in the second round. There is a good reason for this: Pittsburgh is the defending Stanley Cup Champion while No. 8-seed Montreal played way above its head to beat the No. 1 Washington Capitals in Round 1 of the playoffs.

NHL: San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/29/2010

Plenty of respect continues to get heaped on the Detroit Red Wings. The defending back-to-back Western Conference champions are a No. 5 seed here, but just barely an underdog to the top-seeded San Jose Sharks. This was the same Detroit team that was a -225 favorite without even having home-ice advantage in the first round against Phoenix. This was the same team who was favored at Phoenix in the deciding game seven.

NHL: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/29/2010

It is another year and another Chicago/Vancouver Western Conference semifinal matchup. Last season, with the Canucks holding home-ice advantage, the Blackhawks came back from a 2-1 series deficit to win three consecutive games and advance to the Western Conference Finals. This time the puck drops Friday at the United Center in Chicago

NHL Playoffs: Crazy First Round
by T.O. Whenham - 4/21/2010

The first round of the NHL playoffs has been, in a word, haywire. Teams that shouldn't win are winning, and not a lot is making sense. To begin with, for the first time since the NHL started playing seven-game series in the first round all eight road teams - the underdogs in all but one series - won one of the first two road games. The surprising play of the lower-ranked teams has continued on since then.

NHL Playoffs Series With Best Chance for Upset
by T.O. Whenham - 4/14/2010

The first round of the NHL playoffs aren't always filled with upsets, but they certainly can be - in 2008 the lower-seeded teams won four of the eight series, and there were four upsets in 2006 as well. There are at least a couple of series this year in which the lower-seeded team looks strong, and one where that lower-seeded team is the favorite. This is how I would rank the eight series from the most likely to be upset to the least likely:

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Betting The Finals Matchup
by Matt Severance - 4/13/2010

When perusing through Bodog’s numerous NHL prop odds for the Stanley Cup Finals, one things certainly stuck out: if the Red Wings and Penguins meet for Lord Stanley’s Cup for the third year in a row, that pays out 18/1 if you get your money down now.

NHL Playoffs: Handicapping Goaltenders
by T.O. Whenham - 4/13/2010

Handicapping goaltenders is always important in the NHL, but it is especially important in the playoffs. Playoff hockey is considerably more intense than the regular season, and the focus on defense intensifies, so goalies become the centerpiece of teams. Every year there are a few examples of teams that go farther than expected on the backs of their goalies. It's hard to know who is going to get hot and stay that way, but what we can do is look at the status of the goalies heading into the playoffs:

NHL: Vancouver Canucks vs. Los Angeles Kings Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

No team in the Western Conference packs more of an offensive punch than the Vancouver Canucks. The last three seasons the team with the most regular season goals in the Western Conference went on to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

NHL: San Jose Sharks vs. Colorado Avalanche Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

If this were the Eastern Conference the Avalanche would be right in the mix with a group of teams as threats to reach the semifinals. But in reality it’s the Western Conference and the Avalanche are the only playoff team that’s not a part of the century club. With 95 points they are the only team not to reach 100 in the West.

NHL: Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

Goals will be at a premium in this series. Boston has scored fewer goals than every team in the league with the exception of Calgary. The fact that they made the playoffs and earned a No. 6 seed tells you a lot about their defense and goalie Tuukka Rask.

NHL: New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

These two Atlantic Division rivals are reunited in the first round of the playoffs. The Devils fended off the Penguins for the division title and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference while the Flyers had to win a shootout against the Rangers just to secure a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season.

NHL: Washington Capitals vs. Montreal Canadians Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

In most sports No. 1 seeds have an easy path to the second round. That is not the case in the NHL where No. 1 seeds have gone down many times in the first bracket. However, none of those top seeds had the talent or firepower of the Washington Capitals, the President’s Trophy winner with 121 points.

NHL: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

The Blackhawks enter these Stanley Cup Playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference just like last season. However, the similarities stop there. This Chicago team finished just one point out of a tie for first place with top-seed San Jose.

NHL: Phoenix Coyotes vs. Detroit Red Wings Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

What is the bigger surprise here, that Phoenix has the fourth best record in the entire NHL and the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference or that the Detroit Red Wings limp into this series as the No. 5 seed? On top of that, Detroit, without home-ice advantage in the first round for the first time in more than 15 years, is actually favored to win this series.

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/13/2010

Stop me if you have heard this one before but the Penguins and Senators will meet in the first round of the playoffs. It is the third time in four seasons this is happening. In 2007 the Senators took four of five games on their way to winning the Eastern Conference and the very next year the Penguins swept the Senators on the way to winning the Eastern Conference.

Betting During the NHL Stretch Run
by T.O. Whenham - 4/1/2010

Like most major sports, handicapping the NHL in the last few games of the season is a very different challenge than it is for the rest of the season. In my experience, the NHL changes even more than most other sports do. If you aren't aware of the factors that make it different and fail to incorporate them not your handicapping then you are going to struggle to come out ahead at the betting window. Here are six factors you need to keep in mind to make sure you are actually betting on the team you think they are, and not just a very different version in the same uniform.

Handicapping the NHL Playoff Race
by T.O. Whenham - 3/25/2010

We are right in the middle of the homestretch of the NHL season - no team has more than 10 games remaining from their 82-game season. There are some pretty decent playoff races remaining in both conferences. Neither involves as many teams as are a factor some years at this time, but in both conferences there is inevitably going to be a pretty good team or two left on the outside looking in. Here's a look both at how those playoff races shape up, and how to deal with handicapping playoff races in general:

NHL Trade Deadline
by T.O. Whenham - 3/3/2010

The NHL trade deadline came and went on Wednesday afternoon. The NHL is typically the most active league at the deadline, and this year was no exception - about 35 deals took place in the 24 hours before the deadline. Unlike past years, though, the deals were mostly just the shuffling around of spare parts instead of anything that is likely to make a major impact.

Betting on the Olympic Hockey Tournament
by T.O. Whenham - 2/10/2010

I would guess that if you were to track the amount of time the Canadian media has spent talking about the Olympic hockey tournament in the last year it would exceed the time they have spent talking about everything else combined. Canada is absolutely obsessed with the upcoming tournament. It takes place on home soil, so winning it is particularly important.

NHL Handicapping: Olympic Break Impact
by T.O. Whenham - 2/10/2010

The NHL is presenting us with a challenging hockey handicapping proposition that is entirely unique to the league. Because many of their players will be playing for their countries in the Olympics, the league will be shutting down for two weeks. There are six games scheduled on Valentine's Day, and that's the last that we'll see until one game is played on March 1.