Hockey Handicapping Articles

2017-18 Winnipeg Jets Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017

There isn't a fanbase that wants to win more than Winnipeg's does. They aren't obnoxious about it in the way that, say, Toronto or Edmonton is. Those cities expect to win and feel like their rights have been violated when they don't. Winnipeg's love is more pure and more earnest. This team is part of the DNA of the city in a way that is unique in the league. They felt violated when the team left, and now that they are back they want a winner - something they have never really had in a meaningful way.

2017-18 Detroit Red Wings Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/8/2017

The most certain thing in sports for the last quarter century has been the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs. Before last year they had made it in 25 consecutive seasons. That's a truly remarkable feat when you consider how competitive the league is and that they managed to reload through a couple sets of superstar players in that time. They were the model of consistency. They also had some incredible coaching, as Scotty Bowman, the greatest coach in league history, won three Cups with them, and less than three years later Mike Babcock took over and won another Cup himself.

2017-18 Buffalo Sabres Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/8/2017

The Sabres were really lousy last year - missing the playoffs for the sixth straight year and finishing last in their division after heading into the season entertaining at least minor playoff hopes. In response, they did what so many teams do in similar situations - they cleaned house. Out are GM Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma. And in their place come new GM Jason Botterill, who learned from the best in the Pittsburgh organization, and new head coach Phil Housley, who spent the first eight years of his 21 years as a defenseman playing for Buffalo and has spent the last four years as an assistant in Nashville.

2017-18 Florida Panthers Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/8/2017

There are a lot of bad decisions made every year in the NHL, but the unquestionable winner last season as far as I am concerned was the move to fire Gerard Gallant as head coach of the Panthers in November. He was above .500 at the time, and he was a year removed from a very solid season. Not to mention that he is definitely one of the better coaches in the league - as was proven when the Vegas Golden Knights wasted no time before tabbing him to be the first coach in the history of their team.

2017-18 Toronto Maple Leafs Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/6/2017

For the last decade (well, all my 40+ years, really) I haven't had to work too hard to summarize expectations for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are a bad team run by morons that is going to fail to meet the bizarrely, delusionally-inflated expectations of the team's fans, who are among the least tolerable in all of sports. Short of making fun of Marvin Lewis and the Cincinnati Bengals, there is no target I have hit more consistently than the Leafs or worried about less that my prediction was going to be wrong.

2017-18 Philadelphia Flyers Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/4/2017

The Philadelphia Flyers are a team that has really struggled to remain relevant in recent years. They show flashes of real strength, but they can't sustain it. They have made the playoffs in three of the last six seasons but never two years in a row. And now they face a massive challenge. They have to maximize the careers of guys like Claude Giroux who aren't going to be big time players forever while at the same time breaking in a whole lot of young players and trying to figure out what they have and what kind of team they can be. They are attempting to retool on the fly without losing too much ground and to get back into the playoffs.

NHL Betting Impact of Wednesday's Expansion Draft
by Trevor Whenham - 6/20/2017

After years of speculation and hand wringing, major professional sports officially arrive in Las Vegas on Wednesday night. The Vegas Golden Knights will announce the roster they have selected through the NHL expansion draft. Now, the NHL is responsible for the affair, so it will surely be an annoying and frustrating event to watch. Between all the picks, the trades, and the promise of what else could happen down the road, though, it is a fascinating and important time for bettors who are interested in the NHL.

Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Draft Preview
by Chris Vasile - 6/20/2017

The time has finally come. Tomorrow all eyes will be on the Vegas Golden Knights and their management as they become just the first team in the last 17 years to take part in an exclusive expansion draft. The last teams to take part in an expansion draft like this one was the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the 2000-01 season.

Expert NHL Predictions: Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Series Odds and Betting Picks
by Chris Vasile - 5/12/2017

The NHL's Eastern Conference Finals gets underway Saturday at 7 p.m. in Pittsburgh as the defending Stanley Cup Champions take on those pesky Ottawa Senators. For the Penguins, it's rather quite simple - this is where they expected to be when the season started, and everything has gone according to plan. Crosby and Malkin are producing and the team is getting timely contributions from breakout star, Jake Guentzel.

Free NHL Picks: Nashville Predators vs. Anaheim Ducks Series Odds and Expert Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 5/11/2017

The NHL's Western Conference Finals gets underway Friday night at 9:00 p.m. EST when Nashville travels to Anaheim to tangle with the Ducks. At the beginning of the year, these two teams were in the bottom half of the league in terms of odds to actually make it this far. Fast forward seven months and the Predators are playing outstanding hockey, while the Ducks are getting timely contributions from their main guys. Unfortunately for the league, the only people who care about this series are the locals since neither team has a wide fan base. I'm sure Gary Bettman is already thinking about damage control once the network ratings come out for these games.

NHL Playoff Odds: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals Expert Betting Picks
by Chris Vasile - 4/26/2017

Ever since Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin broke into the league in 2004 and 2005, respectively, the two have been compared in just about every aspect of the game. The NHL quickly made these two superstars the faces of the league, and whenever they went toe-to-toe on the ice the national media attention nearly doubled. Despite all the Crosby haters who label him as a "whiney crybaby", he has had the better career than Ovechkin. No. 87 has won two Stanley Cups, one Conn Smyth Trophy (playoffs MVP), two Hart Memorial Trophies (regular-season MVP), two Art Ross Trophies (leading points getter), and one Rocket Richard trophy (most regular-season goals).

Expert NHL Series Picks: Edmonton Oilers vs. Anaheim Ducks Odds and Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 4/25/2017

With all due respect to the other Western Conference series, this matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks figures to be the series that draws the most eyeballs. In one corner you have the young, high-flying Oilers, who have finally put it all together thanks to phenom Connor McDavid. McDavid led the league in points with 100, and the 20-year-old captain has gotten his teammates to buy in and believe in the systems. In the other corner you have the Ducks, who are accustomed to playing deep into April.

Expert NHL Series Predictions: Nashville Predators vs. St. Louis Blues Odds and Betting Picks
by Chris Vasile - 4/25/2017

The second round of the NHL Playoffs gets underway Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST with a matchup between the Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues. That game will be followed by the young-guns of Edmonton travelling to Anaheim to do battle with the Ducks. If the second round is half as exciting as the first round was, hockey fans will be in for a treat. The first round of the NHL Playoffs saw 18 games head to overtime, which set an NHL record, and there were several shocking outcomes that kept fans on the edge of their seats.

Expert Hockey Playoff Picks: Western Conference NHL Series Odds and Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 4/10/2017

The NHL regular season has ended and the playoffs are under way. We have two glorious months to look forward to. Things can and often do change in the playoffs, but where it sits right now it sure feels like the teams in the West are all just playing for the right to lose to Chicago. The Blackhawks, with endless amounts of experience, just seem to be head and shoulders above the rest. Of course, they - or anyone else - are still 12 wins away from the Stanley Cup final, so anything can happen, and it's not like the rest of the teams are pushovers.

Expert NHL Playoff Picks: Eastern Conference Hockey Series Odds and Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 4/10/2017

The NHL regular season has drawn to an end, and now the playoffs are about to get rolling. Hockey is a great sport, but it is never better than the two months of the postseason. The Eastern Conference doesn't feel nearly as deep as West does this year, but the top two teams - Washington and Pittsburgh - feel like the two best teams in the NHL right now.

NHL Handicapping: Blackhawks Look Good as No. 2 Favorite to Hoist Stanley Cup
by Trevor Whenham - 4/7/2017

The Chicago Blackhawks have the chance to win their fourth Stanley Cup in eight seasons. In this era of the NHL that would be quite remarkable. Dominance is tough in hockey at the best of times, and the salary cap has only made it harder. The oddsmakers are reasonably optimistic about Chicago's chances of hoisting Lord Stanley's mug - they are the second choice in futures at BetOnline at +450, behind only Washington at +350.

NHL Handicapping and Betting: Biggest Games Leading Up to Playoffs
by Trevor Whenham - 4/3/2017

The management of the NHL is a bunch of heartless morons, which has been proven yet again by their newly-announced decision to skip the 2018 Olympics. Despite their recurring incompetence, though, what saves them is the brilliance of the sport of hockey. It's never better than in the playoffs, and this last week of the regular season promises an early preview of playoff intensity and general hockey excellence.

NHL Handicapping: Can Calgary Flames Continue Hot Play?
by Trevor Whenham - 3/15/2017

On Jan. 21 of this year I went to see the Calgary Flames play the Edmonton Oilers at the Saddledome in Calgary. Nothing odd there - I have gone to five or six games a year most years since the team arrived in Calgary in 1980. What stands out about this particular game, though, is how awful it was. It was, without a doubt, the worst game I have ever been to in person. The score was 7-3, but that was very flattering for the home team.

NHL Handicapping: Pittsburgh Penguins Going for Rare Championship Repeat
by Trevor Whenham - 3/10/2017

The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to do something that no team has managed since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998 - win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. They are probably the best franchise outside of Detroit to do so - they were the last to do it before the Red Wings in 1991 and 1992. Since 1998 we have seen some really excellent champions, but none have managed to pull this feat off.

New Las Vegas Hockey Team: Interesting to See how Golden Knights Impact Economy
by Chris Vasile - 3/2/2017

There are very few mottos and slogans in the world that are just as prevalent as the brand they represent. For example, everyone knows the term "Just Do It" regardless of if you can actually afford a Nike product or not. Another example would be the 14-year-old catchphrase of a place everyone dreams of visiting one day - Las Vegas, Nevada. What started out as a brilliant marketing campaign has turned into a household slogan for men and women who dream to venture into the city that never sleeps. "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is not only a motto that represents the freedom to do or be anything you want to be, but it is also now a motto that the Las Vegas community hopes is true when it comes to the new professional sports team set to debut in the Fall of 2017.