Hockey Handicapping Articles

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.

NHL Betting Advice: Chicago Blackhawks Surging
by Trevor Whenham - 2/28/2017

Much to the horror of the rest of the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks are getting hot right now. Red hot. No team has been better when it matters in the postseason over the last decade. And with a Western Conference that is open for a team to dominate this year, they have their eyes on the prize again.

NHL Betting Advice: Handicapping the Edmonton Oilers
by Trevor Whenham - 2/24/2017

I live less than 200 miles from the home arena of the Edmonton Oilers but just two or three miles from the home of the Calgary Flames. Have for most of my life. As you can imagine, then, I have grown up hating everything about the Oilers - and the city of Edmonton, for that matter. Their Cup victories were torture, the day my Flames first beat them in the playoffs in 1986 is still one of my all-time best, I can tell you exactly where I was when I heard Gretzky had been traded, and the last decade-plus of total incompetence has been spectacular.

NHL Betting Advice: Can Washington Capitals Move Past Historic Playoff Failure
by Trevor Whenham - 2/14/2017

The Washington Capitals are in a league of their own this year. Their 84 points are the best in the league and the best in the Eastern Conference by an incredible nine points. Only Pittsburgh has scored more goals - they lead by just one - and no team has allowed fewer. It's not tough to win when you have a goal differential of just less than 1.25 per game.

NHL Handicapping: Looks like Another Year of Wasted Potential from St. Louis Blues
by Trevor Whenham - 2/10/2017

The St. Louis Blues haven't been a total disaster this year, but they count as one of the bigger disappointments out there. They came into the season viewed as one of the major contenders in the West. Perhaps this was the year that they would finally turn the corner and do some postseason damage? It hasn't worked out that way at all.

Hockey Handicapping and Betting: Any Value in NHL-Worst Avalanche?
by Trevor Whenham - 1/17/2017

The Colorado Avalanche have the dubious distinction of being the worst team in the NHL. It's not a tight race, either - their 27 points gives them a five-point cushion on second-worst Arizona and a shocking 15 point deficit to the Islanders, who are third to last. This is a really, really bad hockey team. Oddsmakers don't argue with that notion, either - they are +250,000 to win the Stanley Cup, which is by far the highest price in the league. So, are they really as bad as they seem? The short answer is yes. Definitely. Without question. If you need more than that, though, then here are five other factors to ponder:

NHL Betting Advice and Handicapping: Minnesota Wild Dominating the Moneyline
by Trevor Whenham - 1/10/2017

The Minnesota Wild have been in the NHL since 2000, and we may be witnessing the best version of their team yet. They currently have 55 points, which is just two behind Chicago for the Western Conference lead, and the Wild have four games in hand. They are on pace for about 115 points, which would be 11 more than the best the franchise has ever had - and that was way back in 2007.

NHL Betting and Handicapping: Looks Like Red Wings Will Miss Playoffs
by Trevor Whenham - 1/9/2017

The Detroit Red WIngs have 39 points, which ties them for last in the Atlantic Division with Buffalo, just one point ahead of the Islanders for the conference basement. If the playoffs started today the Red Wings would not be in, and since they sit seven points out of a playoff spot with several other chasing teams ahead of them it seems unrealistic to think that they will be playing beyond 82 games this year.