Hockey Handicapping Articles

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/15/2015

The Columbus Blue Jackets were the first team to fire their head coach this season, but a change hasn't reversed the team's fortunes much as the Jackets are last in the Metropolitan Division. The Pittsburgh Penguins (15-11-3) certainly had higher aspirations this season than Columbus did, and that's why the team fired Coach Mike Johnston over the weekend and replaced him with Mike Sullivan, a head coach of the Boston Bruins from 2003-06.

NHL Betting and Handicapping: Home and Road Differentials
by Trevor Whenham - 12/9/2015

Winning games at home in the NHL isn't that tough - relatively. Even underwhelming teams can do it. The L.A. Kings last year didn't make the playoffs, yet only three teams in the Western Conference won more than the 25 games at home that they did. What killed the Kings, and so many other underachieving or just plain lousy teams, though, is their performance on the road.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/7/2015

Dear Bovada, and I'm writing to you because you are based in Canada and are obviously big on hockey odds, how's this for a prop idea: Which streak ends first: Golden State's record 22-game winning streak to open a season or Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane's mark of 22 straight games with a point? Both will be on the line for No. 23 Tuesday night.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 11/30/2015

Suddenly it's a great fall/winter to be a Washington, D.C. sports fan. OK, maybe not of the NBA's disappointing Wizards, but the NFL's Redskins are in first place in the NFC East and the NHL's Capitals are the hottest team in the NHL on a five-game winning streak and atop the Metropolitan Division. And at Bovada, the Capitals have become favorites to win the Stanley Cup at +650, just surpassing Dallas (+700).

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 11/24/2015

The Montreal Canadiens were able to withstand the loss of the NHL's best goalie, Carey Price, for nine games while remaining comfortably atop the Atlantic Division. But the Habs' resolve will now be tested again as they have lost arguably their second-best forward, Brendan Gallagher, indefinitely.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 11/17/2015

I can honestly say I didn't expect to type this sentence at all for the 2015-16 NHL season: the Dallas Stars are your Stanley Cup betting favorites. That is the case at Bovada, with the Stars at +700, just ahead of the New York Rangers and Montreal (both +800). Dallas enters Tuesday's game at Buffalo with 28 points (14-4-0, best 18-game start in franchise history), which gives the Stars the lead in the Central Division. Behind Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, who are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the NHL in points, the Stars are No. 2 in the NHL with 65 goals.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 11/3/2015

Presumably at the start of every month, Bovada will release updated NHL season props, and there are some up on Tuesday. The most interesting in my mind is which coach will be fired next. Columbus was the first team to dump its coach, replacing Todd Richards with John Tortorella a couple of weeks ago. That hasn't much changed the Blue Jackets' fortunes, however.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 10/27/2015

The Habs (9-0-0) started a three-game road trip through Canada on Tuesday night in the late game of the schedule at Vancouver. Montreal is a -120 favorite with a total of 5. A Canadiens win would tie the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs and 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres for the NHL record of 10 straight wins to open a season. Should Montreal beat the Canucks, it can break the record Thursday at Edmonton.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 10/19/2015

There really aren't too many games you circle on the dreadfully long NHL schedule each year, but one of them absolutely arrives Saturday in Chicago as the Blackhawks host the Tampa Bay Lighting for the first time since last season's Stanley Cup Finals. And it wouldn't shock me to see a rematch this June, either. Many people think the young, talented Lightning are where the Blackhawks were in 2010 when they won their first Cup. Saturday's game should have live betting at some books as it's nationally televised by the NHL Network, although obviously opposite college football and the MLB playoffs, so it will be buried somewhat.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 10/12/2015

If you are a casual hockey fan or bettor, you probably had no inclination to pay any attention to the Edmonton Oilers over the past decade or so. The franchise that had the audacity to trade Wayne Gretzky hasn't made the playoffs since losing in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006. And, frankly, the Oilers might not be that great this season, either, as they have opened the season with just one total goal in losses at St. Louis and Nashville.

NHL Betting Advice: Teams that could Exceed Expectations
by Trevor Whenham - 10/7/2015

We are about to start the long and hopefully very enjoyable NHL season. We have an idea who the contenders are - it seems like there are six or eight strong contenders in each conference as things are deeper and more competitive now than they have been in a long time. At this moment, though, what I am more interested in are the teams that have the potential to outperform the expectations indicated by their futures odds.

2015 Chicago Blackhawks Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/28/2015

I've been writing about sports for a long while - well over a decade. I remember when I used to write about sports. Now writing about football is as much about abuse, brain injury and the legal system as Xs and Os. And now, thanks to Patrick Kane, we can't just focus on the stress of being the defending champions or the realities of the salary cap when writing about the Blackhawks We have to keep an eye turned to the legal system in Buffalo and the truly bizarre soap opera which is playing out around rape allegations directed at Kane.

2015 Boston Bruins Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/28/2015

Don Sweeney became the GM of this team in April. I can only assume that he got drunk at his celebration party and stayed that way all summer. That's really the only way to explain the summer that the team had. It was an odd one. A sense of desperation had obviously set in after falling short of the playoffs last year after coming into the season with high expectations. That desperation, and a presumed desire to remake this team in his own image and not that of deposed GM Peter Chiarelli, who is now in Edmonton, caused some bold moves.

2015 Detroit Red Wings Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/28/2015

With Mike Babcock in charge, we know that this will always be a playoff team. It's guaranteed. Oh wait, after a decade of consistency Babcock made a decision that I likely will never understand - leaving Detroit for the circus that is Toronto. That's not a reflection on current Toronto management. They are in better shape than they have been in decades up top. It's just that the Toronto media are completely insane in a way that no other city has to deal with.

2015 Dallas Stars Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/28/2015

Thinking of the Stars last year just makes me angry. I feel like they owe me money. After a solid year in 2013-14, I was very high on this squad. I liked the talent and loved the coaching. I thought the sky was the limit, and I said so in writing often. But then they were lousy early and didn't really get on track. They were never a true playoff threat. Total wasted season. So frustrating. So, more of the same this year? Or do they forget last year never happened and do this year what I thought they would last year?

2015 Columbus Blue Jackets Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/28/2015

The Blue Jackets seem to have a game plan that they follow religiously. Unfortunately for them, it's a really dumb plan. Each of the last few years they have limped out of the gate as if they didn't get the memo that the season had started until Christmas time. In 2013-14 they were able to recover and make the postseason. Last year, though, they were in such a big hole early on that going 16-3-1 in their last 20 games, which was the best record in the league, wasn't enough to make the playoffs.

2015 Carolina Hurricanes Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/28/2015

It wasn't really that long ago that this team won it all. Just 2006. Eric Staal and Cam Ward were both on that team, and they are only 30 and 31, respectively. It was a lot more recently than most teams have drunk from the blessed chalice. When you look at this team, though, it seems like so, so long ago. Like a hundred thousand lifetimes. This team is so far away from repeating what they accomplished that it is ridiculous. It's not even like they have been rebuilding for a long time - like Edmonton or Florida. They just seem to be wandering around.

2015 Colorado Avalanche Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/28/2015

Strange story with this team. In 2012-13 they were dead last in the Western Conference. Not good at all. They next year they improved by 73 points in the standings - pretty much impossible to do - won their division and were second in the West. Last year the glass slipper quit fitting, and they dropped back to last in their division. So, what is this team? Are they contenders or also-rans? Is coach Patrick Roy the genius he looked like in his first season in 2013-14 or the very mortal guy who coached last year? What the heck is going on a mile above sea level?

44th-Year Anniversary - NHL Hockey Picks Special
by Doc's Sports - 9/28/2015

The NHL hockey season has almost started, and we at Doc's Sports are thrilled to have another avenue to burn the sports books this winter. We offer the best hockey handicapping service in the country, and we are so confident of that fact we're willing to let you try all three of our NHL handicappers for one low price.

NHL Expert Picks and Predictions for Variety of Futures Odds
by Alan Harris - 9/24/2015

Odds on who was going to hoist the 2015-16 Stanley Cup have been out since the Blackhawks drank from Lord Stanley in June, but now that the season is right around the corner, odds to win the divisions, season point totals, player props (goals/points) and individual awards have begun to pop up both offshore and in the desert. Here is a look at some of those numbers with a few quick predictions on what I think may go down this season.