Hockey Handicapping Articles

2015 New Jersey Devils Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/22/2015

Seeing this team without Martin Brodeur between the pipes has been hard enough to get used to. Now, for the first time in 28 years, we also have to get used to the idea of Lou Lamoriello not being the GM of this team. He's in Toronto now - for reasons that make no sense at all - and a new era begins under Ray Shero. I would not want to trade places with Shero right now.

2015 Pittsburgh Penguins Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/21/2015

It's not time to panic yet in Pittsburgh by any means, but things are getting a little more desperate for the squad. Crosby and Malkin are inching towards 30, and the team has made a science lately of two things -- bad luck with injuries and wasting potential in the playoffs. With two of the four or five best offensive players in the world on the same team, they really should have more to show for it than they have.

2015 Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/21/2015

Last year I was bullish on this team from the start. I picked them as my Stanley Cup Champion before the season and stuck with them the whole way. And how close they came to making me look really good. They made it all the way to the Finals before falling short to the Chicago Blackhawks. Now they are back to do two things - to take one more step up the ladder and to prove that nothing they accomplished last year was a fluke.

Betting Odds and Free Picks for NHL Player and Team Props for Monday
by Dave Schwab - 6/15/2015

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to the United Center this Monday night to face the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of this season's NHL Stanley Cup Finals. The Blackhawks are on the verge of laying claim to their third Stanley Cup title since 2010 with a 3-2 series lead in this best-of-seven clash, so the action should be fast and furious on the ice.

Betting Odds and Free Picks for NHL Team Props for Monday
by Dave Schwab - 6/8/2015

Chicago has been listed as a -149 home favorite on BetOnline's betting odds for Monday night, and the total has been set at five. Sportsbook.ag has added even more betting action to this crucial matchup with a number of NHL team prop bet odds in conjunction with the game. The following are my top three picks for these team props.

2015 Stanley Cup Finals Odds, Lines and Predictions
by George Monroy - 6/2/2015

The Stanley Cup Finals are set to begin tomorrow at 8 p.m. EST with an intriguing matchup between two stylistically similar teams in the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning. Chicago is on the verge of winning its third title in five years and capturing a piece of history for the city and its players. Coach Joel Quenneville has built a mini dynasty with the Blackhawks, and another title would solidify the team as one of the greatest teams over the last 20 years.

NHL Stanley Cup Betting Odds: Conn Smythe Trophy Series MVP Predictions
by Alan Harris - 6/1/2015

With the Stanley Cup Finals getting underway on Wednesday night in Tampa Bay, let's take a look at the odds to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (Series MVP) from our friends over at Bovada. In this article I will go over some favorites as well as long shots and try to provide readers with the best value bets to make for what should be a great series starting later this week.

Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 5/8/2015

What a difference a game can make. After the first game, a lopsided blowout by the Ducks, it seemed that there was no way this series was going more than four games. Heck, after that first game it seemed possible that the Flames would just forfeit and go home. The first period of the second game wasn’t any better, either. Since then, though, the Flames have started playing with more confidence.

Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 4/29/2015

Well, what a strange trip it has been so far. The Flames were expected by many — including me — to be serious contenders in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes. The playoffs seemed, back in September, to not only be unlikely but impossible. Yet here we are. Calgary not only made the postseason, but they won a series — and did it in reasonably commanding fashion with a crazy eventual blowout in Game 6 against Vancouver.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/28/2015

Nothing beats a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and hockey fans will be treated to their second one of the first round on Wednesday night when the Detroit Red Wings visit the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts opened as -169 favorites at BetOnline with a total of five goals.

Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 4/23/2015

It could all end here. The series between the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks returns to Vancouver for Game 5 with the Flames nursing a 3-1 lead and looking to wrap things up and give themselves time to heal before the next series. It has been a tough, physical series, though strangely not as competitive as one might have imagined.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/20/2015

The team that has taken the biggest jump on the Stanley Cup futures odds one week into the playoffs is Montreal, which is now a Bovada co-second favorite with Chicago at 6/1 and 9/4 second favorite to the Rangers (2/1) to win the Eastern Conference. Those two can only meet in the East Finals.

Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 4/14/2015

The regular season went extremely well for the Calgary Flames compared to expectations. Fortunately, it went pretty well for us from a betting perspective, too — about three-quarters of a unit profit per game. Now, though, is when it really starts to matter both for us and for the team. The NHL playoffs are a whole different animal than the regular season in so many ways, and they are just brutal — the toughest test in sports. I never for a second expected the Flames would be in the playoffs to start the season.

NHL Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead, Part II
by Alan Matthews - 4/14/2015

I looked at the four Stanley Cup quarterfinal games starting Wednesday in my Monday preview here at Doc's, and while those are some quality matchups, I really like the Thursday four-game slate of openers better because I think all four series underdogs have a very reasonable shot at winning the series -- compared to only thinking one does among Wednesday's games (Islanders). Bovada did add two interesting props since I wrote Monday.

NHL Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead, Part I
by Alan Matthews - 4/13/2015

Now that we got that pesky regular season out of the way, hockey season really begins this week with arguably the greatest playoffs in American (and Canadian) sports and certainly for the best trophy there is: the Stanley Cup. I am going to break down my previews into two parts. Today I look at the four series that start Wednesday, and on Tuesday I will preview the four that begin Thursday. The New York Rangers, who won the Presidents' Trophy, open the playoffs as 5/1 Stanley Cup favorites at Bovada followed by Chicago and St. Louis at 8/1.

NHL Playoffs Betting Advice: Differences in Wagering from Regular Season
by Trevor Whenham - 4/12/2015

For hockey fans and hockey bettors, there is nothing better than the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sure, the regular season is great and all. When the playoffs start, though, intensity amplifies, play gets much more disciplined and fast, and the best emerge. It is like hockey on steroids — a better, stronger version of the sport.

Stanley Cup Futures Odds: Overrated Teams Heading into the Playoffs
by Trevor Whenham - 4/12/2015

The best two months on ice are about to get started as the brutally-tough road to the Stanley Cup gets underway on Wednesday. Now that the fields are set and all we can do is wait, it’s a good time to look at futures odds to see which teams are — in the eyes of oddsmakers and the betting public — getting more credit than they deserve.

NHL Playoffs Futures Betting: Live Stanley Cup Underdogs
by Trevor Whenham - 4/12/2015

It took right up until the second to last game of the season, but the playoff pairings are all set, and we now can look closely at which NHL teams have a better shot at winning their conference and making the Stanley Cup finals than their odds suggest. The NHL playoffs are absolutely brutal — the toughest postseason challenge in North American sports.

Tracking the Calgary Flames: Season-Long NHL Picks and Handicapping for Hockey
by Trevor Whenham - 4/9/2015

The playoffs don’t technically start until next week. For these two teams, though, and for others like them fighting for their playoff lives, the playoffs have been on for weeks already. In that sense, this is like a Game 7.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/6/2015

The Presidents' Trophy has been awarded since the 1985-86 season, and only eight of its winners have gone onto take the Stanley Cup. The last was Chicago in 2012-13. Four of the past nine winners have been eliminated in the first round: the 2011-12 Canucks, the 2009-10 Capitals, the 2008-09 Sharks and the 2005-06 Red Wings. Last year's winner was Boston and it was eliminated in the Eastern semifinals by Montreal.