Hockey Handicapping Articles

2010-11 NHL Season Predictions: New York Rangers Betting Picks and Futures Odds
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/21/2010

Their postseason fate came down to a shootout with Philadelphia in the final game of the regular season. The Rangers were on the wrong end and sent into the offseason to wonder ‘what if’ while the Flyers came out on the right side of things, reached the playoffs and eventually the Stanley Cup Finals.

2010-11 New Jersey Devils NHL Predictions with Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/20/2010

Be careful what you wish for, New Jersey Devil fans. The Devils got the players they sought last season at the trade deadline and the player they negotiated throughout the summer with, but at what cost? The Devils have their man: 27-year old forward Ilya Kovalchuk. But they also have salary cap headaches and plenty of future repercussions.

Free NHL Picks: Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia Flyers, Game 6 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/9/2010

The Blackhawks can bring the Stanley Cup back to suddenly hockey-mad Chicago tonight for the first time in 49 years, while the Flyers face their sixth elimination game since April 11 (five in playoffs and needing a win over the Rangers in the season finale just to reach the postseason).

Free NHL Picks: Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia Flyers, Game 4 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/4/2010

Only two teams have overcome losing the first two games on the road to win the Stanley Cup, but the Flyers have looked like the superior team for most of the past two games. They are down 2-1 after Claude Giroux's deflection goal 5:59 into overtime of Game 3 before the largest hockey crowd ever in the state of Pennsylvania. Here’s an odd stat: Philly’s victory broke a four-game win streak for road teams in Stanley Cup Finals overtime games.

Free NHL Picks: Blackhawks at Flyers Game 3 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/2/2010

The Hawks won one-goal games in Chicago, although the two games couldn’t have been much different. Now the Blackhawks are where they want to be: on the road. Chicago has tied an NHL record with seven consecutive playoff road wins in a row (Hawks won twice in Nashville, three times in Vancouver and twice in San Jose by a combined score of 31-13). Five other teams have done that and three of those won the Cup.

Stanley Cup Odds and Predictions - Blackhawks Vs. Flyers Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 5/27/2010

On one hand you have the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that is no surprise to be here. They are a young team that has built from within over the last few years of strong drafting and have added some nice free agent pieces to complete the puzzle. They were the second overall team in the Western Conference, but they were very easy to like.

Free NHL Picks: Flyers at Canadiens Game 3 Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/20/2010

Yeah, I will take a few days off from baseball recommendations after a bad day on Wednesday as both the Yankees and Dodgers (my picks on the run line) got routed -- hey, it happens to the best of us. At least the NHL finally got its head out of its you-know-what as it has broken up the two series so we don’t have hockeyless nights and then two games the next.

NHL Handicapping: Can Flyers Continue Hot Play?
by T.O. Whenham - 5/17/2010

For only the third time ever, and the first time since 1975, an NHL team has come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a seven-game playoff series. Philadelphia not only found themselves down three games to none to the Boston Bruins, but they found themselves on the ropes twice after that - they needed overtime to win the fourth game, and they fell behind 3-0 early in the second game before fighting back to win it 4-3.

Free NHL Picks: Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/14/2010

Well, it should be an interesting 24 hours in Boston. Either the city will be rejoicing again – in the wake of the Celtics’ win over the Cavs, which I missed on the side but hit on the LeBron props – or it will be drowning its sorrows if the Bruins become the third team in NHL history and fourth in North American major sports team history to blow a 3-0 series lead.

San Jose Sharks vs. Chicago Blackhawks Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 5/13/2010

Unlike their counterparts in the East, the Western Conference playoffs has followed the script and the two top seeds are through to the Conference Finals. The Sharks silenced plenty of doubters with six wins in their last seven games after falling behind the Avalanche 2-1 in the first round. It took them five games to cruise past the Red Wings in the second round.

Free NHL Picks: Canadiens at Penguins and Bruins at Flyers Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/12/2010

This could be the final game ever at Mellon Arena, as the Pens are moving to a new building next season. However, Pittsburgh has won its past four Game 7s, albeit all on the road. Pittsburgh definitely needs to shadow Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri. He has scored 11 goals in these playoffs (the most of anyone), including three two-goal games.

Jaroslav Halak of the Canadiens Taking Over NHL Playoffs
by T.O. Whenham - 5/6/2010

Quite simply, the Montreal Canadiens should not still be in the NHL playoffs. They limped into the playoffs, barely securing the last spot in the weak Eastern Conference. Virtually no one gave them any chance against the Washington Capitals - the best offensive team in the league by a wide margin. I thought that the Habs would be lucky to win a single game.

NHL: Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers Series Odds and Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/29/2010

The Boston Bruins may be as surprised as anyone they have home-ice advantage in the second round of the NHL playoffs. They entered the playoffs as a No. 6 seed and ran into the red-hot Buffalo Sabres and their goalie Ryan Miller. After one game they were already facing a 1-0 deficit. But thanks to a three-game winning streak, a 4-3 win at home to clinch the series in Game 6 and the first-round upset barrage that was the Eastern Conference playoffs, and now the Bruins are hosting Game 1 against the No. 7 seed Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

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: