Chicago and Vancouver again Tops in NHL West Conference January 14th, 2012

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The Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks, the favourites, are back on top halfway through the NHL season in Western Conference. Leading their respective divisions the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks are surprisingly similar except the Canucks lead the NHL in points at the midway point.

Opening as 12-1 favourites to win the Stanley Cup the Blackhawks have been bet down to 6-1 co-favourites with the Washington Capitals. Despite Vancouver taking the President’s Trophy last season the Blackhawks have been the best team in the Western Conference for the last three years.

After falling short against the Boston Bruins last season, the Canucks are not suffering through the Stanley Cup hangover. Opening the season as a 6-1 favourite to win the Cup, their odds have gone up to 9-1 in spite of the team leading the NHL in points halfway in this season.

Finally returning as a contender in the West the Los Angeles Kings opened as a 12-1 shot to win it all as the books believed in the Kings, if no one else did but have been bet down to 10-1. After watching the Anaheim Ducks win a Stanley Cup Los Angeles is hungry for a winner and this is their best chance in years.

The Ducks opened the season at 25-1 but the Ducks odds are another curious anomaly as team is in the basement and their futures odds have actually been bet down and now sit at 20-1.

The Coyotes opened as a 30-1 shot but the Coyotes have been pummelled this season and their odds quickly tumbled to 80-1 as their season unravels.

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How 25 Most Overrated NHL Players may affect Hockey Futures Bets August 22nd, 2011

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When assessing which teams to pick for placing futures bets in the NHL, whether it’s for the Stanley Cup, the Conference Championship, or just the Division winners, you have to take into account the strength of division, but also how the betting public views certain players on each team. And some of those players can be very overrated by that same betting public, and therefore negatively impact your chance of winning your bet. That’s just how handicapping goes.

The Bleacher Report has come up with its Top 25 Most Overrated NHL players list. I’ll list these out, and have a look how this might change your view of a team, or how you might place a wager.

Starting from number one and going down to 25, here is the list:

  1. Rick Dipietro, New York Islanders;
  2. Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs;
  3. Chris Drury, New York Rangers and now retired;
  4. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks;
  5. Zach Bogosian, Winnipeg Jets
  6. Scott Gomez, Montreal Canadiens
  7. Mike Richards, Los Angeles Kings
  8. Ville Leino, Buffalo Sabres
  9. Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers
  10. Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks
  11. Trent Hunter, New York Islanders
  12. Sean Avery, New York Rangers
  13. Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary Flames
  14. Tim Connelly, Toronto Maple Leafs
  15. Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers
  16. Maxime Talbot, Philadelphia Flyers
  17. Joel Ward, Washington Capitals
  18. Dany Heatley, Minnesota Wild
  19. Scottie Upshall, Florida Panthers
  20. Ollie Jokinen, Calgary Flames
  21. Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers
  22. Wade Redden, New York Rangers
  23. Sergei Gonchar, Ottawa Senators
  24. RJ Umberger, Columbus Blue Jackets
  25. Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning

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San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks battle in Game 3 of West Final May 20th, 2011

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After hanging with the Vancouver Canucks for much of game two in the Western Conference Finals, the San Jose Sharks got badly outplayed in the third period en route to a Vancouver 7-3 victory.

The Sharks are a -130 moneyline favorite and the over/under is 5.5 in NHL Betting for Game 3 on Friday.

Untimely penalties and poor discipline led to San Jose’s demise in the third period, as Vancouver scored two power play goals to open up a 5-2 advantage in the first half of the period and never looked back, adding two more goals to put up seven total for the game.

While San Jose was badly outplayed in game one of this best of seven series, game two was a different story for the first two periods. San Jose actually took the early lead on a Logan Couture power play goal, but it was erased several minutes later when Daniel Sedin scored for the Canucks with the man advantage. Heading into the third period the Sharks only trailed Vancouver by one goal, but this was when the wheels would fall off for San Jose.

Now the series heads back to San Jose, who plays in one of the loudest arenas in the league, to see if the Sharks can protect home ice and even the series up. During the playoffs the Sharks are 4-3 at HP Pavilion. Undoubtedly, San Jose and their fans hope that record climbs to 6-3 after this weekend. However, if San Jose does not do a better job of controlling the Sedin twins, who combined to tally five points last night, the Sharks will more than likely be looking at a series sweep or being down three games to one heading back to Vancouver for game five.

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San Jose Sharks Vs. Vancouver Canucks – NHL Match Preview May 14th, 2011

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With Game 1 slated for Sunday, the San Jose Sharks finally dispatched the Detroit Red Wings to advance to the Western Conference Finals to take on the Vancouver Canucks, after a long seven-game series and VERSUS will broadcast this match at 8 pm ET.

In free sports picks, the Canucks are a -160 favorite and the over/under total is 5.5.

As the series ended up going the full seven games after San Jose jumped out to a three games to none lead over Detroit, the second round took a little longer to complete than San Jose, and their fans, would have liked. The Sharks hopes this year’s result is better than last year’s where the team were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup winners, the Chicago Blackhawks as they will be making their second consecutive appearance in the Western Conference Finals.

After beating the Nashville Predators in six games, the Vancouver Canucks have been patiently waiting to see who their next round opponent would be. The fans in Vancouver have high expectations for this year’s team as this year marks the first time the Canucks have been to the Conference finals since the 1993-94 season.

Even though the Canucks will be tested by the fast, physical San Jose Sharks, sporting the best offense and third best penalty kill in the regular season they are certainly one of the most talented teams in the league. The Canucks should win this series if Vancouver can get better production out of its star players.

As fans and team management will feel they let a chance to win the Stanley Cup slip through their fingers, if the Sedin twins continue their postseason struggles, there could be more angst in Vancouver this offseason though.

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Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks face off in Game 4 May 5th, 2011

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One of the more competitive second round matchups of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is taking place between the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks.

With two of the three games having gone to overtime and all three having been a one-goal game, there has been little room for error in the playoff matchup.

For Game 4 of the series on Thursday, the Canucks are a -125 moneyline favorite and the total is 5 in NHL Betting Odds.

Game 3 ended with a little bit of a controversy as Vancouver scored its second power play goal of the night in overtime when Nashville’s captain Shea Webber was sent to the penalty box for hooking Vancouver’s forward Ryan Kessler. The fans inside Bridgestone Arena reacted angrily after the penalty was called and after the goal was scored, as they felt Kessler was holding Weber’s stick and should have received the penalty.

With the Game 3 victory Vancouver wrestles home ice advantage back from Nashville and takes a two games to one lead in the best of seven series.

Game 4 will be Thursday night at 8:30pm in Nashville, and figures to be another hard hitting, low scoring affair. As long as both goalies, Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo, continue to play the way that they have been during this round, this series between Nashville and Vancouver should continue to be one of the best in the second round.

It would not surprise anyone if both teams were playing a game seven next Wednesday night back in Vancouver.

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Friday Clash Between Detroit Red Wings And San Jose Sharks April 29th, 2011

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On Friday night, round two of the Western Conference playoffs will get under way when the Detroit Red Wings travel to San Jose to battle against the Sharks, with round one of the NHL playoffs in the books.

The over/under total at 5.5 as hockey odds has the Sharks as -125 favorites.

The Red Wings will look to avenge four games to one defeat at the hands of the San Jose Sharks in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference semifinals. Detroit appears to be better suited to face the Sharks this year, as the team is much more rested than a year ago by coming off of a four game sweep of Phoenix in round one. From star player Henrik Zetterberg who sat out all of round one with a knee injury, Detroit will look for additional scoring punch.

After defeating the Los Angeles Kings in six games in their opening round series San Jose has not had as much time off as the Red Wings. San Jose will look to capitalize on the momentum they captured after ousting the Kings in overtime with its star players Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski playing like all-stars this postseason. San Jose is hoping for another playoff series victory over Detroit and a return to the Western Conference Finals with its star players Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski playing like all-stars this postseason.

The play of the two net minders, Antti Niemi for San Jose and Jimmy Howard for Detroit could be the key to this series. While Niemi struggled in games two and five, Howard outshined his opposition in net during round one. The opposition could be looking at the end of their season if either goalie goes on a hot streak.

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Washington Capitals, New York Rangers face off in NHL Playoffs April 20th, 2011

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The Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers will play in game 4 of their first round series this Wednesday.

The game is a pick’em and the total is 5 in NHL Betting.

The series has been a tough one so far for both teams. To this point in the series the Capitals have managed to take control with a 2-1 series lead over the Rangers.

The first two games of the series were dominated by the Capitals as they managed to limit the scoring opportunities of the Rangers. The Rangers were held to just 1 goal in their first two games as the Capitals walked away with a 2-0 and a 2-1 victory over the Rangers.

Game 3 of the series brought more competition to the table as the Rangers found a way to put the puck in the net. The Rangers scored 3 goals over the course of the game and the Capitals were only able to put up 2 goals.

While the Capitals lead the series, they would like to get some more going offensively. The team has only scored 2 goals in each game and their defense may not be able to contain New York to less than 2 goals in every game. They have one of the premier players in the league in Alex Ovechkin and they will need to do whatever they can to feed off of him during the series.

The Rangers have a chance to even up the series in this game and they will need to bring everything they’ve got to prevent the Capitals from taking the 3-1 series lead.

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Weekend Clash Between Philadelphia Flyers And Buffalo Sabres April 7th, 2011

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As the season closes out, this weekend the Philadelphia Flyers will take on the Buffalo Sabres. The Flyers look like they’ll finish the season as the 2nd best team in the Eastern Conference of the NHL as these teams are both looking like they will find their way into the playoff picture.

In NHL odds, Philadelphia is at 7-1 to win the Stanley Cup and the Sabres are at 35-1.

The Flyers have 103 points overall as they are 46-23-11 this season. With 92 points on the season the Sabres are 41-29-10. The Sabres are in the 7th position in the conference standings as they are currently 1 point ahead of the Rangers. In the standings they are also just one point behind Montreal.

As they could be matched up if they finish things off in the same position that they are currently in, this could be a playoff preview. As these both teams try to establish a mental edge over their opponent before they potentially see each other in the playoffs, this means that this game will be significant for both teams.

In this game the Sabres will be the home team although that doesn’t necessarily suit them. While playing away from their home crowd than they have at home both of these teams have actually performed better. While playing on the road this season the Flyers have an amazing road record, posting a 25-11-4 record. At home this year the Sabres are 20-16-4.

You can expect both teams to come out with everything they’ve got as they try to bring some momentum with them into the playoffs as the winner of this game has a chance at moving up the standings.

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Hot Washington Capitals visit Montreal Canadiens on Saturday March 25th, 2011

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In a rematch of one of last year’s first round playoff series, the Washington Capitals will travel to Montreal to take on the Canadiens Saturday night.

The Capitals have moved down to 25-1 in NHL Odds to win the Stanley Cup this season.

Washington will look to continue its hot streak without star player Alex Ovechkin. Capitals’ coach Bruce Boudreu said earlier today that the star play will be given seven to ten days rest to help get healed up for the playoffs. Ovechkin has apparently been bothered by nagging injuries for a few months, and the coach thought it would be a good time to get some rest for the star player.

Plus the Capitals can afford to rest Ovechkin right now because the team has been playing so well, having won nine of their last ten to find themselves in second place in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal will be quite happy that Ovechkin is going to be out of the lineup on Saturday. The Canadiens are in a heated battle with the Boston Bruins for first place in the Northeast Division and the likely number three seed that will accompany it.

Right now Montreal is only one point out of the division lead, but Boston has two games in hand. The extra two games Boston has on Montreal will put that much more pressure on the Canadiens to get as many points as possible each game. Saturday offers a good chance to beat one of the better teams in the league while it is missing its best player.

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New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins clash Sunday on NBC March 18th, 2011

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Two Atlantic Division rivals face off Sunday when the New York Rangers play at Pittsburgh Penguins in a game nationally televised on NBC.

Both teams have slipped in NHL odds as far as winning the Stanley Cup this season, the Rangers at 40-1 and the Penguins at 20-1.

The Penguins have been without their star center Sidney Crosby for just about two months now after he suffered a concussion back in January. When Crosby first went out the Penguins struggled to win games and saw themselves slip in the standings.

Now that the team has learned how to play without their star, the Penguins have been playing much better, and have actually won four of their last five games. This mini hot streak has seen the penguins climb within three points of Philadelphia for the Atlantic Division lead.

The Rangers find themselves in an intense playoff battle as well. Currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a 6-4-0 record in their last ten games has seen the Rangers slightly pull away from the rest of the pack in the standings. While New York is only four points ahead of Carolina for the last playoff spot, the Rangers seem to be playing better as a team and are looking like they should make the postseason.

Fans can expect an intense, hard hitting affair on Sunday between these two heated rivals. As every team with playoff aspirations fights for every point they can earn each night, New York and Pittsburgh should put on quite a show, as both teams look to improve their record in the Eastern Conference standings.

In online sports picks the New York Rangers are favorites to win this match.

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