Hockey Handicapping Articles

NHL Betting: Review of Season at Olympic Break
by Trevor Whenham - 2/11/2014

As we take a couple of weeks to enjoy great hockey action that doesn’t count towards the NHL standings, it’s a good time to look back and assess what we have seen so far in the NHL season, and what it means for bettors:

NHL Handicapping: Toronto Maple Leafs
by Trevor Whenham - 1/16/2014

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a divisive team for hockey fans. If you like them then you are likely really, really obsessed. If you don’t like them, though, then there is no team you would rather see lose — and lose in spectacular fashion. No market is more invested in their franchise, and no organization has delivered less over the years despite essentially bottomless resources.

NHL Handicapping: Vancouver Canucks Hottest Team in West
by Trevor Whenham - 12/19/2013

After a rocky start to the season, the Vancouver Canucks are the hottest team in the Western Conference. They are 7-0-1 in their last eight games. It is a remarkable turnaround for a team that was 4-6-4. They are certainly more talented than they looked before this month. The question for bettors, though, is whether this recent uptick is a sign of a real turnaround or whether it is just a streak before an inevitable return to disappointment. To decode what is likely, here are six factors to consider:

NHL Handicapping: Chicago Blackhawks
by Trevor Whenham - 12/4/2013

The Chicago Blackhawks were very impressive Stanley Cup Champions last year. This year they haven’t missed a beat, leading the league in points among several key statistical categories. Handicappers need to be cautious about this team. They are a very public team, so the value is limited on them in even the best circumstances. So, do they have what it takes to defend their title and add a third Cup in five years?

NHL Handicapping: Conference Disparity
by Trevor Whenham - 11/26/2013

Through more than a quarter of the NHL season, we have seen a disparity between the strength of the two conferences. Simply put, the East isn’t very good when you compare it to the West. The eighth-place team in the West — Phoenix — would be sitting in second in the East, just two points behind conference-leading Boston.

NHL Handicapping: Worst Teams to Bet On
by Trevor Whenham - 11/11/2013

We are already 20 percent of the way through the NHL season. There is a whole lot of hockey left to play, and anything can happen at this point. If a team has tallied fewer than 15 points by this time, though, they just aren’t very good. Their season isn’t over, but if they don’t get back on track soon, then it will be. There are six teams below that mark at this point. Let’s look at each to see if they can get back on track — and deliver some betting value at the same time:

NHL Handicapping: Goalies to Keep an Eye On
by Trevor Whenham - 11/11/2013

There isn’t a single player in any major North American team sport who has more of a direct impact on the outcome of a game than a goaltender in the NHL. An amazing effort in net can turn an average or even poor performance from a team into a win. Shaky goaltending, on the other hand, can transform an outstanding team outing into a loss.

NHL Handicapping: Teams Off to Hot Starts
by Trevor Whenham - 11/5/2013

We are nearly 20 percent of the way through the NHL season already. At this point there are 10 of 30 teams that are off to a strong start — at least 20 points tallied in the standings. Some of those teams are off to the start expected, and they are going to stay strong. Others are overachieving, and then there are those that are just too tough to really call right now. How do the 10 squads break down? (odds to win the Stanley Cup are from Bovada):

NHL Handicapping: Colorado Avalanche Fast Start
by Trevor Whenham - 10/15/2013

It’s early in the NHL season, but so far the biggest surprise of all has to be the Colorado Avalanche. Last year they wound up with just 39 points, which was the second fewest in the entire league behind only Florida. The team even won the draft lottery. The disaster of a season led to an offseason overhaul, with Patrick Roy brought in to coach the team and to have a significant say in personnel decisions along with Joe Sakic.

NHL Handicapping: First-Week Disappointments
by Trevor Whenham - 10/8/2013

We are just a week into the NHL season, so we still really have no idea of what is going to happen and who good, or bad, teams are. Through the first week, though, a few things have stood out from a betting perspective as real disappointments — places where I was hoping to find value but now fear I won’t:

Bold NHL Predictions for 2013-14
by Trevor Whenham - 10/3/2013

The offseason is over, and the NHL season is underway. It’s about freaking time. As we get ready for a long winter of excitement, here are six bold predictions about what is going to happen and how the season, and the postseason, will turn out:

NHL Handicapping: Biggest First-Week Games
by Trevor Whenham - 10/1/2013

After a long offseason, the NHL gets rolling again on Tuesday night — thankfully on time this year after the torture of last year’s prolonged delay. While it is dangerous to base too much on what we see early in the year, there are some games in the first week of action that can give us clues about what to expect in the coming weeks.

NHL Handicapping: Hard Teams to Get Read On
by Trevor Whenham - 10/1/2013

Heading into the NHL season, there are some teams that seem to be easy to predict. We know that Pittsburgh and Chicago are likely to be very good, for example, and that Florida and Calgary really, really aren’t. There are other teams, though, that are much harder to understand. They have the potential to be solid contenders, but they also could really disappoint and flounder their way through the season. These five teams are the hardest to put a finger on and get a real sense of what to expect from them through the first month or so of the regular season:

2013 Stanley Cup Picks: Bruins vs. Blackhawks Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/11/2013

If you would have told the NHL and NBC TV officials that they would be given a Boston Bruins-Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Finals back in the winter, they would have taken it in a second. Would the NHL maybe preferred to have had Pittsburgh advance over Boston from the East Finals? Probably, just because of Sidney Crosby.

NHL Handicapping: Penguins Top Contender for Cup
by Trevor Whenham - 5/31/2013

The Pittsburgh Penguins came into the NHL Playoffs as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup, and there is no reason to question that at this point. They are scoring like crazy, getting good play from across the roster, and look angry and determined. I expect them to win the Cup — plain and simple. So, why is that, and what knocks are there against their chances? Let’s take a look:

Kings at Blackhawks Picks and Series Betting Odds
by Alan Matthews - 5/30/2013

NHL and NBC Sports officials must be literally jumping for joy with hockey's Final Four. Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Those are the past four Stanley Cup Champions, only the second time that has ever happened in the conference finals. You have the No. 2 and No. 3 TV markets. Two Original Six teams. The defending champions trying to become the first club to repeat in 15 years. And, of course, the biggest hockey star on the planet, the Pens' Sidney Crosby. What more could the NHL ask for after alienating its fan base with the lockout?

Stanley Cup Playoffs Power Rankings
by Trevor Whenham - 5/23/2013

And then there were eight. The NHL Playoff field has been cut in half, and it will soon be much smaller still. Before it shrinks, though, it’s a good time to assess the eight teams that remain. These power rankings take three things into consideration — their potential to win it all, their current performance, and their attractiveness as a betting interest:

NHL Handicapping: Capitals a Stanley Cup Contender?
by Trevor Whenham - 4/17/2013

In this short 48-game NHL regular season, it was easy to write off the Capitals after their disastrous start. It seemed obvious that a fast start was essential for a team to be a real contender because it would be too hard to dig out of a hole. At 2-8-1, Washington’s start was anything but fast. They weren’t dead just yet, though. To be a contender they needed to not just improve but completely reinvent themselves in order to make up the gap with so little time to do it.

Hockey Predictions: NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Props Odds and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 4/11/2013

Probably no major sportsbook emphasizes hockey more than Bovada, which probably isn't surprising considering it's based out of Canada. The site releases NHL special props each week, and this week there are some playoff and division winning odds that I'd like to look at.

NHL Handicapping: Trade Deadline Grades
by Trevor Whenham - 4/4/2013

Losing out on Jarome Iginla hurt — especially because they seemed to have a deal but got rejected by the player. They turned things around nicely, though. Jaromir Jagr has more playoff success behind him than Iginla, and the price was better, too. Adding Wade Redden for essentially nothing was a nice character move as well. They fell further behind Pittsburgh, but they still got better.