As fans and sports bettors know, every team in the NHL plays every other team at least once in the regular season, so teams that meet in the Stanley Cup finals are not total strangers. When people are trying to handicap the finals, those regular season meetings are something they are (more…)

As soon as the Stanley Cup finals pairing is determined successful hockey bettors will look to analyze that pairing to see what it likely means for the series. Does one team have a clear edge? How is the series likely to be played? What factors are likely to be significant in (more…)

During the Stanley Cup playoffs most eyes of fans, sports bettors, and the media are trained on the teams that are toiling to win the nicest trophy in sports. While the playoffs are underway, though, the hockey teams that are not in the playoffs are quietly going about their business of trying (more…)

For some reason, in recent years the media and sports bettors seem to have started to view a long layoff between series in the NHL playoffs a negative for teams. The theory seems to be that teams will get rusty when they have to sit on the sidelines for a week. What (more…)

Veteran NHL bettors know that part of what makes the NHL playoffs so great is the overtime. In the regular season the sudden death period is limited to just five minutes, but it is endless in the playoffs. The drama is intense, and it’s not uncommon to see an overtime battle (more…)

Smart sports bettors know that losing the first two games of a playoff series in the NHL is never good for a team. It doesn’t mean that the series is over – lots of hockey teams have come back from such a deficit. It just means that the team is in (more…)

Veteran sports bettors know that there are few things as thankless as being an NHL goalie in the Stanley Cup finals. If your team wins then you are likely a hero, but you often won’t get the respect or attention of the powerful forward or the flashy defenseman. If you lose, (more…)

I’m not generally a big believer in momentum in sports – or at least in sports betting. So much can change from game to game that it’s really tough for a team to keep momentum going. One place where that opinion doesn’t always hold up, though, is in the NHL playoffs. (more…)

The Stanley Cup playoffs, as avid sports bettors understand, are the most brutal postseason tournament in sports. It is incredibly difficult to come out on top. The highest ranked teams heading into the playoffs win their share of Cups. Every few years, though, there is a low seeded team that shocks the (more…)