NHL Betting 2008 - How To Bet On The Playoffs
I can’t see the puck. I don’t
know what “offside” is. I
can’t pronounce half the players
names. Why are they fighting? These are
all complaints and questions I get from
non-hockey fans as to why they don’t
watch hockey. But as far as the betting
community is concerned, there’s
only one question you should be asking:
Do you like making money?
If the
answer is an emphatic “yes”,
then welcome aboard to BetUS.com and
the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs! Sixteen
teams enter, duke it out in a seven game
series and the two best teams from their
respective conferences meet in the final
showdown to hoist the trophy that brandishes
Lord Stanley’s name.
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Hockey Betting Radio
The great
part about NHL hockey betting is that
it’s easy, whether you
watch hockey or not. You’ll bet
on the puckline, which is when a team
has to win by 1.5 goals per game, or
the moneyline which is just a SU victory.
If you’ve peeked at any of the
betting stats, you’ll see that
the puckline is a tough bet in most games
and that the moneyline will reward your
betting faith at a much steadier rate.
So why
should you bet on hockey? Basically
this comes down to two reasons. The first
is that it’s easy. The favorites
usually pan out and reward their betting
faithful. Secondly, it’s easy to
predict. Certain teams don’t matchup
well in the playoffs and that speaks
volumes in the NHL. Of course you have
your underdogs, but the new NHL is all
about balance and size.
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So who
should you bet on? Let’s
break it down in to three sections to
make this easier. Consider this your
2008 Stanley Cup Betting quick shot lesson.
Here’s what you need to know about
the teams.
THE FAVORITES
Detroit Red Wings (54-21-7)
They’re consistently the best
team in the league during the regular
season, and this year is no exception.
They went 29-9-3 SU at home and were
the third best offense in the league
with 3.1 goals for, and only 2.2 goals
against. You don’t need to know
much, except that they are perhaps the
most well balanced team in the entire
league.
Montreal Canadiens (47-25-10)
Go Habs
Go! Montreal is a great team at home
as they proved by going 22-13-6 SU
in the hostile Bell Centre. And they
legitimately have the best offense in
the league with 3.2 goals for per game.
And the reason you have to love the Habs
is that their depth is brilliant. They
have scorers on every line. But the only
thing I don’t like is their lack
of size. Still, if they show the punch
and physicality that they’ve already
displayed against Boston, they are a
solid bet…especially on their
home ice.
San Jose Sharks (49-23-10)
The Sharks
are perhaps the deadliest team in the
playoffs because of their unbelievable
team defense. They allow only 2.4 goals
against, but the Sharks are perplexing.
They have the offensive firepower to
light the lamp – but
they don’t use it. They averaged
only 2.7 goals per game despite boasting
three of the best offensive-defensemen
in the league. Their persistence in allowing
opponents to stay close, instead of blowing
them out with huge leads will haunt them.
And, of course, there’s the Joe
Thornton curse. He’s like the Chris
Webber of basketball. Or the Patrick
Ewing. Lots of talent. No professional
championships.
Pittsburgh Penguins (47-27-8)
Sidney
Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for
178 regular season points, which is
absolutely absurd. For those that don’t know, a player gets a “point” for
every goal or assist he notches. Their
combined, explosive firepower is enough
to make any opposing team cringe, and
any betting investor smile. Their defense
has been knocked all season, but they
are faring much better at protecting
their goalie. The inexperience they displayed
last year in the post season has proven
to be a motivating fire starter for the
youthful Penguins. And Sidney Crosby
will find a way to win. You can bet on
it.
THE DEFENDING CHAMPS
Anaheim Ducks (47-27-8)
The defending
champion Ducks look insane now that
Teemu is back. But there are certain
pieces missing. Dustin Penner is in
Edmonton and Andy McDonald is in St.
Louis, and those two young two-way
players were essential cogs to the
Ducks run of yester year. Their stats
are all misleading because they’re
a much different team with Teemu in
the lineup. But with the rest of the
West looking much stronger, Anaheim
is a tough bet, even with the stingiest
defense in the league.
THE DARK HORSE
Washington Capitals (43-31-8)
Two fun fact about the Capitals:
1) When
you spell Alexander Ovechkin’s
name in Russian, it’s spelled “OBE4K?H”.
Yep, that’s a backwards “n”.
But the number four is also the amount
of wins that you need to win a playoff
series. Coincidence? Ok, yeah it probably
is.
2) Mike
Green’s slapshot is so
hard that it almost turned Patrick Thoreson
in to a woman.
The only
other thing you need to know is that
Ovechkin is perhaps the scariest goal
scorer in the world. As steep underdogs
in our futures, the Capitals’ prolific
threat in is perhaps the only player
who can effectively dominate the ice
all by himself. And that, in itself,
is worth your betting consideration.
DON’T
BE FOOLED BY…
Ottawa
Senators – They’ve
lost their two best two-way players and
their goal tending is atrocious. And
their fans are annoying.
Calgary
Flames – As physical as
they’ve been in the past, Coach
Mike Keenan will find a way to lose.
There’s a reason he was out of
coaching for so long (the reason was
not a good one).
Dallas
Stars – Lots of scoring,
an All-Star goalie and terrific coaching.
But I just don’t believe that they
have the star power to contend with the
big dogs in the West.
So now
you know the players, the teams and
the coaches you should be steering
toward and leaning away from., let’s
talk logistics. More importantly, here’s
a quick lesson on how to be on hockey.
The puckline is pretty simple, albeit
devastating to the betting community.
Winning by two goals is a stretch in
the defensively minded world of the NHL.
The puckline is the same as a spread,
and is typically set at 1.5 goals for
both teams. The moneyline is the easy
bet, and the O/U is typically set at
5.5 goals as the total score.
The truth
is that hockey betting is much easier
than you think, and it can make a Saturday
night interesting and help snowball
your bankroll en route to the NBA Playoffs
and baseball season. Do you like making
money? If you answered “yes” to
that question, then you should be betting
on hockey.
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