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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets

Season Gambling Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets fans are brimming with optimism entering the 2011-12 season. The Jackets made one of the offseason’s biggest splashes, acquiring Jeff Carter from the Flyers. They also signed defenseman James Wisniewski to a big deal.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Nashville Predators

Season Gambling Preview: Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators are without a doubt the Rodney Dangerfield of the NHL. They get no respect. They’re written off as an expansion team in a non-hockey market with a boring gameplan and weak fan support.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: St. Louis Blues

Season Gambling Preview: St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues have settled in as that perennially hyped team of youngsters, projected to break out every year but never doing so. They had a cup of coffee in the 2009 playoffs, when they were swept by Vancouver in four games, but haven’t sniffed the postseason since. It’s time to ask, once again: this is the year?

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Chicago Blackhawks

Season Gambling Preview: Chicago Blackhawks

After winning the Stanley Cup in 2009-10, the Chicago Blackhawks crawled into the eighth playoff seed on the final day of the 2010-11 regular season. We all understood why they regressed; totally maxed out with their salary cap, they traded away half their team.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Detroit Red Wings

Season Gambling Preview: Detroit Red Wings

Sigh. Do I really have to write a new Detroit Red Wings preview?

I should just use a template. Nothing changes. Two years ago or one year ago, the Red Wings had an ageless wonder on “D” in Nicklas Lidstrom, two of the game’s best all-around players in Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom, a bonecrushing hitter in Niklas Kronwall, and a rising star goaltender in Jimmy Howard. Guess what?

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Florida Panthers

Season Gambling Preview: Florida Panthers

Arguably, there was no busier team this offseason than the Florida Panthers in terms of sheer volume. General manager Dale Tallon got busy, acquiring Jose Theodore, Brian Campbell, Ed Jovanovski, Scottie Upshall, Tomas Kopecky, Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg and Sean Bergenheim.

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Dallas Stars 2011-2012 Betting Preview

Bet On NHL Hockey Dallas Stars Season Preview

In the light of ownership issues and the departure of Dallas’s best player via free agency, GM Joe Nieuwendyk had plenty of work to do this offseason – none of it all that appealing. The Dallas Stars chore now – just remain competitive.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Winnipeg Jets

2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Winnipeg Jets

Among NHL cities, Winnipeg is clearly the biggest winner entering the 2011-12 season. The Jets are back after a decade and a half and the city is rejoicing. Will the good news stop there or will the loyal Jets fans get rewarded with some playoff hockey this season?

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Phoenix Coyotes 2011-2012 Betting Preview

Bet On NHL Hockey Phoenix Coyotes Season Preview

The Phoenix Coyotes will enter the 2011-2012 season without two players that defined their overachieving persona over the past couple of years. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov has left for the greener pastures of Philadelphia and Ed Jovanovski has gone back to Florida to likely finish his career.

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Anaheim Ducks 2011-2012 Betting Preview

Bet On NHL Hockey Anaheim Ducks Season Preview

The Anaheim Ducks enter the 2011-2012 season hoping to build off a terrific second half of the 2010-2011 season. Anaheim will go with largely the same roster as the one that finished second in the Pacific last season including league MVP Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne who committed to one more season in Anaheim.

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Los Angeles Kings 2011-2012 Betting Preview

Bet On NHL Hockey Los Angeles Kings Season Preview

With the Kings’ main rival in the Pacific Division making significant moves to improve their team during the offseason, the Los Angeles Kings made sure that they were not left out of the roster shaping party.

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San Jose Sharks 2011-2012 Betting Preview

Bet On NHL Hockey San Jose Sharks Season Preview

The San Jose Sharks have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the past five seasons but there was some element that prevented the team from having success in the postseason.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Carolina Hurricanes

2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are among the toughest teams to forecast year-to-year in NHL betting. What’s their identity? They’re a young rebuilding team but they also have a few stars in their primes. They miss the playoffs one year and they make a deep run the next. I can never figure out what these guys are.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning

2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning

Behold, the magic touch of Steve Yzerman! He took over a non-playoff Tampa Bay Lightning team last summer and was expected to gradually improve it with his unique hockey knowledge. But there was nothing gradual about what Tampa Bay did last season.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Washington Capitals

2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Washington Capitals

OK, Washington. I’m finally ready to take you seriously. For years under coach Bruce Boudreau, you’ve had the league’s most exciting offense. But, for years, you’ve failed to address glaring needs at goaltender and defense.

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2011-12 NHL Team Preview: Edmonton Oilers

Bet On NHL Hockey Edmonton Oilers Season Preview

If youth and promise were the only measuring stick used when determining the teams that make the playoffs then the Edmonton Oilers would certainly be at or near the top of the list.