The Blackhawks opened the season as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup at 12-1 and they have been bet down to 6-1 co-favorites with the Washington Capitals. The Blackhawks have been the best team in the Western Conference for the last three years despite Vancouver making the finals last season.

The Canucks are not suffering through the Stanley Cup hangover after falling short against the Boston Bruins last season. The Canucks opened as a 6-1 favorite to win the Cup and despite the team leading the NHL in points at halfway, their odds have gone up to 9-1.

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

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

The Phoenix Coyotes have been pummeled this season and their futures odds have reflected their tumble. The Coyotes opened as a 30-1 shot and quickly tumbled to 80-1 as their season unraveled.

Make sure you check with your favorite online sportsbook for updated lines on winning the Stanley Cup prior to making any proposition bets.

The Stanley Cup runner-ups, the Vancouver Canucks, are a 6-1 favorite overall to win in 2012. The Canucks bitter collapse to the Boston Bruins will weigh heavy on their minds this season and most teams can never get over the hangover that comes after falling one game short of hoisting the Cup over their heads.

The next five NHL favorites are Eastern Conference teams until the Chicago Blackhawks, who are 12-1 to win the Cup. The Blackhawks are just a few years removed from their Stanley Cup and they still have the nucleus of that team intact.

There are actually five teams sharing 12-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup this season. Four of them are Western Conference main stays. The Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks are all 12-1 along with the Blackhawks and Eastern Conference long shot, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Anaheim Ducks have fallen off the map in a short time and they are now a long shot to win the Cup at 25-1. The Ducks demise has been quick and unrelenting as the team has failed to keep up in the free agent races.

The Western Conference includes some of the longest shots in the NHL. The Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche are 65-1 and the Minnesota Wild are 60-1 to win the Cup. The Wild always manage to get themselves involved in a playoff race despite the preseason prognostications.

This past week, the NHL held its second-ever Research and Development camp, looking at possible changes in making the back of the net four inches shorter, putting clear plastic at the top of the net to allow easier review of goals, the same plastic at the back, bottom of the net, as well as putting in a green ‘verification line’ 3 inches behind the red goal line to help establish good goals.

Now most of these changes should not affect the basic team strength and weaknesses for all 30 NHL teams this year, as would a change in other areas the league is looking at, such as making teams kill off the full two minutes of a minor penalty, or no icing of the puck during a penalty kill.

These changes would certainly help teams with strong powerplays, such as the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks or Detroit Red Wings. And conversely, it would certainly impact decisions made by oddsmakers at the various online sportsbook sites on both the futures offered on various wagers, as well as the basic head to head bets for Pucklines and Totals.

The Bruins are a -145 moneyline favorite and the over/under total is 5.5 in NHL Betting.

Both teams have had an extended layoff following their respective second round sweeps of the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers. Tampa has been off since May 4th while Boston has been waiting since May 6th. With these extended layoffs both teams figure to be fresh and well rested when the Conference Finals begin.

Boston won the season series against Tampa Bay winning four of the six games the two teams played against each other. In fact, Boston won the last three match ups including an 8-1 romp in Boston on December 2nd, 2010. While Boston may have won the season series, this playoff match up figures to be a competitive battle as both Tampa and Boston are getting great play from their top players.

Experts always say the goalie is the most important player come playoff time, and both Boston and Tampa Bay have gotten excellent play from their net minders.

Tim Thomas and Dwayne Roloson have played exceptionally well in goal for Boston and Tampa as both goalies lead the league in playoff save percentage, making it even more difficult to predict the winner of this series. It appears that the special teams play of both clubs will have a major impact on this series.

Currently, Boston is ranked tenth on the penalty kill in the playoffs while Tampa Bay has the second best penalty kill unit. The power play unit seems to favor Tampa Bay as well, as the Lightning rank third in that category while Boston has struggled through the first two rounds only scoring two power play goals in thirty seven chances, good for the fourteenth best ranking in the playoffs.

If these trends continue, Tampa Bay could be heading to the Stanley Cup Finals representing the Eastern Conference.

Detroit is a -170 moneyline favorite and the over/under total is 5.5 in NHL Odds.

The Red Wings are in danger of putting themselves in a very deep hole. They have already struggled in the first two games of the series and they now find themselves down 2-0.

In the first two games of the series that Red Wings have struggled to get things going offensively. They have suffered 2-1 losses in each game and the Sharks seem to have their number to this point. They will certainly need to find a way to score more than one goal per game if they hope to win this game. The Sharks will probably come out aggressively and the Red Wings will need to find a way to slow the Sharks down offensively while still improving on their own offensive end.

The Sharks are in a comfortable position, but a loss in this game will very much open the door for Detroit. If they are able to win this game they will be able to relax a bit as it is almost unheard of for a team to blow a 3-0 series lead.

Detroit was 21-14-6 while playing at home this season, which is actually a worse record than their road record. While this is true, they may be able to get a boost from their home crowd in this game. In online sports picks, the Detroit Red Wings is favorites to win this match.

The Flyers are a -135 moneyline favorite and the over/under total is 5.5 in NHL Betting Odds.

Despite being two of the best teams in the league, both of these teams needed all 7 games to finish off their opponents in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Flyers were engaged in a difficult series against the Buffalo Sabres. While the series was close, they managed to close out the series with a convincing 5-2 victory over Buffalo.

During the season these teams were the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the Eastern Conference. Both of these teams were solid at home and even better on the road and they should both be ready for a hard fought series.

The Bruins are a slighting more well-rounded team in terms of playing on both sides of the ice. They are the 5th best team in the league in goals per game and they are the 2nd best team in the NHL in goals against. The Flyers are a slightly better team offensively, as they are the 3rd best team in the league in goals per game, but they are just the 11th best team in the league in goals against. They will need to buckle down defensively if they hope to take the victory in this series.

This may be the best series in the playoffs this season as both of these teams have all of the tools necessary to win this series.

According to various online sports betting site the Bruins are a -115 favorite and the over/under total at 5.

The Canadiens are also the home team in this game and they’ll have the chance to go up 3-1 at their home arena in front of their fans. Look for the Canadiens to come out ready to play in this game.

The Canadiens started out the series in dominating fashion as they were able to put up a shutout against the Bruins in the series opener. They won the game 2-0 and looked dominant over the Bruins.

The Canadiens continued to dominate the Bruins in the 2nd game of the series as the Bruins were held to just 1 goal. The Bruins are a solid team and nobody expected the Canadiens to hold them to a single goal in the first two games. Montreal ultimately took home the victory by a score of 3-1 to go up 2-0 in the series.

The Bruins bounced back in game three with a much more typical offensive performance. They put 4 goals in the net and limited the Canadiens to 2 goals. This allowed them to pull back within contention in the series. A win in this game would even up the series for the Bruins. It would also give them a lot of momentum after winning 2 games in a row. In online sports picks the Boston Bruins are favorites to win this match.

Montreal won the season series four games to two, but enter the playoff series as a decided underdog as many experts believe Boston will win the best of seven series.

The Bruins are a -190 favorite to win Game 1 in NHL Odds, and Boston is a -210 favorite to win the series in Stanley Cup Betting.

The regular season series between these two original six rivals had full of excitement and energy as these two teams played a few of the most memorable games of the season including a fight filled contest on February 9th, 2011 that saw Boston win 8-6. Also, the rematch of that February 9th contest was played a month later on March 8th and saw Zdeno Chara check Montreal forward Max Pacioretty into a stanchion, severely injuring his neck in the process. Since that moment, Chara has been even more hated in the city of Montreal, and the fans are sure to let him know of their displeasure.

Of all of the first round playoff matchups, this one between Montreal and Boston figures to be one of the more hard hitting, intense series. The contrasting styles of play between Montreal’s speed and Boston’s size should make for some memorable games. The goaltending of Boston’s Tim Thomas and Montreal’s Carey Price should also be excellent, forcing both teams to really earn each victory. However, in the end Boston’s physical play should prove to be too much for the Canadiens in this best of seven series and the Bruins should move on to the second round.

The Blackhawks are in a tight race for the last playoff spot in the Western conference. According to various sports betting sites, the Red Wings are at 15-1 to win the Stanley Cup in NHL Betting.

While in most sports it seems that home field advantage is an extremely important advantage, it seems that hockey does not have as firm of a rule. While there are definitely teams that play better at home than on the road, there are several teams that are much better playing away from their home crowd.

The Detroit Red Wings are one of the teams that play better away than they do at home. While they are 25-10-4 playing away from Detroit, they are 21-13-6 while playing in Detroit. The Blackhawks are a solid road team as well, putting up a record of 19-12-9 on the season away from their home ice.

The Blackhawks are in desperate need of victories as the season closes out. There are two teams, the Flames and Stars, that are hot on their tails. The Blackhawks are in the 8th position in the Western Conference Standings with 93 points. The Flames and Stars are both at 91 points. The Blackhawks could lose their spot in the playoffs if they are unable to finish things out the right way.

The Red Wings will come into the game with some momentum, having won their last two games. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have lost 2 in a row and they are in serious danger of slipping out of the playoff picture if they lose this game. Look for the Blackhawks to come out with an inspired effort in this game.

The Flyers are among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, at 7-1 in NHL Betting.

The Flyers have been dominant all season and they look like they will walk out of the season with the best record in the Eastern Conference. They are currently 3 points ahead of 2nd place Washington and they have played one game less than Washington has with only a few games left to play. The Flyers would need an absolute melt down to lose their position in the playoff race.

The New Jersey Devils are on the brink of mathematical elimination as every team below them has already been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. They are 29 points behind first place Philadelphia in the standings and they are 12 points behind the Buffalo Sabres for the last playoff spot with three other teams in line ahead of them.

The Devils can only play for pride at this point. It would be very good for their franchise if they were able to win some games to finish the season. They may be able to establish some momentum and expectations for their fans entering next season if they are able finish strong this season.

The Flyers should be able to win this game so long as they play their normal style of game. They are a great team and they should be able to take care of business in New Jersey.