The sports betting world does not get much of a rest from the NHL. The Stanley Cup is awarded in June, and then the online casino NHL preseason starts up again in September. That means that we do not have a lot of time to talk about the 2011-2012 Stanley Cup predictions; so let’s get started.

Boston Bruins

So long as Tim Thomas is the goalie in Boston, and Zdeno Chara monitors the blue line, you have to consider the Bruins contenders. Will Boston be able to defend its Stanley Cup title in 2011-2012? It all depends on how much offense the team picks up in free agency and prior to the trade deadline.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Mario Lemieux made the wise move of not bringing Jaromir Jagr back to Pittsburgh. Jagr would have upset a chemistry that has taken years to create. With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin coming back for the 2011-2012 season, the Penguins have to be considered the top contender for the Stanley Cup.

Los Angeles Kings

Did adding Mike Richards to the Kings’ roster make Los Angeles a Cup contender? The Western Conference is wide open in 2011-2012 with no clear-cut favorite. The Kings get Anze Kopitar back from injury and could be a team to deal with when it comes around to playoff time.

San Jose Sharks

The Vancouver Canucks look like it is sticking with the same formula that brought it regular season success but playoff failure. That means that the Sharks can make some changes that will vault them past Vancouver and into the Western Conference driver’s seat. San Jose will spend a while looking at its goaltending situation as it was the poor play of Antti Niemi that contributed to the Sharks playoff failures last year. San Jose is only one or two players away from being a legitimate Cup contender.

The sports betting world loves the free agency signing period in just about any sport, but it seems to have taken on a holiday-like atmosphere with the NHL. While some sports fans were MLB baseball betting, others were watching NHL free agency signings very closely. Here is a list of the teams that seemed to have gained the most.

Buffalo Sabres

New Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula promised moves to make the team a contender, and he is trying to deliver. The Sabres went from one of the worst defensive units in the league to one of the best with the signings of Robyn Regher and Christian Ehrhoff. The more curious signing was giving $4.7 million a year to former Flyers forward Ville Leino. If the move pays off, the Sabres could be starting on the road to Stanley Cup contention.

New York Rangers

The Rangers made the biggest splash in signing forward Brad Richards, but the Richards signing overshadowed a series of good moves made by the Rangers. Forward Ruslan Fedotenko, forward Mike Rupp, defensman Michael Sauer and center Artem Anisimov could make for a very interesting Rangers team in 2011-2012.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues keep plugging away at their team, and they have made two free agent signings that went unnoticed, but could help St. Louis contend this season. Forwards Jason Arnott from Washington and Jamie Langenbrunner from the Dallas Stars are now St. Louis Blues. That will definitely help the Blues’ offense generate more points. St. Louis fans hope it will be enough to push St. Louis into a playoff spot in 2011-2012.

On Wednesday June 22, 2011 from Las Vegas, Nevada the 2011 NHL betting awards show took place. The annual awards ceremony congratulates several players for their outstanding contributions to the game during the past regular season. That is to say, all of your mistakes in the sports betting NHL playoffs are forgotten for one night as you can receive praise for your play before the games mattered. Here is a recap of the show.

Wednesday’s awards show was dominated by the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks, as the two teams to battle it out for this year’s Stanley Cup, were honored for their strong play. Goalies Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins, as well as Roberto Luongo and Corey Schneider of the Vancouver Canucks took home several awards on the night. Thomas was awarded the Vezina Trophy for the second time in the last three seasons, while Luongo and Schneider took home the award as the best goalie tag team during the regular season.

In the biggest shock of the night, Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks was able to capture the Hart Memorial Trophy, as the NHL’s best player. Despite scoring 99 points, Perry received the award, as the NHL’s writing association, recognized that had Perry not stepped up his play for the final 25 games of the regular season, his team the Ducks, may not have made it to the playoffs. Coincidentally, Daniel Sedin, whom was nominated for the award with 104 points, was not recognized as the league’s top player. Sedin along with brother Henrik Sedin, both went from dominating teams in the regular season to forgetting the playoffs were even on during these last two months.

Another huge shock was the rookie of the year trophy. 18 year old sensation Jeff Skinner won the award after scoring 64 points in his rookie campaign. Many people, we included, felt that Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks should have received the award, as he not only played a huge role on the Sharks this season, but also in the playoffs.

With only three games left in the Belmont betting Stanley Cup finals for the 2010 – 11 seasons, fans from across the world are wondering which team will have the momentum after game five tonight. From a series that started with literally no emotion whatsoever, to two teams that literally despise each other; hockey fans have seen it all in the Stanley Cup Finals, between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins. Game five shifts back over to Vancouver tonight, and many sports betting enthusiasts, we included believe the winner of tonight’s game, should go on to win the Stanley Cup in either game six on Monday or game seven next Wednesday.

In need of a momentum shift after dropping the first two games in Vancouver, the Nathan Horton blindside injury, was certainly not what the Bruins expected would wake them up and get them back in the series. For those new to the situation, Nathan Horton was absolutely destroyed by a fierce open ice body check by Vancouver Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome during the first period of game three. As a result of the hit, Horton will miss the rest of the series due to injury, and Rome due to suspension.

Also stemming from the hit, is a resurgent Boston Bruins team that proceeded to use the hit as motivation en route to lighting up the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 12 to one over games three and four in Boston. What’s more, the media has shifted its attention from bashing the Boston Bruins for a lack of intensity and urgency in games one and two in Vancouver, to criticizing Vancouver for showing little to no fight in games three and four in Boston.

On paper, game five becomes the biggest of the series, because the home team has won every game in this series. If Boston can win on the road, they will literally have all of the momentum, going into game six in Boston on Monday.

Belmont betting enthusiasts also wagering on the NHL, will be glued to their TV’s tonight, as they find out who will represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals. Game seven goes tonight in Boston, as the Boston Bruins take on the reinvigorated Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning haven’t been this good since the 2003 – 2004 Stanley Cup winning team. Here is a preview of the upcoming Stanley Cup sports betting finals.

The 2010 – 11 seasons Stanley Cup finals will feature the Tampa Bay Lightning taking on the Vancouver Canucks, in the fourth meeting between Southern States and Canadian teams. So far, the Southern States have been victorious in the first three matchups, as the Lightning beat the Flames in 2003 – 2004, Carolina Hurricanes defeated Edmonton Oilers in 2005 – 2006 and Anaheim Ducks won against the Ottawa Senators in 2006 – 2007.

For all intents and purposes, that shouldn’t happen this year, as the Vancouver Canucks were the best team in the NHL all season. During the regular season, the Canucks led by the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows on offense, Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff, and Sami Salo on defense and Roberto Luongo in net had an NHL best 117 points. Throughout the playoffs, the Canucks appeared reminiscent of their old choke artist teams. Yet as the playoffs progressed, it became evident that the Canucks were built to win the Stanley Cup.

Conversely, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been an okay team to watch this year. On the one hand, it wasn’t clear if the team was for real or just a middle of the pack team overachieving. However, over the past couple of months, the Lightning have shocked the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and perhaps the Boston Bruins, as they move into the Stanley Cup Finals.

With only four teams remaining in the NHL playoffs for the 2010 -11 seasons, Preakness betting enthusiasts don’t have a lot of options to choose a Stanley Cup winner from. To say that this season’s betting online NHL playoffs have been incredible would be putting it lightly. We’d actually like to go on record stating, that the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks, are all the most deserving teams of making it to the Conference finals. Here is an updated version of the Stanley Cup Odds for 2010 – 11 seasons.

And then there were four, this year’s final four entrants in NHL Conference Finals, can all be considered as scary teams. In the Western Conference, the top ranked Vancouver Canucks, whom also won the President’s Trophy as the NHL’s best regular season team, remain the odds on cup favorites at – 150.  Made up of a core including the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff, Dan Hamhuis and Roberto Luongo, the 2010 -11 Vancouver Canucks may be the deepest in the team’s 40 year history.

Meeting the Canucks in the Western Conference finals is the San Jose Sharks. With odds of  anywhere between – 300 and – 800 depending on which sportsbook you use, the Sharks similar to the Canucks look to be the best edition of themselves in their team’s history. Let’s face it, when Joe Pavelski and Danny Heatley are on your third line, you just know your team is ridiculously stacked. This series has all the makings of being an amazing one, and fans should expect the Stanley Cup winner to come from the West again this season.

Over in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins will be taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Despite San Jose having a better record than both Boston and Tampa during the regular season, both the Bruins and Lightning boast better Stanley Cup odds. The Boston Bruins are a – 250 favorite to win the cup, while the Tampa Bay Lightning are exactly – 300. For the latter of the two teams, the odds completely contradict Lightning Head Coach Guy Boucher, who claims his team is an underdog at best to win the Stanley Cup.

Kentucky Derby betting enthusiasts looking for a distraction from handicapping the ponies, should look no further than the NHL, as the second round of the playoffs gets underway over the next few days. After an incredible first NHL sports betting round, fans wagering on their favorite teams, have plenty of trends to look at heading into round two. Here are a few trends surrounding the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings series.

Looking at the spread for this series, and fans will see that when Detroit plays as the road team, against a team with a winning record over the last two seasons the Wings have been average at best. In general Detroit is 29 – 22 against the spread when facing a team with a winning record in each of the last two playoff seasons while on the road. Last season, Wings 25 – 18 before, they played San Jose in round two and were swept in four games.  Will the Wings continue to struggle as a road team against good teams this year or will they get the monkey off their back?

Moving on to head to head between Detroit and San Jose, and fans will see several interesting trends between the two clubs. Firstly, San Jose is 10 and seven against the spread against Detroit in the last three years, and also 10 and seven straight up during that time. What’s more, of those 17 games played between these two Western powers, 11 of the games have gone over the total. Furthermore, taking Detroit as the road team, where the total is five and half goals, has allowed fans to make a winning record of 26 and 15 in that time frame. Given how shaky Anti Niemi looked in round one, fans should expect a lot of goals in Detroit’s favor.

The 2010 – 11 Stanley Cup sports betting playoffs got underway earlier this week. With 16 teams remaining in the betting online playoffs, it is that time of year again to look at the underdogs. Today we look at several matchups in which we believe the underdog will prevail.

Phoenix Coyotes v Detroit Red Wings – To say that the Phoenix Coyotes are an underdog not only in this particular series but in the NHL as a whole would be putting it lightly. Despite putting together the sixth best record in the Western Conference for 97 points, the Coyotes are a +220 dog in the series. However, we feel this year, could be the year that they can beat the Detroit Red Wings. Consider that last season the Coyotes took the Red Wings to seven games, and then went two wins, no losses and two overtime losses during the regular season this year, and we feel the Coyotes could make a run. Phoenix is that type of team that plays good defensive hockey and has a nice mix of young and veteran players. With Ilya Bryzgalov putting in another strong campaign, look for the Coyotes to win this series in six. And perhaps make a run to the Western Conference finals.

Buffalo Sabres v Philadelphia Flyers – If any team can go on a run in these playoffs, we feel comfortable taking the Buffalo Sabres. To start the season, the Sabres found themselves in the basement of the NHL before playing out of their minds from the middle of November on wards. Last night, Sabres goalie Ryan Miller proved why he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie last season, as he stifled the Philadelphia Flyers. Given that the Sabres have been in playoff mode since mid November and the Flyers goaltending woes, it seems like a no brainer as to pick the Sabres for this series. What’s more, the Sabres are only an underdog, because they are ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference. However, similar to the Flyers from a year ago as the seventh seed, look for Buffalo to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The 2011 March Madness betting tournament is coming to a close, and for NHL handicappers, that can only mean that the playoffs are right around the corner. With only five games left in the regular sports betting NHL season, here is an updated look at some of the teams favored to take a run at Lord Stanley’s Mug.

After winning their first ever President’s Trophy as the NHL’s best team, the Vancouver Canucks are literally every sportsbooks consensus pick to win the Stanley Cup. Vancouver has the best odds in the NHL at four to one to win it all. In years past, we would have told you that this is a risky wager at four to one, not only because you can’t make that much of a profit, but also because Vancouver has failed to live up to expectations for several years. However, this year, the Canucks appear to be hitting their stride, as they have been on a role of late.

What’s more, after veteran center Manny Malholtra suffered a season ending eye injury, the media has shifted its attention to him rather than the team. Meaning to say, the Canucks have some extra motivation to win the Stanley Cup. Further, the Canucks finally have depth all the way through their lineup, and with the playoffs being as grueling as they are, this could be the best Canucks team to compete for a Stanley Cup title.

Over in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals appear to be out of a funk, and now are tied with Philadelphia for the best odds in the conference to lift the Stanley Cup above their heads. Both teams share odds of six to one at winning the Stanley Cup. The Washington Capitals similar to the Vancouver Canucks are a team that has had much regular season success but failed to live up to expectations in the playoffs. Yet this season also comparable to Vancouver, the Capitals appear to have a team built for the playoffs, with enough depth to last them until June.

The March Madness betting tournament signals to hockey fans, that the NHL regular season is coming to a close. As the final 10 to 12 NHL sports betting games come to a close, many of the league’s top stars are looking to close in on impressive milestones. Here is a look at several players looking to pad their statistics as the season winds down.

In Toronto, the Maple Leafs are looking to become the only team this season with three players that have scored 30 or more goals. Sniper Phil Kessel leads the Leafs with 28 goals on the season, while Mikhail Grabovski has 27 goals and Nikolai Kulemin has 26 goals. With 10 games remaining in the Maple Leafs schedule, Kessel, Grabovski and Kulemin will look to become the first three Leafs to each record 30 goals since Matt Sundin, Alexander Mogilny and Owen Nolan achieved the feat during the 2002-2003 seasons.

For fans of the entire NHL, your focus should be on the Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning as the season comes to an end. The Vancouver Canucks, led by Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and the Lightning led by Steven Stamkos, are in a three way battle to record the most points in the NHL this season. Daniel Sedin leads the NHL with 38 goals and 54 assists for 92 points in 72 games. Steven Stamkos is right behind Daniel in the standings with 88 points on the season, as Stamkos leads the league with 43 goals and a total of 86 points on the season. Henrik Sedin, last year’s Hart Memorial Trophy winner, is looking to win the title for the second time in a row, as he also has 86 points, with 18 goals and 68 assists on the season. With 10 games left in the regular season, things have never been as wide open.