Articles by Cappers Picks related to online NHL hockey betting, and handicapping live NHL matchups.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Minnesota Wild recognized a need for change and General Manager Chuck Fletcher accomplished just that this offseason with the acquisition of players that should help cure Minnesota’s Achilles heel, the offense.
For the first time in what seems like an eternity, the Calgary Flame will enter the season not having to answer questions about the ridiculous roster moves that they made in the offseason.
He Colorado Avalanche recognized a need to make some wholesale changes in the offseason.
It seems an eternity ago that the Ottawa Senators were one of the NHL’s best teams, year-in, year-out. Now, wallowing in at the bottom of the Northeast Division, they look more like the laughing stock they were as an expansion team in the mid 1990s.
The Vancouver Canucks will hope to learn from adversity and ice an even better team that was at or near the top of nearly every defensive and offensive statistical category last season. Obviously wholesale change was not necessary for the Canucks.
Not that Ralph Wilson is hard to top, but there isn’t a more popular sports owner in Buffalo than Terry Pegula right now. From the moment he bought the Sabres in February 2011, he vowed that the culture would change and that the team would start spending. He delivered on his promise as Buffalo made some serious offseason moves. Where do the suped-up Sabres fit into the Eastern Conference playoff picture?
BUFFALO SABRES
Stanley Cup odds: +1600
The 2011-12 Sabres look on paper like an exaggerated, slightly better version of last year’s team. They improved in the offseason but did so in areas where they already had depth and strength.
Buffalo is built from the back-end out. Ryan Miller regressed in 2010-11 following his Vezina Trophy-winning campaign the year. He’s started 68 and 65 games over the last few seasons; now that Buffalo has a reasonable backup goalie in Jhonas Enroth, it may shrink Miller’s number to 60 in hopes of resting him for the playoffs.
In front of Miller will be one of the league’s most improved, versatile defense corps. Tyler Myers was inconsistent in his sophomore year but the big fella’s strong second half suggests he’ll be a force in year three. He has a great shutdown guy to learn from this season in Robyn Regehr, whom Buffalo acquired from Calgary this offseason. The Sabres will get some offense from Jordan Leopold, another former Flame who enjoyed a career revival last year, plus Christian Ehrhoff. The Ehrhoff signing signalled a changing of the guard: Pegula opened his wallet to land a coveted free agent and wasn’t done after nabbing Ehrhoff.
Buffalo also added free agent Ville Leino. He’s a talented, creative, two way player with good speed and hands who joins many other talented, creative, two-way players with good speed and hands. The Sabres get more of what they already had with Leino but he should be a solid addition nonetheless.
The Sabres have a young, fleet-footed group of forwards with breakout potential. They know what they have with reliable scorers like Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. But tiny Tyler Ennis could take his game to the next level after tallying 49 points as a rookie.
And what about Drew Stafford? Hyped as the power forward Buffalo was waiting for, he disappointed for his first few pro seasons. Then, last season, it all clicked for Stafford. The former first-rounder went off for 31 goals in 62 games, scoring at better than a 40-goal pace. He’ll be a major weapon, especially on the power play, if he can duplicate his performance.
Buffalo’s star power comes from the back, with Miller and Myers emerging as franchise pillars. The rest of its roster is laden with depth and second-tier talent — a lot of it. Buffalo looks like a safe bet to make the playoffs and this young, exciting group has the upside to do a lot more than that. The Sabres are a legit Stanley Cup sleeper.
Prediction:2n, Northeast Division
Toronto Maple Leaf fans have had their faith tested like never before throughout the decade. They last played a playoff game in 2004. The seven-year drought is the longest in franchise history and will extend to at least eight years this spring.
However, the Buds showed promise last season for the first time in the Brian Burke era, going 18-7-6 over their final 31 games. Will they finally put the golf clubs away and play some meaningful April hockey this season?
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Stanley Cup odds: +4500
To assess whether or not the Leafs can take the next step and return to the playoff season, let’s start at examining what clicked in the second half last season and whether or not it’s repeatable.
The single biggest influence on Toronto’s success in 2010-11 was rookie goaltender James Reimer. Optimus Reim looked like a seasoned vet from the moment he took the ice, going 20-10-5 with a 2.60 goals against average and .921 save percentage.
The most important question for the Leafs this season is whether or not Reimer was a fluke. I’m a believer. The key to his success wasn’t scrambling or athleticism. It was maturity, technique and lateral movement. He never overplayed the puck. His calmness reminded me of a young Ed Belfour. I believe his skills are quite sustainable.
It helps that the defense in front of Reimer is an ever-improving group. For all the flak Dion Phaneuf has taken, he was very much the Phaneuf of old in the second half last season, pasting opponents with thunderous hits and taking smarter shots. He’s still only 26 years old and just entering his prime.
Joining him is Luke Schenn, a captain-in-training who showed remarkably improved puck skills and shutdown ability last season. Smooth-skating Carl Gunnarsson returns after a so-so sophomore campaign and Mike Komisarek is still looking for his first good year with the team. Toronto made two key new defensive additions; John-Michael Liles will take over the power-play quarterback vacancy left by Tomas Kaberle and Cody Franson, acquired from Nashville, gives the Leafs another young, underrated guy with top-four ability.
For Toronto to make a playoff push, its scoring must improve. Clarke MacArthur, Mikhail Grabovski and Nik Kulemin were a fantastic line last season – by second -line standards. The Leafs need a true first line. Phil Kessel absolutely has the talent to be a front-line scorer; hell be 24 in October and already has three 30-goal seasons in the NHL. For him to break through and hit the 40-goal mark, key offseason signing Tim Connolly has to stay healthy.
Connolly likely won’t stay healthy but, when he does, expect Kessel’s production to spike. Talent isn’t the problem for Connolly; he has great hands and vision. He should help the power play.
The rest of Toronto’s forward corps has plenty of speed and checking ability but lacks true scoring touch. If Joffrey Lupul can build on his resurgent 2010-11 campaign and prospect Nazem Kadri can stick with the big club, the team’s offensive skill level will rise. Otherwise, Toronto will again cross its fingers hoping for overachieving efforts from ordinary talents like MacArthur, Colby Armstrong and Mike Brown.
To me, Toronto is a poor man’s Buffalo. It has an excellent blueline, (probably) good goaltending and lacks elite scoring prowess up front. This season, however, I believe the Leafs’ continued defensive improvement will be just enough to squeak them in as the No. 8 seed.
2011-12 will be the most fun Leafs fans have had in a while. Also, watch for Nik Kulemin as a darkhorse Selke Trophy candidate. He scored 30 goals last season but is also among the league’s most underrated defensive forwards.
Prediction:3rd, Northeast Division
