{"id":36532,"date":"2011-03-30T07:51:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-30T14:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=36532"},"modified":"2011-03-30T07:51:27","modified_gmt":"2011-03-30T14:51:27","slug":"playoff-picks-2011-handicapping-preview-30311","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nhl\/playoff-picks-2011-handicapping-preview-30311\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Betting \u2013 Handicapping 2011 Playoff Races"},"content":{"rendered":"

2011 NHL Handicapping – Playoff Race Update<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hockey season is off and skating full speed ahead in 2011 and Cappers Picks is the place to look for the best\u00a0NHL Handicapping<\/a> advice all season long. <\/p>\n

Bet On NHL Hockey Today at One of our top online sportsbooks \u2014> BOOKMAKER.COM<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

They say the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in professional team sports. That\u2019s probably because the NHL combines the physicality of the NFL and the gruelling, seven-game series format of the NBA. Worse yet for hockey players, the games in the coming week will be just as hard fought as most playoff games. Many playoff slots are up for grabs.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a breakdown of the current playoff picture for both conferences. Who\u2019s in? Who\u2019s out? Who is on the bubble?<\/p>\n

EASTERN CONFERENCE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Clinched<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Philadelphia Flyers (102 points): <\/strong>The depth is obviously there but we\u2019ll see if the goaltending holds up. This is a recording. A recording from the day Ron Hextall left town.<\/p>\n

2. Washington Capitals (99 points): <\/strong>Looking at their record, you\u2019d never know they struggled so much earlier this season. Still \u2013 it looks like they\u2019ll face Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Miller or Cam Ward in the first round. Could we see a repeat of last season\u2019s flop?<\/p>\n

3. Boston Bruins (96 points): <\/strong>Built for the playoffs but the Bruins peaked early. Tim Thomas may tire at the worst possible time.<\/p>\n

4. Pittsburgh Penguins (98 points): <\/strong>No Crosby, no Malkin, no problem? Instead of being exposed as a pretender, the Penguins have revealed themselves as a defensively sound club. Don\u2019t count them out of the hunt for Lord Stanley.<\/p>\n

In good shape<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. Tampa Bay Lightning (93 points, 6 GR): <\/strong>This season is already a success for Steve Yzerman\u2019s team. Don\u2019t be surprised if Tampa gets bounced in the first round, however. It could get punished for its wide-open game and Steven Stamkos just isn\u2019t the player he was in the first half of the season.<\/p>\n

6. Montreal Canadiens (89 points, 5 GR): <\/strong>I don\u2019t know how they do it. The Habs got booed off the ice after being outscored 11-0 over a three-game stretch last week. Their roster seriously lacks talent. Yet here they are in a playoff spot again. They\u2019ll need Carey Price to pull a Jaroslav Halak in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

7. New York Rangers (87 points, 6 GR): <\/strong>The Rangers are playing great hockey when it counts, pulling away from the bubble teams, and they\u2019re a team no one wants to face in round one. King Henrik Lundqvist leads the NHL with 11 shutouts.<\/p>\n

On the bubble<\/strong><\/p>\n

8. Buffalo Sabres (85 points, 6 GR): <\/strong>The Hurricanes and Leafs have to be pretty frustrated. They\u2019ve hardly played bad hockey down the stretch but the Sabres keep finding ways to win. In a way, Buffalo looks like a better version of last year\u2019s team: same great goaltending, better offense at the moment.<\/p>\n

9. Carolina Hurricanes (82 points, 6 GR): <\/strong>Cam Ward just doesn\u2019t get enough help in the back end. The Hurricanes are hanging by a thread largely because they\u2019ve allowed too many goals this year. \u00a0Carolina has to start developing its defense corps one of these years.<\/p>\n

10. Toronto Maple Leafs (80 points, 5 GR): <\/strong>While their late-season surge is encouraging, especially because James Reimer and Dion Phaneuf have looked so good, the Leafs are almost finished. Their win over Buffalo last night kept them remotely alive. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Toast<\/strong><\/p>\n

Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n

WESTERN CONFERENCE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Clinched<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Vancouver Canucks (111 points): <\/strong>Now 13 points ahead of the closest team, the Canucks are the only team in the West to (a) clinch a playoff spot, (b) clinch their division and (c) clinch the top seed in the conference. With or without Manny Malhotra, they\u2019re the team to beat.<\/p>\n

In good shape<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Detroit Red Wings (98 points): <\/strong>Now that Chris Osgood\u2019s injury troubles have gotten the better of him again, Detroit has no choice but to hand the goaltending reins entirely to Jimmy Howard for the playoffs. That\u2019s a good thing. Time to see what he\u2019s made of.<\/p>\n

3. San Jose Sharks (97 points): <\/strong>Could this be San Jose\u2019s year? Everything feels different about the 2010-11 season for the Sharks. Less reliant on Joe Thornton, great goaltending, slow start, strong finish…none of those occurrences are typical in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

4. Phoenix Coyotes (95 points): <\/strong>They\u2019re similar to Nashville and Montreal in that I look up and down the roster and don\u2019t see where the wins come from. I suppose, like those other two teams, the Coyotes do it with defense and goaltending.<\/p>\n

5. Los Angeles Kings (94 points): <\/strong>Suddenly, the Kings look like the team everyone wants to play. No Anze Kopitar or Justin Williams. That\u2019s two thirds of their top line.<\/p>\n

On the bubble<\/strong><\/p>\n

6. Nashville Predators (92 points, 5 GR): <\/strong>The East has three spooky projected low seeds with great goalies and the West has a few of those to \u2013 including Nashville. As good as Vancouver is, it doesn\u2019t want to face Pekka Rinne in the first round…<\/p>\n

7. Anaheim Ducks (91 points, 6 GR) <\/strong>…or Jonas Hiller. The Ducks may be the most dangerous low seed of all, assuming Jonas Hiller is over his fatigue and dizziness, as they have some great offensive players to back up their tender. Corey Perry is a Hart Trophy candidate and Teemu Selanne just doesn\u2019t age.<\/p>\n

8. Chicago Blackhawks (90 points, 6 GR): <\/strong>Obviously, the defending Stanley Cup champs are another annoyingly good low seed. Is it just me or is there not much of a reward for finishing at the top of the West this season?<\/p>\n

9. Dallas Stars (87 points, 7 GR): <\/strong>The Stars probably look like the least threatening playoff contender on paper but they do have games in hand on everyone else, so we can\u2019t count them out.<\/p>\n

10. Calgary Flames (87 points, 5 GR): <\/strong>The Flames, on the other hand, are in deep trouble, already three points back and having just five games to go. Looks like the old, expensive bunch will flop again.<\/p>\n

Toast<\/strong><\/p>\n

Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n

And…as always check out our top cappers NHL daily plays CLICK HERE! —–><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take a look at CappersPicks.com’s March 30th edition of the 2011 Stanley cup playoff update. Matt tells you which teams are in and or out with a chance to capture Lord Stanley’s cup in 2011…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":22848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[28750,47686,47683,1982,2995,3972,650,47684,47685,895,47688,47687,1039,1968,13442,12859,1983],"class_list":["post-36532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl","tag-28750","tag-2011-nhl-predictions","tag-cappers-predictions","tag-eastern-conference","tag-free-hockey-picks","tag-hockey-stats","tag-matchups","tag-nhl-handicapping-news","tag-nhl-hockey-playoff-picks","tag-nhl-picks","tag-nhl-playoffs-betting-picks","tag-nhl-playoffs-preview","tag-previews","tag-stanley-cup-odds","tag-stanley-cup-picks","tag-stanley-cup-playoffs-preview","tag-western-conference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36534,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36532\/revisions\/36534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}