Pittsburgh Penguins 7\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Penguins are another team that didn\u2019t look great down the stretch and they certainly have an enormous playoff monkey on their back \u2013 they have been brutal in the postseason the last few seasons! But the Pens may get Evgeni Malkin back after an 11 game absence and anytime you have a guy names Sidney Crosby, you are a contender.<\/p>\n
The top six forwards consist of Crosby, Malkin, Chris Kunitz, James Neal, Jussi Jokinen and Lee Stempniak who has found a home after coming over from Calgary at the deadline. The forwards shouldn\u2019t be an issue \u2013 defense and goaltending will determine how far the Pens go!<\/p>\n
Do you trust Marc Andre Fleury? He has 14 wins, a 3.18 goals-against average and .880 save percentage in 31 playoff appearances since 2010 \u2013 not good. With the added pressure of this being perhaps his last chance in Pittsburgh, my gut tells me Fleury fails to fire yet again.<\/p>\n
Add in the fact that the Pens will have to get by the Bruins just to advance to the final and Pittsburgh suddenly looks like a risky bet.<\/p>\n
Chicago Blackhawks 8\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe defending champs look like the best value on the board right now at 8\/1. What makes them even more dangerous than a month ago is the fact that Jonathan Toes and Patrick Kane will return from injury \u2013 rested and ready to terrorize once again.
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\nToews, Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Michael Handzus offer experience and Ben Smith, Andrew Shaw, Brian Bickell, Marcus Kruger and Brandon Bollig provide the support for the stars. Simply put the Hawks possess the most complete offense in the NHL and with Duncan Keith, Brent Sebrook, Michal Rosival, Sheldon Brookbank, Nik Hjalmarsson, Johnny Oduya and Nik Leddy patrolling the blue line, it is hard to imagine the Hawks not coming out of the West.<\/p>\n
They are my pick to get to the Final \u2013 only to lose to the Bruins in a tight series.<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks 9\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Ducks had a remarkable season and they look like they have an easy path to the second round of the playoffs. Offensively they were terrific and defensively they were adequate. But goaltending is their biggest issue \u2013 one that will likely keep them from going deep. Jonas Hiller was average the last month of the season and backup Frederik Andersen is a raw rookie.<\/p>\n
While I applaud the Ducks for the season they had, they just didn\u2019t look good enough in the final month to garner my support. Defense and goaltending look like their undoing this year!<\/p>\n
San Jose Sharks 9\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe San Jose Sharks are tasked with defeating Jonathan Quick and the LA Kings in the first round of the playoffs \u2013 it doesn\u2019t seem fair at this point in time! That said, the Sharks have been terrific all season long offensively and the likes of Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture were beats while defensively Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Dan Boyle, Justin Braun Jason Demers, Scott Hannan and Brad Stuart were terrific.<\/p>\n
But Antti Niemi looks like a shadow of his former self and the fact that a physical series against the Kings looms has me wary of throwing down on the Sharks. Best to look elsewhere in the uber-tough West.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Kings 10\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Kings look like good value \u2013 their defensive style has already produced a Cup. With Jonathan Quick between the pipes, Drew Doughty on defense and Jeff Carter Mike Richards and newcomer Marian Gaborik up front, the Kings look solid as we enter the playoffs.<\/p>\n
It was just two years ago that the Kings took what was one of the worst offensive teams in the league and parlayed that into a Stanley Cup. This team looks eerily similar! Can you see anyone beating Jonathan Quick four times in seven games? They are my second pick to come out of the West \u2013 right behind the Hawks.<\/p>\n
Colorado Avalanche 14\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Avs have the Wild in the first round \u2013 they could definitely gain some confidence in hat series. But they are going to have to get by the Kings and the Hawks \u2013 maybe both in order to advance. Colorado is the youngest team in the playoffs and they will be forced to play without Matt Duchene for at least the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s time will come \u2013 just not this year!<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Flyers 18\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Flyers just don\u2019t match up well with the Penguins or the Bruins!<\/p>\n
Detroit Red Wings 20\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Wings were lucky to get in \u2013 advancing is unlikely to say the least.<\/p>\n
Montreal Canadiens 20\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nLooking for a dark horse? Look no further than the Montreal Canadiens who enter the playoffs on a high and have some guy named Carey Price between the pipes. The addition of Tomas Vanek at the trade deadline looks like it may be the piece that could take this team far into the playoffs!<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s only hope is an intriguing one at that and the price certainly is right!<\/p>\n
New York Rangers 20\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Rangers are a nice team but like the rest of the East are a tier or two below the Bruins and the Penguins.<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Lightning 28\/1<\/strong><\/p>\nBen Bishop is banged up, St. Louis is gone and Ryan Malone is a distraction \u2013 no thanks!<\/p>\n
\n- Minnesota Wild 40\/1<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Columbus Blue Jackets 50\/1<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Dallas Stars 50\/1<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gambling On NHL Hockey? The Regular season is done, the first round playoff matchups have been set and the razors have been put away for all of the participants in this year\u2019s Stanley Cup playoffs! Let the games begin, let the beards commence and let\u2019s enjoy an intense two months of nail-biting hockey!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":63303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[59311,59312,1955,1956,1966,21748,59310,12778],"class_list":["post-75556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl","tag-2014-nhl-stanley-cup-odds","tag-2014-stanley-cup-predictions","tag-hockey-lines","tag-hockey-odds","tag-nhl-futures","tag-odds-to-win-the-stanley-cup","tag-stanley-cup-finals-odds","tag-stanley-cup-futures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75556","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75556"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75586,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75556\/revisions\/75586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}