HOCKEY NHL ARTICLES

At the start of last week, the Minnesota Wild were among the hottest teams on the board. However, it was not to last as the week ended with Minnesota fighting to keep the final playoff spot in the West Division. Further, franchise icon Zach Parise was scratched after he stayed out on the ice too long, blowing what should have been a Wild win and causing a distraction. Now it is the Vegas Golden Knights that is one of the hottest teams with the NHL betting odds. Sin City’s first ever Major League sports franchise won the hearts of locals from the start. It doesn’t hurt that the Golden Knights boss the cashier’s cage, serving as a mint for local gamblers. On the ice, VGK is emerging as a powerful contender. Marc Andre Fleury has reclaimed his net with a vengeance after losing it last year. ... 

When Jack Eichel arrived at Buffalo, he was pronounced the savior of the franchise. Buffalo Sabres fans compared him to the most outstanding player in franchise history, the legendary Gilbert Perrault. During his time with the Sabres, Eichel has been a team asset on the ice and box office. Yet the Sabres are a disaster of a team. Similarly, Sabres owner Terry Pegula was hailed as a savior when he bought the team over a decade ago. Pegula said the entire purpose of the Sabres was to win Stanley C... 

International politics has cost the New York Rangers their best player. Artemi Panarin is out indefinitely for the Rangers. Panarin has not been silent about his opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And the Russian political system countered this week. Specifically, the Russian government claims Panarin abused a woman a couple of years ago. Panarin adamantly denies the charges and is on indefinite leave because of this situation. Panarin supplied most of what little offense the Rangers had. The Boston Bruins have no such problems as the East Division's top team. ... 

The Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins are two of the NHL's most historical franchises, and their roles in history will continue Sunday. Lake Tahoe's breathtaking beauty and surrounding mountains will be the backdrop for a potential East Division playoff preview when the Bruins and Flyers meet on NBC. Boston is rampaging through the East Division with one of the best records in hockey. Philadelphia is one of the NHL's best offensive teams but is starting to take on water defensively. Sunday's matchup is worthy of its spectacular setting.... 

Saturday will mark the most picturesque setting in the history of sports. The Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche will meet on a rink set on the banks of Lake Tahoe, under the snow-capped mountains and pine trees of the surrounding area. Most important of all, Bridgestone NHL Outdoors Saturday offers a potential West Division playoff preview. Colorado and Vegas are high-octane attack offense hockey teams. They don’t sit back and suffocate excitement. Both clubs are deep and skilled. Saturday’s matchup has it all. ... 

Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford's abrupt resignation stunned the hockey world. Ron Hextall arrives as the new GM with Brian Burke as the newly inaugurated team president. A lot of folks in the NHL community see Rutherford's departure as a revelation. Pittsburgh has the look of a team with a Stanley Cup window slamming shut. In fact, Burke himself shared that view as a radio and TV commentator earlier this season. Poor defense remains a Pittsburgh concern. At Washington, the back end is always a worry. Since coach Barry Trotz departed after the 2018 Stanley Cup, Washington lost its 200-foot structure. In particular, Alex Ovechkin significantly regressed on the backcheck without Trotz. ... 

Last year the Philadelphia Flyers took the proverbial next step under their new head coach Alain Vigneault to become a top-four team. The question for this season was if the Flyers could keep it going. So far, the answer has been yes. However, if Philadelphia doesn’t tighten up defensively, they’ll get an early playoff exit. The Washington Capitals are responding well to their new head coach Peter Laviolette. The Caps are scoring rapidly, as always, but much like the Flyers, they are loose on the back end. ... 

In 2019-20 the New York Rangers exceeded expectations by arriving ahead of schedule. A rebuild scheduled for several years became a near-instant success. This season, the Broadway Blueshirts were touted as a team to watch but are falling back under the spotlight. An offense that became an NHL betting asset has fallen short while defense and goaltending remain the same problems they were in 2019-20. It follows that the Rangers don't surprise anyone after doing so a year ago. Pittsburgh always faces high expectations. Early on, they've had to outscore opponents because the blue line and goaltending have been late to the show. ... 

An ancient NHL rivalry that dates back to the 1920s will be renewed Sunday on NBC. The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings date back to the NHL’s “Original Six” era. At present, the Blackhawks and Red Wings are bottom-feeding former powerhouse contenders that are struggling to regain contender status. So far in the early going, Detroit has shown some early promise with the NHL betting odds. Sixth-year Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill needs to start showing progress. By contrast, the Blackhawks have flopped out of the gate. Chicago’s useless goaltending has swiftly been exposed. The Blackhawks’ 2020 trade of Robin Lehner to the Golden Knights has failed. ... 

At the onset of the season are increasing concerns about the Stanley Cup windows of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 while Washington won it in 2018. However, both teams had embarrassingly weak performances in the 2020 playoffs that have gamblers concerned. The Capitals have changed coaches in a wise move that could serve as a reboot with the NHL betting odds. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh stayed the course behind the bench. Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby is still among the NHL’s best players. But he’s no longer as dominant. His old rival, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, remains elite offensively. Defensively he’s reverted to bad habits that former Washington coach Barry Trotz cured him of. Or to put it another way, the Great Eight is a part-time back-checker. ... 

Wednesday night brings the start of a new National Hockey League season with an NBCSN Tripleheader. The middle matchup of the three games could prove to be the most interesting of all. The Tampa Bay Lightning will begin the defense of their Stanley Cup championship. Tampa Bay is a preseason co-favorite with the Colorado Avalanche to win the 2021 Stanley Cup. The Lightning will host a Chicago Blackhawks team that hasn’t finished in the top eight of the Western Conference for the past three seasons. Once mighty Chicago remains a team in transition. ... 

Last year the Tampa Bay Lightning were the prohibitive favorite to win the Stanley Cup. Tampa Bay blew away the rest of the NHL as the President’s Trophy champion, emblematic of the top regular season team in the NHL. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the opening game of that season’s playoffs. However, when the Blue Jackets rallied for a 4-3 comeback win the roof literally caved in on the Bolts. Tampa Bay ended up being humiliated in a four-game sweep to the e... 

By near universal acclaim the Stanley Cup Playoffs are regarded as the best in all of professional sports. Even non-hockey fans acknowledge this fact. The NHL post season sets itself apart because of its unpredictability. Every year there is a new Cinderella story. Take the 2018 season as an example. A first-year expansion team known as the Vegas Golden Knights went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. In 2012 the eighth and last seed of the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Kings, hoisted Lo... 

It would be hard to find a starker contrast of playing styles than what we will get in the Eastern Conference Final between the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning. New York is the most disciplined and structured team in the league. Head coach Barry Trotz is celebrated for his defensive mastery. What the Isles lack in skill and firepower they more than make up for in suffocation of their opponents. By contrast the Lightning are deep and loaded with skill and scoring ability. At the same t... 

Although the Philadelphia Flyers are the top seed in the Eastern Conference most members of the hockey community as well as the NHL betting public believe that the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins are the actual beasts of the East. Tampa Bay is coming off a satisfying five game series revenge win over the pesky Columbus Blue Jackets while the Bruins dominated the solid Carolina Hurricanes, also in five games. Boston and Tampa Bay entered the NHL Hub of Toronto as the Eastern Conference co-f... 

The New York Islanders made quite the statement in their five-game series sweep of the Washington Capitals. Washington had far more firepower and scoring than the Isles. But New York’s structure and discipline proved decisive in the matchup. Islanders head coach Barry Trotz has engineered what could be the toughest out in the playoffs. Alain Vigneault is another coaching success in his first year with the Philadelphia Flyers. Philadelphia is in its best form in 10 years and has finally found a c... 

The Vegas Golden Knights had their share of ups and downs before the COVID-19 pause. However, no team has looked better or more powerful than Vegas since the restart in the NHL Hub of Edmonton. Vegas steamrolled the outgunned Chicago Blackhawks in five games to open the playoffs after curb stomping opponents in the round robin to gain top seed in the Western Conference. The Vancouver Canucks have become the Cinderella story of the Western Conference after their six-game series win over the defen... 

In their five-game series win over the Arizona Coyotes the Colorado Avalanche were so impressive that they joined the Vegas Golden Knights as co-favorites to win the Western Conference championship and, for that matter, the Stanley Cup itself. When the Avalanche utterly destroyed Arizona by identical scores of 7-1 in games four and five the display was that of utter terror. The Dallas Stars had a more difficult series with the Calgary Flames, rising from death in what should have been a game four loss. Dallas won the series 4-2 as Calgary never recovered from that game four overtime defeat in which Dallas forced the extra frame with only 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Now the Stars are dogs to Colorado in the Western Conference semifinal. ... 

The Stanley Cup title defense got off to a rough start for the St. Louis Blues. It’s a good thing those round-robin games were only for seeding purposes. They went from having the best points percentage in the Western Conference during the regular season to the No. 4 seed by going 0-2-1 in round-robin play, drawing the Vancouver Canucks in a first-round best-of-seven series that opens on Wednesday in Edmonton. Having won three games in a row to oust Minnesota in the qualifying round, taking two ... 

If defense wins championships the Dallas Stars have to feel good about their chances to advance in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Stars allowed the second-fewest goals during the regular season and hope to have former Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop back between the pipes when they open their first-round series against the Calgary Flames inside the Edmonton hub on Tuesday. Now if the Stars can only produce more offensively they would be a serious contender to win the Cup. Calgary won two o... 

Last year the Carolina Hurricanes were the surprise team of the Eastern Conference. Carolina advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Final as a Cinderella team. Midnight struck, however, against the Buzzsaw known as the Boston Bruins. Indeed, the Killer B’s brought out the broom in a four-game sweep. But Carolina left the handshake line with restored respect for their franchise and renewed passion from their fans. Carolina and Boston will now have a playoff rematch that begins on Tuesday ... 

Last year the Columbus Blue Jackets stunned the hockey world with one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup Playoff history. As massive underdogs and eight seeded against the top seed Tampa Bay Lightning, the Blue Jackets won in a shocking four game series sweep. It was an utter humiliation for the Lighting, one that will never be forgotten. And the only way to make good for it would be to win their upcoming playoff rematch with the Blue Jackets. Tampa Bay is heavily favored once again but now ha... 

Two years ago, coach Barry Trotz led the Washington Capitals to the first and only Stanley Cup in their 46-year history. This landmark accomplishment came by way of Trotz orchestrating what no other coach of Alex Ovechkin was able to implement. Trotz was able to sell Ovechkin on committing to a complete game. The Great Eight worked hard on both ends of the ice. As team captain he led by example for his teammates. In sum, Ovechkin gave Trotz the respect and buy-in necessary to win a championship.... 

The Montreal Canadiens entered the NHL Hub of Toronto as the 12th and final seed in the Eastern Conference. The Habs were also considered to be the weakest of all 24 teams invited to the post season. But Montreal brought a goaltender that can steal a series almost on his own. Carey Price was stellar in the Habs first round series upset of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But most important of all he had plenty of help. The Philadelphia Flyers were perfect in the three-game round robin. As a result, they... 

The Chicago Blackhawks are playing with house money so their opponent in the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs is only appropriate. Sitting in last place in the Central Division with 72 points when the regular season was halted, the new postseason format gave the Hawks a second lease on life. They made the most of it by downing the heavily-favored Edmonton Oilers in four games in the qualifying round. Now, the Hawks turn their attention to the West’s No. 1 seed Vegas Golden Knights, w...