I personally am a huge NHL fan and am going through a bit of withdrawal at the moment seeing as there are no NHL games, the draft is over and the free agent frenzy seems to have died down quite a bit with most of the big name players already being signed. There was a big trade the other day, with Martin Havlat going to the Sharks in exchange for Heatley, but it seems like most teams are settling down and I doubt there will be too many more big moves coming up this off season. With everything seemingly settled down I needed to get my fix today, so I checked out the 2012 Stanley Cup futures lines from 5Dimes.com. The lines through that link I just posted are courtesy of Bodog.com, but I generally use 5Dimes.com for my betting because they usually offer better odds.
Stanley Cup Betting Lines I Like
Washington Capitals +1100
The Capitals are known as a team that chokes in the post season and this is why their Stanley Cup line is so long. That being said the team is put together to win championships. They have kept their core group together and have added Joel Ward, who was solid for the Predators in the playoffs, and also Vokoun who is willing to work hard for the starting job in Washington so that he can try to win a Cup. The Capitals should once again finish atop the East in the regular season and have an easy first round matchup. Then once it’s down to 8 teams they have as good a chance as anyone, so I’d give them a much better than 1 in 11 chance at winning the Cup.
San Jose Sharks +1200
The Sharks are another team that has these long odds due to their recent playoff busts. That being said the Sharks made the Conference Finals in each of the last two seasons so it’s not like they are choking hard. Only one team can win the Cup every season and the Sharks have as good a chance as anyone this coming year. San Jose made some great moves in my opinion bringing in Havlat and Burns for Heatley and Setoguchi. There defense was suspect against the Canucks, as was there speed and Burns and Havlat should help on both accounts. Havlat is also a playoff performer and I expect he will be itching to have another shot at the playoffs next season.
Detroit Red Wings +1250
The Red Wings are always in the hunt. With Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Lidstrom all playing on the same team how can this team not have a shot at the Cup. This year they showed their character almost coming back from 3-0 down against the Sharks.
Chicago Blackhawks +1500
This is my favourite line. The Blackhawks are a much better team than anyone gives them credit for and if they were able to score the goal in game 7 against the Canucks this year this line would be completely different and peoples outlook on the team would be different. Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Bolland, Brunette, Seabrook, Keith and Crawford may be the best team core in the league. They will contend next season and getting them at +1500 is a steal.
Stanley Cup Betting Lines I Hate
Any Team +2500 and Longer
You can find a line for every team in the NHL, but that doesn’t mean that team actually has a chance in hell at making the playoffs, let alone winning the Stanley Cup. Any bets on the Panthers, Islanders, Oilers, Blue Jackets, Avalanche, etc is just throwing your money away. The NHL has a lot of parity, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t really only 10 or so teams that have a shot at the Cup coming into the season.
Check out all of the lines at 5Dimes.com!
If you are reading this post because you have NHL withdrawal then there is a good chance you are Canadian. Check out my friends Best Canadian Sportsbook article on his website. It’s a pretty solid read.
2012 Stanley Cup • Betting Lines • Futures • odds • prediction • stanley cup