Stanley Cup Betting
The best time of the year for NHL gamblers is in the Spring when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin. NHL teams play 82 games over the course of the regular season to get down from 31 teams to the 16 that make the playoffs. Stanley Cup odds are on the betting board all year, with NHL futures available at the sportsbook as teams have their odds to win the Stanley Cup. When the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in April, there are many betting options available at the sportsbook. Let’s take a look at Stanley Cup betting.
The first way to bet on the Stanley Cup is to place a futures wager on which team you think will lift the trophy in early June. As noted earlier, this type of bet can be placed at any time throughout the year, including during the playoffs. Team odds change throughout the season and during the playoffs, as teams win and lose games. For example, in the 2018-2019 season, the St. Louis Blues were in last place and had odds as high as 300-1 to win the Stanley Cup. Those odds gradually went down as the Blues won more and more games and made the playoffs. The Blues eventually won the Stanley Cup and anyone making an early wager on the Blues got paid off handsomely.
The most common way to bet on the Stanley Cup playoffs is to bet on individual games. There are many different kinds of bets available in Stanley Cup betting, but the two most common are the side and the total. For example, if the Tampa Bay Lightning were playing at the Boston Bruins you might see Boston listed as a -130 favorite, while the Lightning were listed at +110. You would lay $130 to win $100 on Boston or the 13-10 equivalent and get +110 on Tampa Bay or the 11/10 equivalent. The total on the game might be listed at 6. The puck line is another option for Stanley Cup Playoffs betting. In this previous example, the Bruins would be laying -1.5 goals and getting plus money, while the Lightning would be getting +1.5 goals and laying money.
Some years ago you might have been able to predict the winner of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a little certainty, but not any longer. As has been proven recently, any team can win the Stanley Cup. The Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues won their first-ever Stanley Cups in recent seasons. Just because a team finishes with the best overall record doesn’t mean much in Stanley Cup betting. The Tampa Bay Lightning finished with the most wins in NHL history in 2018-2019 and yet lost in the first round of the NHL playoffs and not only lost, got swept. Betting underdogs has definitely proven to be the way to go in Stanley Cup betting in recent seasons.
The NHL is split into four divisions and two conferences. The Eastern Conference has both the Atlantic Division and the Metropolitan Division. In the Atlantic, we have Tampa Bay, Florida, Detroit, Boston, Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo, and Toronto. The Metropolitan Division has Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Carolina, New Jersey, Columbus, and the Rangers and Islanders. In the Western Conference, the teams are cut into the Pacific Division and the Central Division. The eight teams in the Pacific include Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Arizona, Calgary, Vancouver, Vegas, and Edmonton. The Central Division features Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Minnesota, Colorado, and Winnipeg.
Teams that finish in the Top three in their division will get into the postseason, while the next two top point earners in each conference also get into the playoffs. The second and third-place teams will face off with each other in each division, with the winner advancing to play either the winner of their division or one of the fourth place teams from the conference.
The winners of those series meet the winners from the opposite divisions in their conference, while the victories of the conference finals square off in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Check out the latest Stanley Cup betting odds and net some winnings when your winner hoists the Cup!
