The National Hockey League is around the corner from resuming the 2019-20 season with a 24-team postseason tournament that will crown the 2020 Stanley Cup champions. Because of the difficulties that remain in the United States with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the NHL action will take place in Canada. Toronto will host the Eastern Conference games, and Edmonton will host the Western Conference games. To start, there will be three games per day in each city, staggered for television. So starting at 12:00 noon Eastern time, there will be 15 hours of hockey every day during the first week, starting on August 1. Here are some observations about the differences in play as well as some thoughts about how to maximize your sports betting opportunities.
NHL News: Keys to Profitable Betting
Here’s how the tournament will break down. Each team will play one exhibition game between July 28 and July 30, so check out the Hockey Odds for those games. Then starts the “qualification” round. The top four teams in each conference will play each other in round robin format, for playoff seeding. In the Western Conference, the top four teams are (in order) St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas and Dallas. In the East, the top four teams are Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Philadelphia. The other 16 teams are playing in a best-of-five format to make it to the round of 16 with the top eight. Those series are as follows:
Eastern Conference |
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| #5 Pittsburgh | vs | #12 Montreal |
| #6 Carolina | vs | #11 N.Y. Rangers |
| #7 N.Y. Islanders | vs | #10 Florida |
| #8 Toronto | vs | #9 Columbus |
Western Conference |
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| #5 Edmonton | vs | #12 Chicago |
| #6 Nashville | vs | #11 Arizona |
| #7Vancouver | vs | #10 Minnesota |
| #8Calgary | vs | #9 Winnipeg |
So how can you maximize your winnings?
Pay attention to the rosters, for one. On Friday, teams had to send in their final 31-man rosters to enter the bubbles. Chicago will have starting goaltender Corey Crawford, who had contracted COVID-19 and had been quarantining at home, but he is cleared to play. They will not have defenseman Brent Seabrook, who opted out because he had surgeries on both hips and his right shoulder earlier this year.
The biggest news is Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos, who has yet to take part in a full practice with his teammates at training camp. Will he take part in the exhibition game? That remains to be seen. Having to play the tournament without their captain could give the Lightning’s chances a huge blow.
Follow the hot hands
Playoff hockey is all about momentum, and teams that get off to a hot start in the postseason can run a round or two longer than you might expect. Tampa Bay, for example, got run out of the first round last season when the Columbus Blue Jackets swept them — and the Lightning had had the best record in the NHL last season. So you might wait a few days to start placing your bets and see which teams look the best. With only one exhibition game, that’s not much of a sample size. However, once teams have played a couple of meaningful games, you’ll get a sense of how they are playing.
Don’t bet heavy on inconsistent teams
One example of this is the Dallas Stars. They have been playing either way up, or way down this season, with little in between. They’ve gone through a coaching change, and their defense either puts teams on lockdown or opens the gate, while their offense remains one of the more prolific. It’s hard to know which team will show up on a given night, as a 4-0 win is a likely as a 6-4 loss. So except for taking the “over,” I don’t put a lot of money down on the Stars. Instead, look at the teams that had put together a solid 2019-20 or who had been improving steadily coming toward the COVID-19 hiatus. Teams like St. Louis, Boston and Vegas seemed to have figured things out and don’t have a lot of injury questions. You won’t get as much value from betting those teams, but you’re more likely to take home cash.
