Category: NHL

There are just four teams left in the hunt for the Stanley Cup this spring, and none of the remaining clubs are a big surprise to those that follow the NHL futures at the sportsbooks.

With the puck dropping on the second round of the NHL playoffs this week it’s the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks who sit tied as the favorites on the odds to win the Stanley Cup at the sportsbooks.

On the Bodog Stanley Cup odds the Blackhawks and the Penguins both sit at 5/2, with Chicago coming off a five-game win over the Minnesota Wild in the first round and Pittsburgh coming off a six-game win over the New York Islanders.

The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t have injured star forward Sidney Crosby in their lineup right now, but after making several trades over the past month they sit atop the odds to win the Stanley Cup at the sportsbooks.

The Philadelphia Flyers had Stanley Cup aspirations heading into the shortened 2013 NHL season, while the San Jose Sharks were red hot over the first few weeks of the year. Both of those teams, though, have been slipping on the odds to win the Stanley Cup.

The NHL lockout is over, and Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves trailing on the Stanley Cup odds at the sportsbooks as the shortened season gets underway.

The Penguins lost in the first round of last year’s playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers, and they’re at 17/2 on the NHL futures at Bodog right now to win the Stanley Cup in 2013.

The Columbus Blue Jackets probably have just as much chance of winning the Stanley Cup with a lockout in place as they do with the NHL in full swing; they’re at the bottom of the latest Stanley Cup futures at the sportsbooks.

With NHL games cancelled through the middle of December, the Blue Jackets sit as the longest of the longshots at 150/1 on the latest odds to win the 2013 Stanley Cup at Bodog. Even the New York Islanders are well above them on that list at 75/1 odds.