Then & Now: Comparing the Blues Stanley Cup Odds
January 30th, 2012 | by David Rogers |Then & Now: Comparing the Blues
Stanley Cup Odds
The St. Louis Blues are off until Friday, February 3rd. That leaves us with several days where there really isn’t too much content to analyze. We’ll likely have some injury updates but for the most part we have plenty of time on our hands. With this spare time we take a look at how the Blues odds to win the Stanley Cup have shifted since the beginning of the season.
Even if you aren’t a sports bettor (no worries, I’m not either) it’s still fun to look at the odds and see which teams Vegas and other sources favor.
At the start of the year, most locations listed the Vancouver Canucks as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup in 2011-12 with odds of 6 to 1. The Blues? Well, depending where you looked the Blues came in somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 to 1 or 40 to 1. Sites that offered advice on which teams were the best picks, such as those at best online sportsbooks, didn’t even include the Blues in their advice of which teams were the most intriguing to bet on.
Skipping ahead to the present the Blues have had a tremendous first “half” (more like 2/3) and looked primed to be holding a playoff spot when the dust settles on 2011-12. Has the team’s relentless pressure, outstanding defense and reliable goaltending changed the odds?
Surprisingly, they have but not in the direction you would imagine.
When looking at the current odds at Vegas Insider, you’ll see that the Blues have slipped to 45 to 1. That’s right, despite being near the top of the NHL standings the Blues have actually worse odds to win the Cup than they did at the start of the year. Confusing, right?
It’s tough to argue with some of the other rankings. You would have a tough time arguing that Chicago’s 6 to 1 line or the ugly line in Columbus – 150 to 1. Still, the ranking of the Blues and the shocking value of the Ottawa Senators (150 to 1) should deliver one key message – don’t read too far into what Vegas thinks.
Granted, most of this information was taken from only a handful of sources. Still, the writing is clear that the Blues are still under the radar (at least in the sports betting world) and they still have a lot to prove in the season’s second half.
Tags: Odds, Sports Betting, St. Louis Blues, Stanley Cup
What do we have while we wait for Friday to roll around, you might ask? Practice, my friends. Practice. Yes, I took my afternoon off and braved the (unseasonably warm) weather, the (light) traffic, and (roughly) 60-70 other spectators to go take in the sights and sounds of the closest thing I'll get to real Blues hockey until Friday. heheh
First off, it's been said plenty of places, and if I had such things as a smart- or internet-capable phone I could've talked about it nearly three hours ago, but Andy McDonald was, indeed, no longer sporting the red no-contact jersey. (Hooray.) Don't take me as any kind of authority on this, but to my eyes, he definitely put on some good bursts of speed. Gonna be nice when he's ready to go.
Next, for those thinking of going in the future, I might suggest binoculars. Not because you're far from the action, but because unless you have godly eyesight, you're not gonna be able to read Hitchcock's whiteboard from across the rink. Similarly for sound, the acoustics in there aren't bad, but don't expect to comprehend what's getting said from across the rink. (Can we mic Hitch and pipe him through the speakers? heheh It's good enough for ASG goalies.)
Maybe it was just the day, or because Elliot just played yesterday in the ASG, but Halak saw the lion's share of the shots this afternoon. What that means for the goaltending situation come the back to back games on Friday and Saturday is anybody's guess, of course.
Actually on the topic for a minute, some of those odds are just laughable. Buffalo (14th in the East w/ 45 points) at 10-1? The Rangers (1st in East, 66 points) at 30-1? Sir, I believe I smell a rat.
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