Not surprisingly the defending Stanley Cup champs Chicago Blackhawks are favoured to win the Cup in the 2010-2011 NHL season at +600 (not sure how to read these odds?  check out this sports betting odds explained article), with Eastern Conference powerhouses Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals not far behind, both at +700.

The Philadelphia Flyers come in at +1400 to win the Cup this year after losing to the Blackhawks in the finals.

Teams at the bottom of the list at +10000 odds to win the Stanley Cup are the Blue Jackets, Oilers, Panthers, Wild and Islanders.  The Atlanta Thrashers aren’t far behind at +9000, while the Maple Leafs are down there with +7500 odds.

You can bet on who will win the 2011 Stanley Cup at the most popular online betting site Sportsbook.com where you will even receive a Free $250 Bonus when you sign up for an account!

Full 2010-2011 NHL Stanley Cup Betting Odds:

Chicago Blackhawks +600
Pittsburgh Penguins +700
Washington Capitals +700
Detroit Red Wings +1300
Philadelphia Flyers +1400
San Jose Sharks +1400
Vancouver Canucks +1600
Boston Bruins +1800
New Jersey Devils +1800
Los Angeles Kings +2200
Montreal Canadiens +3000
Calgary Flames +3300
Anaheim Ducks +3500
Buffalo Sabres +3500
Ottawa Senators +3800
Click Here For Full Odds

My Predictions/Bets for the 2011 Stanley Cup:

This year I’m going with the Washington Capitals out of the East at +700.  You know that Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals will always be tough to beat in a seven game series, and I think this is the year they make it out of the East.

From the West I will be taking the Vancouver Canucks listed at a nice +1600 ($100 bet pays out $1600 in profits).  The Sedin twins seem to get better each year, and the Canucks have done a good job building out a team around them.  If Luongo can get back into his groove I like the chances of the Canucks making a run for it all in the upcoming 2010-2011 NHL season.

Place your bets online at Sportsbook.com and enjoy the NHL season!

Now while Pittsburgh soaks up the next few days, you can guess what the other 29 teams will be thinking about. Next season, starting with the Draft, then the opening day of free agency. You can tell that’s what they’re thinking about just by looking at some of the stories that have been reported in the past few days.

Lets start with the Flyers and their goaltending situation. Earlier this week the Flyers announced the signing of Ray Emery to a one-year $1.5 million contract. Many see it as a low-risk, high-reward kind of deal. I think any time you deal with Ray Emery, the situation is high risk. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, but he has the capability of bringing down a team from the inside. What’s the best scenario? He has a stellar year, the Flyers go far in the playoffs riding his play, and he asks for major bucks in the off season, or leaves the team. That being said, this is Emery’s second chance at an NHL career, so to speak. He blew his first chance in Ottawa, so you can bet he won’t want to screw up his second chance in Philly. I really hope he stays on his best behaviour and succeeds, I really do. Then today we are hit with another shocker. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Flyers are interested in bringing Robert Esche back! He had a stellar year playing in the KHL, posting a 1.87 goals against average and .912 save percentage. If that report turns out to be true, you can kiss Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki’s butts goodbye.

But then we’re forced to wonder, is a Emery-Esche tandem that much of an upgrade over a Biron-Niittymaki tandem? Is it even an upgrade at all? Sure they save a few bucks under the cap, but is it really worth taking such a risk with your goaltending situation? Only time will tell.

Then there was the Score’s report of Pronger being traded to LA for Jack Johnson and the 5th overall pick in this year’s draft. I saw that as soon as I turned on my TV and sat back, thought about it for a second, then muttered “What the hell is Los Angeles thinking??” Sure, lets trade away the 5th overall pick (Who I have as Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson in the Everything Hockey mock draft) and Jack Johnson, a former 3rd overall pick, for an older Chris Pronger, who has 1 year left on his contract and makes just over 4 million dollars more than Johnson. I really really hope LA has some kind of plan for this, like signing him to an extension and naming him captain or something. Seems to me like they could have just kept Rob Blake, a much cheaper leader.

I said that 29 teams will be thinking of next season already, but one team has a very unique situation. The Phoenix Coyotes aren’t just worried about their product on the ice, they are also worried about where the ice they will skate on will be located. Let me begin by saying I am a completely biased Hamiltonian. I have refrained from writing about the deal because of my bias. I would thouroughly enjoy having an NHL team in this city, as would hundreds of other people I know, but especially me seeing as how it would open all sorts of doors for jobs, especially in the media. So when you make the argument about how moving the team out of Phoenix will take away hundreds of jobs, think of all the jobs it would open up, especially to people like me! We all know what’s happening in terms of the court preceedings and so-on, so I won’t bore you with that. I just want you to know that the fan support for an NHL team in Hamilton is very real. The team will be immensly popular, and the area is a hockey gold mine. Oh…and Jim Balsillie for Prime Minister!