Will the Hawks Challenge for the Cup?
Special to Hockey Pub
(Photo by Getty Images)
NEW YORK — The 98th season of the National Hockey League gets under way on October 8th, and bookmaker Betfair already has an extensive range of odds on which team will capture the prestigious Stanley Cup for 2014-15. The NHL has been in existence since November 26, 1917 and was originally founded in Canada when made up of just four teams. Now based in New York City, the NHL is without doubt the leading professional ice hockey league in the world. Today the NHL has grown in size to thirty teams, twenty three sides from the USA and seven from Canada. Regarded as the biggest prize in ice hockey, the Stanley Cup is unique in that the same trophy is passed from winning team to winning team each year and is also engraved with the names of all of the winning players and team staff. Let’s have a look at exactly which sides have a realistic chance of winning the trophy for the 2014-’15 NHL season.
Market leaders at odds of 7/1 with Betfair, the Chicago Blackhawks have been plying their trade since 1926 and have already won the Stanley Cup on five separate occasions. The Blackhawks have really come into their own since the 2009-10 season, with two Division championships to their credit since the arrival of Rocky Wirtz as chairman following the death of his father. Captain Jonathan Toews became the third youngest man to take up that particular role aged just 20 in 2008, and he has been a real driving force behind the Chicago Blackhawks’ success. This is a very consistent team, and I can definitely understand why they have been put in as favourites for this year’s Stanley Cup at betfair.com. Any hockey fans who support the Blackhawks are very likely to get a decent run for their money.
Another very interesting contender for the title this NHL season is the league’s third oldest team, the Boston Bruins. Available at odds of 15/2 with Betfair, the Bruins are only half a point lower in the market than the Blackhawks and warrant serious respect having won the Division title for the last four seasons in succession. General Manager Peter Chiarelli’s side have won six Stanley Cup championships which is the second highest of all the American sides and ranks fifth in overall standings. The Boston Bruins have had a real period of success since 2011 and I can’t see any reason why that won’t continue over the next few seasons. They have an excellent squad of players as well as a top coach, and should make another bold bid to win a seventh Stanley Cup.
Defending champions the Los Angeles Kings come into this campaign attempting to retain the trophy they won last year, and they are next in the NHL betting market with Betfair at odds of 8/1. The fact that the Kings have not been put in as favourites illustrates exactly how tough it is to win back to back Stanley Cups and the side that only joined the NHL in 1967 will go down in history if they are able to land the most prestigious prize in ice hockey for the third time in four years. Coach Darryl Sutter has now lead the Los Angeles Kings to two Stanley Cup victories and in Jonathan Quick, the Kings have one of the best goaltenders in the world. Quick was named MVP of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs and he was also key in last season’s success. I’ll be shocked if this side doesn’t once again make the playoffs with ease and makes a serious run at winning the Stanley Cup once more.
Connect with Hockey Pub
Connect with us using social media.