By Daniel Behringer of LVSportsBiz.com
Are you ready for some playoff hockey?
Presuming health safeguards to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus are met to the satisfaction of NHL officials and players, a streamlined version of the Stanley Cup playoffs could begin as early as late July.
Playoffs will involve 24 teams with 12 each in two host cities. Las Vegas is an obvious prime contender for one of the two chosen host cities.
And opportunities to wager on the Vegas Golden Knights are out there.
As one of the top four Western Conference finishers, the VGK get a first-round bye but will play a round robin among the Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche to determine seeding (and perhaps keep an element of sharpness) in the playoffs. The Golden Knights are around +250 along with the Blues and the Stars to prevail in the round robin. The Avalanche are around +400.
Playoff odds for the other first round Western and Eastern Conference games are also available and can be found on almost any website or sports betting app.
But who do the “experts” like in the playoffs? At CBS Sportsline, the computer model favors the Lightning, noting they win the Cup in nearly 18 percent of the simulations. The Lightning are now about +650 along with the Boston Bruins.
The same model shows the Knights winning only 4.87 percent of the time. The Golden Knights are generally around +800 to win the playoffs, up from +600 earlier, and take home the Cup.
The same computer simulation is fading last year’s Cup winner, the St. Louis Blues, which are around +1000, saying they will win only 6.9 percent of the time. But considering the rejiggered format, a new training camp of about three weeks and the loss of “home ice” in games at neutral sites, expect some unpredictable results when the playoffs eventually resume.
The mobile betting app for Station Casinos puts the date of the playoffs at Aug. 1.
Elsewhere:
— All eyes will be on the reopening of select Las Vegas casinos on June 4. When they do, their sports books are expected to reopen with them. Look for reopenings at Bellagio, New York-New York and the MGM Grand along with Wynn Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment plans to reopen Caesars Palace, the Flamingo and Harrah’s. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will be among Strip properties opening. Books at most Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming properties along with the South Point are expected to reopen along with the casinos. Circa Sports will reopen at the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate.
Separately, Covers.com reported the sports book at Treasure Island on the Strip is moving into an expanded Golden Circle Sports Bar. The Golden Circle, which opened in 2018, will double in size and take over space previously occupied by the buffet, which is closing. It will open June 5, according to multiple sources.
— Gilbert Burns upset Tyron Woodley in a welterweight UFC bout, the main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on May 30. Burn paid +160 and won by unanimous decision. In total rounds, over 4.5 paid +145. Still, favorites went 7-3-1 in the event, according to Vegas Insider.
— It was like déjà vu all over again for NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, who hoisted the trophy for the second straight Sunday. Keselowski took advantage of a late collision between Joey Logano and Chase Elliott to win the Supermarket Heroes 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. He paid anywhere from +1100 to +1300.
— England’s Premier League returns June 17 after a three-month hiatus. You may be fanatical about the NFL or the NBA, but The New York Times calls the Premier League the “most watched league sports league in the world.”