NHL Playoff Picks and Stanley Cup Odds at NHL Hockey Betting: Both players have revitalized franchises and hockey markets that looked bleak, both are argued about as to who is the best player in the world, both have tons of hardware already at young ages and the two are the center piece for the best rivalry in hockey. So all eyes are on the Pittsburgh Penguins and their star Sydney Crosby and the Washington Capitals and their star Alexander Ovechkin.

While the Penguins are defending champions, the Capitals seem to be the team to beat.

Stanley Cup Odds: Washington Capitals +300

The Washington Capitals captured the President’s Trophy as the team with the best regular season record (54-15-13 for 121 points) and online sportsbook has them as the odds-on to win it all at +300.

The Caps open the 2010 postseason campaign with a series against the Montreal Canadiens.

While Alexander Ovechkin and his troops nearly averaged four goals a game — 3.82 to be exact — they ranked 16^th in goals against, allowing close to three a game (2.77).

Pundits are looking at goaltending as the Caps possible weak spot heading into the playoffs.While Caps goalie Jose Theodore had a Goals Against Average (GAA) of 2.81, he went 30-7-7 with a save percentage of .911 this season.

In fact, in Theodore’s last 20 games, he is 17-3 SU.

Even if Theodore falters (like he did last postseason), the Capitals do have Semyon Varlamov who went 15-4-6 with a .909 save percentage and GAA of 2.55 during the 2009/10 campaign.

More importantly, Varlamov proved himself in the playoffs last year backstopping Washington to a series win against the New York Rangers before succumbing in seven games to the eventual champion Penguins in the second-round.

Betting Action: SPORTSBETTING.com is reporting the early action has been steady on Washington, with the Capitals currently holding 31% of all the volume wagered on the option “Who will win the Stanley Cup”.

Stanley Cup Odds: Pittsburgh Penguins +450

What of the defending champs?

They finished the regular season with a record of 47-28-7 for 101 points, good enough for the four-seed in the East.

Captain Crosby put on a show in the team’s regular season finale against the New York Islanders, nearly grabbing an outright lead in the regular season goal scoring race (51 goals) and even put a little scare into the Vancouver Canucks’ Henrik Sedin in the chase for the league points lead.

Crosby will share the Rocket Richard Trophy (most regular season goals) with Tampa Bay’s Steve Stamkos but regular season accolades won’t mean much to Sid the Kid after he got to drink from the Cup last year.

The Pittsburgh Penguins open against the Ottawa Senators. In their last seven overall against the Sens, they are only 2-5 SU.

Since the Penguins had a better regular season record than the Sens they will open at home and Ottawa could draw first blood in the series.

The last 20 times that the Pittsburgh Penguins have hosted the Ottawa Senators, the Pens are only 6-14 SU.

Young Ottawa netminder Brian Elliot went 29-18-4 this season and will get his first playoff start on Wednesday.

Betting Action: SPORTSBETTING.com is reporting the Penguins, despite being a four seed in the East, are the second most popular team in the Eastern Conference for sports bettors. 22% of the betting action on “Who will win the Stanley Cup” is on the Penguins.

I didn’t put any money on either of these two teams, choosing instead to take a shot on the San Jose Sharks at +450. Yes, I know they perennially disappoint, but I have a gut feel they put it all together this season.

The other wager I made was on the New Jersey Devils to win it all at +750.  Hopefully Brodeur has one last big playoff run in him, and with their defense and the addition of Kovalchuk, they have the ingredients to go far in the post-season.

Good luck.

Check out all the NHL odds at NHL Hockey Betting

UFC 112 Odds, Picks and Predictions at Sportsbook: This weekend’s UFC 112: Invincible in Abu Dhabi should prove to be an excellent event. From the amazing new stadium built seemingly overnight, to the multiple championship belts on the line and the great match ups filling out the main card, UFC 112 should hold all MMA fans to their screens for the duration of the event.

Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia Pick:

For the sports betting public, there are some good underdog chances at decent underdog odds. Many online sportsbooks have Anderson Silva at –800 and Demian Maia at +550. Considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world, Anderson Silva is the obvious favorite. Maia’s best chances are on the ground and he hopes to get Silva down there so he can start to work his world-class jiujitsu in hopes of getting the upset. Silva could end the fight early if Maia can’t get close enough to get the takedown, as Silva could simply destroy Maia as he tries to close the distance. Maia does stand a real chance though if he can get Silva on the mat. If you like the dogs and absolutely must bet on the title fight, then I’d go with a nominal wager on Maia at +550. Silva at -800 doesn’t provide any value.

Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn Pick:

I’m not so sure Frankie Edgar at +550 has the same chances against BJ Penn (-800) as Maia does against Silva. I’m skipping this one myself as far as the underdog wagering goes. Aside from that, I expect Edgar will put up a good fight as he is a good wrestler and a solid well-rounded fighter. Overall this should be a good match. I expect Penn will take it before the championship rounds.

UFC 112 Picks:

The other dog bet that I mentioned last week that was worth considering was Renzo Gracie over Matt Hughes. Gracie is at +325 to Hughes’ -450. There’s a lot of talk about this fight going the distance and Hughes pulling off the UD as Gracie will challenge him on the ground but Hughes will gain the victory by controlling from the top position. I agree with some of this except that I’m giving the nod to Gracie for the underdog victory. Hughes’ record and experience will keep him working for top control and possibly going for the submission or a TKO from punches from the top. This is where Gracie lives though, and I expect Gracie to be able to withstand Hughes’ efforts and sweep for position and work the submissions to ultimately win the match. Gracie is worth a shot here.

A solid lightweight bout on the main card will feature British fighter Terry Etim (-160) against the well-rounded Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos (+130). The bout finds excitement in that both fighters are looking for some recognition in order to move up in the lightweight division. Both fighters seem to excel on the ground with Etim possessing the ability to finish more fights there as opposed to controlling the fights from that position as dos Anjos does. I’d give the edge in stand up to Etim as well, but I expect most of the fight will take place on the mat with Etim gaining the victory.

The remaining fight on the main card for UFC: Invincible in Abu Dhabi is Kendall Groves against Mark Munoz. While I like Munoz and I think -160 for him as opposed to Groves at +130 is a fair line for this match up, I’m favoring Groves. While Munoz is a top-level wrestler, I expect Groves’ reach and jiujitsu will ultimately earn him the victory on Saturday night. I’m sticking by my pick from last week and restating that I like Groves.

My quick picks for the rest of the UFC 112: Invincible card on Saturday are Davis, Gunderson, Osipczak, Johnson, Veach and Madsen. The only thing I’ve got to say about those is that Madsen better pull it off.

Good luck with your MMA picks.

Hey Duke-Haters…it’s been a tough couple of weeks and things look to only get tougher.

Online Sportsbook currently has Coach K and the boys listed at +125 to win the NCAA hoops title, followed by the West Virginia Mountaineers at +175, the Michigan State Spartans at +350 and the Butler Bulldogs at +400.

West Virginia vs. Duke

The Blue Devils are the only #1-seed left in the tourney and head into their Final Four matchup against the Mountaineers listed as 2.5-point favorites, with the Over/Under set at 131.

The last time these two met in March Madness was in 2008 when WVU defeated Duke 73-67, covering as a 4-point underdog.

Back to the present, the Blue Devils are 4-0 straight up and against the spread during this year’s March Madness tourney. They are 15-5 SU in their last 20 games in the month of March and are 18-2 SU in their last 20 games overall.

However, Duke is a horrendous 2-7 SU and 2-7 ATS in their last nine when favored by 4-points or less.

Over/Under Numbers: In their last 20 games overall, Duke has a record 6 Overs and 14 Unders.

In their last nine games when favored by 4 points or less, they have a record of 2 Overs and 7 Unders.

The West Virginia Mountaineers have been equally impressive in their last 20 overall, with a record of 17-3 SU.

In terms of Over/Under numbers, the Mountaineers have produced 1 Over and 7 Unders in their last eight games.

The players at online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com have given Duke a slight nod in terms of betting action, with 56% of all the volume on this one tilted to the Blue Devils.

Michigan State vs. Butler

To the casual bettor, it might seem a little odd that the Michigan State Spartans — one of last year’s Final Four and the runner-up — are listed as underdogs of 1.5-points for their Final Four tilt against the unheralded Butler Bulldogs; the Total is set at 126.

But the Spartans are missing regular season leading scorer Kalin Lucas, who is out with an Achilles’ tendon injury, and the Butler campus is located in the same city as the Final Four, Indianapolis, Indiana, giving the Bulldogs a homecourt advantage.

The Spartans are 15-5 SU in their last 20 games overall and in their last 20 games in the month of March, they are 16-4 SU and 14-6 ATS.

The Butler Bulldogs are only 10-10 ATS in their last 20 games overall, but they are also 20-0 straight up.

During their 2010 March Madness journey, the Butler Bulldogs are 3-1 ATS, pulling off some big upsets along the way. The Bulldogs took out their region’s top seed, the Syracuse Orange, in the Sweet 16 winning 63-59, covering as 6.5-point underdogs.

The Bulldogs then knocked out the second-seeded Kansas State Wildcats in the Elite Eight by a final of 63-56, covering as 4-point ‘dogs.

However, the Butler Bulldogs are only 3-6 SU and ATS in their last nine games when favored by 2-points or less.

The sports betting public look like they think this might be the end of the road for Butler, with 60% putting their money on the small dog Spartans to move through to the Championship game.

Enjoy the games!

Check out 2010 NCAA Final Four Odds and Predictions at Sportsbook Online