2010 Stanley Cup odds favor the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday as they host the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Blackhawks are considered the stronger team and they are a 2-1 favorite in Stanley Cup betting.
2010 Stanley Cup odds are available on the overall series and the individual games. Chicago is -200 in Game 1 on Saturday with a total of 5.5 over. The Blackhawks have a similar price to win the overall series. Chicago and Philadelphia have a lot of history in the NHL but neither team has won the Stanley Cup in a long time. Chicago hasn’t won it all in almost 50 years while the Flyers have not won the Cup in 35 years. One of those long droughts will end.
The Flyers and Blackhawks met just once during the regular season as the Flyers won 3-2 at home on a late goal by Chris Pronger. Regular season results don’t mean much and the Blackhawks used Cristobal Huet in goal for that game. They now have Antti Niemi in goal and he could be the difference in this Stanley Cup betting series. The Blackhawks and Flyers have met only once in the playoffs and that was back in 1971 in a series that was won by Chicago.
Philadelphia is a substantial underdog in this series in 2010 Stanley Cup odds but they have been getting better and better. After pulling off the miracle against Boston they have found confidence. In the series against Montreal they were simply the better team. The problem for Philadelphia is that Boston and Montreal are not nearly as good as Chicago. The Blackhawks have a lot more scoring talent and a lot more depth. In past series the Flyers could use Chris Pronger on the other team’s top scorer and shut him down. They can’t do that with Chicago because the Blackhawks have numerous players who can score. To win this series the Flyers will need great goaltending and they will need to keep up with Chicago’s offense. It is possible but the 2010 Stanley Cup odds definitely don’t favor it happening.
Both Chicago and Philadelphia have excellent coaches in Joel Quenneville and Peter Laviolette. They also both have excellent fan bases so the atmosphere in Chicago and Philly should be great.