NHL OVER/UNDER Season Points

One of our favorite things to do each season is look at the season points odds and predict the over or under. This will be the first time we will do it online and if anyone is making a trip to vegas soon, betting the over on your favorite team or any team for fun can bring some more excitement to the hockey season. from sportsbook.com

Lets Look at the odds:

* all money lines are -115 except Phoenix which is noted below.

Anaheim 88.5 The Ducks had 89 points last season and failed to make the playoffs. No big changes have been made during the offseason. Jonas Hiller had a down year last year and looks to rebound. We don't like touching this one as the Ducks will finish about the same as last year.

Atlanta 83.5 The Thrashers seemed to get better as soon as Ilya Kovalchuk was traded to the Devils. The Thrashers came close to their 2nd playoff spot in team history but fell 5 points short with 83. This years Thrashers team has made several changes from last year including the addition of Dustin Byfuglien. The Thrashers are plenty capable of surpassing their output from last year and we believe the Thrashers to be in the 85-89 point range.

Boston 100.5 The Bruins finished the 09-10 season with 91 points mainly due to inability to score goals. The Bruins were last in the East in goals scored and the loss of Marc Savard won't help that cause though Nathan Horton should. The Northeast division is very competitive and although we feel the Bruins will win it, it might not be with 101 points. Take the Under.

Buffalo 91.5 The Sabres won the Northeast Division last season with 100 points. The Sabres haven't changed much and have one of the best goalies and coaches in the league. The Sabres should return to the playoffs and rack up about 94 points. We like the over.

Calgary 92.5 Love the under. Calgary has brought on re-treads in Jokinen and Tanguay and Kiprusoff is a year older. Calgary might be one of the weaker teams in the West. Take the under.

Carolina 86.5 The Hurricanes are very tough to judge. It was a tale of two seasons in one in 09-10, as the Canes suffered major injuries and got off to a horrid start. As they became healthy, they went on a very impressive second half run and finished with 80 points. We wouldn't touch this one, but if you had too, take the under.

Chicago 102.5 Our Stanley Cup Champions were ripped apart 2 weeks after the season was over. We almost feel bad for the fans but hey, they won. The Hawks still have Toews, Kane, Keith and Seabrook and their core is as solid as anyone in the NHL. They will still battle for first in the Conference and we like the over.

Colorado 89.5 Colorado surprised almost all of us last season and qualified for the playoffs with 95 points. While the Avs might have been a little ahead of schedule, they should be able to crack the 90 point plateau playing many games against weak teams like Minnesota, Calgary and Edmonton.

Columbus 79.5 Once again Columbus was unable to make an impact move this offseason. The Blue Jackets should get better goaltending from Mason and a 1 point improvement seems likely. We don't love it, but take the over.

Dallas 88.5 Dallas finds themselves at the bottom of a very tough division once again. Dallas finished last year with 88 points, and this season is destined to go very similarly. Take the under.

Detroit 106.5 Detroit found themselves looking outside the playoffs looking in during the Olympic break and took off late and still rang up 102 points. With the Blackhawks taking a step backward and the Wings heading into the season healthy, we like the over very much.

Edmonton 76.5 Can Edmonton have a 15 point improvement? We think it's possible after seeing the Islanders go from 61 points in 09 to 79 points last season. Taylor Hall and Jordon Eberle will help this young team but it's tough to put your faith in a last place team. Don't touch this one at all .

Florida 71.5 Toronto was last in the East in 09-10 with 74 points. Florida finished with 77 and we don't think they will make a 6 point dive. Vokuhn is a solid goalie and besides the loss of Horton, the team is the same. A healthy David Booth will help Florida be competative and be near the same point total as last season. Love the over here.

Los Angeles 101.5 The Los Angeles Kings finished their resurgence of a season last year with 101 points. We doubt the Coyotes will reach 107 points and doubt the Sharks can put up as many points last season. The Kings will compete for a division title and rack up 105 points or more. Take the over.

Minnesota 85.5 The Wild are pretty much stuck in the same spot they found themselves in last season. There is not a huge upside to this group yet and a season where they find themselves around 85 points make the most sense. We wouldn't touch this one.

Montreal 87.5 Montreal had a great playoff run on the back of now St. Louis goalie Jaroslav Halak. We believe that Montreal will get off to a rough start with Carey Price already hearing boos and fall short of their point total and a playoff spot this season. Take the under.

Nashville 89.5 Nashville is one of those teams that gets no respect from anyone. Barry Trotts is a fantastic coach and the Predators find themselves in the playoffs more often than not. The Preds have a terrific defense and goaltender in Pekka Renne. The Preds should make the playoffs again. Love the over on this one.

New Jersey 101.5 The Devils have had quite an un Devil like offseason with the Kovalchuk saga ongoing into September. However, the Devils have a solid team from top to bottom and if Brodeur can resemble his hall of fame self, New Jersey should fight for the Atlantic Division title and beyond. This is a close one, but we believe the Devils will have the over.

NY Islanders 78.5 Before the news of Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo going down with long term injuries, we loved the over on this one. The Isles will have to prove on the ice they are headed on the right path before the critics give them a shot. A revamped defense should help the Isles hold the many leads they blew last season and their goal total that was 20th in the NHL last season should improve as Tavares, Bailey, Comeau and eventually Okposo when he comes back are all a year older. The Isles had a 18 point jump from 09-10 (61pts-79pts last season) and an equal point output seems to be one of the better bets on the board. We love the over still.

NY Rangers 87.5 The Rangers finished with 87 points last season and missed out on an 89th point and playoff spot by a shootout. The Rangers rely on their goaltender as much as anyone in the league and haven't made any significant changes. The Rangers will be around come playoff time and 85-90 points is about their range. If Lundquist or Gaborik go down, the Rangers will go down with them. We wouldn't touch this one.

Ottawa 87.5 Daniel Alfredsson is a year older and the loss of Volchenkov will hurt this team. We are not high on Daniel Elliot and Ottawa will have it's poorest season in years. Take the under.

Philadelphia 97.5 The Flyers barely made the playoffs and then had a magical run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Leighton is out a month and Simon Gagne went to Tampa. The Flyers resemble the team that barely made the playoffs more than the team that went to the Cup Finals. Take the under.

Phoenix 92.5 The Coyotes are the most interesting case on this board. With 107 points last year, Vegas throws their point total at 92.5 for this season. Unless the Coyotes can prove us wrong, we agree. Phoenix will fall short of the playoffs and if you believe they will fall, take the under. The money line here is different from any team as well. It's -125 for the over and -105 for the under. Every other team is listed at -115 for the over or under.

Pittsburgh 104.5 Pittsburgh and the Devils will most likely fight for the Atlantic Division crown this season. They did the same last season with both teams having 103 points or less. We think the Devils will take it so take the under on this one.

San Jose 103.5 The Sharks once again had a disappointing playoff run, getting run over by the Hawks. The Sharks replaced long time goalie Evegeni Nabokov with Antti Niemi. Time will tell if that proves itself to work out but Niemi did outplay Nabokov in the playoffs. The Sharks will fight with the Kings for the Pacific Division and this seems like a good over to take. The Sharks had 113 points last season and a 10 point drop off is unlikely.

St. Louis 93.5 St. Louis is another young team on the rise, and missed the playoffs by one spot last season. We think the Blues will get in this year with the 8th seed. The Blues were .500 at home last year and we believe a two game improvement at home will get them from 90 points a year ago to 94 this year. Add Halak and this over looks better every time you look at it.

Tampa Bay 92.5 Tampa is a team we feel is getting the most hype from any non playoff team last year. We also don't believe the hype. The Lightning do have some great talent including Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman but are still a year or two away from being an impact team in the East. There is a huge drop off at the bottom of the roster which includes a suspect defense that gave up 3rd worst 260 goals last year in the Eastern Conference and Dan Ellis needs to prove that he can carry a team. Tampa will improve but 93 points is asking a lot. We love the under.

Toronto 84.5 The Leafs are another team rebuilding under Brian Burke. The Leafs roster will look the same but a full year with J.S. Gigure will help tremendously. The Leafs had an East low 74 points last season and are capable of an 85 point season but we don't love it. Stay away from this one. If you are a Leafs fan, take the over and try to have fun with it. The Leafs though are probably not a playoff team.

Vancouver 106.5 The Canucks are probably the most solid team top to bottom in the NHL. However they lack the explosiveness needed night in and night out to produce 107 points. We hate that the Canucks use this as an excuse but the travel situation does play into that. We think the Canucks will win the Northwest easily but 107 points might be tough. Don't touch this one.

Washington 108.5 The Capitals had 121 points last season and we see no reason why they won't come close to duplicating that total this year. All the same pieces are back and the Capitals are out to prove their first round loss was a fluke. Love the over.