Are you a hockey professor? Prove it at bodog sportsbook | IXGAMES

There is no question the two marquee stars in the NHL are Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin. Yet for all of Ovechkin’s individual brilliance – including two MVP awards – he has won just a single playoff series thus far in his career. Crosby, on the other hand, has reached the Stanley Cup Finals twice and hoisted the Cup last summer. Which star will outdo the other this season? You can bet on that with Bodog’s NHL playoff props. The Capitals won the Presidents’ Cup as the team with the most points during the regular season, meaning any Game 7 in this year’s playoffs involving the Caps will be played in D.C. But the Presidents’ Cup has not been a harbinger of good luck, as in the past six seasons only one team – the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings – has won the Stanley Cup. Yet Bodog lists the Capitals as the team to beat at 3/1 to win the Cup on its NHL futures odds. What about the Chicago Blackhawks? No Original Six team has had a longer drought of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup – Chicago hasn’t won it since the 1960-61 season. But this year’s team is the Blackhawks’ most talented in years, having set franchise records with 23 road wins, 52 total wins and 112 points. Chicago also won the Central Division for its first division title in 17 years. With Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, the Blackhawks have the offensive firepower that can be matched perhaps only by Washington. But goaltending wins the Stanley Cup, and there are questions about how Blackhawks goalie Antti Niemi will respond in his first playoffs. Chicago, which lost in the conference finals last year, enters the postseason as Bodog’s second-favorite on futures odds to win the Cup at 9/2. Remember the excitement of this year’s Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver? The Stanley Cup playoffs bring that level of play every night. So don’t miss out on all the NHL betting options at Bodog Sportsbook.