With no Canadian hockey team winning the Stanley Cup in a long while, all eyes are on this year’s competition and a possible long-awaited victory.
It’s been a while since a local Canadian hockey team last snatched the Stanley Cup, and home fans are wondering whether 2021 is the year when things might change for the better. As it stands, the situation looks promising, with two local teams making it to the semi-finals.
BCLC Reveals the Odds
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) has recently published its odds on the Stanley Cup as the competition draws to a close. The last time a Canadian team won the competition was in 1993, with local sides failing to reach the final for almost ten years. However, the home teams might be in luck this year, with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens among the last four.
The Canadiens have the third-best odds of 7.00 and have received 7.8 per cent of the total bets placed on the BCLC’s website. This is only marginally more than the Winnipeg Jets, who have 7.7 per cent and 23.00 odds. Edmonton Oilers, led by Connor McDavid, are ranking at 14.00 and 7.6 per cent of bets placed to win the competition.
The Maple Leafs are the other Canadian contestant with 36.00 odds and a 5.3 per cent betting volume. However, it’s the US-based Colorado Avalanche that many consider as the favourites to take home the cup. The team has 8.00 odds and by far the most backing from the punters, with 8.2 per cent of the betting volume going their way.
South of the border, the most anticipated US match is a first of its kind, with Florida Panthers crossing swords with Tampa Bay Lightning in an All-Florida playoff clash. Despite being seen as the game underdogs, the Panthers have a 2.37 coefficient and have gathered 70 per cent of the bets to proceed to the next round and smash the Lightning with 1.57 odds.
Super Bowl Novelty Bets
Due to single-event betting still unavailable in Canada, local bettors could not place direct bets on the finale of this year’s Super Bowl LV between Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As a result, the BCLC introduced over 550 novelty bets to keep all the players entertained.
