The National Hockey League and its players still have several sports betting issues to deal with before they can move forward with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, regardless of what anyone in or around the game will say, the key fundamental issue that has prevented the two sides from moving forward is the money at stake. While the previous CBA divided the revenues with the players earning a 57-percent share, the owners have been very deliberate about ensuring that split swings in their favor moving forward. As long as the players are being asked to concede a nearly 10-percent share while receiving no concessions there is absolutely no way the two sides can move forward, which makes an extended lockout period a very likely Betonline scenario.

Of course, the players are hoping that the league will budge on its firm stance to take such a big cut at the revenue sharing split, while the owners are hoping the players cave under the pressure of losing millions of sportsbook dollars they cannot make back. It doesn’t help that some players have already taken contracts to play overseas until a deal is made, especially since most of those players are the stars that would have the biggest impact on perception if they stayed and fought. While there are several issues that need to be negotiated, the money is the key problem at this point, and until those core fundamental finance problems are solved there will be no NHL hockey.

The NHL playoffs are arguably one of the most exciting times during the year for sports betting. Teams who have made the playoffs have a chance to start fresh and play one game at a time. A best out of seven system also allows teams to shake off any post-regular season rust and fight until the bitter end of the series. Although the NHL playoffs are pretty easy to follow, here are three things that may shock you about them.

1) Being the number one seed in the conference does not guarantee you a Stanley Cup final appearance. Not since 2007 has both number one seeds made it to the conference finals. In 2006, 2009 and 2010 every number one seed has been ousted during the first round. The LA Kings won the Stanley Cup after entering the playoffs in 8^th place. Although it was obvious after the first round that LA would dominate their opponents, no bookie would have guessed prior that they would become the Stanley Cup Champions.

2) Winning the Winter Classic can lead teams to the Stanley Cup. One team who played in every Winter Classic has gone on to win the Stanley Cup.  The Penguins won the 2008 WC and went on to win in 2009, Blackhawks won the WC in 2009 and the Stanley Cup in 2010, and the Bruins won the WC and the Stanley Cup in 2011. This trend is pretty wild, although it did not happen this year for the New York Rangers who beat the Flyers during the 2011 Winter Classic. Will Toronto win the Stanley Cup next season if they beat Detroit in this year’s Winter Classic? Well, I think the best online betting sites will probably guess that the Red Wings have a better chance than the Maple Leafs.

3) Finally, another interesting fact that you may not have known about the NHL Playoffs is that since the 2004-2005 lockout the Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks have made the playoffs every year. Although a variety of teams have been making the playoffs in recent years since the lockout (16 out of 30 teams, in fact) the Sharks and Red Wings seem to have a standing date come playoff time.

There you have it, three facts about the NHL playoffs that perhaps you did not already know. The Beauty of the NHL is that anything can happen, and anyone can win. However, there are some reoccurring trends that you can think about come time to place a bet.