Playin' The Odds

Bodog's prop bets for the 2008-09 NHL season are up and here are a couple of 'em:

* Over/under on Alex Ovechkin's goal total: 58

* Over/under on Alex Ovechkin's point total: 110

And the futures:

* Caps odds to win the Stanley Cup: 15/1

* Caps odds to win the Eastern Conference Championship: 9/1

* Over/under on Caps total points: 93½

So if you had $1,000 to throw at one of these, which would you play?

What're The Odds?

Three years ago, Vegas oddsmakers had the Caps as 250/1 longshots to win the Cup. Hopefully, you didn't lose too much on that one.

Two years ago, they had the Caps at 75/1 and last year, the Caps opened at 70/1. Neither of those horses came in either.

Now Vegas is taking bets on next year's Cup winner, and the Caps open at... 18/1.

Given that this year's Finals participants opened at 8/1 and 14/1, last year's finalists opened at 6/1 and 15/1 (with the latter winning), and the 2006 finalists both opened at 45/1 (I guess the only sure thing coming out of the lockout was that the Caps would stink)... well, let's just say that we're not the only ones with high expectations for next year's Caps.

H/t to Stanthefan on the pointer to the 2009 odds.