The sports betting anticipationhas begun for the NHL playoffs.Last season, all eyes were on the Vancouver Canucks as the team won thePresident’s Trophy and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals beforelosing to Boston. This season, the Canucks have once again won the President’sTrophy, but a trip to the Stanley Cup finals is not a sure thing for this team.There is a lot of competition in the Western Conference and there are a lot ofteams that could trip up the Canucks as it attempts to repeat as conferencechampions.Vancouver CanucksThe onlinebetting crowd is getting used to the Canucks being the best regular seasonteam in the NHL and then fallingshort in the playoffs. The difference between the Canucks last season and thisseason is that Vancouveris riding a wave of momentum heading in to the playoffs. But goaltender RobertoLuongo has not shown the stability necessary to be a consistent playoff winnerand that will hurt the Canucks.Los Angeles KingsDo not discount the Los Angeles Kings asthe playoffs begin. The Kings quietly sealed up the eighth and final playoffspot in the Western Conference a few days before the season ended and thenstarted scoring goals down the stretch. But an injury to newly-acquired forwardJeff Carter could cause the Kings to bow out early in these playoffs.San Jose SharksThe payper head sportsbook experts just don’t see it with the San Jose Sharks thisseason. The team plays grinding offense but it has a slow defense. GoaltenderAntii Niemi has proven to be wildly inconsistent and is not showing the biggame poise that caused the Sharks to sign him in the first place. The Sharksare getting older and lack the speed they will need to advance in the playoffs.St. Louis BluesThe one very positive thing that the Blueshave going for it is the ability to put either goaltender in net and get astrong performance. Sportsbookreviews of the Blues’ record shows that St. Louis is not nearly as dominating on theroad as it is at home. But since every team except Vancouver would have to yield home ice to St. Louis, then that putsthe Blues in a very good spot.Nashville PredatorsThe Predators had two late-season additionsthat could be very helpful in the playoffs. Power forward Paul Gaustad waspicked up from the Buffalo Sabres in a trade at the trade deadline and could bea force in the playoffs as soon as he recovers from his hand injury. AlexanderRadulov made headlines when he finally put on the Predators’ sweater and hitthe ice paying immediate dividends. With Pekka Rinne in goal, this is a verydangerous Nashvillehockey team.Phoenix CoyotesNHLfans know that goaltending is the key to winning championships, but the goaliedoes need to have a good team around him too. Mike Smith is the solid goaliethat backstops the Coyotes’ team, but the team still needs goal scorers aroundSmith to win it all.Detroit Red WingsThe Red Wings are an interesting mix ofvery old players, very young players and a few players in the middle. Detroit broke the recordfor most consecutive home wins this season, but then fell apart when injuriesset it. This is a fragile team that could go all the way to the Stanley Cupfinals or it could lose out in the first round. It is extremely difficult tosay.Chicago BlackhawksAs well as the Blackhawks have played thisseason, the team is still very suspect in goal and on defense. Goaltender CoreyCrawford is a solid goalie, but his inability to grab a shutout all season longshows that he is unable to steal games for the team. The Blackhawks are alloffense, and that is not going to win playoff series.Pick:St. Louis Blues

read more: NHL Playoff Preview – How the West Will be Won