Home Ice Disadvantage
What has happened to home ice advantage in the NHL?
It should come as no big surprise that road teams are having tremendous success so far through the first round of the 2012 NHL Playoffs (We highlighted 1st round trends back on 4/11). Through the first 32 games, teams playing on the highway are 21-11 netting bettors $1,519 assuming a base unit of $100. In an article published by ESPN back on April 9th, they rated the top 5 home ice advantages in all of hockey and those teams alone have combined to go 3-7 so it just goes to show that no one is safe in the confines of their own arena.
Below you’ll find the breakdown of every game through the first 32 and while the results may surprise, it’s hard to argue with their early profitability. (All data courtesy of covers.com)
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | |||||
| Money | Road Wins | Money | Road Wins | |||
| Flyers/Penguins | $342 | 3 | Kings/Canucks | $280 | 3 | |
| Senators/Rangers | $41 | 2 | Redwings/Predators | $277 | 3 | |
| Capitals/Bruins | $29 | 2 | Blackhawks/Coyotes | $261 | 3 | |
| Devils/Panthers | $44 | 2 | Blues/Sharks | $245 | 3 | |
| Total | $456 | 9 | Total | $1,063 | 12 | |
Below you’ll find details by series with individual game results. Keep in mind this may be as much an anomaly as anything else so don’t forget the basics of handicapping in lieu of blindly betting road team’s moving forward.
| Road Team | Result | Price | Road Team | Result | Price | |||
| Game 1 | Flyers | W | 167 | Game 1 | Kings | W | 142 | |
| Game 2 | Flyers | W | 168 | Game 2 | Kings | W | 142 | |
| Game 3 | Penguins | L | (100) | Game 3 | Canucks | L | (104) | |
| Game 4 | Penguins | W | 107 | Game 4 | Canucks | W | 100 | |
| Total | 3-1 | 342 | Total | 3-1 | 280 | |||
| Road Team | Result | Price | Road Team | Result | Price | |||
| Game 1 | Senators | L | (100) | Game 1 | Red Wings | L | (100) | |
| Game 2 | Senators | W | 145 | Game 2 | Red Wings | W | 101 | |
| Game 3 | Rangers | W | 100 | Game 3 | Predators | W | 133 | |
| Game 4 | Rangers | L | (104) | Game 4 | Predators | W | 143 | |
| Total | 2-2 | 41 | Total | 3-1 | 277 | |||
| Road Team | Result | Price | Road Team | Result | Price | |||
| Game 1 | Capitals | L | (100) | Game 1 | Blackhawks | L | (100) | |
| Game 2 | Capitals | W | 167 | Game 2 | Blackhawks | W | 100 | |
| Game 3 | Bruins | W | 100 | Game 3 | Coyotes | W | 141 | |
| Game 4 | Bruins | L | (138) | Game 4 | Coyotes | W | 120 | |
| Total | 2-2 | 29 | Total | 3-1 | 261 | |||
| Road Team | Result | Price | Road Team | Result | Price | |||
| Game 1 | Devils | W | 100 | Game 1 | Sharks | W | 145 | |
| Game 2 | Devils | L | (106) | Game 2 | Sharks | L | (100) | |
| Game 3 | Panthers | W | 150 | Game 3 | Blues | W | 100 | |
| Game 4 | Panthers | L | (100) | Game 4 | Blues | W | 100 | |
| Total | 2-2 | 44 | Total | 3-1 | 245 |
