Bet Sports

Kentucky Derby betting enthusiasts looking for a distraction from the odds should look no further than round two of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. With eight teams remaining in the NHL playoffs, 2011 Kentucky Derby betting handicappers, have a smaller sample size to choose the potential Stanley Cup winner from. Here are our picks for the four winning teams of the round two series, in hopes they move on to the next round.

Eastern Conference:

The four remaining teams in the Eastern Conference are the Washington Capitals taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins taking on the Philadelphia Flyers. For all intents and purposes, we believe that the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins will win their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers.

Western Conference:

Over in the West, the Vancouver Canucks are taking on the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks are taking on the Detroit Red Wings. In our opinions, the two teams to win these series will be the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks.

Reasons Why Our Picks Will Win:

The four teams we have chosen above, the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks, besides having stacked rosters, all share one thing in common, they always choke in big game settings. For instance, only San Jose has made it past the second round in the last three seasons, and even then, they only made it to the third round, in which they were soundly defeated by eventual Stanley Cup winner Chicago.

In theory, this year is huge for all four of these teams, as their fan bases and ownership will not tolerate another year of disappointment. What this means is, each team, in particular the Bruins, will be playing with a chip on their shoulder. We single out the Boston Bruins, because last season, they had the Philadelphia Flyers on the brink of elimination by winning the first three games of their second round series. However, the Flyers fought all the way back, and became only the third team to be down three games to nothing and win a series four to three. This year, the Boston Bruins will look to put their foot on the Flyers throat, en route to winning a Stanley Cup. If they do not, expect huge changes in Boston this summer.