Bet on the best NHL teams from Florida State

Local Florida NHL Teams

Ice hockey probably isn’t the first sport to come to mind when you think about the Sunshine State. Even though it’s known for waves and golf courses, Florida has a lot to offer when it comes to on-ice action.

There are two local NHL teams in the Sunshine state. Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.

Both teams are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference and regularly face off during the regular season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning was founded in 1992 as the first Floridian NHL team. The next year they were joined by the Florida Panthers, who are based in the Miami metropolitan area. 

Current Team and Conference Structure in NHL

There is a total of 32 teams in the NHL. Although it’s called the National Hockey League, there are teams from two neighboring countries. Seven teams are from Canada and 24 call USA home. The league is divided into two conferences and four divisions. 

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Bet on The Playoffs: Where the Best Teams Meet

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have been the yearly highlight of hockey for decades. The format of the postseason has been the same since 1979-80.

Sixteen teams make it into the First Round. Eventually, two teams make it to the finals, and one goes home with the Stanley Cup. All NHL bettors try to find out, what team is going to make it all the way this year. Remember that you should always look for the best odds when placing a wager on an NHL game.

Playoff Brackets

The format of the NHL playoffs is a qualification system. The tournament consists of four rounds of best-of-seven series. There are set brackets that are primarily based on division standings, though there are wildcards.

Normally, twelve teams make it into the postseason, three from each division. The remaining four spots are filled by the two highest-placed teams in each conference, regardless of their division. 

In the First Round, teams are split into two brackets based on division. The team with the top record will go up against the wild card team with the worst record. The second and third finishers in each division face off. 

The winners of this round within each bracket will then play another in the second round. The reseeding from the first format is discarded. Four teams move into the Conference Finals. After that, the top two teams go head-to-head in the Stanley Cup Finals. 

Playoff Game Location Framework

The team that placed the highest in the regular-season is given the home-ice advantage in the first two rounds. 

According to the NHL rules, each best-of-seven series is played in a X-X-Z-Z-X-Z-X location format. The team with the home-ice advantage hosts the first, second, fifth, and seventh games. Their opponent hosts the other three games. In some cases, there are only four games if one team goes 4-0. 

The team with the better regular-season record, also gets the home-ice advantage for the Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final, regardless of their respective division. 

Wildcards & Byes

Each conference sends eight teams into the postseason, with the top three from each division qualifying automatically. The wildcard teams fill the four remaining spots. Each conference will also send two teams based on regular-season total points. 

One division can potentially send five teams to the playoffs, while the other in the conference only sends three. In the first round of games, the top seed in each division plays one of the wildcards.  

NHL Team Performance

It’s more fun to watch and bet on hockey when you know about team legacies and performance. In this section, we’ll break down the history of the two Florida NHL franchises and what other teams have been delivering top performance this past season.

Florida Team Legacy and Past Performance

The Panthers are the southernmost team in the NHL. Their matchups are always exciting and fun for all Florida hockey fans and sports betting enthusiasts alike.

The Florida Panthers have made only one appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, but they lost to the Colorado Avalanche. Since this 1996 tournament, the Panthers have only qualified seven times for the playoffs.

However, recent years, they have been making it to the playoffs several times. At most, to the second round. So the Panthers fans have got some new hopes up recently.

Tampa Bay Lightning Legacy and Past Performance

Up north, the Tampa Bay Lightning has managed to become one of the elite NHL teams on the ice. There are over 16,000 fans with season tickets, renewals rates at almost 95%, and the highest viewership in Lightning history. 

In the past decade, the Tampa Bay Lightning has consistently contended for the championships. They clinched their first-ever President’s Trophy in 2018-19 along with a division title. The team finished that regular season with a total of 62 wins, tying for an NHL record.

The year after they took home an amazing Stanley Cup final victory against the Dallas Stars. This was their first Stanley Cup in 16 years. And this is not all. The following season they won again, making them one of only 16 team in the history of NHL to win Stanley Cup back-to-back.

Best Teams in NHL and Past Performance

The Montreal Canadiens are often considered the best NHL team in history. The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup a record 24 times.

While their record is undoubtedly impressive, the team has had a long time to rack up those numbers. The franchise is the oldest in the league. Founded in 1909, the organization has been around longer than the NHL. 

The hottest teams in the NHL right now are the Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche. The Colorado Avalanche are picked as the season favorites, with the numbers hinting that they’re the biggest threat going into the season. 

Another contender is Calgary Flames. The Flames hold their ground in the mid of Central division and have played some great hockey recently. The Tampa Bay Lightning are another fierce team, looking to come out on top of the Atlantic division.

Notable Team Rivalries in NHL

Any hockey fan will tell you that one of the best things about this sport is a good, hot rivalry. Of all of the professional sports around, the best drama happens on the ice. 

The NHL has some of the most ruthless competition, which has led to aggressive kerfuffles in mid-game and rowdy fan gangs in the stands. Let’s go over some of the beef that still doesn’t seem to be simmering down. 

Detroit Red Wings vs Colorado Avalanche

The Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche is one of the bloodiest NHL rivalries. The feud started in the 1996 Western Conference Finals when Colorado’s Claude Lemieux checked Detroit’s Kris Draper and smashed his face in the glass. 

From then on, the grudge got stronger. The 1997 “Brawl of Hockey Town” involved every player on the ice from both of these teams. 

Since this memorable Wednesday game, the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry still lingers. There have been hundreds of fights between the teams, and the competition is always close when they play each other. 

New York Islander vs New York Rangers in “Battle of New York”

Another notable NHL rivalry is the ‘Battle of New York,’ which started in 1972 when the New York Islanders joined the NHL. The Rangers, part of the league’s Original Six, had been the Big Apple’s team for a long time and weren’t happy with the competition. 

The Islanders and the Rangers have faced off several times in the postseason. The fans keep the rivalry up. There are a variety of chants and chirps throughout the stadium during their games. The animosity is understandable, considering the teams are located so close together.

Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburgh Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins is another in-state rivalry. The two teams take the ‘Battle of Pennsylvania’ pretty seriously. Both of the teams joined the league in 1967, and the feud started on the spot. 

Boston Bruins vs Montreal Canadiens

One of the oldest rivalries in hockey is the one between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. The tension between the two started in 1924 when the teams first met. 

The Bruins and the Canadiens have met in more games than any other NHL teams. These matchups have often fallen prey to brawls, fan fights, and even coach thefts. 

The Panthers and the Lightning also have an in-state rivalry. The teams have had 89 fights against each other in just two decades. 

Notable NHL Players in Florida

Even though the state is known for warm weather and golf courses, Florida has contributed a lot to the sport of ice hockey. 

There are plenty of players in the NHL that were born in Florida. You may be familiar with some of them, such as:

• Shayne Gotisbehere
• Dan Hinote
• Jakob Chychrun
• Garnet Hathaway
• Quinten Hughes
• Ryan Carpenter
• Jack Hughes
• Jayson Megna.

There are only seven Florida Panthers players that have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame:

• Ed Belfor
• Pavel Bure
• Dino Ciccarelli
• Igor Larionov
• Roger Neilson
• Joe Nieuwendyk
• Bill Torrey

These hockeyplayers have all earned this recognition for their performance with the NHL’s southernmost team. 

Today, the Panthers are loaded with young talent. One future Hall of Fame goaltender is Roberto Luongo. He has managed to keep the balance and maintain the energy in a lot of important matches. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning is home to many All-Stars and Hall of Famers:

• Dave Andreychuck
• Dino Ciccarelli
• Mark Recchi
• Davis Savard
• Martin Louis

These guys are some hockey legends that have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.