The main focus right now is the March Madness Bracket, but the sports betting is picking up in the NHL as teams make that one last mad dash for the playoffs. With only a few weeks left in the season some teams are moving in and out of playoff contention, while others keep climbing that ladder to the top.

The Montreal Canadiens are holding on to seventh place in the Eastern Conference by five points over the ninth place New York Rangers. Stuck in the middle in eighth place are the Boston Bruins. While the Canadiens and the Rangers continue to win games, the Bruins are losing ground as they continue to suffer from the lack of scoring due to the injury to Marc Savard. The Tampa Bay Lightning are only three points behind the Rangers, but unless they can start stringing together some wins the Lightning will not be part of the 2010 playoff picture.

Three points separates the ninth place Calgary Flames from the red hot Detroit Red Wings who sit in eighth place and have their eye on the seventh spot held by the surprising Nashville Predators in the Western Conference. The West does not have the log jam from seventh to ninth place that the East has, and it looks like any team on the bubble in the West will need to really catch fire to make the playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings are in sixth, seventh and eighth spot respectively; and they are all on multiple game winning streaks right now.

The surprise of the post-Olympic playoff stretch is the Phoenix Coyotes in the West. While the Coyotes may not catch the San Jose Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division, they are certainly cementing their fourth place playoff berth as they continue to win and put distance between themselves and the fifth place Los Angeles Kings. A playoff season that involves the Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators would be good exposure in those markets for the NHL. That is especially true when you consider that none of those teams made the playoffs in the 2008-2009 season.

While Super Bowl betting is getting intense ahead of the championship game, the NHLhas some tension of its own brewing in Montreal. Not only are Canadiens in a 4-8 slump since New Years and quickly slipping out of the playoffs, but as it always happens when a team is struggling, people are pointing fingers. There small goaltending battle has turned into a huge debacle because the former fifth overall pick, Carey Price, is being out played by backup Jaroslav Halak.

Neither one wants to be nailed to the bench as the outright backup so the team has been splitting time between the two, even though it is Halak who has consistently played better. Since the beginning of December the two have gotten about the same number of starts and Halak has the superior numbers across the board.

In 15 games the Czech netminder is 9-5-1 with 2.33 goals against and .937 save percentage to go along with three shutouts. Price on the other hand is 4-8-2 in 14 games and is averaging 2.57 goals against while stopping .917 percent of the shots faced. He has also been unable to get even one shutout on the season.

Not only are media outlets and fans alike ripping on his play but now it seems even his own teammates are jumping in on the action. The TEAM 990 radio station, in Montreal, has reported that following a lacklustre effort in a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues, defenseman Andrei Markov said to Price “If you are not going to play with heart, stay home. We don’t need you here.”

These are pretty harsh words towards the supposed franchise goaltender but in Markov’s defence, Price has clearly been the second best goaltender on the club this year. The experts doing bookmaker reviews know that with both Price and Halak becoming restricted free agents in the summer, General Manager Bob Gainey will be looking to solve this problem before the March 3^rd trade deadline.

Whether it fixes the problem or not, it is quite possible that the goaltender hailed as the future of the franchise before he even played a game, might be on his way out less than three seasons into his career.

If Pittsburgh had Super Bowl odds, the defending champions would be in trouble right now as they’ve dropped seven of their last 10, and they’ll face a Calgary team eager to awake from their own slumber.

Penguins vs Flames betting – Wednesday, January 13, 9:30 PM ET

The Penguins have just been inconsistent. When they get goal scoring, their goaltending lets them down, and when their goalies play well, they can’t find the net. They’ve won just one of their last six away from home, and that one win came over the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs. If it wasn’t for Sidney Crosby, who is third in the NHL in points and tied for first in goals, the Penguins would be out of the playoff picture.

The Flames have dropped three of their last four, and three straight games have been decided by a goal, which has resulted in two losses. Jerome Iginla has just one assist in his last five games, but Miikka Kiprusoff has been playing well behind the Flames, who need to score more.

The Flames should be the favorites at home, and this is the Penguins’ first time in Calgary since late 2007. Given the Penguins’ struggles on the road, it’s tough to place a wager on them, and the Flames have outshot their opponents 86-42 in their last two games.

US sportsbook pick (US sportsbook reviews): Calgary

Now that the San Jose Sharks have once again had an uninspiring exit in the NHL playoffs, you might have to look through an NFL betting guide to see when the last time in sports we have seen such a regular level of consistent choking. At this point, they may as well have someone who gives ncaa football betting tips rebuild their team because this current concoction is not capable of winning the Stanley Cup. Period.

It looked like the Sharks were finally on the right track this year after they got over their ghosts in the first round against the Colorado Avalanche and then they stopped the reigning West Champs, Detroit, in round two. But in the West Finals, in a series where they were favored on the sports betting odds and in which they had home ice advantage, the Sharks couldn’t even win a single game.

It’s time to face the music: this team simply can’t win in the playoffs. While we’d all love to see them finally get over their mental hurdles - actually, a lot of fans like watching them choke each year - the truth is that this team simply can’t get it done. In the regular season, they are fantastic but at this point, regardless of what the odds are for this team in legend sports book, you have to bet against them annually.

Stay tuned for an exciting offseason in the Shark Tank.

It’s Friday, so let’s keep this simple for you NHL betting sharps. Take all Detroit has going for it right now — back on top of the West, undefeated in regulation in 2009, Pavel Datsyuk and Ty Conklin playing out of their minds — and add Emma Andersson to the mix.

Is it any wonder that Henrik Zetterberg does what he does when he can come home to a fiancee like her? If she was my squeeze, I’d score 20 goals in the NHL. Online sports betting fans should pick the Wings to upset the Sharks on the road this weekend…San Jose is slipping and the Emma-Andersson led Wings are surging.

Bet online on Detroit this weekend and end up a winner…maybe I’m distracted by Emma, but I just have a hunch.

Have a good hockey betting weekend!