The bulk of teams housed within the NHL's Metropolitan Division are situated in New York or within a stone's throw of the Big Apple, so in a sense, this is hockey's version of making it on Broadway. Metropolitan Division match-ups are even popular in pop culture, having been featured in an epsiode of Seinfeld and built into the plot of a Liam Neeson film. Some of the game's biggest stars play in this division and several of the league's most bitter and long-standing rivalries exist within its confines.
The Metropolitan Division offers everything that makes hockey worth watching - superstar individual talents possessing high-end skill, rugged toughness requiring players to pay for every inch of the ice and spectacular goaltending. It's one of only two NHL divisions to produce multiple Art Ross Trophy winners and multiple Vezina Trophy winners over the past decade.
Best NHL Metropolitan Division Game Betting Lines
With so many natural rivalries, Metropolitan Division games tend to bring the passion to the ice on a nightly basis.
Blowouts are few and far between in this division, so it takes an astute bettor to find the best Metropolitan Division game betting lines.
With so many natural and traditional rivalries, it's essential to stay on top of whats's going on with the respective teams.
You have to play close attention to injury reports and tendencies of both player and teams against certain oponents. Watch for teams that are playing the second night of back to back games, or the third game in four nights who might be tired.
Teams coming home from a long road trip, especially a Western swing can be susceptible for upset the first game back, falling into a comfort zone of being home in familiar surroundings after living out of hotels for so long.
What Are The NHL Metropolitan Division Standings
Here are the Metropolitan Division standings. Much like the players, it's good to get into a routine of studying them frequently, even making it a mandatory on a daily basis.
Look for teams on streaks, both good and bad ones. Watch for games that can be traps for a hot team, and contests that might be the elixir to cure a struggling squad. Who's strong at home? Which teams are solid on the road? Which teams score with more frequency, and which ones are frugal when it comes to surrendering tallies? All of these elements go into the equation when seeking a smart wager on any game.
Metropolitan Divison Betting Tips
Some of hockey's greatest stories have emerged from Metropolitan Division teams. There was Rangers caoch Lester Patrick donning the pads as an emergency goalie and winning a game during the 1928 Stanley Cup final.
In more recent years, the scoring exploits of Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin have astounded all in an era when goals are as hard to come by as at any time in the history of the NHL.
Two of hockey's most legendary dynasties were fashioned by Metropoitan Division franchises. The Broad Street Bullies of the Philadelphia Flyers ran roughshod over the NHL in the 1970s, winning back to back Stanley Cups in 1973-74 and 1974-75 and members of that team are still viewed as larger than life icons within the City of Brotherly Love.
Likewise, the New York Islanders teams that won four successive Cups from 1979-80 through 1982-83 exist as perhaps the NHL's last true dynasty, sicne no team has managed to win more than two Cups in a row since their run.
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