If you take a look at the 2010 Stanley Cup betting odds you will notice that Chicago and San Jose are favored, Whichever of those teams emerges victorious in the Western Conference Finals is going to be favored in Stanley Cup odds against either Montreal or Philadelphia.
2010 Stanley Cup betting odds list the Blackhawks as the 6-5 favorite to win the Cup followed by San Jose at about 2-1. Philadelphia is more than 3-1 while Montreal is the 5-1 longshot. The 2010 Stanley Cup betting odds make some sense since San Jose and Chicago had the top two records in the Western Conference. They are the #1 and #2 seeds in the Western Conference while Philadelphia and Montreal are the 7th and 8th seeds in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia is starting to get some respect in 2010 betting from bettors and odds makers. The Flyers were fortunate just to make the playoffs but they sure have been doing things right since the last day of the regular season when they needed a shootout goal to make the playoffs. They rallied to beat the Boston Bruins after trailing 3-0 in the series and 3-0 in Game 7. They are just the third NHL team ever to rally from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game NHL series. The Canadians are a nice story as well as they had to beat Washington and Pittsburgh to get this far. Neither the Capitals nor the Penguins were physical teams though and the Canadians could find the going tougher against a team like Philadelphia.
The Western Conference finals are not a surprise as San Jose and Chicago had the two best records in the conference. They were separated by just a single point in the overall standings. 2010 Stanley Cup betting is going to favor whichever team comes out of that series. The Blackhawks have more scoring depth but the Sharks have the home ice edge. Losing the first game though was a major concern for San Jose and it could be Chicago that reaches the Stanley Cup finals. They would be a solid favorite in the Stanley Cup finals against either Montreal or Philadelphia. The Stanley Cup Finals will be televised by NBC and Versus in the United States. NBC has five of the games while Versus has the other two.