The Anaheim Ducks are a team that online NHL betting fans are used to seeing in the playoffs. After all, thanks to Bruce Boudreau, the Ducks have won four consecutive divisional titles. But under Boudreau’s guidance, Anaheim has also lost four consecutive Game 7s on home ice. While Ducks’ fans were exuberant to see their team consistently qualify for the playoffs, seeing their team meet the exact same fate four times in a row was more heartbreaking than uplifting. Last season’s Game 7 loss was what made the management decide that they had had enough and two days after the elimination the Ducks parted ways with their former head coach.
To replace Boudreau, Anaheim brought in former head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Randy Carlyle. Of course, Ducks fans are all too familiar with Carlyle, and online NHL betting fans probably remember him pretty well. In 2005 the Anaheim Ducks hired Carlyle, and two years later their new head coach would bring the franchise its first ever Stanley Cup. Of course, that was the year that Anaheim rebranded itself from ‘The Mighty Ducks’ to the Anaheim Ducks and looking back now it’s safe to say that the name change brought about some positives. However, the celebrations would not last long and a poor start to the 2011-12 season paved the way for Carlyle’s replacement Boudreau. But now that we’re 5 years down the line, it seems Anaheim is having a bad case of buyer’s remorse. In fact, by hiring the man they recently fired, Anaheim is acting more like a teenage girl than a professional hockey team. But hey, who am I to throw shade at the Ducks?
In his first year back as head coach of the Ducks, Carlyle has been doing his best to get his team on track. Mostly because he knows all too well that this organization will not hesitate to pull the trigger. Either way, the Ducks currently find themselves at 6-5-2 as well as in 2nd place within the Pacific Division. Coming into the season, most hockey betting sites were giving the Ducks some pretty decent odds of making it to the Stanley Cups, and so far they haven’t been a disappointment. This Wednesday, the Ducks will face off with a team that had much lower expectations for 2016, but has been playing surprisingly well.
On Wednesday, November 9th, the Anaheim Ducks will be traveling to Ohio to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets are coming off a season that saw them only win 34 games, but have made decent headway into a turnaround year. Currently Columbus sits at 5-3-2 and find themselves at 6th place within the Metropolitan Division. The online NHL betting odds will likely be siding the Ducks on this one. But since the Blue Jackets are coming off a 10-goal record breaking win against the Montreal Canadiens, they might just have enough momentum to deliver another upset.
