Get to the Point

By Jimmy Harris

The NHL conference finals get started later this week, which is much later than they should commence. The second round was finished up on Sunday night, but the next round doesn't get started until Thursday?

Someone in the NHL schedule-making office needs to take a lesson from the NBA, where the second round began before the first round was even done. No wonder the NHL playoffs seem to go on forever.

The first series to get started is Dallas and Detroit on Thursday night. The Red Wings and Stars engaged in some close battles during the regular season, with Detroit winning the season series 3-1.

In this series I think Dallas will come out on top due to goaltending. Marty Turco has been a stonewall when called upon so far through the playoffs, while Chris Osgood has been outstanding in six games for Detroit but I don't think he has enough left in the tank to take the Wings all the way.

Over at , they disagree with me and favor Detroit at -213 in the series. I'll take Dallas at +193 anyway.

In the battle of Pennsylvania between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the oddsmakers have the Pens as a -206 favorite and the Flyers as a +186 underdog. I'll take the underdog in this series as well.

The Flyers should put a pounding on the Penguins and Martin Biron will outplay Marc-Andre Fleury just enough to allow the Flyers to pull off another upset. You have a few days to get your action down on these NHL playoff series odds , but don't wait too long.

Seems like good upset value here.