Yes, the NHL still holds its annual playoff tournament.

And while most of us would rather keep our eyes glued on the NBA’s postseason wars, the 2009 NHL Playoffs still got underway and our friends from SPORTSBETTING.COM wasted no time in milking from it.

The puck dropped on the NHL postseason on Wednesday and as it stands, the balance of power lies in the West with the defending champions Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks listed as the odds-on favorites at SPORTSBETTING.COM to take the Stanley Cup at +300. Boston has the best odds of the Eastern Conference teams at +500.

The defending champions will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets first. A threat to repeat as champs, the Detroit Red Wings had a successful season accumulating 51 wins, 21 losses and 10 OT losses for 112 points but thanks to some shoddy goal tending, went 3-7 in their final 10 regular season games. Chris Osgood, who finished the season with a 3.09 GAA and a .887 save percentage, is expected to start for Detroit.

In stark contrast, the Wings will be up against a good, albeit young, goalie Steve Mason (33-20-7, 2.29 GAA, .916 save percentage and 10 shutouts) and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who finished the regular season with a 41-31-10 record for 92 points, the Jackets are +5000 to win it all this year. In terms of series prices, Detroit is a prohibitive fave to win the best of seven series at -450 and while Columbus is a +350 underdog.

Dating back to 2006, the Red Wings have the advantage against the Blue Jackets winning 12 of 20 games and in those 20, the Under has prevailed 14 times.

Next, we have that other powerhouse team from the West, the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks had the best record during the NHL regular season and was awarded the President’s Trophy as a result. Their reward, a date with the Anaheim Ducks. San Jose is favored to take the series at -275 while Anaheim is +235.

While the Anaheim Ducks have the edge in the last 20 meetings between the two (11-9), San Jose has the edge in the season series with a record of 4-2. In the last 14 games against Anaheim, San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov has an Over/Under record of 2-10-2.

As mentioned, the Sharks were the best team in the regular season but has the President’s Trophy winning team carried the regular season magic into the postseason? Again San Jose is the odds-on at +300 to win it all.

Since the league began awarding the President’s Trophy back in 1986 only seven teams have gone on to win the Stanley Cup as well. Will the Sharks make it eight?

In other playoff match-ups, the Boston Bruins will take on the Montreal Canadiens in what should be another awesome playoff face-off. In terms of great rivalries, the Boston Red Sox have the New York Yankees and the Boston Bruins have the Montreal Canadiens.

The Boston Bruins are the odds-on from the Eastern Conference to win the championship at +500 but bookies don’t like Montreal’s chances quite as much, listing them at +4000 to take it all this year. The B’s are strong -310 faves to defeat the Habs, who are listed at +255.

Between November of 2007 and April of last year, the Bruins lost nine straight games to the Canadiens but have since gone 8-3 and are amidst a five-game winning streak against Montreal.

Last but certainly not the least, we have the Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the Philadelphia Flyers. It looked like the Penguins wouldn’t even make the postseason earlier in the year but a coaching change breathed new life into the team and now the Pens have the opportunity to do what they couldn’t last year, win the Stanley Cup.

Pittsburgh is listed at +1000 to sip from the Cup and its first-round opponent; the Philadelphia Flyers are listed at +2500.

While the Pens are favored at -160 to win the Battle of Pennsylvania and Philly is a +145 underdog, Pittsburgh did go 4-2 against its intrastate rivals this season but is only 2-12 against the Flyers during the month of April dating back to 1997.

That’s it. The playoffs on ice is underway. Who’ll take the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup home? Go and see for yourself.

Which team will win the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup? SPORTSBETTING.COM has the odds on the NHL playoffs’ first round match-ups.

Montreal Canadiens +265 Boston Bruins -330

Detroit Red Wings -460 Columbus Blue Jackets +360

Calgary Flames +140 Chicago Blackhawks -155

Anaheim Ducks +235 San Jose Sharks -275

Want more odds? Visit SPORTSBETTING.COM for more NHL Playoffs odds. Want to watch the NHL Playoffs live? Get NHL Playoffs tickets online now.

2009 NHL Playoffs Stanley Cup