Morning Coffee: How many Canadian NHL teams will make the playoffs?

It’s called the March Madness for a reason.

If Day 1 of the NCAA men’s tournament is any indication, this year’s bracket might not feature the level of madness that most college basketball fans anticipated.

The top four seeds in action went a combined 8-0.

Betting favourites went 12-4 straight up and 9-7 against the spread.

The three most staked upsets at FanDuel – Montana, UNC Wilmington, and SIU-Edwardsville – all lost.

Only one of them covered the spread.

The biggest upset of the day was McNeese State beating Clemson as a +235 moneyline underdog.

Considering how chalk Day 1 turned out to be, I wasn’t a fan of being on the wrong side of the biggest upset.

In fact, despite the best bets in Thursday’s column going a combined 8-4, I was on the wrong side of the biggest upset in the NCAA tournament and the biggest upset on the soccer pitch.

My two-leg parlay with the United States to beat Panama and the under 3.5 total goals between Mexico and Canada didn’t even make it to the second leg after the Americans were upset 1-0 in the Nations League.

Panama was +350 to advance and could be found as high as +850 on the moneyline at FanDuel earlier this week.

For a moment, the door was open for the Canadian men’s national soccer team to capitalize on the potential to play Panama in the Nations League Final with a win over Mexico.

Instead, the Mexicans scored just 46 seconds into the game and ultimately secured the 2-0 win.

It will be Mexico versus Panama in Sunday’s final.

Canada will play the USA in the third-place game.

While I was disappointed with both upsets, it was a good day overall as the best bets finished up four units overall.

As for the hardcore sports fans in Ottawa and Montreal, it was one heartbreak after another on Thursday night.

This is the Morning Coffee for Friday March 21st, 2025.

How Many Canadian NHL Teams Will Make The Playoffs?

For a moment, it seemed like the Ottawa Senators were destined to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

Ottawa was -5000 to make the playoffs on Tuesday.

That number translates to a 98 per cent implied probability.

Fast-forward three days later, the Senators are still -2500 to make the playoffs at FanDuel, but the optimism has worn a bit following back-to-back losses by a combined 11-4 to the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche.

The good news is that Ottawa is five points up on the New York Islanders for a playoff spot with 14 games remaining and a very manageable schedule.

The bad news is that they’ve lost eight of their last nine games against opponents that are currently in a playoff spot and all but one of those losses were by two goals or more.

Even if the Senators navigate their way to the postseason, they’ll need to clean things up to have any shot at competing with one of the best in the conference.

A blowout loss to the Avalanche followed by a tough loss for Canada soccer versus Mexico likely wasn’t the parlay that Ottawa sports fans had in mind last night.

Meanwhile, the Habs managed to secure a single point in an overtime loss to the Islanders, which are two points back of Montreal with 14 games left for both teams.

FanDuel has both teams at +196 to make the playoffs.

With the Islanders set to host the Calgary Flames on Saturday and the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, there’s a chance that both of those Canadian teams can help the Senators and Canadiens with regulations wins.

The Flames rallied to beat the New Jersey Devils 5-3 last night and are down to +220 to make the playoffs from +330 entering last night’s action.

Meanwhile, the Canucks secured a point but lost to the St. Louis Blues in overtime and are now +250 to make the playoffs at FanDuel.

How many Canadian teams will make the playoffs?

The Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, and Toronto Maple Leafs are among the top 10 choices to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel this morning.

The Senators, Canadiens, Flames, and Canucks are all either in a playoff spot or within two points of one.

With just one game on tonight’s NHL schedule, we’ll all get a chance to catch our breath and enjoy some NCAA tournament action before the race resumes on Saturday.

Calgary and Vancouver are both on the east coast, which means both teams can help their Canadian counterparts with a surge in the standings.

The Flames wrap up their road trip with a game against the Islanders on Saturday before returning home.

The Canucks will visit the Rangers, Devils, Islanders, and Blue Jackets before they return to Canada.

Hopefully, all four Canadian NHL bubble teams show up and secure crucial victories in their respective playoff races this weekend.

After that, hockey fans across the country can take a break and lock in for Canada versus USA in the Nations League third-place game on TSN.

A FanDuel Best Bet For Friday Night

An NHL/NBA sweep led to an 8-4 day with the FanDuel Best Bets in this column.

The March Madness Day 1 picks went 3-3 thanks in large part to Clemson’s upset loss to McNeese State as I had the favourite to cover as well as to win outright on a separate parlay.

Turning the page this morning, three best bets are pending from Thursday’s column.

I have Grand Canyon +11.5 versus Maryland, a two-leg parlay with Saint Mary’s and Wisconsin to win outright, and a Same Game Parlay with Oregon centre Nate Bittle to score 15+ points and the Ducks to win at +112.

Grand Canyon +11.5 over Maryland

Parlay (-150): Saint Mary’s ML + Wisconsin ML

SGP (+112): Bittle 15+ Points + Oregon ML

This morning, I’ll add three more plays to this list.

I’ll take North Carolina moneyline at -118 versus Ole Miss.

I’ll also take Marquette -3.5 versus New Mexico.

Finally, give me a two-team parlay with UCONN to beat Oklahoma and the Cleveland Cavaliers to beat the Phoenix Suns at -104.

Hopefully, we can go 6-0 with those bets to finish the week off on a high note.

Have a great weekend, everyone!