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Making Stanley Cup picks is always stressful, but exciting for all involved. The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t get a chance to go back-to-back, but it’ll still be a great final in what should be an enthralling season.

Eastern Conference – Washington

There’ll be no shortage of goals from the Capitals, powered by Alexander Ovechkin, along with Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin. They can get secondary scoring from Brooks Laich and Brendon Morrison, and Mike Green is arguably the best offensive defenseman in the league. Washington’s NHL odds hinge solely on one position: goaltending. Semyon Varlamov and Jose Theodore may have to share time between the pipes, but Varlamov looks like he’ll get the nod. If he can come up with some big saves, the Capitals should find themselves as the NHL betting favorites in the East.

Western Conference – Chicago

Many NHL betting players didn’t expect Chicago’s young guns to come together so quickly, but last year’s run to the West finals was no fluke: these guys are really good. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp are a trio to rival their Washington counterparts, and the defense is deep with Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell, who rivals Green in terms of offensive defensemen. They even got a shutdown center in John Madden. Like the Capitals, all eyes will be on the crease, where Cristobal Huet will look to tap into the vast potential he showed in Montreal. It won’t even be an NHL betting upset if the Blackhawks win the West; logically, they should.

It’ll be another busy week for those who play NFL odds, and you need all the sports betting help you can get before you go to make your NFL picks. Check out these three Sunday matchups.

Seahawks vs Vikings odds – 1:00 PM ET

The Vikings are 11.5-point favorites at home, and they should have enough to cover the spread against the Seahawks, who would do well just to shut down Matt Hasselbeck for the year. They’re 3-6, Hasselbeck has broken ribs and shoulder problems, and the Vikings lead the league in sacks. On the other side of the ball, Minnesota can kill you through the air with Brett Favre and Sidney Rice, or they can pound it with Adrian Peterson. Take the Vikings with the points according to NFL odds.

Colts vs Ravens odds – 1:00 PM ET

The unbeaten Colts have staged some late escapes, but nothing as crazy as their game against New England, when the Patriots failed on a fourth-and-two gamble to give Peyton Manning a short field. The Ravens’ defense has been on fire, and the Patriots showed that the Indy secondary can be torched, so look for a big game from Baltimore pivot Joe Flacco. The Ravens are only a 1-point favorite according to NFL odds, and it’s probably better that the Colts just get this loss out of the way so they won’t have “16-0” talk to distract them. Go with the Ravens.

Jets vs Patriots odds – 4:15 PM ET

The Patriots are livid after the Indy game, and if you don’t think they forgot the trash-talk that preceded their 16-9 loss in New York in Week 2, you’re insane. The Jets have been struggling lately, especially rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, who has an average rating of 64.9 over his last six games, five of which have been New York losses. The Patriots should cover the 10.5-point spread easily.

Sportsbook 101 has some advice for relatively uncharted waters in the betting world today. Mixed martial arts and the UFC are rapidly growing phenomena but the betting community is just getting warmed up. If you’re wondering how to get good at handicapping fights, consider these tips:

1. History means a lot. Comparing two fighters, it’s always good to ask “Whom has this guy beaten?” The fighter with the more impressive resume of victims usually wins. A guy like Fedor Emelianenko has beaten five UFC champions, so it never surprises people when he adds to his 31-1 record. On the other hand, you should still watch out for fast starters who don’t have big-name wins but show signs of a breakout. Shane Carwin and Cain Velazquez demolished opponents in the first round repeatedly before they started fighting – and beating – big names, so the signs for success were there.

2. Review the fighters’ styles. Seeing which skills and disciplines each fighter brings to the table can help you predict results too. For example, Thiago Alves was a fearsome opponent entering his UFC 100 title fight with Georges St-Pierre. But his game was all striking and no ground. We knew GSP had great striking and amazing ground skills, so we could see right there that the match favored GSP.

3. Upsets get noticed but are still rare. Victories like Matt Serra over GSP or Dan Hardy over Mike Swick stick in our minds but it’s because they’re rare; in other words, they don’t happen often. More so than in most sports, favorites make for safe plays in mixed martial arts. Scouting reports and video make it relatively easy for us to predict results.

4. Monitor fighters’ health status. Usually, fighters are tight-lipped about any injury concerns for fear that their opponents will exploit the problem. But if you can find any injury information on a fighter before a bout, you have an upper hand.  Often when a favored fighter loses, he later reveals that he was battling an injury. Minotauro Nogueira was hospitalized with an infection and had a bum knee before Frank Mir beat him last year.

5. Age isn’t everything – but chin is. Older fighters aren’t always weaker fighters – some of the sport’s best are in their mid 30s – but it’s worth monitoring how many knockouts guys have taken over the years. Randy Couture is a good example; the odds of him winning get tougher every time out, not specifically because of his age, but because he’s been knocked out several times over the years. Each knockout gets easier.

Hope you enjoyed those sportsbook 101 tips for MMA!