The Edmonton Oilers are now Canada's lone team in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
With both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets having been eliminated, the Oilers are the only Canadian-based team still alive. Edmonton is slated to open its best-of-seven Western Conference final versus the Dallas Stars in Texas on Wednesday night.
It's a rematch of last year's conference final, which Edmonton won to advance to the Stanley Cup.
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., a solid 72 per cent of Proline bettors are backing Edmonton in the series opener. Another 69 per cent of players have the squad on the spread of +1.5.
Zach Hyman is the most popular goal scorer for the Oilers.
Toronto's season ended Sunday night with a 6-1 loss to Florida in the seventh and deciding game of that second-round series. Only 20 per cent of Proline players had the Panthers winning while just over half had the over 5.5 goals.
Florida opened the Eastern Conference final with a 5-2 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. The two teams met in last year's conference final, which Florida won en route to capturing the Stanley Cup over Edmonton.
Fifty-three per cent of players backed Florida to win the opener while 52 per cent had the over at 5.5 goals.
The Stars eliminated Winnipeg with a 2-1 overtime victory Saturday night. Forty-seven per cent of bettors backed the Stars' win but only 29 per cent had the Jets on the +1.5-goal spread while 64 per cent had the under at 5.5.
In NBA playoff action, the Oklahoma City Thunder opened the Western Conference final with a 114-88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Sixty-three per cent of bettors backed the Thunder.
The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks will tip off the Eastern Conference final Wednesday night. Fifty-three per cent of Proline players are backing the Pacers in that contest.
Meanwhile in golf, Scottie Scheffler captured the PGA Championship on Sunday. Only 17 per cent of Proline players backed Scheffler to win the tournament but 40 per cent had him recording a top-10 finish.
A Proline digital player won 1,024.45 from a $4 bet on an eight-event soccer parlay while a retail bettor earned $8,828.20 off a $13 wager on an 11-event baseball parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.
The Canadian Press
