Wild vs. Blues Playoffs Start Tonight (+Stanley Cup Odds)

The Minnesota Wild begin their 2017 post-season playoff run tonight against the St. Louis Blues at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Wild will have home ice advantage in the first round best-or-seven series. Oddsmakers likes Minnesota's chances in their run for the cup.

Westgate Las Vegas Superbook has the current Stanley Cup odds listed as:

Washington Capitals: 3-1
Chicago Blackhawks: 5-1
Minnesota Wild: 6-1
Anaheim Ducks: 10-1
New York Rangers: 10-1
Pittsburgh Penguins: 10-1
Columbus Blue jackets: 15-1
Montreal Canadiens: 15-1
Edmonton Oilers: 16-1
San Jose Sharks: 16-1
Boston Bruins: 25-1
Calgary Flames: 30-1
Nashville Predators: 30-1
Ottawa Senators: 30-1
St. Louis Blues: 35-1
Toronto Maple Leafs: 40-1

This is the fifth straight playoff appearance for the Minnesota Wild, and the eighth in team history. Minnesota's best performance came on 2003 when the Wild advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

On the first round series, ESPN says:

Former Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo is looking for a little postseason revenge -- and he has the Blues cooking. They're the best defensive team in the NHL since Yeo took over from the fired Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1. But look out for the Wild, who were the best team in the West for the first half of the season behind a reborn Eric Staal and goalie Devan Dubnyk.

Fox Threatening to Pull Programming from Charter

Fox and Charter Communications are fighting, and Fox says they might decide to pull their programming in Minnesota at anytime -- which would include Fox Sports North just in time for the Wild playoff games. The good news: Games 1 & 2 will also be carried on the NBC Sports Network, and Game 3 will be on NBC. (Of course that only helps if you get NBCSN.)

Tonight's game can also be heard in St. Cloud on AM 1240 WJON.