As awesome as the March Madness odds are, they’ve been strangely predictable this year – short on cute, fuzzy Cinderella stories, as all the online betting favorites (14 of the top 16 seeds are in the Sweet 16 odds) keep winning. If we want to “feel” something, if we want to be inspired, we must look elsewhere.
How about NHL betting? There’s been no shortage of uplifting stories in 2008-2009. Let’s look at the top five success stories of the season, featuring numerous teams and players who have defied sportsbook odds.
5. COMRIE AND FISHER MAKE EVERYONE JEALOUS
I was about to pencil Mike Green’s amazing offensive season into the No. 5 spot when I started having my daily celebrity chick fantasy…today’s was a threesome with Hilary Duff and Carrie Underwood, but the dream was shattered when Ottawa Senators Mike Comrie and Mike Fisher burst in the room and stole the beauties away from me. If snagging those two starlets isn’t a success story in NHL betting, nothing is.
4. SUNDIN AND THE CANUCKS BOUNCE BACK – AND THEN SOME
The Vancouver Canucks were the butt of online sports betting fans’ jokes come Christmas time; they were sliding out of the Western-Conference playoff hunt, Roberto Luongo was on the shelf and management signed Mats Sundin in hopes of shedding the Canucks’ one-line team label. Here we are in March and the Canucks have been the most dominant team in the West for two months, icing two strong scoring lines and riding the stellar netminding of now-healed Luongo. Could all three Canadian teams reach the Big Dance in the West?
3. LIFE WITHOUT BRODEUR IS PAR-EASY FOR NEW JERSEY
No one doubted Zach Parise’s ability before the NHL betting season started, but did anyone think he’d be this good? Currently fifth in league scoring with 88 points (41 goals) in 73 games, Parise exploded at the perfect moment – when Marty Brodeur missed most of the year with a groin injury. Now that the Devils are healthy, there’s no telling how far they can go in the Stanley Cup odds.
2. ORIGINAL SIX MAKE GREAT NHL BETTING PIX
How cool is it that Detroit, Chicago, New York, Boston, Montreal and…oh, wait. No Toronto. Still, five out of six Original Six franchises probably making the Stanley Cup betting playoffs is pretty damn exciting. The coolest story of this group has to be Chicago’s. With Rocky Wirtz running the show and getting Hawks games back on TV, they’re leading the NHL in attendance and boast an exciting team of future stars. Welcome back, Windy City.
1. JACKETS NO LONGER SINGIN’ THE BLUES IN COLUMBUS
It looks like Columbus and Rick Nash – a deserving hockey city and star player – will finally experience the NHL betting playoffs this season. With a five-point cushion and nine games to play, a lot would have to go wrong for the Jackets to miss out. While Columbus ain’t exactly Hockeytown, its fans are underrated and, for all we know, a playoff series could generate all-out fanaticism. The driving force has been sensational rookie goalie Steve Mason. If the season ended today, I’d load him up with trophies – the Calder, Vezina and, dare I say it, Hart. There hasn’t been a cooler sportsbook story than the Blue Jackets this year in hockey betting.