Blues Set to Face Bruins for Stanley Cup; St. Louis Bettor Four Wins Away from $100K

Posted on: May 22, 2019, 08:09h. 

Last updated on: May 22, 2019, 09:21h.

Steve Bittenbender Read More
Expertise: Legislation, Sports Betting, Horse Racing.

The National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Final starts on Monday with a pair of teams that seemed unlikely participants as recently as early January.

Members of the St. Louis Blues celebrate after scoring a goal in the decisive Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against San Jose. (Image: Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Boston Bruins will host the St. Louis Blues for Game 1 on Memorial Day. On Jan. 2, the Bruins found themselves in third place in the Atlantic Division. While they were in a playoff spot at the time, they were only three points away from being on the outside of the Stanley Cup chase. They were also 16 points behind Tampa Bay, which was running away from the rest of the Eastern Conference at the time.

That was still a better position than where the Blues found themselves. St. Louis was in last place. Not just within the Central Division or the Western Conference but the entire NHL.

The recovery the Blues made in the second half of the season ended up putting them in the Final for the first time in 49 years. Coach Craig Berube, who took over the squad in November, admitted that when he came in a quarter of the way through the season, he wasn’t thinking about a Cup run.

We were just trying to get on the right track then,” he said after the Blues Game 6 series-clinching win over San Jose on Tuesday night. “Once we got going though in January and February, we knew we had a good hockey team. We get in the playoffs, anything can happen.”

The Bruins, who hold home-ice advantage, are considered a slight favorite by the sportsbooks to win the series. DraftKings and Caesars both list them at -155, meaning a $155 bet would win $100. PointsBet offers -154, while FanDuel offers -152. The Westgate SuperBook lists the Bruins at -150.

Caesars offers the highest odds on the Blues at +135, with FanDuel, DraftKings, and the SuperBook offering +130. PointsBet has the Blues at +125.

Big Ticket on the Blues

As the Blues struggled in early January, Caesars oddsmakers listed the Blues as a 250-1 shot to win the Stanley Cup.

According to ESPN, that happened to be the same time Scott Berry visited Las Vegas for a business conference. He ended up putting $400 on the Blues.

Now, he’s four Blues victories away from winning $100,000.

Berry told Doug Kezirian on ESPN’s Daily Wager that he’s had offers to sell the ticket, but he’s planning on keeping it.

“I am all for just letting this thing ride because I’m a big believer if you mess with the jujus and the betting gods, you end up with a bad result,” Berry told Kezirian.

PropSwap, an online trading service that allows bettors to sell their futures and other wagers, noted on its Twitter account that it received bids for Berry’s ticket for up to $40,000.

Some bettors though have decided to sell. PropSwap noted a Blues bettor who held a $180 bet at 60-1 in March, sold their ticket Wednesday for $4,700.

As of Wednesday night, PropSwap had Berry’s bet listed for a sale price of $65,000 along with six other Blues tickets.

Rask Favorite for MVP

Boston, which last won the Stanley Cup in 2011, is led by goaltender Tuukka Rask. The Finland native leads all playoff goalies with a .942 save percentage and a 1.84 goals-against average.

Not surprisingly, sportsbooks have tabbed Rask as the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is awarded to the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

PointsBet and FanDuel list Rask at +140, while the SuperBook lists him at -140. Blues center Jaden Schwartz, who has 12 goals and 16 points so far in the playoffs, is the second choice for PointsBet and FanDuel. Both books have him at +240. The SuperBook lists Blues goalie Jordan Binnington as its second choice at +200.