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By Dan Behringer, LVSportsBiz.com Sports Betting Writer
Here we go. Brace yourself for fan-demonium.
This is it, the big one now, the Cup, the Stanley Cup in fact, an almost unwieldy thing, made of silver and nickel alloy, standing about three feet tall, weighing in at about 35 pounds and named for Lord Stanley of Preston, as maybe you remember, the governor-general of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada’s top-ranking amateur ice hockey club waaay back in the 19th century.
And the Vegas Golden Knights, having survived three rounds of professional playoff hockey action, are ready to battle for it starting on Saturday night. On the other side of the ice is the survivor from the NHL’s Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers.
The bottom line for bettors is the Knights are -135 to win the series. If for some reason you like Florida (heresy!), you can bet them at around +115. The Golden Boys are also -130 to win the first game, and the total is 5.5.
But as the gurus from Circa Sports note, the Panthers are accustomed to their underdog role. They were the underdogs in every series, opening as +290 to Boston, +150 to Toronto and +105 to Carolina, Circa noted in a press release.
You can also find a list of props the length of a hockey stick long for the game — everything from who will score the first goal (the Golden Knights Jack Eichel and Mark Stone are +600, and +1000, respectively, the Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov are +700 and +800, respectively.)
The team totals for Game 1 are both 2.5. But for the Panthers, Over is -135; and Under is +105. For the VGK, Over is -170 and Under is +140.
If you want to get cute on the reverse puck line, the Knights are -320 at +1.5 goals and the Panthers are +240 at -1.5 goals.
Regardless, the Deep Freeze on the Strip, more commonly referred to as T-Mobile Arena, will be The Hot Ticket on Saturday night. In other words, expect fan-demonium and a sea of spectators in VGK garb.
But how do the Panthers view the Golden Knights?
“They beat three really good teams,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice told the Miami Herald. “We feel we have, as well.”
The Herald also reports that Game 1 will be from Paradise, Nevada, which is technically correct. The puck drop is at 7 p.m.
Elsewhere:
— NBA Finals: Game 1 of the NBA Finals is ancient history with the Denver Nuggets rolling to a win over the Miami Heat, 104-93, in Denver. The adjusted series price now has the Nuggets at -700 and -909, respectively, at BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook to win it all. You can bet the Heat at +500 and +600, respectively, at those two books.
“That was one of my last messages to the group before our (Game 1),” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told The Associated Press. “I reminded our group … that Miami went into Milwaukee and won Game 1. They went into the Garden in New York City and won Game 1. They won Game 1 up in Boston. So, we did not want them coming in here taking control of the series on our court.”
The side on Game 2 on Sunday night is roughly the same as Game 1 with the Nuggets -9. But the total has come down from 218 or 219 in Game 1 to 214 for Game 2.
— Fight Night: Kai Kara-France and Amir Albazi are both around -110 for their featured flyweight bout at Fight Night on Saturday at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Station Casinos has Albazi at -115 and Kara-France at -105.
Kara-France brings a 24-10-0 record to the fight. Albazi is 16-1-0.
The total rounds is 3.5 with Over at -160 and Under at +140.
The match is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m.
— Aces streak on the line: The Las Vegas Aces put their season-opening, four-game winning streak on the line Friday night when they travel to play the Atlanta Dream in the first of four road games in seven days. The Aces are -11.5 with the total at 171.5.
“Going on the road, playing every other day pretty much against really good teams, we know we’re going to get everyone’s best shot,” Aces star Kelsey Plum told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
While the Aces have won their first four games, they have also covered three out of four.
Tipoff on Friday is at 5 p.m.
— Will King James retire or not? If you have an opinion on whether or not LeBron James will hang up his size 15 sneakers or not, you should be able to find a betting line that reflects your opinion.
Currently, the No on James retiring after 20 NBA seasons is -1000. The Yes stands at +550.
“I got a lot to think about,” James, 38, told reporters, after the Los Angeles Lakers were bounced from the NBA playoffs by the Nuggets.
If you’re betting the prop, you have something to think about too.