Blackhawks go for sweep of Sharks at United Center

Hockey Betting Lines

05/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks will try to complete a sweep of the Western Conference finals this afternoon, when they host the top-seeded San Jose Sharks in Game 4 from United Center.

The second-seeded Blackhawks have taken all three games in this best-of-seven series and can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992 with another victory today. Chicago, which was swept by Pittsburgh in the '92 Cup Finals, hasn't won it all since beating Detroit in 1961.

Despite being down 3-0 in the series, San Jose hasn't been thoroughly outplayed by the Blackhawks in this best-of-seven set. Two of the Sharks' three losses have been by just one goal, including Game 3 on Friday, which the host Blackhawks won 3-2 in overtime.

Dustin Byfuglien notched the game-winning goal with 7:36 left in OT on Friday and gave his team a commanding lead in the series as well. Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell corralled a loose puck along the blue line at the right point and dumped the disc around the boards. Dave Bolland collected it behind the San Jose net and fed the puck in front, where Byfuglien one-timed it home.

"It was just a good forecheck. The puck came out high then was sent back down with good coverage. Bolland made a great play to lay it out in the slot and all I had to do was finish," Byfuglien said of the sequence that led to the deciding goal.

Bolland added a third-period score, and Patrick Sharp also tallied for the Blackhawks. Antti Niemi was strong for the win, turning aside 44-of-46 shots.

"We can't dwell on this one too long. We have to be ready to end it on Sunday. We have to make sure that Sunday is going to be our best game," Bolland admitted.

The victory upped Chicago's home record in this postseason to 4-3. The Blackhawks, who would visit San Jose for Game 5 on Tuesday if they can't close the series today, were 29-8-4 as the host during the regular season.

Patrick Marleau registered both goals on Friday for San Jose and has scored the Sharks' last four goals in this series. The Sharks only tally in this set not scored by Marleau was Jason Demers' marker in the first period of Game 1.

Dan Boyle assisted on both for the Sharks, who have a ton of work ahead of them if they are to copy the Philadelphia Flyers' feat of recovering from an 0-3 series deficit in the previous round against Boston.

"The reality is we're down 3-0. (It) happened a week ago with two good teams playing and Philadelphia found a way to come back, so there's something to draw in there," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "Plus the fact that we've been in this series I think for every minute. That's got to leave us feeling good."

The problem for the Sharks is, prior to the Flyers' historic comeback last week, the previous team to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a series was the 1975 New York Islanders.

Evgeni Nabokov improved upon his Game 2 performance, surrendering three goals on 38 shots on Friday after allowing four goals on 22 shots in his past outing.

The Sharks, who have never made it to the Cup Finals, are 3-3 as the road team this postseason after going 24-14-3 away from San Jose prior to the playoffs.

This marks the first-ever playoff series between the Sharks and Blackhawks, but Chicago had the upper hand in the 2009-10 season series, taking three out of four from San Jose.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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