No matter what happens in the next couple of weeks, an ignominious drought or two is about to come to an end in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Vancouver Canucks have an opportunity to win the franchise’s first championship in its 40^th year in the NHL. The Boston Bruins have been waiting nearly as long, last sipping from Lord Stanley’s mug in 1972, an
eternity for the storied Original Six franchise.

The Canucks also have a chance to bring the Cup back to Canada after 18 years of frustrating American dominance.

For one franchise, a tremendous monkey will finally be off their back. For the other, the disappointment will continue. So who will it be?

The matchup pits two top Vezina contenders against one another. The Bruins’ acrobatic, emotional veteran Tim Thomas will likely take the trophy after a fantastic regular season, but Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo has arguably been a bit better in the postseason. They enter the Finals with almost identical stats – the same 2.29 GAA, nearly-identical save percentages, and 12 wins apiece – but Thomas looked shaky in a pair of losses against the Lightning in the Eastern finals. Luongo, on the other hand, has settled down after an up-and-down first-round series against the Blackhawks and is absolutely on top of his game. He stymied the talented Sharks offence in the last two games of their Conference Finals despite the fact the Canucks were routinely outshot. Either way, as cliché as it may be to say, goaltending is going to be crucial to this series and two of the league’s best will take the ice.

It’s fair to say, though, that Thomas has the bigger challenge ahead of him. After Ryan Kesler and the Canucks second line carried them through the first two rounds, the Art Ross-winning Sedin twins came alive against the Sharks, playing like the dominant offensive force they’re expected to be. When the Sedins are playing well, Vancouver scores a lot. Thomas is going to be very busy.

Boston, on the other hand, hasn’t been particularly explosive on offence. The emergence of rookie Tyler Seguin early in the Eastern Conference Finals offered a nice boost, but they rely on a more physical, balanced attack featuring Milan Lucic, David Krejci (who scored the Bruins’ first playoff hat trick in two decades against the Lightning) and Nathan Horton. The Bruins biggest problem on offence has been their remarkably awful power play. Veteran defenceman Tomas Kaberle, acquired at the trade deadline to help coordinate the B’s special teams, has been a huge disappointment, and so far Boston has only converted on eight per cent of their man-advantage opportunities.

The Canucks, on the other hand, rode their stellar special teams to the top of the NHL standings in the regular season and have continued that play in the post-season.

The pick

If all of the above suggests that the Canucks should be heavy favourites, well, they should. Yes, they can be a bit soft at times, but they’ve been the best team in hockey all year and seem to have overcome all the criticisms about their past playoff failings. The Bruins are tough and well-coached, and Thomas can win games single-handedly at times, but at the end of the day they’re just overmatched. The city of Boston will have to suffer the shame of watching the Canucks parade the Cup around the TD Garden before going home to reflect on their NBA, MLB, and NFL championships to make themselves feel better.

Canucks in six
.

2011 Belmont betting players have witnessed some wide-open odds when it comes to the Triple Crown races, and they’ll get another one on June 11^th, but Vancouver has been the favorite for the Stanley Cup for most of the season, so it’s no surprise that they’re the breeders cup betting favorites to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup, even though we don’t know who they’re playing yet.

Vancouver (-225): The Canucks are resting after dispatching of San Jose in five games, which is good news for Ryan Kesler, who hurt his leg in the series clincher, but still managed to score the goal that sent the game into overtime. Vancouver has been the best team in the NHL from top to bottom this season, so it’s no surprise that they’re the favorites.

Boston (+290): The Bruins still have to get rid of the Lightning on Friday night at home in Boston in a massive Game 7, the second of the playoffs for both teams. But outside of goaltender Tim Thomas, the Bruins have been inconsistent, and it’s because of Thomas that they’re even still in the postseason.

Tampa Bay (+600): The Lightning have a very good chance to escape Boston with a win, much like they did in Pittsburgh in the first round. Tampa Bay’s explosive offense always gives them a chance to win, even when their goaltending is shaky, but it may not be enough to overcome Vancouver at your favored betting website.

PayPerHead.com, an online sportsbook service provider for local agents, today unveiled a new campaign featuring Vince Curatola, Johnny Sack of The Sopranos fame.

The campaign leads with Vince asking “Five bucks head, that’s what I wanna pay…” and the website, featuring video and voice overs by Vince, walks you through the product, the process and the competition.

“Five bucks a head is really an industry first given our level of service,” a spokesman from PayPerHead.com explained. “And we very carefully and in great detail delineate on the website exactly what you get and at what price level at PayPerHead versus the other serious players, such as Bookie Buddy”.

You get a tremendous amount of price per head betting services, including not only the traditional online sportsbook but an optional casino, live poker, in game live betting, mobile betting, tools for managing players and their funds, layoff and scalp accounts, even a “sharp check.” “We have the sharpest lines out there and one of the most experienced stages anywhere offshore,” the spokesman said, “so if we start seeing sharp action from one of your players, we can give you a heads up. What you want to do with him is up to you.”

The choice of Vince Curatola was an interesting one. “We always liked Vince’s character on The Sopranos, as John “Johnny Sack” Sacramoni,” the PayPerHead spokesman said. “He had a certain style, classy, but not over the top; there’s a calmness and authority about him that we really admire.  He brings that serious business demeanor to PayPerHead.com, the first sportsbook-service to EVER feature any kind of celebrity in its marketing.”

With post-up books like BetUS, Sportsbook.com and SportsInteraction stopping taking US players, Bodog and others struggling with “Ecom” processing problems, the street scene is heating up and players are posting daily in forums looking for a “local out.” Players want the huge selection of markets, including live in-game betting, and the convenience of anytime betting online or via their mobile, but more and more say “they want to bet online but prefer to settle in cash on Monday.”

Is this the future of online sports betting? It very well could be. And with firms like PayPerHead.com investing in marketing in an unprecedented way (celebs, who’d have thunk it?!) and in product (they also offer live poker, casino and in-game betting), expect to see this sector grow significantly this season.

For more information, see PayPerHead.com.

It’s hard to believe we’re only slightly more than halfway through the 2011 NHL Playoffs, given the glut of long, dramatic series we’ve already been treated to.

Every team left standing has battled through a Game 7, and with both Conference Finals looking fairly evenly-matched, they could face another.Surviving a marathon playoff run requires some standout performances, and there have been plenty.

Though there’s still plenty of playoff hockey left to be played, let’s take a look at a few players with a good shot at taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.

Tim Thomas, G, Boston Bruins

Thomas was probably the leading candidate for the award before the start of the Eastern Conference Finals. He was magnificent for the first two rounds, looking every bit like a guy poised to win his second Vezina trophy.

But after allowing nine in the first two games against the Lightning, many of the sloppy variety, he seems to be taking himself out of the Conn Smythe race. He appears to be having trouble locating the puck, to the point that Bruins are lucky to have managed a split at home with such shoddy playbetween the pipes.

Still, if Thomas can right the ship and lead Boston to their first cup in nearly 40 years, he’ll merit serious consideration.

Dwayne Roloson, G, Tampa Bay Lightning

Roloson’s postseason has mirrored Thomas’s to a large degree. He’s been the anchor of the Lightning’s effective – and busy – penalty-killing unit, and led all playoff goalies in save percentage.

Until last night. Led by Tyler Seguin – more on him later – the Bruins offense repeatedly undressed Roloson to the tune of six goals on only 27 shots.

If he doesn’t get more help from his blue line, Roloson’s phenomenal postseason could go to waste.

Ryan Kesler, C, Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver’s run to the top of the NHL standings was usually credited to goaltender Roberto Luongo and Art Ross-winning forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin, but Kesler has, without question, been the heart and soul of their playoff run. He was all over the ice in Round 1 against the Blackhawks, keeping Jonathan Toews in check while pressuring the blue line with his aggressive, attacking style.

He saved his best for Round 2, however, when he put on a performance for the ages against the Nashville Predators. With the Sedins held in check by Ryan Suter and Shea Weber, Kesler picked up the slack on offence, scoring or assisting on all but three of the Canucks goals in the series while maintaining his stellar two-way play

With Roberto Luongo having a good-but-not-great postseason, Kesler should take home the hardware if the Canucks can complete their terrific season with a Stanley Cup.

Ryane Clowe, RW, San Jose Sharks

Joe Thornton has been his usual, All-Star self in the post-season and certainly merits consideration, but Clowe has been the real sparkplug for the Sharks, bringing a physical presence to their second line and tying Thornton for the team lead with 13 points. His value was made all the more obvious by his absence in Game 6 against the Red Wings, when the Sharks looked unusually flat.

Dark Horse: Tyler Seguin, C, Boston Bruins

Alright, he really doesn’t qualify given that he didn’t play in the first two rounds, but Seguin has completely transformed the Bruins’ offence in his first two career playoff games and deserves some recognition. The 2^nd overall pick in the 2010 draft has been making NHL news headlines with six points already in the Eastern Conference Finals; his speed and playmaking ability having caught the Lightning totally off-guard. If Claude Julien hadn’t stubbornly left him as a healthy scratch against the Canadiens and Flyers, he might be right there in the Conn Smythe discussion.

And who knows, if he keeps this up and Thomas continues to struggle, he could emerge as one of the best players on a Cup-winning team.

2011 Preakness betting players have one race to worry about, but the Stanley Cup playoffs is a marathon, and a grueling one at that. We’re down to the final four teams in the postseason, and here is a look at how the odds are breaking down.

Vancouver (+175): The Canucks should be the favorites, given that they won the Presidents’ Cup, survived a tough series with their nemesis from Chicago, then they came out on top against Nashville. Ryan Kesler has been unbelievable, but Henrik and Daniel Sedin need to raise their game to get the Canucks to the Cup finals.

Boston (+260): The Bruins will go into the next round without Patrice Bergeron, who is a two-way star and arguably the best faceoff man left in the playoffs. Bergeron suffered another concussion against Philadelphia, and he’ll probably be out for the rest of the playoffs, which hurts the Bruins more than you think.

Tampa Bay (+390): The Lightning are coming off a sweep of Washington, and they’re deeper than you think, although their best players have been Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. However, Dwayne Roloson has been outstanding in goal, and the difference-maker for the Lightning.

San Jose (+650): The Sharks did a lot to shed their labels as chokers by holding off Detroit in Game 7, after losing a 3-0 series lead, but now they’ll have their hands full with Vancouver. Both teams have demons to exorcise in this series, and it’s going to be an epic for online sports betting players.