Chara breaks his own record, but Team Alfredsson wins

Hockey Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zdeno Chara's record-breaking blast was part of the highlights at the NHL SuperSkills competition on Saturday.

Chara was captain of his own team that eventually lost to Team Alfredsson, 21-12.

In the hardest shot competition, Chara came into the event with a record 105.4 mph blast in 2011. His first shot shattered that record as it reached 108.8.

In the final round, his shot went down to 107.0, but it was still enough to beat Shea Weber of Nashville, who fired his 106.0 mph.

"It was probably the new stick," said Chara. "It's so much fun out here, and breaking the record adds to it."

Weber had a shot of 104.9 in the first round for the fastest shot for Team Alfredsson, but lost both rounds to Chara.

These two were also the finalists in the 2011 competition.

In the fastest skater competition, Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers defeated Colin Greening of the Ottawa Senators.

The two rookies were the fastest in the opening round, with Greening posting a time of 12.993 and Hagelin skating to a time of 12.963.

The final round, though, saw Hagelin win that one with a time of 13.218 while Greening was just back with a time of 13.303.

"It was kind of tough on the first race because we hadn't been on the ice much lately," said Hagelin. "But that second one I felt real good and was able to win it."

In the breakaway challenge, Patrick Kane of Chicago won to get Team Chara a victory.

After missing his first attempt, Kane donned a Superman cape along with the thick Clark Kent glasses for his second shot.

On that one, he scored as he dove to the ice, threw the puck from the left side to the right with his hand and tapped it in with the stick.

His last attempt saw him use a trick puck that broke up into several pieces when he slapped it.

The winner of the event was determined by fan votes, and Kane garnered 49 percent of the vote to get his team one point.

In the accuracy event Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, who had an appendectomy on January 15, won for Team Chara.

In the qualifying round, he had the fastest score with a time of 13.583 seconds and then beat Matt Read of Philadelphia in the final round with a time of 10.204.

In the skills relay challenge, Team Alfredsson won all three points available.

The skills challenge consists of one-timers, target shooting, passing, puck control and stickhandling skills, eight players on each side compete against each other for the fastest time.

Team Alfredsson had a time of 2:28 in the first round while Team Chara did it in 2:45.

The second round saw Team Alfredsson win again with a time of 2:08 compared to 2:14 for Team Chara.

Each heat won Team Alfredsson a point, and the squad got an extra point for fastest overall time.

In the final event, Team Alfredsson defeated Team Chara in the elimination shootout.

Consisting of breakaway attempts, both teams sent 12 skaters on net and Alfredsson's team scored six times in the first round while Team Chara had just three goals.

It went to another round with the original goal scorers having a second shot and Team Alfredsson scored three more while all three of Team Chara's shooters were stopped.

Steven Stamkos scored in the final round to win the event as John Tavares and Jason Pominville were stopped.

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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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