The newly formed Vegas Golden Knights have gone from last to first in the betting across the season and are now one series away from the most unlikely of Stanley Cup victories.
Many American sports teams go through long droughts before they achieve success, with the Chicago Cubs enduring 108 years before breaking their streak, this could be the reason bookies didn’t give the Vegas Golden Knights a prayer at the start of the season, installing them as 500/1 shots for glory.
Nonetheless, led by Head Coach Gerard Gallant and GM George McPhee, the Golden Knights have surprised everyone consistently, winning their division comfortably before sweeping the Kings and dispatching San Jose 4-2 and Winnipeg 4-1 in the play-offs.
Oddschecker Spokesman George Elek: “Football has its Leicester City story, boxing has Buster Douglas.
“Now hockey could receive a monumental underdog story of its own if the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup.
“Available at 500/1 before the season started, they’ve shocked bookies by consistently winning and now stand on the cusp of history. It would take a brave punter to back against them now.”
Oddschecker also revealed Since the start of the season, a total of 46% of all bets on the eventual winner of the Stanley Cup have been placed on the Vegas team, including punters getting on at 500/1, 300/1, 100/1 and 66/1.
A number of bookies now have the Golden Knights at odds-on to win the Stanley Cup, although you can still get a best price of 11/10 on the biggest sporting shock of the last 12 months having a fairy-tale ending.
Vegas will play either the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Washington Capitals in the Finals, with the former favoured at 9/4 to win the Stanley Cup compared to the Caps at 7/2.
Source: SBC News
