NHL Betting: Marty Turco Wagers On Game From Blackhawks Bench
It’s been an up-and-down season for the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, but things got just a bit weirder on Tuesday night during a game between the Hawks and Montreal Canadiens. A Habs fan claims that he and Blackhawks netminder Marty Turco made a wager regarding the game’s outcome.
The nameless fan called in to a Montreal-based radio program and recounted the story of the numerous wagers he and Turco made during the game, starting after Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri scored the first goal.
A photo on Twitter shows Turco sitting on the end of the Chicago bench accepting a Canadian $5 bill from the fan, on which the fan wrote “Habs Rules!” in black Sharpie.
When the Canadiens won 2-1 in overtime, the fan claims Turco handed him a stack of $5 bills, including the original bill, but crossed out “Habs” and wrote “Turco” above it.
In a text message to ESPNChicago.com, Turco admitted to passing the $5 in question back and forth with the fan, but did not admit to accepting any wagers with him.
Exhibit 14.2 of the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, which applies directly to NHL players, explicitly states “gambling on any NHL Game is prohibited.”
The NHL has refused to comment on the situation to this point, but you can bet they’ll launch an investigation. Bodog has -140 odds that Marty Turco will be fined for his actions and +100 odds that he won’t. Place your bets now and check out out all of Bodog’s NHL props in the online sportbsook.
This is hardly the worst case of gambling in sports history. We’ve seen how other sports have dealt with those involved in the games making wagers on their sports, from the Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919 to Pete Rose to the NBA game fixing scandal in 2007.
Turco signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Blackhawks prior to the 2010-11 season. So far things haven’t exactly gone according to plan.
His record for the season is 11-11-3. He has a 3.02 goals against average and an .897 save percentage, which doesn’t even put him in the top-30 among NHL goalies in either category. He hasn’t started a game for the Blackhawks since Feb. 11 and hasn’t even seen game action since March 17. Since Feb. 1, Turco has logged 258:27 minutes of game time. He has to find something to do in the meantime.
The Blackhawks are holding onto eighth-place in the Western Conference, fighting off Turco’s former team, the Dallas Stars as well as the Calgary Flames for the final admittance into the playoffs. The Hawks have 20/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
With only three games left in the season, Chicago has a game in hand over Calgary, who take on Edmonton tonight at home. Chicago will finish the season with games against St. Louis followed by a home-and-home against the Red Wings, who clinched the Central Division title last Sunday.
With so much at stake, don’t let Marty Turco hog all the fun.
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