Columnist Jeff Haney: Hockey bettors are backing the Blueshirts

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999 | 2:37 a.m.

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com

With the start of the regular season two days away, NHL bettors are in a New York state of mind.

The Rangers, who failed to make the playoffs last year but have since added high-priced free agents Theo Fleury and Valeri Kamensky, are generating a hefty amount of action in local Stanley Cup futures books.

The Stardust opened the Rangers at 40-1 to win the Cup and has since dropped them to 17-1. At the Imperial Palace, gamblers bet the Rangers from 40-1 down to 12-1.

"We expect to see a lot of Stanley Cup action in the next couple of months, once the public has seen how the season is developing," said Stardust sports book director Joe Lupo. "It's a very long season, and hockey teams tend to make a lot of moves as the season goes on."

In fact, some Rangers backers could be betting that Ottawa Senators malcontent Alexei Yashin will end up in New York sometime before the playoffs. If that oft-rumored deal does go down, so will the Rangers' odds.

At the Imperial Palace, the Red Wings (3-1) have replaced the defending champion Stars (4-1) as Stanley Cup favorites.

"I opened Dallas at 3-1 not only because they won the Cup, but because I think they're the best team," said Ed Salmons, sports book manager at the IP. "When no money was coming in on them, I bumped them up to 4."

Bettors haven't been as reluctant to put their money on the Red Wings, a talented but aging squad led by 34-year-old Steve Yzerman.

"We always get strong action on the NHL because we have a lot of tourists coming through," Salmons said. "A lot of them are from the Midwest, and they like to bet on the Red Wings."

Like the Stars, the Flyers haven't attracted much interest so far from bettors at the Imperial Palace. Philadelphia's Eric Lindros is coming back from a collapsed lung suffered late in the regular season. The IP opened the Flyers at 5-1 and has since adjusted the line to 8-1.

Lupo reports the Stardust has seen some Flyers money at 8-1. Other teams drawing attention from Stardust gamblers are the Stars (5-1), the Sabres (10-1) and the Maple Leafs (12-1).

"One thing about hockey is the bigger underdogs always have a chance to get hot in the playoffs and make a run for the Cup," Lupo said. "It's more up for grabs than it is in basketball or baseball."

NHL totals bettors will note the league's rules changes that go into effect this season regarding overtime.

First, teams will skate five-a-side in the five-minute sudden-death period rather than six-a-side. And second, each team will be awarded one point in the standings at the end of regulation when the score is tied, with the first team to score in OT earning a second point.

The adjustments are designed to create more scoring opportunities in OT. Last year, some teams adopted an extremely conservative style of play in OT to secure a tie (worth one point) and avoid a loss (worth zero points).

* AIR AGGIES: The line on Saturday's Texas A&M-Texas Tech game has changed dramatically since July 18, when the Imperial Palace posted it as one of its 1999 college games of the year.

A&M opened as a 6 1/2-point favorite, but that was long before Tech got off to a 1-2 start, including a 21-14 loss to 30-point underdog North Texas. The line went from 6 1/2 to 12 1/2 and then all the way to 17, where it sits today.

"We moved it on air, meaning without any money coming in on it, once it became clear how bad Texas Tech was," said Imperial Palace sports book director Jay Kornegay.

Purdue-Michigan, another IP game of the year, has been drawing solid action from bettors on both sides, Kornegay said. Both teams are 4-0, and Michigan is a 7-point favorite at home Saturday.

"Michigan has been pretty much what we expected, but Purdue has really shown a lot this season," Kornegay said. "We just increased their power rating."

Also Saturday, Texas is favored by 5 1/2 over visiting Kansas State -- the same line Kornegay posted back in July. In the interim, that number has gone as high as 7 and as low as 3.

* BETTORS BOUNCE BACK: Las Vegas sports books scored a small win in a heavily bet Monday night game, but the rest of Week 3 in the NFL belonged to the bettors.

"It was a tough week for the books," said Lupo. "Pro gamblers and the public both had a winning week."

Lupo said the key game at the Stardust -- and most other books -- was the Packers-Vikings, in which Green Bay opened as a small underdog, went off as a small favorite and covered by beating Minnesota 23-20.

"Everyone was on the Packers," Lupo lamented. "That was the biggest game for the public."

Bettors also cashed tickets on the Buccaneers, who were bet from pick 'em to a 3-point favorite and beat Denver 13-10; the Redskins, who got heavy support from gamblers and covered against the reeling Jets; and the Bills, a popular team this past week simply because they were playing the woeful Eagles.

Monday night, the favored 49ers did cover the spread in a 24-10 win over the Cardinals. But most bettors, for once, were on the underdog.

"Anytime you get that kind of money on the underdog, you're going to have a very heavily bet game, because you're always going to get public action on the favorite on Monday night," Lupo said. "There's been a lot of media hype surrounding (Cardinals quarterback) Jake Plummer, and I think many bettors were buying into that hype."

* CONTEST WINNERS: Five entrants shared the $15,000 prize in Week 3 of the Stardust's free All-American Football Contest. Rafael Rivera, Jose Valdivia, Angie Anderson, Sy Fishman and Flonine Allen all went 15-2 to win $3,000 apiece.

In the Stardust Invitational, Russ Culver (4-3) ousted fellow sports analyst and handicapper Keith Glantz (2-4-1). Handicapper and radio talk-show host Dave Cokin faces sports analyst and handicapper Dave Malinsky at 9 p.m. Friday at the Stardust.