TORONTO — Jeff Mazin won’t be wearing his St. Louis Blues jersey to the game on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Nope, that baby is framed along with three little pieces of paper he will cherish forever.
A crazy Blues fan? No. In fact, the native of nearby Thornhill, Ontario, grew up a big Leafs fan like most people in these parts.
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But when three long-shot bets he laid on the Blues in Las Vegas found paydirt months later, well, he found a new place in his heart for the 2019 Stanley Cup champions.
Mazin, a 39-year-old criminal defense lawyer in Toronto, won’t be confused whatsoever about his loyalties when St. Louis takes on the Leafs.
“I won’t be torn whatsoever. Go Blues,’’ Mazin said.
Which is what you’d expect from a guy who is over $75,000 (U.S.) richer thanks to them.
Whoa nelly, let’s rewind here.
A little while back, Mazin began occasionally placing long-shot NHL bets when he was in Las Vegas.
“A few years ago I took the Ottawa Senators when they were 75-1 to win the Cup,” he told me on Friday. “And they went to Game 7 double overtime in the conference finals (in May 2017). That was a pretty rough night for me.’’
He laid down another one the following year.
“The next year I got the Jets at 60-1,” Mazin said. “They ended up beating Nashville (in the second round). To me, it looked pretty good at that point. There was just the expansion team they needed to beat next, right?’’
We all know how that turned out.
Undeterred, he laid down two long-shot bets in late July 2018. He took Carolina at 75-1 to win the Cup and the Blues at 30-1 to also win the Cup, laying down $800 on each.
“What put it over the top for me for the Blues is when they made that trade for Ryan O’Reilly,” Mazin said. “To me, that team had everything but a true No. 1 center. As soon as that happened, I was in.
“And well, you know what happened the first half of the season last year.’’
With the Blues in the tank, dead last overall as late as January, at least Mazin didn’t throw out his betting chit.
And wouldn’t you know it, the Blues started to win games like crazy in January. By the All-Star break, the Blues were 22-22-5, still out of playoff spot but on the way back to respectability.
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Mazin just happened to find himself back in Las Vegas that weekend.
“I remember at the Bellagio where I was staying that weekend, they were offering 35-1 (to win the Cup) on St. Louis and I wasn’t interested,’’ Mazin said.
Then enter Lady Gaga, who Mazin was set to see in concert at the Park MGM hotel.
“Great show by the way,’’ Mazin quipped.
“While we were killing some time, getting a drink before the show, we walked into the sportsbook there and just for the hell of it, I saw St. Louis at 75-1,” he said. “I said, `OK, I’ll dance.’’’
He put down $300, which would pay out $22,500 if the Blue won the Cup.
The next day, Mazin was walking down the strip, ventured into the Casino Royale hotel and went to the sportsbook.
“I saw the Blues at 150-1,’’ he said, still marveling at those odds.
With another chit in hand, this time a $2oo bet that would pay out $30,000 if the Blues captured their first Cup in team history, seemed like a good bet. Even if it was placed on the same franchise that seeming found a way to crash out of the playoffs season after season.
All in, between the three bets, Mazin had wagered $1,300, with a potential windfall of $76,500.
Which again, seemed so damn realistic, given the Blues’ playoff history?
“I had always liked their team, Pietrangelo was always top-notch, Parayko, Bouwmeester, they had always had a solid team, they were just missing that No. 1 center,” Mazin said. “When they got O’Reilly, I remember turning to my friends — and most of my friends laughed at me when I picked the Blues — I just said, `Ryan O’Reilly is the missing piece of the puzzle. He’s Bergeron West.’ And ironically, those two guys met in the final.’’
But before O’Reilly and Bergeron met in the final, there was a crazy journey to get there for every Blues fan, plus one new member that had more than heartache at stake.
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First, some logistics. Once both Carolina and St. Louis made it to the second round, Mazin wisely put his betting chits in a safety deposit box. It was getting real now. He had two chances to cash in big out of eight teams left.
Then there was Game 7, Stars versus Blues, that went into double overtime.
Mazin had to call a Toronto midtown bar ahead of the game to ensure that the game would be on one of their TVs. You would think being in Canada that wouldn’t be an issue, right?
“The Raptors were playing that night also,’’ Mazin said of his hometown NBA team that was in the midst of a championship run.
“We basically ended up with a private room there, with both games on, the Raptors on one and the Blues game on the other,’’ Mazin said.
He admits a few follicles were pulled out that night.
“I just remember in overtime when a Stars player (Jamie Benn) had a wrap-around and Binnington didn’t quite get over, had the Stars player just got one more step out, got his stick out just a bit more, that would have been it.’’
On to the conference finals, with both of his Hurricanes and Blues Cup bets still alive.
“It could have been the perfect storm had Boston not knocked off Carolina,’’ Mazin said. “I would have had my feet up in the Cup final.’’
Instead, the ‘Canes got waxed by the Bruins and the Blues, well, they went down 2-1 in the Western Conference final after that missed hand pass, overtime goal by the Sharks in Game 3.
“I almost got physically ill that night,’’ Mazin said with a laugh.
The Blues would rally, of course, and were set to face the Bruins in the Cup final, but as underdogs. Mazin attended Game 4 in St. Louis, where he bought that Blues sweater that now sits framed on his wall at home.
Watching at home in Toronto, the Blues were home for Game 6 with a chance to win it all that night. And deliver some major cash to Mazin.
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“I remember Don Cherry on Coach’s Corner saying, `If the Blues don’t win tonight, I guarantee you they won’t win in Boston,’’’ recalls Mazin, which by the way is exactly how I felt at the time. “That made me nervous because generally, Don gets most of it right.’’
The Bruins won big, setting the stage for Game 7 in Boston.
But then Mazin got to thinking about how good the Blues had been on the road in the playoffs (9-4 before Game 7) and how well Binnington would bounce back after bad games.
Mind you, the opening half period in Game 7 was so tilted in favor of Boston, that Mazin wasn’t feeling great right away.
“Put it this way, after the first 10-15 minutes of the opening period, I was just hoping for 0-0 after the first period,’’ he said.
“I had no delusions at all of it being 2-0 St. Louis.’’
And of course, we know how that night ended. Glory for Gloria.
Now the part of jumping on a plane and going to collect in Las Vegas.
“I wanted to be on a plane the following weekend, but I held off a little bit,’’ he laughs.
He went down with a few pals eventually.
“So it wasn’t a solo mission to collect the money.’’
He went to the Park MGM first to collect on his 75-1 bet.
“I handed him the ticket, and I tried to warn him a little bit because I’m sure that doesn’t happen every day,’’ Mazin said. “I said to him, `The Blues really came through for me.’ He wasn’t really listening. He put it through the machine.’’
Suddenly, three people behind the counter start talking to each other.
“Eventually, I got a cheque, which was nice because I didn’t want to be carrying that amount of cash.’’
Next, it was off to the Wynn to cash in on the 30-1 ticket, where the sportsbook folks gave him chips to carry to the cashier.
“So they gave me, I guess it was four, $5,000 chips and four $1,000 chips. And guess where the cashier was? On the other side of the casino,’’ he says laughing.
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With chips in hand, he managed to resist the urge to lay down a crazy bet as he walked across the floor to cash in.
“I made it to the other side of the casino with my buddy and got a cheque,’’ he said.
Finally, it was Casino Royale time.
“I cashed in the biggest one there, a $30,000 payout, they insisted on paying me in cash,’’ Mazin said. “So here I am holding $30,000 in cash and I’m not about to walk back down the strip where I was staying. They were very nice about it, they arranged to have a security escort walk me to a cab.’’
And he got back home to Toronto safely, $76,500 richer.
“I didn’t leave any money in Vegas, by the way,’’ he chuckled.
Oh, and he placed two more long-shot bets before this season began.
Take a guess as to which teams he placed wagers on?
“I was surprised that the Blues were getting as little respect as they were getting this summer given that they won it all,’’ he said. “I saw them as high as 20-1 this summer at one place. To me, out of general principle, that’s something you got to take a long look at.
“Another team not getting enough respect, those bunch of jerks in Carolina.’’
So yes, this summer he laid down Cup-winning bets on both the Blues (20-1) and Hurricanes (40-1) yet again.
And while he won’t be taking that Alex Pietrangelo sweater out of its frame, he will be wearing some Blues gear Monday night.
“I’ll be wearing a Play Gloria t-shirt!,’’ Mazin exclaimed.
He can certainly afford it.
(Top photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)