Well, well, well…just when we think the scandal machine has calmed down…just when we were ready to put our feet up and enjoy a long Saturday of games followed by the UFC 95 odds…a doozie of a controversy hits Montreal.

Yep — you’ll have to forgive Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, not to mention Roman Hamrlik, if they struggle to help their team in NHL betting matchups for the next while. La Presse broke the story — Pasquale Mangiola, who was recently arrested for drug trafficking and illegal weapons, is apparently a good chum of said Habs trio, especially the brothers from Belarus. The way I see it, the scandal can break three ways…I’ve created some sportsbook lines for you online betting nuts.

OPTION 1: KOSTITSYNS ARE ALSO CRIME BARONS/HIRED MUSCLE FOR MANGIOLA (+200)

They may seem like pansies on the ice, but NHL hockey players look like football players when they’re in public. Maybe they’re Pasquale’s muscle…nicknamed the “Sticks Brothers” for their ability to whack information out of suspected rats.

ANDREI: “YOU. YOU, BAD MAN. ARE YOU WEARING WIRE?”

SERGEI: “WE WILL PUNISH YOU!”

(hockey stick beating ensues)

OPTION 2: KOSTITSYNS “DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS A MOBSTER” (-100)

It sorta makes sense, right? Fairly new to the country, you run into a guy who adores you…buys you stuff…wines and dines you…goes to all your tennis matches….oh, wait. I was thinking of Sergei Fedorov and Anna Kournikova.

OPTION 3: KOSTITYSNS ARE UNDERCOVER COPS (-350)

It’s the perfect trap! The Feds (the RCMP in this case?) Find out Mangiola loves hockey…plant the Kostitsyns in a bar…and voila! Mangiola takes the bait. How else could all the phone calls have been recorded? Huh? This option gets my NHL betting pick.