Online betting fans finally saw Allen Iverson sign a contract today, proving that he does not in fact have cooties. However, the jury may still be out on Marc Savard.

Here’s a guy who gets it done year after year in the NHL yet continuously gets shipped out of town. New York sent him to Calgary. The Flames dealt him to Atlanta. He blossomed as a Thrasher, hitting the 97-point mark, yet walked as an unrestricted free agent. Now, after seasons of 96, 78 and 88 points, he enters his final the final year of his contract as a Boston Bruin and I’ve heard no buzz about him re-signing.

Savard is like…hmm…Jeff Garcia in NFL betting? No one wants him even though he consistently plays pretty darned well. The worst snub of all: Team Canada. He’s never sniffed an Olympic invite and wasn’t even considered at the big camp.

Here’s a speedy, feisty, creative offensive player, capable of making noise in international play, yet Canada doesn’t even give him a chance. Though he’d be hard-pressed to make the team, It’s hard to believe he didn’t earn a shot over Andy McDonald, Dan Cleary or even washed-up Ryan Smyth.

Well, Marc, I guess you’ll have to just keep doing what you do best — rack up points on a first-place team and keep boosting its hockey odds.  2009-10 will be kind to you anyways, as you may very well win a Stanley Cup. I’m betting management for Team Canada will look silly if (when?) that happens.

I suppose I should discuss offshore sportsbook picks, but c’mon, it’s the offseason. Let’s riff a little, have some fun at retired NHLers’ expense.

I’m betting, unless you’re a real dieheard hockey fan of 20-plus years, that you haven’t heard of Chris Nilan. Well, he was one of the more prolific goons of the late 1980s and early 1990s, playing with Montreal and Boston.

Apparently he was just arrested for trying to steal a bathing suit, which he was wearing under his clothes at a retail outlet. He apparently took a swing at a security guard and wrestled with cops on the ground before proclaiming he “just wanted to save a few bucks.”

I can’t begin to process the sadness of this scenario. Former tough guy, beaten down and forced to steal a bathing suit and rumble with cops? I feel bad even writing about it after he made so many hockey games worth the price per head in his career.

Thanks for at least defying any sports predictions I could’ve made this summer, Chris.

In the Final Four odds, Villanova and Michigan State have sneaked (sorry, “snuck” isn’t a word) their way to success. In NHL betting, Tim Thomas keeps doing the same.

The stumpy late bloomer with a hideous, beer-league style keeps on chugging for the mighty Boston Bruins. His stats this year: 32-11-7 with a 2.13 GAA, .931 save percentage and four shutouts. Wow. That’s not just a sportsbook hot streak. That’s Dominik Hasek territory.

Before you call Timmy a total fluke, remember that he was an All-Star last season too, posting a line of 28-19-6/2.44/.921 with three shutouts. Online betting fans have to wonder if he’ll steal the Vezina Trophy from Steve Mason. I wouldn’t give it to Thomas — Mason has way less defensive support, as Columbus doesn’t have a Chara or even a Wideman — but he sure has established himself as a premiere netminder in NHL betting.

Thomas’ last hurdle: playoff performance. He hasn’t won a series yet, thoug he’s only had one opportunity. For the Bruins to avoid being upset in the first round of Stanley Cup betting, he’ll have to bet at his best .

Nope, not gonna talk about March Madness betting or Don Cherry today. You can get your hoops fix elsewhere and Cherry — well, let me just say I told you so. Today, let’s enjoy the best NHL betting goalie freakout I’ve seen in a long time. Technically, this isn’t even NHL betting — Boston’s Tuukka Rask is a Providence Bruin right now — but you get the idea. Watch as Rask loses his mind after what he believed were botched calls on rule violations during a shootout:

On one hand, it’s hard for online betting fans to blame Rask. I think he was right — at least about the first goal. But this still probably won’t help his chances of getting a callup any time soon. Oh well — Ron Hextall would be proud. And with these types of freakouts, you can bet at the sportsbook that they’re not one-time things either. So maybe Rask will dazzle us NHL betting fans with another tantrum soon…

Sniff, sniff. What’s that? March Madness betting? Well, yeah. Memphis is freaking me out right now (currently up by one with six and a half minutes to go).  So you could say I’m smelling a major upset in the March Madness odds, I suppose.

But I’m also really starting to smell a first-round meltdown for the Boston Bruins in NHL betting. Hey, I don’t mean to dis the Bruins; they’re in great shape for the next five to 10 years, with a plethora of big, agile young forwards and thoroughbreds on defense. You could almost say they’re a team of Cam Neelys.

But what the many online betting fans who romanticize Neely’s career — myself included — forget is that Neely’s style of play wore him out and left him perpetually banged up. Is it just me, or is that happening to the Bruins a bit? We’re seeing hulking wingers like Milan Lucic and Michael Ryder miss time…Phill Kessel too.

Can’t help but wonder about the goaltending in crunch time. Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez have been a great tandem but they have so little playoff experience….Any of the current five through eight seeds  — Pittsburgh, New York, Montreal and Carolina — could give the Bruins major headaches in the NHL betting playoffs.

Be careful, sportsbook players!