LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Oilers not only have the opportunity to bring the long-awaited Stanley Cup back to Canada, they also could bring a major financial windfall to two Colorado sports bar owners.
An Edmonton championship couldn’t come at a better time for Jeremy Malone and Judson Dymond, whose establishment was forced to close after an arsonist burned it Jan. 26.
Two weeks earlier, they placed a three-team parlay with BetMGM Sportsbook that would pay $584,000 if the Oilers beat the Florida Panthers in the final, which begins Saturday. Their $1,000 wager hit on the first two legs when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl and European soccer power Real Madrid claimed the Champions League title.
Malone was in Arizona with a friend over the weekend when Real Madrid won and the Oilers closed out the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.
“It was a very good weekend,” Malone said.
Malone said he and Dymond have taken out a partial hedge bet on the Panthers in case the Oilers don’t come through, guaranteeing them a profit either way.
“We made the (larger) bet in the beginning,” Malone said. “We’re gamblers when it comes down to it. We still want the Oilers.”
The timing is especially good after an arsonist broke into and burned down The Sportsbook Bar & Grill in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Insurance is taking care of the rebuild and revenue losses that includes paying employees, so the extra money will assist in making improvements to the sports bar.
“It was a very surreal phone call,” Malone said. “You get there and you see water pouring out of the front of your building because of all the sprinklers. It’ll be built back better. It keeps getting pushed back because of city stuff, permit stuff. I feel bad for our employees. A lot of these people are with us five, six, seven years.”
A person was arrested and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
