Fans bet on sports for the competition and the thrill of winning. Athletes who have had a long and successful career often do not know when it is time to hang up the skates or refuse to accept the fact that their careers may be over. As we enter the 2011-2012 NHL season, there are two players who should strongly consider taking pride in their great careers and riding off into the sunset of retirement.

Chris Osgood – Goalie

When online casino hockey fans in Detroit were unhappy with rookie goaltender Jimmy Howard two years ago, veteran Chris Osgood tried to come in to save the day. The last time Osgood did that, he displaced Dominick Hasek and took the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup win. But two years ago, it did not work out that way. Howard was quickly reinstated as the Detroit goaltender and Osgood has been on the bench ever since. After three Stanley Cup championships, it may be time for Osgood to move on in his life and retire.

Mike Modano – Forward

Mike Modano is a legend in Dallas and throughout American hockey. The Detroit Red Wings have given Modano a hockey home the past couple of seasons, but it may be time for the 41-year-old American-born player to hang up the skates. A couple of teams have expressed interest in Modano, but the high salary he will command will scare most of those teams away. While Modano is still considered to be on top, he should consider spending his time getting bass fishing advice as opposed to trying to squeeze one more season out his great career.

The sports betting world loves the free agency signing period in just about any sport, but it seems to have taken on a holiday-like atmosphere with the NHL. While some sports fans were MLB baseball betting, others were watching NHL free agency signings very closely. Here is a list of the teams that seemed to have gained the most.

Buffalo Sabres

New Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula promised moves to make the team a contender, and he is trying to deliver. The Sabres went from one of the worst defensive units in the league to one of the best with the signings of Robyn Regher and Christian Ehrhoff. The more curious signing was giving $4.7 million a year to former Flyers forward Ville Leino. If the move pays off, the Sabres could be starting on the road to Stanley Cup contention.

New York Rangers

The Rangers made the biggest splash in signing forward Brad Richards, but the Richards signing overshadowed a series of good moves made by the Rangers. Forward Ruslan Fedotenko, forward Mike Rupp, defensman Michael Sauer and center Artem Anisimov could make for a very interesting Rangers team in 2011-2012.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues keep plugging away at their team, and they have made two free agent signings that went unnoticed, but could help St. Louis contend this season. Forwards Jason Arnott from Washington and Jamie Langenbrunner from the Dallas Stars are now St. Louis Blues. That will definitely help the Blues’ offense generate more points. St. Louis fans hope it will be enough to push St. Louis into a playoff spot in 2011-2012.

PayPerHead.com, an online sportsbook service provider for local agents, today unveiled a new campaign featuring Vince Curatola, Johnny Sack of The Sopranos fame.

The campaign leads with Vince asking “Five bucks head, that’s what I wanna pay…” and the website, featuring video and voice overs by Vince, walks you through the product, the process and the competition.

“Five bucks a head is really an industry first given our level of service,” a spokesman from PayPerHead.com explained. “And we very carefully and in great detail delineate on the website exactly what you get and at what price level at PayPerHead versus the other serious players, such as Bookie Buddy”.

You get a tremendous amount of price per head betting services, including not only the traditional online sportsbook but an optional casino, live poker, in game live betting, mobile betting, tools for managing players and their funds, layoff and scalp accounts, even a “sharp check.” “We have the sharpest lines out there and one of the most experienced stages anywhere offshore,” the spokesman said, “so if we start seeing sharp action from one of your players, we can give you a heads up. What you want to do with him is up to you.”

The choice of Vince Curatola was an interesting one. “We always liked Vince’s character on The Sopranos, as John “Johnny Sack” Sacramoni,” the PayPerHead spokesman said. “He had a certain style, classy, but not over the top; there’s a calmness and authority about him that we really admire.  He brings that serious business demeanor to PayPerHead.com, the first sportsbook-service to EVER feature any kind of celebrity in its marketing.”

With post-up books like BetUS, Sportsbook.com and SportsInteraction stopping taking US players, Bodog and others struggling with “Ecom” processing problems, the street scene is heating up and players are posting daily in forums looking for a “local out.” Players want the huge selection of markets, including live in-game betting, and the convenience of anytime betting online or via their mobile, but more and more say “they want to bet online but prefer to settle in cash on Monday.”

Is this the future of online sports betting? It very well could be. And with firms like PayPerHead.com investing in marketing in an unprecedented way (celebs, who’d have thunk it?!) and in product (they also offer live poker, casino and in-game betting), expect to see this sector grow significantly this season.

For more information, see PayPerHead.com.