World Cup betting players know that their best players have to play well if their country is going to win the big tournament this summer, and the same goes in the NHL, where one line is taking some heat for a tough opening to their series.

The Sharks' big line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley were lauded for their performances in the last series against Detroit, as they stepped up their game against an elite team. However, it was back to normal for the trio in the Sharks' 2-1 loss to Chicago in Game 1 of their Western Conference final as they were on the ice for both of the Blackhawks' goals, although Marleau did assist on the Sharks' power-play goal by Jason Demers. At least Heatley was taking his chances with five shots on goal; Marleau had just two, while Thornton had one, and this is not the type of performance that your big players need to have if you want to win a championship in any sport.

We're not even sure if Thornton, Marleau and Heatley will get better throughout the series, because these three have never been known to step up in crunch time. This is why it was such a big deal when they came up big against the Red Wings, because we knew they had the talent, but the heart was an issue. This is why we're not confident in placing a sports bet on San Jose right now.