 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Avs resume homestand with visit from BluesHockey Betting Lines02/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to forge a tie atop the Northwest Division standings tonight, when they welcome the St. Louis Blues for a battle at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche have 70 points and are two behind idle Vancouver for the top spot in the Northwest. Colorado has won two of its last three games after ending January with three straight regulation losses. Colorado notched a win over lowly Edmonton on Saturday, as Craig Anderson needed to make only 20 stops to record his sixth shutout of the season in the 3-0 home victory. Of Anderson's six shutouts this season, three have come against the Oilers. It was quite the turnaround from Anderson's previous start, when he yielded five goals on 36 shots in Thursday's loss at Nashville. "I think it was just a great group effort tonight," Anderson said. "You need a little bit of luck to get some shutouts, and we're playing really well defensively against this team." Wojtek Wolski, Ryan Wilson and Brandon Yip each scored for the Avalanche, who are playing the second test of a four-game homestand tonight. Colorado is 17-8-2 as the host this year and has won six of its last eight in Denver. Avs rookie forward Ryan O'Reilly suffered a bruised foot in Saturday's game and is questionable for tonight. O'Reilly has seven goals and 20 points in 57 games this season. The Blues, meanwhile, come into tonight with 59 points on the season. They are 13th in the Western Conference and seven points out of a playoff spot. St. Louis, which has lost two straight and three of its last four games, is coming off Saturday's close regulation loss against visiting Chicago. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp scored first-period goals as the Blackhawks held on to take the 2-1 win at Scottrade Center. Alexander Steen scored on a 5-on-3 advantage in the final two minutes for the Blues. Chris Mason let in both goals on 30 shots. "(Scoring) can be tough -- it's like not being able to get a clutch hit; it's like not being able to punch it in in the red zone," said Blues head coach Davis Payne. "It's the part of the game that you need to execute in order to win." The Blues have been much better on the road than at home this year, posting a 16-8-4 mark as the guest compared to a 9-16-5 record in the Gateway City. St. Louis, which will begin a three-game homestand tomorrow against Detroit, has won three of its last four on the road. Colorado won its only meeting this season against the Blues, posting a 4-0 win in St. Louis on December 7. The Blues have still won four of the last six matchups in the series, and they have also taken three of the past five encounters between these teams held in Denver.
<< Giguere seeks to continue hot streak as Leafs host Sharks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The new-look Toronto Maple Leafs will test themselves tonight against the top team in the Western Conference, as they host the San Jose Sharks at Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs ended January on a six-game losing streak
<< Ramblers try to cool off red-hot Bulldogs
<< Jayhawks and Longhorns duke it out in Austin
<< Villanova visits West Virginia in Big East showdown
<< Colonials face tall task in clash with Panthers
Devils, Flyers ready to renew rivalry >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk will seek his first goal in a New Jersey Devils uniform when his new team visits the rival Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Wachovia Center for the opener of a home-and-home series between Atlantic Division foes.
Streaking Kings try to continue mastery of rival Ducks >>
Coyotes hope to rebound against visiting Oilers >>
Bolton's Cahill could miss remainder of season >>
Stoke's Fuller arrested >>
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting. "They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over." Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.) According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26. As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines). Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday. Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind. *UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007 New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results. "We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games." While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season." About MySportsbook.com Sports Casino Poker To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Master Card needs. |
|
