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04/10/2010 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cam Atkinson's two goals and 20 saves from John Muse led Boston College to a 5-0 victory over Wisconsin in the 2010 NCAA men's ice hockey championship game from Ford Field.
Muse, who recorded his third shutout of the season, improved to 8-0 in NCAA Tournament games after unbeaten performances in the 2008 and 2010 national championship runs.
Chris Kreider and Matt Price also tallied for the Eagles (29-10-3), who won the fourth hockey title in school history and third in the last 10 seasons.
Ben Smith, voted the tourney's Most Outstanding Player, also added a goal for Boston College, which topped Alaska-Fairbanks, Yale and Miami-Ohio to reach the national final for the fourth time in five years.
Scott Gudmandson allowed four goals on 25 shots for the Badgers (28-11-4), who were bidding for their seventh national title and first since beating BC in 2006.
Wisconsin, which had bested Vermont, St. Cloud State and RIT, finished 0-for-3 on the man advantage and were shut out for the first time since a 2-0 setback to St. Cloud State in the WCHA playoffs on March 19.
The Eagles went up 2-0 at 1:38 of the third period when Atkinson's rush down the left side resulted in a backhander that slid through Gudmandson's legs.
Kreider's deft tip of a lead pass from Jimmy Hayes at 3:40 put BC ahead by three, then Atkinson's second of the period -- another backhander -- made it 4-0 for the Eagles at 7:20.
Wisconsin decided to pull its goaltender with 5 1/2 minutes to play, but the move backfired as Price tallied with 4:31 remaining.
Steven Whitney's slick cross-ice pass found Smith in the slot for a high wrister at 12:57 of the opening period and a 1-0 BC lead on the power play.
Muse made five saves in a defensively-oriented first 20 minutes, then stopped nine more pucks in the second period against a more opportunistic Wisconsin attack.
Game Notes
BC leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 12-9-0, and has won three straight since losing in the 2006 title game...Wisconsin forward Derek Stepan left the game after suffering an injury during a collision on BC's third goal and did not return...Boston College head coach Jerry York won his fourth career national title (three with BC, one with Bowling Green)...This was the first men's hockey title game decided with a shutout since Denver beat Maine, 1-0, back in 2004...Attendance was 37,592, setting an all-time record for a college playoff contest.
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Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Vanek had a career night in his return to
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Vanek's firs
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Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dion Phaneuf scored the game-winning goal 2:06
into overtime to give Toronto a 4-3 win over Montreal, but the Canadiens
picked up a point in the process to clinch a playoff berth.
The Canadiens lost t
<< Eveland, Jays shut down O's
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dana Eveland worked 7 1/3 scoreless innings
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Eveland (1-0) gave up just five hits and two walks wi
Sharp-shooting Sixers tame Grizzlies >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marreese Speights scored all 22 of his points
in the second half and the Sixers tied a franchise record by sinking 14 shots
from beyond the arc in a 120-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jason Kapono led
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Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-hitter Ronny Paulino hit a two-run double
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Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Erat scored the lone goal of the
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Iwamura and Duke help Pirates down D'Backs >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Akinori Iwamura went 2-for-4 with a two-run
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Duke (
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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