Canucks continue epic road trip against Blackhawks
Hockey Betting Lines
03/05/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will aim for a third straight
victory when they continue their record road trip tonight at United Center
with a test against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Canucks are 6-4-0 on a 14-game swing that began with eight road tests
before the break for the Vancouver Olympics. Vancouver is 16-15-1 as the
road team this season.
After tonight, Vancouver has stops in Nashville, Colorado and Phoenix before
finally returning to British Columbia on March 13 to play Ottawa. That will
begin a five-game homestand at GM Place, where the Canucks haven't played
since January 27.
The Canucks notched an overtime victory Tuesday in Columbus and recorded an
easier win the following night in Detroit. Ryan Kesler collected a pair of
goals, while Daniel and Henrik Sedin each posted three assists as Vancouver
downed the Red Wings, 6-3, at Joe Louis Arena.
Sami Salo, Alex Burrows, Mikael Samuelsson and Kyle Wellwood also scored for
the Canucks. Roberto Luongo stopped 28-of-31 shots for the win.
The Canucks are still in a tight battle for first place in the Northwest
Division and are just two points ahead of Colorado for the division's top
spot.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have split two games since the break, losing a
road decision against the New York Islanders on Tuesday and coming back with
Wednesday's decisive home victory against Edmonton.
Unlike the Canucks, Chicago seems to have a tight grip on the Central Division
with a 14-point lead over Nashville for first place. The Blackhawks are also
second in the Western Conference with 89 points.
Jonathan Toews, Dave Bolland and Marian Hossa each collected a goal and one
assist as Chicago tallied three times in the third period to subdue the
Oilers, 5-2, at United Center.
Dustin Byfuglien and Niklas Hjalmarsson also lit the lamp for the
Blackhawks, winners in five of their last six games.
Cristobal Huet picked up the win with a 12-save performance for Chicago.
Tonight marks the second test of a four-game homestand for the Blackhawks.
Chicago has an excellent 24-6-2 record in the Windy City this season.
The Canucks have taken two of three from Chicago this year and tonight marks
the final regular season matchup between the clubs. Vancouver has won eight
of 12 overall in the series and has taken two straight and seven of its last
nine at the United Center.
<< Rolling Predators visit Red Wings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators will aim for their fourth
consecutive victory when they visit the Detroit Red Wings in tonight's Central
Division battle at Joe Louis Arena.
Nashville is coming off Thursday's win over visiting Los
<< Clippers close out homestand vs. Thunder
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder hope to get back into the win
column when they continue a three-game road trip Friday against the Los
Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
The Thunder suffered a 119-90 loss at Denver on Wednesday,
<< Spurs shoot for season sweep of Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to sweep the season series
from the New Orleans Hornets when the two Southwest Division rivals go at it
tonight from the AT&T Center.
San Antonio has won the first three matchups between
<< Bosh set to return as Raptors host Knicks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors are currently mired in one of their
worst losing spells of the season, but relief finally appears to be on the
way.
With Chris Bosh expected to return to the lineup, the slumping Raptors will
try to re
<< Surging Bucks visit Wizards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks continue their push towards a
postseason berth tonight at Washington's Verizon Center, where the surging
club will shoot for a home-and-home sweep of the struggling Wizards.
Milwaukee posted its seventh
Sabres hope to get on track versus Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling Buffalo Sabres will aim for their first
win since the Olympic break when they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers for
tonight's Eastern Conference battle at HSBC Arena.
The Sabres have lost two straight since th
Hawks to host road-challenged Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks will welcome the Golden State Warriors to
town this evening for a showdown at Philips Arena.
Atlanta can't seem to gain any ground on the Orlando Magic, who are two games
ahead of the Hawks for both first
Southeast-leading Magic to pay a visit to hapless Nets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic will shoot for their fourth straight win
when they visit the lowly New Jersey Nets tonight at the IZOD Center.
Orlando made it three straight wins with a 117-90 victory over the Golden
State Warriors Wedn
Scorching Mavs go for 10th straight win in clash with Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Mavericks have ripped off nine straight wins and
sit comfortably atop the Southwest Division standings. They figure to have a
good chance at hitting 10 wins in a row tonight, when the Sacramento Kings
invade the Lo
Nuggets continue homestand in matchup with Pacers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets are one of the best teams in the NBA at
home and will resume a three-game residency Friday night versus the struggling
Indiana Pacers at the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets posted their third straight win as t
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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