Flames burn Avalanche

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kristian Huselius had a pair of goals and added an assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche in the second of three meetings between the teams in a six-day span.

Jarome Iginla scored a goal and added an assist for Calgary, which has won two of three. Dion Phaneuf and Stephane Yelle also tallied for the Flames, while Miikka Kiprusoff made 24 saves between the pipes. Daymond Langkow also added a pair of helpers.

"Tonight, especially early on, it was tight checking," said Langkow. "Obviously both teams came to play, after the last game (which Colorado won, 7-5). It was a battle, but it was a good hockey game. We were fortunate to come out on top."

Paul Stastny and Andrew Brunette scored for Colorado, which had a two-game winning streak halted and has dropped three of its last five games overall. Milan Hejduk added an assist to extend his point streak to six games, while Peter Budaj stopped 25-of-29 shots in a losing cause for the Avs.

The Flames grabbed a 3-2 lead at 16:31 of the second, taking advantage of a Colorado line change. Nabbing the puck in the neutral zone, Roman Hamrlik charged forward and dished to Huselius, whose shot went wide of the net. Phaneuf then corralled the puck and ripped a dynamite shot past Budaj to put Calgary on top.

Huselius made it a 4-2 game in the third period with his second tally of the night. With the Flames on the power play, the right winger collected a pass from Iginla down low in the left circle and sent a wrist shot high and just underneath the crossbar in the top right corner of the net with 11:52 remaining in the game.

Yelle added a short-handed, empty-net goal with 2:25 left to play.

"I think the whole team came to play tonight," said Huselius. "It was a huge game for us and it was nice to get the two points. It's always nice to contribute. The key thing is we won and now we can go on the road and play well hopefully."

Neither side lit the lamp in the first period, with Calgary holding the slight edge in shots on goal, 5-4.

The Flames finally broke the scoreless tie on Huselius' tally in the middle stanza. Andrei Zyuzin ripped a shot toward the crease, and Huselius came around the net and broke free on the right side, wristing the shot past a sliding Budaj on the glove side at 2:59.

Colorado was quick to net the equalizer, however, as Kiprusoff got mixed up in traffic and didn't have time to recover before Stastny tipped in a shot by Hejduk at 7:42.

The Avs struck again about 3 1/2 minutes later, as Brunette followed Joe Sakic through the neutral zone and into Flames' territory. Sakic ripped a slapshot wide and off the boards, but the disc deflected right back to him for another chance before Brunette knocked home the rebound to put Colorado up by a 2-1 margin at 11:13.

Calgary, though, tied the game with a power play marker at 14:45. Langkow sent a cross-ice pass to Iginla, who turned and opened up his body before rifling a one-timer past Budaj to make it 2-2.

Game Notes

Huselius' first tally was his 100th career NHL goal... The teams meet again in Colorado on Tuesday. It will be the Flames' third straight game against the Avalanche, who visit Vancouver in between on Sunday. Hejduk has five goals and five assists during his six-game point streak...Colorado finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while Calgary went 2-for-6.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

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