Toronto knocks off dreadful Philly

Hockey Betting Lines

02/25/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff O'Neill and Alex Steen both had a goal and an assist, as the Toronto Maple Leafs got back on the winning track with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wachovia Center.

Chad Kilger, Mats Sundin and John Pohl also scored for the Maple Leafs, who had dropped two straight and five of their last seven games (2-2-3) entering the contest.

Bryan McCabe notched three assists for Toronto, which was coming off a close loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday. Thursday's test kicked off a three-game road trip for the Maple Leafs, who are 18-10-4 as the visitor this season. Andrew Raycroft blocked 22 shots in the win.

Sami Kapanen and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers, who have dropped four straight contests. Michael Leighton stopped 25 shots for the Flyers, who have been dreadful at home this season, going just 5-18-7 in the City of Brotherly Love.

Steen got Toronto going in the first when he took a feed from O'Neill across the slot and wristed the puck to the stick side 11:16 into the period.

Steen next took a wrister from the left circle and handcuffed the goaltender, allowing O'Neill to fire a wrister on an empty net from 10 feet out 12:57 into the second.

At the 18-minute mark of the second, Kilger took a breakaway pass from Tomas Kaberle. He faked like he was going to go backhand, and powered the puck past the netminder for a 3-0 Toronto lead.

Kapanen got Philly on the board 46 seconds later. He kept it at the left point and then fired a slap shot from the top of the left circle low glove side, to cut the Flyers' deficit to two goals at the second intermission.

The Leafs upheld control out of the locker room. Sundin redirected the puck off the netminder's pad and into the net for a 4-1 Toronto lead 8:41 into the third.

Toronto's last goal came when McCabe passed the puck across the slot and Pohl one-timed it just beneath the crossbar 18:50 into the third.

Gagne got his 34th goal and 11th this month just 28 seconds later, on a wraparound wrister scored on the glove side for the final margin.

Neither team utilized the man-advantage, as Toronto finished 0-for-2, while Philly was 0-for-3 on the power play.

Game Notes

Sundin got his 522nd goal tying Pat Verbeek for 29th place on the career regular-season NHL goals list...Toronto is 3-0 against the Flyers this season and has taken five straight and seven of the last eight meetings overall...After the game, the Flyers dealt defenseman Alexei Zhitnik to the Atlanta Thrashers for defenseman Braydon Coburn.

Rouelette Hockey Betting News

<< Gratton, Panthers pound Bruins
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Gratton scored twice and added an assist, to lead the Florida Panthers to a 7-2 pounding of the Boston Bruins at BankAtlantic Center. Stephen Weiss had a goal and two assists for the Panthers,

<< Raptors down Bobcats; Okafor, Wallace injured
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Bosh scored all of his 24 points in the second half and grabbed 11 boards as the Toronto Raptors bested the injury-striken Charlotte Bobcats, 93-76, at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The Bobcats l

<< Nash, Blue Jackets edge Rangers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Nash scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and the Columbus Blue Jackets erased a two-goal deficit with a pair of short-handed tallies, defeating the New York Rangers, 3-2, at Madison Square

<< No. 10 Arizona State gets by Arizona
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emily Westerberg and Aubree Johnson each scored 16 points, as 10th-ranked Arizona State survived Arizona, 59-54. Westerberg also had five rebounds and Jill Noe added nine points for the Sun Devils (26-3, 16-2

<< Williams leads 'Canes past Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Williams scored two goals and John Grahame made 28 save to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers in a Southeast Division battle at Philips Arena. Ray Whitney had

Kenseth wins another one for Roush >>
Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Kenseth outlasted Casey Mears to capture Saturday's Stater Bros. 300 Busch Series race at the California Speedway. The No.17 Jack Roush Ford crossed the finish line 0.896 seconds ahead of Mears for Roush R

Parker, Spurs blitz SuperSonics >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Parker scored 21 points as San Antonio blitzed Seattle, 102-71, at the AT&T Center. Robert Horry added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench for the streaking Spurs, who won their fift

Thrashers get Zhitnik from Philly >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers acquired defenseman Alexei Zhitnik from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Braydon Coburn on Saturday. Zhitnik, a two-time All-Star, has notched 23 points (five goa

Hopson, Cougars edge Beavers >>
Corvallis, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mac Hopson scored on a jump shot with 35.5 seconds left, as the ninth- ranked Washington State Cougars, fresh off a disappointing loss, bounced back to top the Oregon State Beavers, 58-54, in a Pac-10

Senators edge Sabres in rematch of fight-filled contest >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Spezza's second goal of the game was the difference, as the Ottawa Senators edged the Buffalo Sabres, 6-5, in a high- scoring but sedate affair between these two bitter division rivals at Scotiab

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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.


Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.