Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
05/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-seeded Chicago Blackhawks will try to bounce back from a blowout loss in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals, when they host the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2 tonight at United Center.
The Blackhawks also hosted Game 1 on Saturday, but were slammed, 5-1, by the third-seeded Canucks. In its first round series against Nashville, Chicago lost the opener at home by a 4-1 count before rebounding to win the series in six games.
This series is a rematch of last year's conference semifinals, which Chicago won in six games before losing to Detroit in the West finals. The Canucks also won the opener in last year's matchup when they had home-ice advantage.
Roberto Luongo made 36 saves and Vancouver scored the first five goals of the game en route to Saturday's easy victory in the Windy City.
Christian Ehrhoff and Mason Raymond each had a goal and an assist while Henrik Sedin, Michael Grabner and Kyle Wellwood each added a goal for the Canucks, who eliminated Los Angeles in six games to reach this stage.
Both the Blackhawks and Vancouver had a considerable layoff between the first and second round of the playoffs. Chicago was playing its first game since April 26, while the Canucks had been off since April 25.
"I was able to make a few saves early and it got me going," said Luongo. "That was nice to get in the action right away since we hadn't played since Sunday. Now we've got to keep it going."
Patrick Kane scored the lone goal while Antti Niemi made 20 saves in the loss for the Blackhawks. Niemi was pulled after the second period and replaced by Cristobal Huet, who stopped all three shots he faced.
"Sometimes when you have a long layoff it hurts," said Kane. "But they had the same thing, though, so there's no excuse for it. Maybe we came in thinking it was going to be an easy series which obviously it's not."
Niemi, who will get the start again tonight, has surrendered a total of 12 goals on 74 shots over his last three games. Luongo has stopped 90-of-95 shots over the same span.
The Blackhawks were 29-8-4 as the host during the regular season and is 2-2 at United Center in the postseason. Vancouver, which will host Game 3 on Wednesday, was 19-20-2 on the road this year and is 3-1 as the guest in the playoffs.
This marks the fourth time the clubs have battled in the postseason. Vancouver's only series victory over Chicago was in the 1982 conference finals, when the Canucks ousted the Blackhawks in five games before getting swept by the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals.
<< Rockies ace Jimenez goes for win No. 6 at San Diego
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez, riding a 22 1/3-scoreless
innings streak, aims to become the majors' first six-game winner as the
Rockies begin a three-game series with the National League West-leading San
Diego P
<< Harden leads Rangers into Oakland Coliseum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Texas Rangers will get a chance to extend
their new-found lead in the American League West this evening when Rich Harden
makes his first ever start against his old club, the Athletics, in the opener
of a th
<< Meche, Peavy both try to get on track in Royals-White Sox opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of struggling right-handers take the hill in the
Windy City this evening when the Chicago White Sox begin a three-game series
against the Kansas City Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.
Jake Peavy was brought in by the
<< Twins return home for set with rival Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the venue is different, the Minnesota Twins hope a
return home can get them on track versus the Detroit Tigers. The two American
League Central rivals begin a three-game series this evening in the Tigers'
first v
Sonic youth >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rory McIlroy would have to wait two days to properly
celebrate the defining round of his young career.
Had he been at home in Northern Ireland, he might have popped a cork Sunday
night. Standing in the sun in Charlotte, ho
Injured Stricker to miss Players Championship >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 3 Steve Stricker has
withdrawn from this week's Players Championship due to a right shoulder
injury.
Stricker last attempted to play two weeks ago at the Zurich Classic,
ChiSox activate C Castro from DL >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox activated catcher Ramon
Castro from the 15-day disabled list on Monday.
The 34-year-old Castro began the 2010 campaign on the DL with a bruised right
heel. He went 2-for-13 with one
Northeastern signs Coen to extension >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Northeastern men's basketball coach Bill Coen
has signed a multi-year contract extension.
Coen has guided the Huskies to a record of 66-62 during his four-year tenure,
which includes postseason appearances
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting