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03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Washington Capitals have already secured a playoff spot, the Florida Panthers have been making a late push for the postseason with their play as of late.
The resurgent Panthers aim for their first victory this season over the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals, who'll be without superstar Alex Ovechkin, when the Southeast Division members collide tonight at the BankAtlantic Center.
Florida's playoff chances took a serious hit after the team lost its final six games prior to the Olympic break, with five of those defeats coming in regulation. The Panthers also dropped their first outing upon returning from the NHL's shutdown for the Vancouver Games, but have won four of five tests since to climb back into the race.
The Panthers still have an uphill climb, however, as the club currently trails Boston by six points for the eighth and final postseason seed in the East as it begins a critical four-game homestand.
Florida returns home after a 2-1-0 road trip capped by Saturday's impressive come-from-behind win over the San Jose Sharks, who stand atop the Western Conference at the moment. After rallying from an early two-goal deficit to force overtime, the Panthers claimed a 3-2 decision when Bryan Allen scored 2:46 into the extra session.
Shawn Matthias scored off a rebound of an Allen shot five minutes into the third period to tie the contest at 2-2, then won a faceoff in overtime and sent the puck back to Allen for a wrister that snuck past a screened Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to complete the comeback.
"We've got a young team, so hopefully this is a huge confidence builder for us," said Florida head coach Peter DeBoer. "After the first period I thought this was going to be a long night, but we found a way to come back and I'm proud of the guys."
Tomas Vokoun did his part as well in the thrilling win, with the veteran netminder stopping 37-of-39 shots on the afternoon.
Florida hopes Saturday's triumph can serve as a springboard as it attempts to end its lack of recent success against the powerful Capitals. Washington has racked up 26 goals in winning all five previous meetings between the divisional foes this season, and they've gone 5-1-0 in their past six visits to the BankAtlantic Center.
The high-scoring Caps have gone 5-1-1 since the break and clinched their third straight Southeast Division title last week. The team also put forth a furious rally its last time out, erasing a three-goal deficit in a 4-3 overtime verdict over Central Division-leader Chicago Sunday at the United Center.
Nicklas Backstrom, Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr all scored within a 2:16 span in the third period to force extra time, and Backstrom beat Blackhawks netminder Antti Niemi on an odd-man rush 3:10 into overtime to lift Washington to the improbable win.
Jose Theodore finished with 20 saves for the Capitals, whose 101 points are five better than San Jose for tops in the NHL.
"We were aware of [Chicago's] starts. They just do a really good job at the beginning of the game," Laich said. "Once it got to 3-0, Jose shut the door to give us a chance."
Washington prevailed despite not having Ovechkin available for the majority of the contest after the reigning league MVP was given a game misconduct for shoving Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell into the end boards from behind at the 12:16 mark of the first period. The hard hit was deemed excessive by the NHL office, resulting in a two-game suspension for the league's leading scorer.
The Capitals began a four-game road trip with Sunday's win and own a 20-10-5 record as the visitor for the season.
<< Playoff-hopeful Suns welcome Wolves to the desert
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The playoffs are likely a foregone conclusion for the
Phoenix Suns, who resume a season-long seven-game homestand tonight against
the Western Conference's worst team, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Suns improved
<< Sens try to regain swagger against Leafs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have found it hard to recapture their
earlier success upon returning from the Olympic break. The playoff hopefuls
hope a visit from the Eastern Conference's last-place team will help end those
struggles.
<< Habs aim for sixth straight win versus playoff-hopeful Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Montreal Canadiens will shoot for a sixth
straight victory tonight when they visit the New York Rangers in a battle
between Original Six clubs at Madison Square Garden.
The Canadiens and Rangers are both figh
<< Thrashers try to end skid in clash with Sabres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers could be in much worse shape than
they are when it comes to the Eastern Conference playoff race. Still, the
club will not be able to improve their postseason chances until they end a
lengthy losing strea
Avs hope to continue dominance of Blues >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Strong play on the road this season has kept the St. Louis
Blues in contention for a postseason berth. The club hasn't been able to
achieve the same success at home, however, and it's had all kinds of trouble
when facing the
Oilers hoping to end longtime suffering in Minnesota >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last thing that the Edmonton Oilers need at this point
in the season is a trip to Minnesota. The road-weary club will try to snap its
12-game slide in the Twin Cities, where the Wild shoot for a third straight
victory ton
Sharks to pay a visit to slumping Stars >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars will meet three times
before the end of March. That isn't likely to help Dallas' playoff chances.
The first of those three scheduled meetings takes place tonight, as Western
Conference-
Isles try to end road woes in tough test with Canucks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to extend their seven-game
home winning streak when they take on a New York Islanders club that will be
looking to avoid a ninth straight setback on the road tonight at GM Place.
Vancouver ha
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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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