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12/18/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will aim for their fourth consecutive victory when they visit the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins for tonight's Northeast Division battle at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Maple Leafs posted their first three-game winning streak of the season by downing visiting New Jersey on Tuesday. Toronto last won four in a row from November 29 to December 6 of last season.
Toronto earned a 3-2 shootout victory over the Devils as Jason Blake netted the game-winning shootout goal and Vesa Toskala had 25 regulation saves along with three shootout stops at Air Canada Centre.
Nik Antropov and Jeremy Williams both scored in regulation while Tomas Kaberle notched two assists for Toronto.
The Maple Leafs are beginning a three-game road trip tonight and have lost four of their last five as the visiting team. Toronto has a 6-7-2 record away from home this season.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have the best record in the Eastern Conference with 46 points and are tied for the top seed with the New York Rangers. Boston is also nine points ahead of second-place Montreal for the division lead. Toronto is in fourth place with 30 points.
Boston is coming off a home-and-home sweep of the Atlanta Thrashers, as it earned a 7-3 victory in the road portion on Friday and followed with a 4-2 home decision the following day. The Bruins have won seven of eight games and have a 16-2-1 record in their last 19 outings.
Phil Kessel led the way in Saturday's win over the Thrashers as he extended his point streak with a goal and an assist. Kessel is riding a 15-game point streak and has 12 goals and 10 assists during the longest current run in the NHL.
Kessel leads the Bruins with 19 goals and is second on the team with 31 points.
Michael Ryder scored twice while Dennis Wideman lit the lamp for Boston, while Manny Fernandez made 20 saves in the win.
Tim Thomas, who is 9-1-1 in his last 11 starts, is expected to be back between the pipes for Boston tonight.
The Bruins are playing the middle test of a three-game homestand and are 11-1-1 as the host this season. Boston, which has won 11 straight at home since losing its first two tests at the Garden this year, will host Carolina on Saturday.
This is the fourth of six meetings between the Leafs and Bruins this season and Boston currently holds a 2-1 edge in the season series. The Bruins have taken two straight, four of five and eight of the last 12 encounters with Toronto and they've also won two of the past three matchups in Beantown.
<< Stars try to gain momentum in home test vs. Jackets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas is starting to rack up some wins, something it has
never had trouble doing against Columbus. The Stars will try to maintain their
franchise-long success over the Blue Jackets tonight in a home test American
Airlines Ce
<< Struggling Lightning host Avalanche
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It didn't take lone for the Lightning to fall right back
into the loss column. Having lost 10 of their last 11 games, Tampa Bay will
try for a victory tonight versus the visiting Colorado Avalanche at St. Pete
Times Forum.
<< Magic open homestand vs. Spurs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeast Division-leading Orlando Magic will open a
four-game homestand Thursday versus the San Antonio Spurs at Amway Arena.
Orlando will also host the Lakers, Warriors and Hornets and is 9-3 as the host
this sea
<< Hansbrough seeks history in Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The nation's top-ranked team will be on
display this evening as the mighty North Carolina Tar Heels play host to the
Evansville Purple Aces in non-league action at the Smith Center in Chapel
Hill.
Expect E
Caps shoot for fifth straight win in test with Blues >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will try to match their longest
winning streak of the season when they welcome the struggling St. Louis Blues
for tonight's matchup at Verizon Center.
The Capitals have won four in a row and will tr
Hurricanes clash with Panthers in Southeast Division battle >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes will try to win consecutive games
for the first time in nearly a month when they welcome the Florida Panthers
for a Southeast Division matchup at RBC Center.
The Hurricanes ended a two-game skid wit
Struggling Pens hope to welcome Fleury back against Thrashers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to emerge from a lengthy
break with a win, as they visit the Atlanta Thrashers for tonight's encounter
at Philips Arena.
The Penguins last played on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia and w
Red Wings host Sharks in showdown between West powers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings captured their 11th Stanley Cup
championship in team history last season. The San Jose Sharks appear to be the
favorites to win their first-ever league title this year.
The two Western Conference powe
It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.
We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.
Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.
Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.
Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.
NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.
The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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