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12/18/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Ellis appeared to be in jeopardy of losing his starting job earlier this year. Needless to say, he is tightening his grip on the role.
Coming off his second shutout in five games, Ellis will lead his club into Phoenix to take on the Coyotes tonight at Jobing.com Arena.
Injury and inconsistency have troubled Ellis a bit this year, and it didn't help when backup netminder Pekka Rinne won his first six decisions. However, Ellis made 27 saves in Saturday's 3-0 win over Dallas to post his eighth career shutout, tying him with Mike Dunham for third on the team's all-time list.
The win improved the Predators to 4-2-1 in their last 10 games, with Ellis and Rinne combining to post a 1.42 goals against average and .949 save percentage in that span.
Nashville has also recorded four shutouts in its last 10 games for the first time in franchise history. Ellis, who has allowed three goals in his last three starts, is a perfect 2-0-0 with a 2.42 GAA versus Phoenix.
In Saturday's win over the Stars, Joel Ward ended a 13-game goal-less drought by posting his first-career two-goal game and David Legwand also scored in helping Nashville end a three-game losing streak. J.P. Dumont had an assist to give him points in seven of his last eight games (3 goals, 5 assists).
Nashville is 7-8-2 on the road this season.
Though the Coyotes lost, 2-1, in overtime to Dallas on Tuesday, they still have posted at least one point in a season-high four straight games, going 2-0-2. Ilya Bryzgalov has started all four of those games, posting a 2.41 GAA in that time.
He made 28 saves versus the Stars and Todd Fedoruk provided the only goal for the Coyotes, losers in two straight and four of six. Peter Mueller had an assist in his fourth straight game and he has a helper in seven of his last nine contests.
Phoenix plays the first of two straight at home, where they are 9-4-2 this year. The Coyotes have notched a point in four straight as the host (3-0-1).
Tonight marks the first of four meetings this year between the Preds and Coyotes. They have split their four-game series in each of the last two seasons and Phoenix has won four of the last five as the host.
Bryzgalov is 2-0-2 with a 3.62 GAA lifetime against Nashville.
<< Suns pay a visit to Blazers at Rose Garden
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns shoot for their third straight win tonight
when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden.
The Suns have won two in a row and four of their last five games, including
Monday's 111-103
<< 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
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
Aiming to extend win streak, Flyers visit Canadiens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Philadelphia Flyers will shoot for their sixth
consecutive victory when they visit the sliding Montreal Canadiens for
tonight's battle at the Bell Centre.
The Flyers can match their longest winning streak of th
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.
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