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
02/16/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Wild and Jets squared off, Minnesota was at the top of the NHL standings. Things have certainly changed since.
Minnesota hopes to avoid a sixth straight defeat and falling further back in the playoff race as it hosts the Winnipeg Jets this evening.
The Wild have gone 5-16-5 since posting seven straight victories from Nov. 28- Dec. 10, a burst that gave them the top overall record in the league. That winning streak came to an end with a 2-1 setback at Winnipeg on Dec. 13, starting a tailspin that has dropped Minnesota all the way down to 12th in the West and five points back of a playoff spot.
Scoring goals has been an issue for the Wild, who have been held to a pair of goals or less in all six games this month and 10 of their last 13. They have been outscored 10-4 over the first three contests of a four-game homestand and Tuesday's 2-1 defeat versus the Ducks gave them four straight regulation defeats at home for the first time in club history.
Dany Heatley's 19th goal of the season staked Minnesota to an early lead and leaves him one tally shy of his seventh straight 20-goal season, but Josh Harding was beaten twice in the third period. He ended with 23 saves.
"When you lose a game, it's tough to find any positive things," said Minnesota's Mikko Koivu. "Sometimes [effort] is not enough. Sometimes you just have to come up with goals."
Injuries have not helped the Wild's cause either. Cal Clutterbuck missed Tuesday's game with a lower-body injury and Kris Foucault made his NHL debut to become the 39th player to skate for the Wild this year. That is one off the team record of 40 set last year.
Winnipeg also finds itself outside of the playoff picture as back-to-back losses have the club six points behind the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
A struggling power play has hindered the Jets as they have just two goals over their last 24 chances on the man advantage spread out over their last 10 games. They failed to score on three power plays in Tuesday's 3-1 setback to the visiting Islanders.
Chris Thorburn scored with 2:10 left in the first period, but Ondrej Pavelec was bested twice on 24 shots faced.
"I thought the power play really demoralized us again. It really seems to be the story as of late," said Jets head coach Claude Noel.
"You can tell it doesn't give our team any life. It's got to the point where we have to make some drastic moves or change some things."
Those changes could begin tonight in Minnesota. Following this game, the Jets return home to begin an eight-game homestand that runs through March 5 and would love to have their power play clicking by then.
"This is going to be a tough hill to climb," Noel said. "To me this is the true test of character. We are going to see it."
The Jets franchise has won its past three against the Wild and the former Atlanta Thrashers snapped a three-game skid in Minnesota in their last trip there on Feb. 12, 2010.
<< Blues aim to bounce back against visiting Isles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues will try to rebound from just their
third regulation loss of 2012 when they host the New York Islanders tonight at
Scottrade Center.
St. Louis has gone 13-3-2 since the start of January and one of the f
<< Pirates beat Jones in arbitration; avoid hearing with McGehee
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates won their salary
arbitration case with first baseman Garrett Jones and avoided a hearing with
newly-acquired third baseman Casey McGehee.
Jones will earn a salary of $2.25 milli
<< Mighty Rangers host free-falling Blackhawks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers seem to be on cruise control in the
race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but the last few weeks have
been anything but a smooth ride for the struggling Chicago Blackhawks.
Chicago will try
<< Bulls and Celtics clash in the Windy City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls resume a six-
game homestand tonight aiming for a measure of revenge over the Boston
Celtics.
The Celtics snapped a five-game winning streak by the Bulls in Beantown,
95-91, this
Flames battle Stars in Big D >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flames have been racking up points so far in February
and their latest convincing victory has them within a point of a playoff spot.
Calgary puts a six-game point streak on the line this evening against the
Dallas Star
Kings welcome Coyotes to LA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings remain the lowest-scoring team in the
league, but perhaps some fresh blood can kick start the offense. It certainly
worked on Sunday.
After capping a six-game road trip with a victory thanks in part t
Phillies the early World Series favorite >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With pitchers and catchers all set to
head out to Florida and Arizona, it is apparent Major League Baseball is
ready to fill some of the void in the sports world left by the end of the
National Football Leagu
Sorenstam turns down Solheim Cup captaincy >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While making her weekly appearance on Golf
Channel's "Morning Drive," Annika Sorenstam announced she would not accept an
offer to be the European Solheim Cup captain in 2013.
"I've given it some thought
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.
MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:
Saints +6 @ Colts -6
Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)
Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)
Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5
Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1
Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3
Patriots -5 @ Jets +5
Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5
Steelers -4 @ Browns +4
Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6
Bears +6 @ Chargers -6
Lions +3 @ Raiders -3
Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5
Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4
Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3
Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3
Super Bowl line (2008)
NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5
MySportsbook is a large, publicly traded company with strong financial backing. You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook 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