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Canucks aim for division title against WildHockey Betting Lines04/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks can wrap up their second straight division title tonight when they host the Minnesota Wild at General Motors Place. The Canucks enter Sunday with a nine-point lead over Colorado and Calgary atop the Northeast Division and can clinch first place with either a point tonight or any kind of loss by the Avalanche in their home game Sunday against San Jose. The Flames have already been eliminated from contention for the division crown. Vancouver, which has won the division in two of the past three seasons, clinched a playoff spot with Friday's 5-4 win in Anaheim. Pavol Demitra scored the game-winner in the shootout to lift the Canucks into the postseason. After each skater scored in the first round, Teemu Selanne beat Andrew Raycroft with a low forehand, but the goaltender recovered quickly and used a low glove to keep the puck out. Demitra then gave the Canucks a lead as he went to the backhand and roofed it past Curtis McElhinney. Raycroft preserved the win by using the pads to keep Bobby Ryan's shot out of the net. Michael Grabner netted the first hat trick of his career while Jannik Hansen also scored for the Canucks, who became the fourth team in the Western Conference to clinch a playoff spot. "We have a check mark by our name," said Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault. "That was our first objective and now we're trying to close in on first in our division." Raycroft finished with 30 saves and earned the win while giving Roberto Luongo a rare rest. Luongo is expected to get his 65th start of the season tonight. Tonight marks the first of two straight on home ice for the Canucks, who will finish the regular season with three out of four tests at GM Place. Vancouver has a superb 28-8-2 mark as the host this year and has won nine of its last 11 on home ice. Just a few hours before the Canucks celebrated clinching a playoff berth on Friday night, the Wild were eliminated from postseason contention following a home loss to San Jose. Logan Couture scored the game-winner with 3:51 left in regulation, lifting the Sharks to the 3-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center. Cal Clutterbuck and Antti Miettinen scored 1:49 apart in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit for Minnesota, but it wasn't enough to propel the Wild to victory. Niklas Backstrom stopped 25 shots in defeat. The Wild are 13th in the Western Conference and will miss out on the playoffs for the second straight year. "It's never fun playing these games down the stretch when you're mathematically eliminated," said Wild forward Andrew Brunette. "So we have to find a way to find a different kind of motivation." Tonight, the Wild are opening a three-game road trip, the club's final swing of the season. Minnesota, which has an awful 12-23-3 road record this year, will close the regular season on home ice Saturday against Dallas. Vancouver has won eight of its last 11 meetings with the Wild, but Minnesota has won the last two matchups after staking the Canucks to a 3-0 lead in the season series. Minnesota has lost three straight and four of its last five in British Columbia.
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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later. While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better. For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory. 1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season. 2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped. How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number. Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules. Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically. How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games). Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition. Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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