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Chicago channels its inner bully

Hockey Betting Lines

06/07/2010 -

CHICAGO (AP) -It's clear by now who the real bullies are.

The speedy, skillful Blackhawks can still make the game look easy - witness the second-period power-play goal on which four Chicago players strung together passes in rapid-fire succession before Dustin Byfuglien converted a gimme in front of the Philadelphia net. But that doesn't mean they don't play rough, too.

Using the same mix-and-match strategy that proved so effective in the third period of Game 4, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville's new-look lines wreaked havoc on the Flyers from the start of Game 5, blending punishing hits and a potent offense in a 7-4 win Sunday night that looked even more decisive than the final score.

The stat sheet gave Philadelphia a wide margin in hits delivered, 45-35. If so, credit the Blackhawks with getting in twice as many quality shots.

``The way it worked out, we had some big boys on each line,'' Chicago center John Madden said after his team took a 3-2 lead with the Stanley Cup finals headed back to Philly on Wednesday. ``And it's funny how a little more grunt work freed up so much skating room. ...

``But all that physical play won't mean much if we don't go into Philly with the same intensity. They're going to treat Game 6 like it was Game 7,'' he added. ``We better be able to match that.''

The book on Chicago hasn't changed since the start of the playoffs. Western Conference foes Nashville, Vancouver and San Jose all tried to nullify the Blackhawks' superior talent with heavy forechecking and a healthy dose of hits. But only the Flyers, heirs to the ``Broad Street Bullies'' legacy of the Philadelphia clubs of three decades ago, was physical to parlay that disruptive style into back-to-back playoff wins, something that Quenneville didn't counter until it was too late to salvage either road game.

Yet just like the final 20 minutes Friday night, when they nearly closed a 4-1 deficit, the Hawks began this one in reconfigured lines, each with at least one winger whose assignment was to get in some licks. They helped pin the Flyers deep in their own end, then caught them holding the puck long enough to deal out some punishing hits.

With Philadelphia back on its heels from the outset, Chicago scored three times in the final 7:43 of the opening period and never looked back.

``We survived probably the first six or seven minutes and they didn't score,'' Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. ``I thought that was the worst of it.''

Not even close.

Quenneville's riskiest maneuver might have been breaking up his top line of Byfuglien, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Combined, they had only five points coming into the night. But they collected three goals and seven points with their new linemates and wrecked Laviolette's most reliable defensive pairing, Chris Pronger and Matt Carle. The two defensemen were plus-9 in the four previous games, but minus-8 for this one.

Pronger has embraced the villain's role from the outset of the series, angering the Blackhawks by stealing the puck at the end of Chicago's two previous home wins and unceremoniously dumping both in the garbage. But Chicago put a bullseye on his back for this one, rarely passing up an opportunity to run into Pronger.

Small wonder he wound up on the ice for six Chicago goals; it could have been seven, except Pronger was already in the penalty box for hooking Kane when Byfuglien put the finishing touch on as clinical a power-play tally as you're likely to see.

``I'm not concerned by how many guys touched it,'' Madden said about the goal, ``only that it ends up in the net.''

The play that led to Pronger's penalty demonstrated just how dominant the Blackhawks were. The 6-foot-6, 220 defensemen had effectively handcuffed Chicago's top line by bouncing the 6-4, 257-pound Byfuglien every time he set up in front of the net, and routinely pounding Kane and Toews when they ventured anywhere close.

But on the shift just ahead of the hooking call, Kane grabbed the puck along the left board and started toward the big defenseman and the Flyers net. Then suddenly, Kane wheeled back toward the blue line and zoomed across the middle with Pronger in pursuit a stride behind.

Kane stayed out of reach all the way to the right side of the ice and got off a sharp backhand that Flyers backup goalkeeper Brian Boucher stopped. But the next time the speedy winger threatened to make Pronger look bad, the defenseman lazily relied on his stick instead of his skates and got whistled for the penalty.

The two saw a lot of each at the Vancouver Olympics - Kane played for Team USA; Pronger for Canada - so there's little love lost.

``Obviously, he was on the ice for a lot of goals,'' Kane said. ``You have to be aware he's probably going to bounce back with a better effort. But if we play like we did against him tonight, it's going to make it tough on him ... (We'll) try to make him draw penalties and hopefully score when he's in the penalty box.''

The Flyers have defied the odds the entire postseason. They came in as the seventh seed in the East and erased a 3-0 deficit in their series against Boston.

``One thing I've learned along the way about the playoffs is,'' Laviolette said, ``one game is only one game. There's usually not a carry-over effect from game to game. You know, this is just one page of the story.

``Tonight,'' he said, ``it was their page.''

But unless Philadelphia shows more toughness at the start of Game 6 than they did in this one, you can close the book on their chance of holding the cup.

---

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.orgCopyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

  • Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
    OR
  • Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

  • There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.

    The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:

    Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots

    Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.

    For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

    Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

  • Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
    OR
  • Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

    Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

    Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21

    The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.

    Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.

    Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).

    Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.

    And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.