Flyers, Habs begin East finals in Philly
Hockey Betting Lines
05/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Eastern Conference finals are set to begin tonight in Philadelphia, as a pair of surprising teams meet at the Wachovia Center for Game 1 between the host Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens.
The Flyers and Canadiens entered this postseason as the seventh and eighth- seeded teams, respectively, in the Eastern Conference. This best-of-seven set marks the first time since the NHL adopted its current playoff format in 1994 that the bottom two seeds in either conference will play a series with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on the line.
The Flyers earned their spot in the conference finals by beating New Jersey in five games in Round 1 before making history in their seven-game series victory over Boston.
Philadelphia was down three games to none against the Bruins, but won the final four games of the best-of-seven set to become the first NHL team in 35 years to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a series. Not only did the Flyers come back from down 3-0 in the series, but also trailed 3-0 in the first period of Game 7 before charging back for a 4-3 victory in front of a stunned crowd at Boston's TD Garden.
All this from a team that needed to win a shootout over the New York Rangers on the final day of the season to even make the playoffs. Now, the Flyers have home-ice to start the Eastern Conference finals and are just one step away from reaching their first Cup Finals since 1997. Philadelphia has lost in its last three trips to the conference finals.
Meanwhile, Montreal needed to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat top- seeded Washington in the opening round, but the Habs never seemed to be overmatched in the conference semifinals against Pittsburgh, last year's Stanley Cup champions. The Canadiens never allowed the two-time defending conference champs to get more than a one-game lead in the series, as the team's alternated wins and losses until Montreal was able to take both Games 6 and 7.
The Flyers and Canadiens are meeting in the playoffs for the sixth time. Montreal won three of the previous five encounters, but Philly beat the Habs in five games the last time the franchises met in the 2008 conference semifinals. Prior to that, the previous two encounters were for conference titles, with Montreal earning a trip to the Cup Finals in 1989 -- two years after Philly beat them for the Prince of Wales Trophy in 1987.
The clubs split four meetings during the regular season. Each team picked up a win at home and on the road in the 2009-10 season series. Montreal has taken 11 of the last 14 regular-season meetings overall.
Philadelphia enters this series with four double-digit scorers. Captain Mike Richards leads the pack with 17 points, (5 goals, 12 assists), Danny Briere has a team-high seven goals to go along with eight assists, while young forward Claude Giroux and defenseman Chris Pronger each have 11 points in this postseason.
Brian Boucher started the first 10 games of this postseason for the Flyers until suffering a sprained left MCL in Game 5 against the Bruins. However, Michael Leighton, who had been the starter before going down to a high ankle sprain in mid-March, stepped in for the rest of the series and stopped 66- of-70 shots (.943 save percentage) to help Philly close out the set.
Leighton had never seen action in an NHL postseason game before Boucher's injury in Game 5, but outside of giving up three goals in the first period of Game 7 against the Bruins, he seemed more than up to the task. He will be the No. 1 netminder in this series as Boucher is expected to be out for the next month.
The Canadiens are in the conference finals for the first time since 1993, which was also when they won the last of their record 24 Stanley Cup titles.
The Habs have been able to knock off higher seeds in this postseason thanks to a total team effort on defense, timely goal-scoring from forwards Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri, and superb puck-stopping from goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
Cammalleri and Gionta, with 12 and seven goals, respectively, have accounted for nearly half of the Canadiens' 39 goals in this postseason and Cammalleri's goal total is the most by a Montreal player since Guy Lafleur also had 12 in the 1975 postseason.
Halak, meanwhile, has stopped 420 of the 450 shots thrown his way for a mind- boggling .933 save percentage.
But, as cliche as it sounds, this truly has been a team effort for the Canadiens. Cammalleri and Gionta are providing most of the offense, and Halak is taking care of business at his end, but in between are a group of guys that have completely bought into the system put in place by head coach Jacques Martin.
This emphasis on team was clearly illustrated in the series victory over Pittsburgh. Already without defenseman Jaroslav Spacek since early in the Washington series, the Canadiens lost their top blueliner Andrei Markov to an ACL tear in Game 1 against the Pens. Of course Markov's injury meant more responsibility for defensemen like Hal Gill and rookie P.K. Subban, but Martin also needed his forwards to step up and help slow down Pittsburgh's relentless offense.
And that's just what Montreal did, the club came together and made it their main priority to frustrate the Penguins and it worked time and time again. In the end, Pittsburgh, which exploded for six goals in Game 1, scored a total of 12 times in Games 2-7.
The good news is Spacek returned for the final two games against Pittsburgh, and there is speculation that Markov could return at some point during the conference finals after it was originally believed he would miss the rest of the postseason. Markov is expected to miss tonight's game.
The Flyers, who will also host Game 2 on Tuesday, are 4-1 as the host in this year's playoffs after going 24-14-3 in Philadelphia during the regular season. This matchup marks the first time the Flyers have begun a series with home-ice advantage in the post-lockout era.
Montreal was 19-17-5 on the road prior to the start of the playoffs and has won five out of eight as the guest in the postseason.
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Super Bowl 2009 Betting
Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositionsUnderdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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