Announcement

**Udog** · 02-04-2015, 10:57 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

-- Kentucky is the last unbeaten in college basketball; since 1985, the last unbeaten has won the national title twice: '99 UConn, '06 Florida.

-- Looks like Dick LeBeau will sign on with Tennessee as a defensive assistant and that is good news for Ken Whisenhunt and the Titans.

-- Maximum salary in the WNBA is $107,000; Diana Taurasi makes $1.5M over in Russia (seriously? wow!!!) and will skip the WNBA season this summer.

-- Texas G Javan Felix (concussion) won't play tonight when the Longhorns host Oklahoma State in a Big X revenge game in Austin.
The next series of numbers are from the fine football writer Bill Barnwell:

-- NFL teams dropped back to pass 112 times from the 1-yard line this year: 66 TDs (59.5% success rate), three sacks, one fateful interception.

-- NFL teams tried 223 running plays from the 1-yard line this year: 129 TDs, (57.8% success rate), two turnovers on fumbles.

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Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but.........

13) Today is National Signing Day in college football; at 2:30, Cordell Broadus will announce his college choice-- he is Snoop Dogg's son. If the young man chooses to go to school at LSU (Odell Beckham Jr has to be helping LSU recruit WRs, right?), this would team Snoop Dogg and our man Les Miles as the unlikeliest of allies. Whoever is in charge of these things, please make this happen!!!!

12) ESPNU has 11 hours of coverage today, making this one of the few days of the entire year that I might be awake at 8am. Maybe.

11) The great Bill Raftery will team with Jim Nantz, Grant Hill in calling this year's Final Four. This is great news, because Raftery is awesome, but what a kick in the teeth to Clark Kellogg, the deposed #1 analyst who obviously isn't thought highly of by whomever is in charge. Haven't heard Hill enough yet to form an opinion. Seems like every single Duke alum is either a TV announcer or a head coach.

10) NBA All-Star break is longer this year; there are full schedules on Feb 11 and Feb 20, one game on the 12th and two on the 19th, so for 24 of the 30 teams, it is at least an eight-day break, almost twice as long as normal.

9) Unusual to see the Clippers' Jamal Crawford at the Celtic-Knick game; apparently the Clips stayed an extra night in NYC after losing to the Nets Monday- they play in Cleveland Thursday. Dangerous to let NBA players loose for an off-night in NYC, but Doc Rivers seems to do some things to make the season more enjoyable for his team. Not sure it helps them win more, but it probably makes them happier.

8) Crawford has curiously played for 17 head coaches in his 15-year career.

7) Syracuse 72, Virginia Tech 70-- ESPNU announcer, former Providence coach Tim Welsh was once a Syracuse assistant; when TV guys have neetings with coaches, do opposing coaches get paranoid about alliances between TV guys and the other team, like when the Redskins are on Monday Night Football and Jon Gruden's brother is coaching Washington? I know I would be.

Welsh spent a lot of the second half bitching about the refs, as Syracuse battled back from a double digit deficit, but he has taken up Jay Bilas' cause of scrutinizing the refs to the point of annoyance this season, not just in this game.

Virginia Tech gagged this game away, not getting a shot on their last two possessions in a game they led by 13 with 5:32 left.

6) Boise State 68, Utah State 63-- Broncos' first-ever win in Logan.

5) Browns' WR Josh Gordon caught 87 passes for 1,646 yards in 2013, but has had substance abuse issues and is now suspended for all of 2015, which is very sad. Young man should be having the time of his life, one of the best at his profession but he can't even play now. He shouldn't have to work a day in his life other than being a football player, but that seems unlikely now.

4) Why is Russell Wilson going to Texas Rangers' spring training? Whats the point? He is finally about to break the bank with the Seahawks and he feels the need to go play baseball? What if he blows his knee out? Then what? And why would Texas want him there? He is not that big a baseball prospect; he hit .229 in 93 minor league games in the Colorado system, in A ball.

3) The Caribbean Series is on TV, but it is on ESPN Desportes, which I don't have seeing as I....."no habla Espanol". These games should be on for everyone, even if we just see the games with graphics and no announcers- lot of people would watch. It is the dead of winter; baseball would be great to see, but what can you do?

2) Speaking of baseball on TV, SEC Network is going to have a lot of college baseball starting in a couple weeks, which is good news. Always weird to hear aluminum bats making contact with the ball on TV, but this is a good development.

1) Josh Hamilton is out 6-8 weeks after shoulder surgery; his signing hasn't gone well for the Angels- he's knocked in only 123 runs in 240 games with the Halos, after he knocked in 506 runs in 647 games with Texas.

**Udog** · 02-04-2015, 10:57 AM

See spot. See spot bet: This week's best spot bet opportunities

Lookahead spot

The San Antonio Spurs can’t help but look ahead to their upcoming “Rodeo Road Trip” which pushes the Spurs out of the AT&T Center for most of the month of February. San Antonio will be on the highway for a nine-game stretch that takes the Spurs all the way out East and then back West in a span of 20 days. However, while the Rodeo Trip would fall under our regular “Schedule Spot”, San Antonio’s inability to stay focused before the annual trip is an absolute lookahead.

Over the past three seasons, including 2015, the Spurs have suffered an ATS slump just before heading off on that extended away trek. In 2013, San Antonio went a perfect 6-0 SU but only 2-3-1 ATS. Last season, they flopped to a 1-3 SU mark and failed to cover in each of those games. And this year, the defending NBA champs are 3-2 SU and 0-4-1 ATS in their last five games, with Orlando coming to town Wednesday. San Antonio has one more home stand after that, hosting Miami Friday, before opening the Rodeo Trip in Toronto Sunday.

Letdown spot

The Wisconsin Badgers haven’t had much time to catch their collective breathes with the frantic pace of the Big Ten. The Badgers were on the road for two tough games – at Michigan and Iowa – last week and return home to face No. 25 Indiana Tuesday night. Wisconsin is just 3-5-1 ATS since the beginning of conference play and that once gigantic home-court edge in the Kohl Center is slipping, with a 1-3-1 ATS mark in their last four in Madison.

The Badgers will finally get a chance to relax – somewhat – against the Northwestern Wildcats this weekend. Northwestern sits at the bottom of the Big Ten, going just 1-7 SU in conference play so far. The Wildcats do, however, present some great value on the road, where they are perfect 6-0 ATS heading into Tuesday’s tilt in Nebraska. Northwestern was blown away by Wisconsin 81-58 at home on Jan. 4, so the Badgers could get caught putting their feet up with a large spread likely looming in Saturday’s game.

Schedule spot

The Anaheim Ducks are hopping the country for a five-game road trip, which opens in Nashville Thursday. The Ducks will be playing the first three stops of this trip in four nights, taking on the Predators, Washington Capitals (Friday), and Tampa Bay Lightning (Sunday) - three opponents that love to push the pace and keep goaltenders busy.

Nashville ranks third in shots on goal in the NHL (32 per game), while Washington boast the league’s third-best power play (23.5 percent), and Tampa Bay nets a league-high 3.2 goals a game. That’s a whole lot of offense to handle in that short span. After that, the Ducks finish up at Florida Tuesday and at Carolina Thursday – two teams on the other end of that offensive scale.

**Udog** · 02-04-2015, 11:05 AM

NHL
Long Sheet

Wednesday, February 4

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PITTSBURGH (28-14-0-8, 64 pts.) at EDMONTON (14-28-0-9, 37 pts.) - 2/4/2015, 8:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
EDMONTON is 1-1 (+0.7 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
EDMONTON is 1-1-0 straight up against PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.2 Units, Under=-0.2 Units)

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BOSTON (27-16-0-7, 61 pts.) at NY RANGERS (29-15-0-4, 62 pts.) - 2/4/2015, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 5-11 ATS (-8.2 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less this season.
BOSTON is 118-89 ATS (+26.9 Units) in road games after a win by 2 goals or more since 1996.
BOSTON is 363-348 ATS (+717.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.
NY RANGERS are 197-195 ATS (-88.2 Units) in home games second half of the season since 1996.
NY RANGERS are 99-102 ATS (-52.9 Units) in home games after a win by 2 goals or more since 1996.
NY RANGERS are 106-112 ATS (-77.8 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
NY RANGERS are 161-194 ATS (-140.4 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 9-3 (+5.9 Units) against the spread versus NY RANGERS over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 9-3-0 straight up against NY RANGERS over the last 3 seasons
5 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.2 Units)

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SAN JOSE (27-17-0-7, 61 pts.) at CALGARY (28-20-0-3, 59 pts.) - 2/4/2015, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CALGARY is 28-23 ATS (-3.8 Units) in all games this season.
CALGARY is 15-5 ATS (+9.2 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
SAN JOSE is 183-193 ATS (+412.2 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
CALGARY is 5-6 (+1.1 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
SAN JOSE is 6-5-0 straight up against CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+5.3 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Wednesday, February 4

Hot teams
-- Bruins won eight of their last ten games. Rangers won five of last seven.
-- Edmonton won four of its last six games.
-- San Jose won three of its last four games. Flames won seven of last nine.

Cold teams
-- Penguins lost six of their last eight games.

Series records
-- Rangers lost eight of last nine games with Boston.
-- Penguins won five of last seven games with Edmonton.
-- Flames won three of last four games with San Jose.

Totals
-- Five of last six Boston games stayed under.
-- Five of last six Pittsburgh road games stayed under.
-- Under is 9-2-2 in last thirteen San Jose road games.

Back-to-back
-- None

NHL

Wednesday, February 4

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
BOSTON vs. NY RANGERS
Boston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Boston is 4-2 SU in their last 6 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
NY Rangers are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against Boston
NY Rangers are 13-6 SU in their last 19 games when playing at home against Boston

8:00 PM
PITTSBURGH vs. EDMONTON
Pittsburgh is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Edmonton
Pittsburgh is 2-8 SU in its last 10 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Edmonton's last 6 games at home
Edmonton is 5-15 SU in its last 20 games at home

10:00 PM
SAN JOSE vs. CALGARY
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Jose's last 7 games when playing Calgary
San Jose is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Calgary
Calgary is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Jose
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Calgary's last 7 games when playing San Jose

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**Udog** · 02-04-2015, 11:09 AM

NHL

Wednesday, February 4

Taylor Hall, Edmonton - Ques Wed

Hall suffered a foot injury Monday and is questionable for Wednesday's game against the Penguins.

Bruins feasting on Rangers in recent head-to-heads

When the puck drops at Madison Square Garden Wednesday evening, the visiting Boston Bruins will be keen to extend an impressive winning streak over the host New York Rangers. The Bruins have won five-straight meetings with the Blueshirts and eight of the last nine overall.

The pair of Original 6 teams have met just once so far, with the B's pitching a 3-0 shutout at home back on Jan. 15.

At present, the Bruins are +118 road dogs for the matchup, while the Rangers are -130. Oddsmakers have the total at 5.

Leafs' losing streak hits 10

The Toronto Maple Leafs losing streak has hit double-digits with their 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators Tuesday night.

It was the Leafs 10th loss in a row and their 18th in their past 21 game. They will try to end the streak this Friday when they visit the New Jersey Devils.

Sabres end losing streak as massive dogs

The Buffalo Sabres had lost 14 games and entered Tuesday night's matchup in Montreal with the Canadiens as massive +310 underdogs, but that didn't matter has they hung on for a 3-2 win over the Habs.

The Canadiens closed as -355 home favorites, but surprisingly the Sabres have now defeated the Habs in three consecutive meetings.

The Sabres open a five-game homestand Thursday against the St. Louis Blues. Expect them to be sizable dogs once again.

NHL roundup: Sabres snap 14-game winless streak

MONTREAL -- The Buffalo Sabres finally won a game.

Three first-period goals were all the scoring the Sabres needed to lift them to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, snapping Buffalo's 14-game losing streak.

Right wingers Drew Stafford and Brian Gionta and left winger Matt Moulson provided the offense, and goaltender Jhonas Enroth made 32 saves for the Sabres.

Goalie Carey Price stopped 15 shots for Montreal, which dropped its second straight to one of the league's basement dwellers.

Left winger Brandon Prust and center David Desharnais scored for Montreal, which saw the Sabres take seven of eight points in the season series.

Panthers 4, Islanders 2

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Right winger Jimmy Hayes scored two goals, including the game-winner 2:10 into the third period, as Florida edged the New York Islanders 4-2 at Nassau Coliseum.

Center Nick Bjugstad earned the assist on both of Hayes' goals. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson scored in the second period and center Brandon Pirri scored an empty netter with 22.1 seconds left for the Panthers. Goalie Al Montoya made 32 saves for the Panthers.

Center Anders Lee scored both goals for the Islanders, who lost their third straight, tying their longest losing streak of the season.

Devils 2, Senators 1

NEWARK -- Mike Cammalleri recorded his league-leading seventh game-winning goal of the season in New Jersey's win over Ottawa at Prudential Center.

New Jersey center Adam Henrique broke a long scoring drought with a second-period goal.

Center Curtis Lazar scored for Ottawa (20-20-9).

Devils goalie Cory Schneider, playing in his league-leading 44th game, stopped 19 shots. Robin Lehner registered 17 saves for the Senators.

Capitals 4, Kings 0

WASHINGTON -- Right winger Troy Brouwer scored a pair of goals to lead Washington to victory over visiting Los Angeles.

Centers Nicklas Backstrom and Eric Fehr added goals 59 seconds apart in the third period and goaltender Braden Holtby stopped all 27 shots he faced.

The loss was the Kings' sixth in seven games and dropped them to 21-17-12, three points behind the eighth-place Vancouver Canucks in their attempt to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs and defend their 2014 championship.

Coyotes 4, Blue Jackets 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his 15th goal of the season -- tops among NHL blue-liners -- and Arizona topped Columbus at Nationwide Arena.

Right winger Shane Doan, left winger Lucas Lessio and right winger Tobias Rieder added goals for the Coyotes, while goaltender Mike Smith made 30 saves.

The only Blue Jackets goal came early in the second period, on the power play, when defenseman James Wisniewski scored.

Wild 3, Blackhawks 0

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota's recent winning ways continued vs. Chicago.

Centers Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund and left winger Jason Zucker all scored, and goalie Devan Dubnyk had 24 saves for his third shutout since joining the team as the Wild won their fourth in a row, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0.

Chicago got 40 saves from goalie Corey Crawford, but could not muster any offense and lost their second in a row. The Blackhawks have now gone more than 126 minutes without a goal, after they were blanked 2-0 in San Jose on Saturday.

Blues 2, Lightning 1 (OT)

ST. LOUIS -- Left winger Jaden Schwartz scored 1:16 into overtime to give St. Louis a win over Tampa Bay.

The Blues trailed for most of the game before tying it with just 3:10 to play in regulation when center Paul Stastny won a face-off in the Tampa Bay zone and got the puck to right winger Vladimir Tarasenko, who fired a shot past the glove of goalie Ben Bishop for his 26th goal of the season.

Center Cedric Paquette gave the Lightning the lead just 5:20 into the game when he knocked a rebound past Blues goalie Brian Elliott.

Predators 4, Maple Leafs 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Nashville broke a team record with its ninth straight home win, topping Toronto Bridgestone Arena.

Centers Colin Wilson and Mike Fisher, and defensemen Seth Jones and Shea Weber sored for Nashville.

Centers Mike Santorelli, Nazem Kadri and Daniel Winnik all scored for Toronto.

Avalanche 3, Stars 2 (SO)

DALLAS -- Center Maxime Talbot scored the clinching goal in the shootout as Colorado capped an impressive comeback with a win against Dallas at American Airlines Center.

Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 of 32 shots to earn the victory.

Avalanche center Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist while defenseman Tyson Barrie forced overtime with a goal late in regulation as Colorado had the extra attacker.

Dallas got goals from right winger Patrick Eaves and left winger Erik Cole.

Ducks 5, Hurricanes 4 (OT)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Anaheim surmounted penalty trouble and a two-goal deficit to topple Carolina.

Right winger Corey Perry found center Ryan Getzlaf for a one-timer 45 seconds into overtime, completing the Ducks' rally.

Anaheim took five third-period penalties and surrendered a goal on a penalty shot before scoring twice in the last 11 minutes to overcome a 4-2 deficit and force overtime.

Centers Jay McClement, Brad Malone and Jordan Staal scored for Carolina, as did winger Alexander Semin. Perry scored twice and added an assist, and center Ryan Kesler and left winger Devante Smith-Pelly lit the lamp for Anaheim.

Canucks 3, Jets 2 (OT)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Defenseman Luca Sbisa scored 36 seconds into overtime to give Vancouver a win over Winnipeg. Right winger Radim Vrbata carried the puck into the Jets' end, then passed it to Sbisa, who scored his third goal of the season.

Left winger Ronalds Kenins and right winger Alex Burrows also scored for the Canucks, who went 0-for-6 on the power play. Right winger Blake Wheeler and center Bryan Little scored for Winnipeg.

Kenins, playing in just his third NHL game, forced overtime with his second goal of the season at 12:32 of the third. He took center Bo Horvat's pass and beat Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec with a shot to the stick side.

**Udog** · 02-04-2015, 12:53 PM

NHL
Dunkel

Pittsburgh at Edmonton
The Penguins head to Edmonton tonight and come into the contest with a 4-8 record in their last 12 road games when the total is set a 5 1/2 or higher. Edmonton is the pick (+165) according to Dunkel, which has the Oilers favored by 1. Dunkel Pick: Edmonton (+165). Here are all of today's NHL picks.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4

Game 51-52: Pittsburgh at Edmonton (8:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Pittsburgh 10.414; Edmonton 11.332
Dunkel Line & Total: Edmonton by 1; 5
Vegas Line & Total: Pittsburgh (-185); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Edmonton (+165); Under

Game 53-54: Boston at NY Rangers (8:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Boston 10.312; NY Rangers 11.879
Dunkel Line & Total: NY Rangers by 1 1/2; 5 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: NY Rangers (-125); 5
Dunkel Pick: NY Rangers (-125); Over

Game 55-56: San Jose at Calgary (10:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: San Jose 12.102; Calgary 11.298
Dunkel Line & Total: San Jose by 1; 6
Vegas Line & Total: Calgary (-115); 5
Dunkel Pick: San Jose (-105); Over

**Udog** · 02-04-2015, 12:57 PM

NHL

Wednesday, February 4

Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers - Out Wed

Lundqvist will be held out of Wednesday's game against the Bruins with an upper-body injury.

Bruins feasting on Rangers in recent head-to-heads

When the puck drops at Madison Square Garden Wednesday evening, the visiting Boston Bruins will be keen to extend an impressive winning streak over the host New York Rangers. The Bruins have won five-straight meetings with the Blueshirts and eight of the last nine overall.

The pair of Original 6 teams have met just once so far, with the B's pitching a 3-0 shutout at home back on Jan. 15.

At present, the Bruins are +118 road dogs for the matchup, while the Rangers are -130. Oddsmakers have the total at 5.

**Udog** · 02-04-2015, 04:57 PM

NHL
Short Sheet

Wednesday, February 4

Pittsburgh at Edmoton, 8:05 ET
Pittsburgh: 53-21 ATS after 1 or more consecutive unders
Edmonton: 0-15 ATS after a road game where both teams score 3 or more goals

Boston at NY Rangers, 8:05 ET
Boston: 191-183 ATS in road games after 1 or more consecutive unders
NY Rangers: 4-8 ATS in home games off a home blowout win by 3 goals or more

San Jose at Calgary, 10:05 ET
San Jose: 8-0 UNDER in road games vs. division opponents
Calgary: 347-266 UNDER off a win or tie in their previous game

Announcement

Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 2/4

Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 2/4

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