Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/14

[Udog]

Trends and Indexes

Thursday, May 14

Good Luck on day #134 of 2015!

NOTE:
As information becomes available, we will attempt to post the trends and indexes as soon as possible.
Information is posted from what we believe are reliable sources.
Any opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the posting member or BettorsChat.

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[Udog]

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

-- Phillies 3, Pirates 2-- Jeff Francoeur threw tying run out at the plate to end game, the rare walk-off outfield assist.

-- Rangers 2, Caps 1 OT-- Rangers won last ten home games when they were faced with playoff elimination- they're 7-0 at home in Game 7's.

-- Giants' instant replay guru is former big league SS Shawon Dunston.

-- Turner Sports gave Charles Barkley a 10-year contract extension.

-- Deshaun Morman transfers from Cincinnati to Towson State, instance of a kid who made a lousy decision coming out of high school. He'll play at Towson.

-- Colorado State is using the $7M from ex-football coach Jim McElwain's buyout to fund cost-of-attendance scholarships; good move by them.

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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud........

13) Cory Kluber won the AL Cy Young Award last year, but Cleveland lost his first seven starts this year; Wednesday, Kluber took advantage of a 6pm start to strike out 18 Cardinals in a 2-0 Indian win. St Louis batters swung at 44 of Kluber's pitches, missed 24 times, with only seven balls in play.

12) In same game, Cleveland batters swung at 43 of John Lackey's pitches and only missed one of them. Go figure.

11) As if things weren't bad enough for the Colorado Rockies, yesterday was even a worse day; Rockies lost their 11th game in a row, 2-1 in 11 innings to the Angels in Anaheim, after skipper Walt Weiss had an appendectomy earlier in the day. Mike Trout played a great defensive game in CF last night, robbing Tulowitzki of extra bases, then throwing out the go-ahead run an inning later.

10) Professional nitwit Stephen A Smith had the onions to go on national TV Wednesday and infer (basically he said it) that NBA teams use analytics as an excuse to fire/not hire African-American coaches. What a fool, but ESPN pays him over $3M a year, so who is the fool?

This is the same jackass who once said the Chargers should've tried an OT field goal on third down "....because if they missed on third down, they could try again on fourth down." But he cries racism on slow news days. Oy.

9) The reason for Smith's rant was New Orleans firing Monty Williams after the Pelicans went 45-37 and made the playoffs for the first time in five years. what Smith didn't say that Williams isn't the only successful coach to get fired in the last 2-3 seasons........

Monty Williams, Scott Brooks, George Karl, Vinny Del Negro, Lionel Hollins; all fired by their employers after winning seasons in the last two years. Hell, Del Negro, Hollins and Karl all got fired after winning 56+ games.

8) Albany Great Danes start basketball season November 13 with a game at Kentucky; my alma mater has been in NCAAs the last three years, which is more than Big Blue Nation can say. Kentucky lost to Robert Morris in the 2013 NIT. Still expect the Wildcats to be a slight favorite :-)

7) Speaking of Robert Morris, NEC Freshman of the Year Marcquise Reed has left the Colonials and will play for Clemson next season, as a lower-rung ACC team poaches a low-major squad.

6) Former Washington Huskies big man Robert Upshaw stood out at the NBA Combine with a 9-foot-5 standing reach and a 7-5.5 wing span; problem is, he also has a substace abuse problem, which is why he got booted off the team at Washington last winter. Will be interesting to see who drafts him.

5) Golden State Warriors had their 128th consecutive sellout last night. I go to the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas most years- the Warriors are always the team with the most fans. If you didn't know, you'd just assume they were the best team with a large bandwagon following and this was before they actually were the best team.

4) Not only did Aaron Rodgers win on Celebrity Jeopardy the other night, he beat an astronaut. Astronauts are real smart, aren't they? Hell, Rodgers went to a junior college out of high school-- good for him!!!

3) Minor league 1B/Astros farmhand Jon Singleton had 10 RBI in a AAA game last night in Albuquerque. Two homers, two singles in thin air.

2) If I owned an NBA team that had Lebron James on it, that means I had a real shot to win the NBA title and I wouldn't have a rookie coach in charge. Hell, I would make Lebron coach and hire veteran assistants to do scouting before I would let a neophyte coach my team. But thats just me.

1) Jimmy Garropolo looks like he will start at QB for the first four games this fall in Foxboro, but who will his backup be? Rosterresource.com says that as of right now, the Patriots' #3 QB is Garrett Gilbert, who is so dismal he got cut by the Rams last year. If you're a QB who got cut by the Rams LY, could be time to look for a new line of work.

[Udog]

NHL conference finals schedules

NHL conference finals schedule, as announced by the league Wednesday night. All times are Eastern. Games will air on NBC and NBCSN in the United States, on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers

Game 1, Saturday, May 16, Tampa Bay at New York Rangers, 1 p.m., NBC, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 2, Monday, May 18, Tampa Bay at New York Rangers, 1 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 3, Wednesday, May 20, New York Rangers at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 4, Friday, May 22, New York Rangers at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 5*, Sunday, May 24, Tampa Bay at New York Rangers, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 6*, Tuesday, May 26, New York Rangers at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 7*, Friday, May 29, Tampa Bay at New York Rangers, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports


WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Anaheim Ducks

Game 1, Sunday, May 17, Chicago at Anaheim, 3 p.m., NBC, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 2, Tuesday, May 19, Chicago at Anaheim, 9 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 3, Thursday, May 21, Anaheim at Chicago, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 4, Saturday, May 23, Anaheim at Chicago, 8 p.m., NBC, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 5*, Monday, May 25, Chicago at Anaheim, 9 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 6*, Wednesday, May 27, Anaheim at Chicago, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

Game 7*, Saturday, May 30, Chicago at Anaheim, 8 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

*-if necessary

[Udog]

NHL

Thursday, May 14


Lightning had regular season edge versus Rangers

The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers met three times in the regular season and it was the Lightning that proved dominant in those meetings going 3-0 for the season sweep.

The Bolts were tabbed as dogs in two of those games (+100 and +101 at Madison Square Garden) and closed -153 on home ice on November 26.

Goals were plentiful in those three games and the Over cashed in each. Tampa tallied 15 goals and the Blueshirts just seven.