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**Udog** · 05-21-2015, 08:28 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

Six major league umps with largest strikeout/walk ratios when they work plate:

6) Scott Baker 3.53 strikeouts per walk, eight games behind plate

5) Paul Schrieber 3.58, five games

4) Adam Hamari 3.71, eight

3) Dana Demuth 3.75, seven

2) Ryan Blakney, 4.80, four

1) Mark Ripperger 4.81, six

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

13) Bryce Harper has to chill; he obviously now has a bad reputation with umpires, getting tossed for arguing ball/strikes for second time in last week. He is only 22 but very intense- his team needs him in the game.

12) Speaking of the Nationals, Bronx Bombers came on the field to take batting practice before the game Tuesday and the PA system in Washington started playing Send in the Clowns, the Judy Collins classic. Coincidence?

11) Jeff Teague plays for the Hawks, Kyrie Irving for Cleveland; long time ago, their dads were teammmates at Boston University.

10) Let me get this straight; Scott Books got fired by the GM who let James Harden walk? Interesting......

9) Sacramento Kings are in the NBA draft lottery most years; of the last 17 times they were in the lottery, they've never moved up but have fallen at least one slot eight times.

8) Charlie Weis is still getting paid $4.5M this year, despite not having a job; this fraud is still in top 10 nationally of highest paid college football coaches. How Kansas ever got suckered into hiring him is beyond me.

7) Top 10 college basketball recruit Caleb Swanigan flipped from his initial choice Michigan State to Purdue, whch will make the Boilermakers' games in East Lansing the next couple of years more interesting affairs.

6) Toronto Maple Leafs land coach Mike Babcock from Detroit, giving him an 8-year, $50M contract. Babcock has won the Stanley Cup, something the Leafs haven't done since the mid-60's.

5) QB Everett Golson transfers from Notre Dame to Florida State for his last year of college football, but he won't have the benefit of spring practice and Jimbo Fisher's playbook is complex by college standards, so Golson is no lock to start for the Seminoles in September.

4) Why are the Indianapolis Colts not giving coach Chuck Pagano a contract extension? With Andrew Luck at QB in a weak division, Indy figures to be good again this year, which will only boost Pagano's leverage in negotiations.

3) Actor/wrestler Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson once played defensive line with Warren Sapp at Miami, where their position coach was Ed Orgeron, who is now in the same job at LSU. Lot of strong personalities in those meetings.

2) Seriously, the Knicks couldn't find a way to utilize JR Smith?

1) If laughter is indeed the best medicine, David Letterman helped heal a hell of a lot of people over the last 35 years. Thanks for everything, sir.

**Udog** · 05-21-2015, 08:38 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, May 21

Anaheim Ducks @ Chicago Blackhawks

Game 61-62
May 21, 2015 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Anaheim Ducks
11.599
Chicago *********
13.194
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Chicago *********
by 1 1/2
4
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Chicago *********
-135
5
Dunkel Pick:
Chicago *********
(-135); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Thursday, May 21

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ANAHEIM (60-24-0-9, 129 pts.) at CHICAGO (57-31-0-6, 120 pts.) - 5/21/2015, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 34-16 ATS (+10.4 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ANAHEIM is 60-33 ATS (+12.1 Units) in all games this season.
ANAHEIM is 19-8 ATS (+27.1 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 36-18 ATS (+9.3 Units) second half of the season this season.
ANAHEIM is 198-148 ATS (+25.3 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 34-19 ATS (+9.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ANAHEIM is 225-207 ATS (+447.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
CHICAGO is 61-55 ATS (-45.4 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 6-5 (+1.9 Units) against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 6-5-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+4.7 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, May 21

Chicago scored two power play goals in first period of Game 2, then went scoreless for 109:53 before they evened series with goal in third OT. Anaheim is 9-2 in playoffs this spring, winning three of four on road- over is 5-2-2 in last nine games, with both totals in this series pushing. Chicago won five of last seven games with Anaheim, but lost three of last four played here- road team won seven of last nine series games- under is 8-2-2 in last 12 series tilts. Over is 7-2-3 in last 12 Chicago games. Ducks outhit Chicago 71-45 in Game 2- they're 0-6 on power play in this series.

2015 NHL playoffs
Tampa Bay vs NY Rangers
NYR 2-1, -$143, U5
TB 6-2, +$128, O5
TB 6-5, -$130, O5

Chicago vs Anaheim
Ana 4-1, -$135, N5
Chi 3-2, 3OT, +$113, N5

NHL

Thursday, May 21

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
ANAHEIM vs. CHICAGO
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Anaheim's last 10 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Anaheim is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Chicago is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Anaheim

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**Udog** · 05-21-2015, 08:44 AM

NHL

Thursday, May 21

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What bettors need to know: Ducks at Blackhawks
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Anaheim Ducks at Chicago Blackhawks (-130, 5)
Series tied 1-1

Two days after stealing home-ice advantage - and evening the series - with a marathon triple-overtime victory, the Chicago Blackhawks look to put it to good use when they host the Anaheim Ducks in Game 3 of the Western Conference final on Thursday. Chicago jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Tuesday before squandering it, needing a stellar performance from Corey Crawford (60 saves) and a goal by Marcus Kruger at 16:12 of the third overtime to avoid falling into an 0-2 series hole.

An incredible effort by Andrew Shaw in the second extra session nearly gave the Blackhawks the victory, but his tally correctly was disallowed as he took a page out of the playbook of Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire and deliberately head-butted the puck past Frederik Andersen. The Anaheim netminder played nearly as well as Crawford, turning aside 53 shots, and Andrew Cogliano began the Ducks' comeback before Corey Perry continued his trend of scoring a goal in alternate games by knotting the contest late in the second period. Anaheim's third-ranked power play was unable to cash in, failing on five opportunities to drop to 0-for-6 in the series as the Ducks suffered their first home loss of the postseason (6-1). Anaheim was held to fewer than three goals for just the second time in this year's playoffs, with the first being a 2-1 triumph over Winnipeg in Game 2 of their first-round matchup.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVA

LINE HISTORY: Books opened the Blackhawks between -135 and -130 with a total of 5.

INJURY REPORT: Ducks - D Sheldon Souray (Out-Wrist) Blackhawks - D Michal Rozsival (Out-Ankle)

ABOUT THE DUCKS: Perry began the postseason with a two-goal effort against the Jets and has scored in every second game since. He netted his eighth of the playoffs on Tuesday, putting him among the league leaders in both tallies and points (16). Captain Ryan Getzlaf tops all players in assists this postseason as he notched his 12th on Perry's goal in Game 2.

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS: Shaw, who opened the scoring Tuesday 2:16 into the contest with the first of his team's two power-play goals and had several other good chances, knew his soccer-style goal was in violation of league rule 78.5 - which states a tally would be disallowed "when the puck has been directed, batted or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick." Regardless, the 23-year-old would have liked to have seen the goal stand. "I understand (the rule), but I think if anyone can ever pull that off, it should still be a goal," Shaw said. "I mean, at that point, you react in the moment and try to get it in."

TRENDS:

*Road team is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
*Blackhawks are 5-0 in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest.
*Under is 9-1 in the last 10 meetings in Chicago.
*Over is 4-0 in Ducks last 4 road games.

CONSENSUS: 61 percent of users are backing the Blackhawks with 62.7 percent on the over.

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**Udog** · 05-21-2015, 08:47 AM

NHL

Thursday, May 21

Ducks look to remain hot away from the Pond

The Anaheim Ducks are a solid 3-1 on the road during the postseason, and dating further back they are 7-1 in their past eight road games.

The Ducks have outscored their opposition 27-18 during that span with three games, including their one loss, going to overtime. Only two of those seven wins have seen the Ducks by more than one goal.

Anaheim is +118 when they travel to the United Center Thursday.

Lightning torch Lundqvist once again

New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has allowed five or more goals just six times during the 2014-15 regular season and postseason, but after Wednesday's 6-5 loss in the Eastern Conference Final, four of those games have come against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Wednesday's scoreline marked the second-consecutive game in the series that the Lightning put six past the Swedish netminder. Tampa Bay tallied five in a 5-1 win against the Blushirts back on Nov. 17 and another five in a 6-3 win on Dec. 1.

The Lightning have a 2-1 lead in the series with Game 4 slated to go Friday evening in Florida.

Announcement

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/21

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/21

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