Announcement

**Udog** · 06-09-2016, 08:14 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

Odds to win the College World Series, with Super Regionals this week

-- 5-1-- Florida, Louisville, Mississippi State, Texas A&M

-- 6-1-- Miami-- Stadium is named after A-Rod, but he never played there.

-- 7-1-- LSU-- Les Miles should coach first for a couple innings.

-- 10-1-- Texas Tech-- Wouldn't want to pitch in Lubbock if wind is blowing out.

-- 12-1-- South Carolina-- Not a lot of northern teams on this list.

-- 25-1-- Coastal Carolina, Arizona, Cal-Santa Barbara

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

13) Sauerkraut got a lot of support from e-mailers today, which baffles me, but that is what makes life interesting-- we like different things.

12) I was also informed that the world's largest sauerkraut factory is in Phelps, NY, near where a friend of mine's grandfather lives. You learrn new stuff every day.

11) Speaking of which, it is now illegal to sit on a sidewalk in Saratoga Springs, NY, where the six-week horse racing meet is held every summer. Not sure if the mayor is a guy who sells benches, but that seems like a dumb thing to have as a law.

10) Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years, which means she is likely to lose as much as $50M in income during that time. Sharapova has been the world's highest-paid female athlete for the last 11 years, but that streak is over now.

9) A Uber driver from Boulder, CO won $1M in a World Series of Poker tourney this week, after being down to one $500 chip at one point in the tournament. Something you rarely read about are people who try to become pro poker players and fail; this guy went bust couple years ago, moved to Colorado and started driving for Uber, then built up some cash and took a shot in this year's WSOP and hit it big. Good for him.

8) Jacksonville Jaguars paid WR Allen Hurns $40M for four years this offseason, now find out Hurns is allergic to grass; no bueno. Will they switch to Field Turf?

7) Washington 11, White Sox 4-- James Sheilds faced 17 batters in his White Sox debut and seven of them scored, not what the struggling Pale Hose needed. He threw 84 pitches and got six outs. Chicago is 6-20 in its last 26 games.

6) Braves' play-by play Chip Caray, grandson of Harry, son of Chip, has improved a lot as a play-play guy; he used to be awful. Haven't listened to Braves' games much the last few years because I don't have any Braves on my fantasy team, but I have this year and Chip is pretty good now. He has a very good partner in Joe Simpson.

5) Phillies young pitching star Vince Velasquez left Wednesday's game after two pitches, never a good sign. Apparently some kind of biceps issue. Last thing Phillies need right now is a pitching injury. Last thing anyone needs, actually.

4) Why I like Phil Martelli as a college hoop coach; St Joe's is 12-3 vs spread in its last 15 conference tournament games, 11-4 vs spread as a road underdog in conference games. He has good players and he lets them play, which gives them confidence.

3) Rumors in NYC this week that St John's assistant coach Barry Rohrssen is off to another job, possibly to be replaced by former NBA star Mitch Richmond. St John's gets to play the Big East tournament on its home court every year, yet they are 0-7 vs spread in last seven Big East tournament games.

Then there is Providence, which covered its last seven Big East tourney games.

2) Cavaliers 120, Warriors 90-- 10 of last 12 Cleveland games were decided by 11+ points. Golden State is 3-5 on the road in playoffs. Still think all playoff series should be best-of-3 and the Finals best-of-5. Much more dramatic that way.

1) Tonight was Golden State's 102nd game this season, not counting the handful of preseason games they play; it was Cleveland's 99th game. NBA is a long season, then the draft is June 23, and the NBA Summer League is in Las Vegas starting July 8. Not a lot of rest for the executives of the good teams.

Regular season ended in mid-April, so the lesser teams have had some time off.

**Udog** · 06-09-2016, 08:15 AM

NHL

Thursday, June 9

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Thursday's NHL Stanley Cup finals Game 5 betting preview: Sharks at Penguins
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Pittsburgh pushed the Sharks to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 victory on Monday night to edge closer to its first Stanley Cup championship since 2009.

San Jose Sharks at Pittsburgh Penguins (A: +145, H: -155, O/U: 5)

Penguins lead series 3-1

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on the threshold of a milestone moment, needing one win to become the first major sports team in the city to win a championship at home since the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960. Armed with a 3-1 series lead, the Penguins go for their fourth Stanley Cup title when they host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night in Game 5.

Pittsburgh pushed the Sharks to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 victory at San Jose on Monday night to edge closer to its first Stanley Cup championship since 2009. "We have to try to do our best to ignore some of the noise surrounding the group and I think our players are well aware of it," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of the tantalizing opportunity of hoisting the Cup in front of the home fans. The Sharks are trying to become the second team in league history to win the Cup after facing a 3-1 series deficit -- a seemingly insurmountable task given that they have yet to hold a lead in regulation against Pittsburgh. "We want to win one game and get a Game 6 back here at home," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "I think we would be comfortable in that spot that we could get it to go seven."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, TVAS

PROBABLE GOALIES:

Sharks - Martin Jones (W/L: 13-9, GAA: 2.06, SAVE %: .918)

Penguins - Matt Murray (W/L: 14-5, GAA: 2.09, SAVE %: .927)

ABOUT THE SHARKS (59-35-10, 51-42 O/U): After averaging a playoff-best 3.5 goals through the first three rounds of the postseason, San Jose has scored only seven times in four games versus Pittsburgh. Captain Joe Pavelski scored 13 goals and had a seven-game point streak entering the Finals, but he has been held off the scoresheet by the Penguins. "If it's different, if it's 3-1 and you don't have anything, it's a different story," Pavelski said. "But right now, with the hole we're [in], a goal or two probably changes the outcome. The way it's been going for most of the postseason, I feel like I should probably have a bit more." Forward Logan Couture has a postseason-best 26 points, but both he and defenseman Brent Burns have been limited to two assists in the Finals.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (63-30-11, 45-41 O/U): Center Evgeni Malkin, the Conn Smythe Award winner in Pittsburgh's 2009 run to the Cup, admitted he wasn't producing enough through the first three games of the series and responded to his own "I want more" declaration by setting up one tally and scoring what proved to be the game-winner in Game 4. “We’ve seen him do it so many times,” Penguins forward Matt Cullen said. “He’s such a big part of the team. He demands a lot of himself, so to see him come out like that in a big game when he kind of called himself out a bit, it’s pretty impressive. That’s what good players do." Forward Phil Kessel is near the front of the line for this season's Conn Smythe after collecting a pair of assists Monday to boost his team-high total to 21 points.

TRENDS:

* Sharks are 8-2 in their last 10 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
* Penguins are 6-0 in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
* Under is 12-3-2 in Penguins last 17 Stanley Cup Finals games.
* Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Pittsburgh.
* Sharks are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Pittsburgh.

CONSENSUS: At the time of publication of this preview, the Pittsburgh Penguins are grabbing 71 percent of the public picks and Over 5 is leading the way in totals wagering at 66 percent.

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**Udog** · 06-09-2016, 08:16 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, June 9

San Jose @ Pittsburgh

Game 59-60
June 9, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
San Jose
11.754
Pittsburgh
14.283
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Pittsburgh
by 2 1/2
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Pittsburgh
-160
5
Dunkel Pick:
Pittsburgh
(-160); Over

NHL
Long Sheet

Thursday, June 9

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SAN JOSE (59-36-0-9, 127 pts.) at PITTSBURGH (63-30-0-11, 137 pts.) - 6/9/2016, 8:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 6-4 (+1.9 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 6-4-0 straight up against SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
7 of 10 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.6 Units)

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NHL
Short Sheet

Thursday, June 9

San Jose at Pittsburgh, 8:05 PM ET
San Jose: 11-3 SU in road games after having lost 2 of their last 3
Pittsburgh: 11-18 SU after 2 consecutive non-conference games

NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, June 9

San Jose-Pittsburgh (P 3-1)
Penguins can win 4th Stanley Cup here; would be first title Pittsburgh team has won at home since '60 World Series. San Jose lost five of last seven games with Pittsburgh, they lost three of last five playoff road games. Seven of last 14 Shark-Penguin games went OT, four to shootout- seven of last eight tilts stayed under total. San Jose is 1-8 on power play in series; Penguins 1-8. Pittsburgh has a 133-98 edge in shots in first four games. Sharks are in Stanley Cup finals for first time; Penguins are in for first time since winning Cup in '09, its third Stanley Cup title. Pittsburgh won its last three home games, giving up a total of four goals.

Playoffs tally: 1st round-- Home: 23-24, Over: 16-17-14
2nd round-- Home: 16-9, Over: 11-5-9
Conference finals-- Home 6-7, Over 7-5-1
Home: 3-1 Over: 0-4

NHL

Thursday, June 9

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
SAN JOSE vs. PITTSBURGH
San Jose is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of San Jose's last 8 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Pittsburgh's last 8 games when playing San Jose
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 game

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Announcement

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 6/9

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 6/9

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