The Bum's NHL Best Bets-Trends-News Etc. !

[StarDust Bum]

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

BUF at BOS 01:00 PM

U 5.0

WAS at NJ 01:00 PM

U 5.0

CLB at MIN 06:00 PM

CLB +110 *****

U 5.5 *****

CAR at TB 07:00 PM

O 5.5

MON at PIT 07:00 PM

U 5.5 *****

NYI at WIN 07:00 PM

NYI +125 *****

O 5.5 *****

NYR at COL 08:00 PM

U 5.5

FLA at DAL 08:00 PM

O 5.5 *****

ARI at CAL 10:00 PM

U 5.5 *****

VAN at EDM 10:00 PM

U 5.5

SJ at LA 10:30 PM

SJ +100 ****

[StarDust Bum]

NHL Capsules
December 31, 2016

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Cam Atkinson scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets stretched their winning streak to 15 games by stopping Minnesota's 12-game run with a 4-2 victory over the Wild on Saturday night.

Never in NHL history had two teams taken winning streaks that long into a game, and Sergei Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets made sure their party would stretch into the new year. Bobrovsky made 29 saves, yielding two or fewer goals for the 10th time during the run, and defensemen Jack Johnson and Seth Jones each had goals assisted by Brandon Saad in a frenetic second period sparked by consecutive fights.

Jason Zucker reignited the arena with his breakaway flip past Bobrovsky just 24 seconds into the third period for the Wild after he raced past Jones, but that was as close as they came. Devan Dubnyk stopped 21 shots, surrendering four goals for the second straight game after allowing three or fewer in his first 27 turns.

Mikael Granlund had the first goal for the Wild, who also had a franchise record-tying eight-game home winning streak end.

CAPITALS 6, DEVILS 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin scored 33 seconds apart in the second period to power Washington to a victory and a split of a home-and-home series with New Jersey.

The Devils stunned the Capitals with a 2-1 shootout victory on Thursday in Washington.

This one was all Capitals, with six different players all hitting the net. Brett Connolly, Jay Beagle, Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson also scored as Washington snapped a two-game losing streak.

Backup goalie Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves, improving his record to 6-1-1. Grubauer saw action for the first time in six games as Braden Holtby rested.

Kyle Palmieri and Beau Bennett scored for the Devils, who have only two wins in their last 12 games (2-9-1). Keith Kinkaid stopped 20 and New Jersey wasted nine power plays.

PENGUINS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Evgeni Malkin scored a power-play goal 1:54 into overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

Montreal was whistled for too many men on the ice 1:10 into OT, and then Malkin scored his 16th of the season. Conor Sheary tied it with 55 seconds left in the third period by scoring his ninth goal of the season.

Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel also scored for the Penguins, who won for the fifth time in six games. Pittsburgh won 12 of 15 games in December, finishing with 12 wins in a calendar month for the fourth time in team history and the second under coach Mike Sullivan.

Alexander Radulov, Paul Byron and Brian Flynn scored for the Canadiens, who have one win in their last five games. Montreal, on a season-high seven-game road trip, has seven wins in 17 road games this season.

Carey Price made 37 saves for Montreal.

KINGS 3, SHARKS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jeff Carter, Drew Doughty and Tanner Pearson each scored a goal, and Los Angeles returned home to beat San Jose.

Peter Budaj made 18 saves and Alec Martinez had two assists, helping end the Sharks' four-game winning streak. The Kings stopped a three-game losing streak by breaking out of an offensive funk that sunk their nine-game road trip.

Los Angeles has now earned a point in 12 of 16 games at Staples Center this season.

Brent Burns scored his 15th goal of the season, Kevin Labanc added a goal and Martin Jones stopped 24 shots for the Sharks, who had won the first two games in the season series by allowing just two goals.

RANGERS 6, AVALANCHE 2

DENVER (AP) - Chris Kreider got his second career hat trick, J.T. Miller added two goals and New York beat Colorado.

Jimmy Vesey also scored, and Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello each had two assists for the Rangers, who have won three straight and nine of their last 12. Henrik Lundqvist returned after missing two games with the flu and stopped 25 shots.

The Rangers won their 12th road game in their last 16 tries, while the Avalanche dropped their 10th consecutive game at the Pepsi Center.

Cody McLeod and Blake Comeau scored for Colorado, which has lost eight of nine. Calvin Pickard, starting in a fourth consecutive game in place of injured Semyon Varlamov, stopped 31 shots.

ISLANDERS 6, JETS 2

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - John Tavares and Ryan Strome each had a goal and an assist to help New York beat Winnipeg.

Nikolay Kulemin, Shane Prince, Anders Lee and Andrew Ladd also scored, Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson each had two assists, and Thomas Greiss made 32 saves. The Islanders have won four of their last five to get to .500 at 15-15-6.

Shawn Matthias scored a short-handed goal and Nikolaj Ehlers had a power-play tally for Winnipeg.

Connor Hellebuyck allowed four goals on 15 shots and was replaced by Michael Hutchinson with 5:47 left in the second period. Hutchinson made seven stops in relief.

PANTHERS 3, STARS 1

DALLAS (AP) - Jaromir Jagr scored his 756th career goal and had an assist, helping Florida end a four-game losing streak.

Jagr, who passed Mark Messier for second on the career scoring list last week, gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead less than 17 minutes in. His seventh goal of the season chased goalie Antti Niemi as the Stars' season-best three-game winning streak ended.

Florida goalie James Reimer, Roberto Luongo's backup, got his fifth win in his 15th appearance, stopping 35 of 36 shots, including all 19 in the third period. He beat Dallas twice with Toronto last season.

The 44-year-old Jagr, in his 24th NHL season, capped a quick two-goal spurt on a pair of power plays. The first came from former Dallas player Jussi Jokinen just six seconds after Jamie Benn was called for high-sticking.

LIGHTNING 3, HURRICANES 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Brian Boyle and Jonathan Drouin scored first-period power-play goals, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves and Tampa Bay beat Carolina.

Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning, and Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman had two assists each.

Carolina got a goal from Sebastian Aho, and Cam Ward stopped 22 shots. The Hurricanes beat Chicago 3-2 on Friday night to extend their home point streak to 11 games (10-0-1). Carolina is 3-7-2 on the road over the same stretch.

BRUINS 3, SABRES 1

BOSTON (AP) - Patrice Bergeron and Tim Schaller scored second-period goals to help Boston beat Buffalo and complete a sweep of home-and-home games.

The victory also gave Boston a sweep of its four-game season series against the Sabres.

Frank Vatrano scored the other goal for Boston, which had lost five of its previous nine games but improved to 12-1-2 in the last 15 meetings against the Sabres. Tuukka Rask stopped 26 shots.

Former Boston University star and Hobey Baker winner Jack Eichel scored for Buffalo. Robin Lehner made 25 saves.

CANUCKS 3, OILERS 2, SO

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Bo Horvat got the only goal in the shootout and added two assists, helping Vancouver beat Edmonton for its third straight win.

Alexandre Burrows and Sven Baertschi scored in regulation for the Canucks.

Drake Caggiula and Connor McDavid had goals for Edmonton.

Jacob Markstrom made 42 saves for Vancouver, and Cam Talbot stopped 30 shots for the Oilers.

FLAMES 4, COYOTES 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Michael Frolik had a goal and an assist in Calgary's four-goal first period.

Mikael Backlund, Dennis Wideman and Lance Bouma also scored as Calgary improved to 4-0 against Arizona this season. Frolik stopped a 20-game drought with his first goal since Nov. 16 against the Coyotes, and rookie Matthew Tkachuk extended his point streak to six games with an assist.

Brendan Perlini and Martin Hanzal scored for Arizona, which has lost seven straight.

[StarDust Bum]

nhl record: ( like in baseball i only play dogs and totals )

OVERALL RECORD OPINIONS AND STAR GAMES

12/01/2016 8-8-1 50.00% +350
12/02/2016 1-1-1 50.00% +0
12/03/2016 3-3-0 50.00% +175
12/04/2016 7-4-0 63.64% +1725
12/05/2016 1-4-1 20.00% -1600
12/06/2016 7-6-3 53.85% +600
12/07/2016 4-2-0 66.67% +1325
12/08/2016 8-6-0 57.14% +1500
12/09/2016 2-2-5 50.00% +100
12/10/2016 6-9-1 40.00% -1650
12/11/2016 3-8-1 27.27% -2725
12/12/2016 0-3-0 0.00% -1600
12/13/2016 3-11-0 21.43% -3900
12/14/2016 4-3-0 57.14% +500
12/15/2016 5-6-1 45.45% -150
12/16/2016 6-5-0 54.55% +725
12/17/2016 10-7-1 58.82% +1750
12/19/2016 3-4-0 42.86% -525
12/20/2016 6-9-3 40.00% -1650
12/21/2016 1-1-1 50.00% -25
12/22/2016 7-7-0 50.00% -175
12/23/2016 7-8-2 46.67% -650
12/27/2016 6-7-2 46.15% -450
12/28/2016 2-5-0 28.57% -1650
12/29/2016 8-9-1 47.06% -525
12/30/2016 2-1-2 66.67% +500
12/31/2016 5-8-1 38.46% -1675

WLT Pct Units

M/L Picks 113-168-0 40.21% -13745

O/U Picks 221-216-77 50.57% -8300

oct- nov triple plays - ***** 102 - 111 - 27
dec triple plays - ***** 67 - 80 - 11

big plays
record based on 5 units

m/l-...........24 -38 - 0 + 2.10

o/u-.......... 19 - 28 - 7 - 4050

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

Week 17’s most popular selections in the Westgate SuperContest:

6) Carolina Panthers +6 (350)

5) Denver Broncos -1 (374)

4) Baltimore Ravens +2 (389)

3) Detroit Lions +3.5 (405)

2) Miami Dolphins +9.5 (417)

1) Green Bay Packers -3.5 (538)

**********

Armadillo: Sunday's List of 13: Random thoughts as 2016 comes to an end

13) Virginia Tech 89, Duke 75— Blue Devils get tripped up in Blacksburg in first game of the Grayson Allen suspension.

Georgia Tech 75, North Carolina 63— Rough day for the bluebloods of the ACC.

12) When Lane Kiffin got fired by USC, he sold his house in Manhattan Beach to actor Vince Vaughn for $6.5M; his next-door neighbor was the guy who created the TV show Duck Dynasty. Sounds like a pretty good neighborhood to live in.

11) Bill Parcells used to say he was against drafting any QB unless the kid started for three years in college, which would make us skeptical of North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky, who started for only one season at North Carolina— he is expected to declare for April’s draft.

10) Rumors on the Interweb have the 49ers totally cleaning house after tomorrow’s game, with coach and GM both getting told to take a hike. Apparently their season sweep of the Rams didn’t impress ownership very much.

9) Bowl game tallies to this point: favorites are 13-23 vs spread. Over is 15-21.

8) Nevada basketball player Jordan Caroline is the son of former NFL lineman Simeon Rice, who won a Super Bowl as a defensive end for the Buccaneers.

7) Good grief, Jennifer Garner is in a lot of TV commercials. Whats in your wallet?

6) Villanova 80, Creighton 70— 5th straight time Wildcats beat Creighton, third straight win for Villanova in Omaha, handing the Bluejays their first loss this season.

5) Big West was 13th-ranked conference each of last two years; this year, they’ve slipped all the way to #26, with #180 Cal-Irvine their top-ranked team right now. There isn’t one good team in the league; you can almost pencil in their conference tourney champ for a play-in game already.

4) LSU 29, Louisville 9— I still can’t believe LSU fired Les Miles and replaced him with Ed Orgeron; just a totally baffling move. If you’ve ever read the book Meat Market, which dealt with Orgeron’s tenure at Ole Miss, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

3) Alabama 24, Washington 7— Huskies were held to 194 yards; Alabama scored their 11th defensive TD of the season in what wasn’t an interesting game.

Two jobs you do not want; replacing Nick Saban at Alabama, Mike Krzyzewski at Duke; will be virtually impossible for the next guy to satisfy those fanbases.

2) Clemson 31, Ohio State 0— Last six years, Big 14 teams have been favored in only 13 of their 55 bowl games; think about that for a second.

Since 2011, Big 14 teams are 5-7-1 vs spread when favored in a bowl game.

1— As far as 2017 is concerned, I hope people in this country become more tolerant of each other and of differing opinions. We’re a very diverse country and we need to respect each other more. Diversity should be a strength, not a weakness. It is OK to agree to disagree.

Happy New Year, everyone. Thanks for reading.

[StarDust Bum]

NHL
Dunkel

Sunday, January 1

Philadelphia @ Anaheim

Game 55-56
January 1, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Philadelphia
11.961
Anaheim
10.005
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Philadelphia
by 2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Anaheim
-150
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Philadelphia
(+130); Over

Ottawa @ Washington

Game 53-54
January 1, 2017 @ 7:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Ottawa
11.676
Washington
12.789
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Washington
by 1
3
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Washington
-135
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Washington
(-135); Under

Detroit @ Toronto

Game 51-52
January 1, 2017 @ 3:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Detroit
10.756
Toronto
9.652
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Detroit
by 1
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Toronto
-150
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Detroit
(+130); Over




NHL
Long Sheet

Sunday, January 1

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DETROIT (16-16-0-4, 36 pts.) vs. TORONTO (16-12-0-7, 39 pts.) - 1/1/2017, 3:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 10-17 ATS (-14.4 Units) on Sunday games over the last 3 seasons.
DETROIT is 35-51 ATS (-25.6 Units) vs. division opponents over the last 3 seasons.
DETROIT is 421-307 ATS (-119.0 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.
DETROIT is 7-1 ATS (+6.0 Units) in road games in January games over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 12-6 ATS (+5.7 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
TORONTO is 4-21 ATS (-24.8 Units) in January games over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 24-66 ATS (+106.1 Units) second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 58-89 ATS (-40.7 Units) after a 3 game unbeaten streak since 1996.
TORONTO is 31-54 ATS (+93.3 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
TORONTO is 4-5 (+0.5 Units) against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 5-4-0 straight up against TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
9 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+9.4 Units)

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OTTAWA (20-12-0-4, 44 pts.) at WASHINGTON (21-9-0-5, 47 pts.) - 1/1/2017, 7:35 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 5-1 (+4.0 Units) against the spread versus OTTAWA over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 5-1-0 straight up against OTTAWA over the last 3 seasons
3 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.7 Units)

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PHILADELPHIA (20-14-0-4, 44 pts.) at ANAHEIM (18-12-0-8, 44 pts.) - 1/1/2017, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PHILADELPHIA is 15-41 ATS (+66.5 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 over the last 3 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 15-38 ATS (+65.6 Units) in road games revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 3 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 37-56 ATS (-30.8 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 7-22 ATS (+32.6 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 493-402 ATS (+83.2 Units) second half of the season since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 5-0 (+5.1 Units) against the spread versus PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 5-0-0 straight up against PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
3 of 3 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.0 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Sunday, January 1

Red Wings won three of last four games with Toronto; they won four of last six games in Toronto. Last nine series games stayed under the total. Detroit lost six of its last nine games but won last two on road. Over is 3-1-1 in their last five games. Maple Leafs are back from a 4-0 road trip, winning last two games in OT/SO; they lost four of last five home games. Under is 9-1 in Toronto’s last ten games. This is an outdoor game.

Washington won five of last six games with Ottawa; Senators were outscored 11-3 in losing last three visits here. Three of last four series games went over total. Ottawa lost 4-3/3-2 in their last two games; they’re 2-3 in last five road games. Over is 6-3-1 in last ten Senator games. Caps lost four of last six games; they won in New Jersey Saturday, are 3-2 in last five home games. Over is 4-3-1 in their last eight games.

Flyers lost their last seven games with Anaheim; they were outscored 14-9 in losing last three games in this building. Over is 6-1-2 in last nine series games. Philly lost five of last six games, losing last four away games by combined score of 15-4; under is 4-1-1 in their last six games. Ducks lost four of last five games; their last three losses were all in OT. Under is 3-1-2 in their last six games.




NHL

Sunday, January 1

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4:00 PM
DETROIT vs. TORONTO
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Toronto
Detroit is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 5 games at home
Toronto is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games at home

8:30 PM
OTTAWA vs. WASHINGTON
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Ottawa's last 7 games on the road
Ottawa is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Washington's last 20 games when playing Ottawa
Washington is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games

9:00 PM
PHILADELPHIA vs. ANAHEIM
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 6 games when playing Anaheim
Philadelphia is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Anaheim
Anaheim is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Philadelphia
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Anaheim's last 5 games when playing at home against Philadelphia

[StarDust Bum]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

DET at TOR 03:00 PM

DET +135 *****

U 5.5 *****

OTT at WAS 07:30 PM

O 5.0 *****

PHI at ANA 08:00 PM

O 5.5 *****

[StarDust Bum]

NHL roundup: Matthews stars for Leafs at Centennial Classic
January 1, 2017

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs splurged for four third-period goals, then needed overtime to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Sunday at BMO Field to extend their winning streak to five games.

Auston Matthews scored his second goal of the game and his 20th of the season for the Maple Leafs at 3:40 of overtime

The Red Wings, who trailed 4-1 in the third period, tied the score with 1.1 seconds left in regulation time when Anthony Mantha scored his second goal of the game.

Leo Komarov, Mitch Marner, Connor Brown and Matthews scored in regulation for the Maple Leafs in the Centennial Classic played outdoors before an announced crowd of 40,148. Zach Hyman added two assists for Toronto.

Mantha added an assist for the Red Wings, who have lost two of their past three games. Jonathan Ericsson and Tomas Tatar also scored for Detroit.

Ducks 4, Flyers 3 (SO)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- John Gibson had a career high 51 saves as Anaheim defeated Philadelphia at Honda Center.

Ryan Kesler accounted for all the scoring in regulation for Anaheim as he recorded his fourth career hat trick for the Ducks, who beat the Flyers for the eighth straight time. Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry scored in the shootout for the Ducks, who were outshot 55-28.

Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers in regulation.

Capitals 2, Senators 1

WASHINGTON -- Seldom-used defenseman Taylor Chorney scored early in the third period to break a tie and Washington opened up 2017 and a three-game home stand with a victory over Ottawa.

The tally was just the third goal in 130 career games for Chorney and first since March 2 against Toronto. The Capitals, who also got a goal from Karl Alzner, have had seven goals from their defenseman in their last 11 contests.

Kyle Turris -- who had hit a post in the first -- scored the Senators lone goal, his 100th with the club.

[StarDust Bum]

Monday’s 6-pack

Week 17’s most popular selections in the Westgate SuperContest:

6) Carolina Panthers +6 (350)- W

5) Denver Broncos -1 (374)- W

4) Baltimore Ravens +2 (389)- L

3) Detroit Lions +3.5 (405)-L

2) Miami Dolphins +9.5 (417)- L

1) Green Bay Packers -3.5 (538)-W

[StarDust Bum]

NHL SEASON RECORD: UNDERDOGS AND TOTALS ONLY

RECORD BASED ON 5 UNITS

M/L Picks 113-169-0 40.07% -14245

O/U Picks 222-218-77 50.45% -8900

]DAILY RECORD;

Date W-L-T % Units Record

01/01/2017 1-3-0 25.00% -1100

DAILY BEST BETS:

ATS:.......0 - 1.............- 500

O/U........1 - 2 ............- 600

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Monday's List of 16: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday……

Titans 24, Texans 17— Houston QB Savage left with concussion, Osweiler wound up throwing 40 passes; Titans scored a defensive TD 5:03 into the game, never looked back. Texans will be a home underdog in playoffs next week. Tennessee has to have mixed emotions; they improved a lot this year, but Mariota’s broken leg and Week 16 loss to Jacksonville prevented a happy ending. Good news for Titans: they have a lot of draft picks from the Rams, as a result of LA trading up to draft Jared Goff.

Jets 30, Bills 10— Buffalo owner Terry Pagula changed history when he bought the Bills; the person he beat out for the franchise? Donald Trump.

Now Bills have to hire a coach, have to decide if Tyrod Taylor is their QB of future. Lot of work for them, since other teams with coaching openings are seen as more attractive jobs. Jets’ last TD scored when Buffalo neglected to field a kickoff and the Jets recovered the free ball in the end zone- they finish 5-11, but swept the Bills.

Bengals 27, Ravens 10— Putrid effort by Baltimore; Flacco threw a horrendous end zone INT when game was 17-3 and still in doubt. Flacco targeted Dennis Pitta 16 times in this game, including the fateful end zone pick- he plays like Pitta is on his fantasy team.

Why is Chris Simms a network TV analyst? Because his dad is? I’ll give you two guys who do college games who are better and more qualified: Andre Ware (ESPN) and Sherdrick Bonner, who does Mountain West games on ROOT Sports— he played Arenaball for the Arizona Rattlers. Ware is soft-spoken and a good listen. Bonner is very smart.

Colts 24, Jaguars 20— Jacksonville led 17-0 20:45 into game, led 17-3 at the half- hopefully they’ll hire Josh McDaniels as coach so the Rams can’t. Think Jaguars are closer to being good than you’d expect; they only trailed one of their last seven games at halftime. Colts finish 7-1 vs spread this year in the game following a loss.

Question for Colts’ owner Jim Irsay is: Do you fire your coach after an 8-8 season? I’m not saying you don’t, I’m just asking.

Eagles 27, Cowboys 13— Philly finishes 7-9 after a 3-0 start with the ill-timed Week 4 bye. Still think Eagles had a pretty good year; they established Wentz as their starting QB, now they need to build around him.

Dallas has next week off and will be favored to win the NFC; I remember 1999, when the Rams lost a meaningless Week 17 game in Philly, then won the Super Bowl. Cowboys hope history repeats itself there.

Vikings 38, Bears 10— Minnesota finishes 8-8 after a 5-0 start and they don’t have their #1 draft pick in April, because they dealt it for Sam Bradford. Good news for Vikings; their new stadium is real nice. Good news for the Bears is that their dismal 3-13 season is over. Now they have to decide who they want their QB to be going forward.

Chances are it won’t be Matt Barkley; Bears turned ball over 14 times in their last three games. 14 times. In. three. games.

Buccaneers 17, Panthers 16— Carolina scored TD with 0:17 left, went for two points and the win but failed. 8th year in a row this series was swept. Panthers went 2-6 on the road this season. Tampa Bay was down 7-3 until Newton threw a pick-6; he didn’t have a good season.

Browns 24, Steelers 21 OT— Cleveland’s team bus broke down on their way to the stadium Sunday morning, which pretty much sums up their whole franchise. Steelers’ top guys on offense didn’t play, but they won anyway, scoring a TD in overtime after Cleveland kicked a FG.

Browns clinched 1st pick in April’s draft.

Patriots 35, Dolphins 14— New England won its 7th straight game, snapped a 3-game losing streak in Miami. Dolphins are in playoffs for first time in 2008, but go to playoffs with backup QB Moore playing- he’s one of the better backups. Seeing how so many AFC playoffs teams have QB injury issues, hard to imagine the Patriots not playing in the Super Bowl.

Cardinals 44, Rams 6— Merciful end to a horrendous season for the Rams, one of the worst offenses I’ve ever seen…..’76 Buccaneers level of bad. Time to take a big broom to coaching staff; keeping special teams coach Fassel would be a good move- everyone else needs to go and I do mean everyone else. LA was outscored 78-21 in second half of their last four games, a sign the players gave up. Lot of them need to go, too.

Chiefs 37, Chargers 27— Andy Reid is this generation’s version of Chuck Knox; wins a lot of games, sound coach but when January and playoffs roll around, his teams will lose. Win here and Oakland’s loss in Denver gives Chiefs #2 seed in AFC and next week off, which is really important, but does anyone think they can go to Foxboro in three weeks and win?

Chargers finish their last season in San Diego 5-11; this is a ridiculous situation where no one likes the owner, but they do avidly support the team in this stadium. Why can’t the Chargers just stay in San Diego? Does every NFL team have to play in a new stadium? Does the NFL want cities like St Louis and San Diego to hate the NFL?

Falcons 38, Saints 32— Over/under on Atlanta’s points in this game was 32; they had 35 at the half. Falcons get #2 seed in NFC and next week off; Over was 13-3 in Atlanta games this year.

Interesting situation if Rams are really interested in Sean Payton as their next coach; would he re-unite with Gregg Williams (they won a Super Bowl together with Saints)? Saints have had a terrible defense for several years now (since Williams left).

Giants 13, Redskins 10— Rooting for a team that finishes 4-12 is not fun, but not half as bad as rooting for a team that has to win one of its last two home games to make playoffs, but loses both of them.

Losing to a team that had nothing to play for is just intolerable. Giants are now 8-3 in last 11 games here; seven of their last eight games overall stayed under total- they have a road playoff game next week.

Seahawks 25, 49ers 23— Something is wrong with Seattle; they had to fight to win this game, against a 2-14 team that fired its GM before kickoff. Seahawks will play at home next week- they split last six games.

No idea what direction the 49ers will go in; sounds like they’re firing Chip Kelly, too. NFC West is going to look a lot different next year.

Broncos 24, Raiders 6— Things turned ugly quickly for Oakland; backup QB McGloin hurt his shoulder, they lost the NFC West title, now have to go to Houston for a rematch of the Monday night game in Mexico City that Oakland won 27-20. it is possible that Michigan St rookie QB Connor Cook (14-21/150) might be under center for that game. Oy.

As for Denver, looks like Gary Kubiak is going to resign for health reasons, a year after he won the Super Bowl. Coaching is very stressful and not necessarily healthy- we wish him well. The next coach is going to have to spruce up the offense. Will Siemian, Lynch or someone else be the Denver QB next year?

[StarDust Bum]

NHL
Dunkel

Monday, January 2

Colorado @ Vancouver

Game 5-6
January 2, 2017 @ 10:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Colorado
9.443
Vancouver
10.620
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Vancouver
by 1
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Vancouver
-160
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Vancouver
(-160); Over

Boston @ New Jersey

Game 3-4
January 2, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Boston
12.616
New Jersey
10.020
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Boston
by 2 1/2
4
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Boston
-140
5
Dunkel Pick:
Boston
(-140); Under

Chicago @ St. Louis

Game 1-2
January 2, 2017 @ 1:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Chicago
11.804
St. Louis
10.371
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Chicago
by 1 1/2
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
St. Louis
-130
5
Dunkel Pick:
Chicago
(+110); Over




NHL
Long Sheet

Monday, January 2

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CHICAGO (23-11-0-5, 51 pts.) vs. ST LOUIS (19-13-0-5, 43 pts.) - 1/2/2017, 1:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ST LOUIS is 21-12 ATS (+8.7 Units) in road games second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 32-13 ATS (+11.7 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 423-412 ATS (+857.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
ST LOUIS is 11-9 (+1.5 Units) against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
ST LOUIS is 11-9-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
8 of 14 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.8 Units)

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BOSTON (20-15-0-4, 44 pts.) at NEW JERSEY (14-16-0-7, 35 pts.) - 1/2/2017, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 15-21 ATS (-14.9 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 6-1 (+4.4 Units) against the spread versus NEW JERSEY over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 6-1-0 straight up against NEW JERSEY over the last 3 seasons
4 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+2.8 Units)

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COLORADO (12-23-0-1, 25 pts.) at VANCOUVER (17-18-0-3, 37 pts.) - 1/2/2017, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
COLORADO is 4-12 ATS (+16.7 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record this season.
COLORADO is 4-12 ATS (+16.7 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season this season.
COLORADO is 21-17 ATS (+45.0 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 61-44 ATS (+106.4 Units) in road games in January games since 1996.
COLORADO is 228-216 ATS (+461.0 Units) in road games second half of the season since 1996.
COLORADO is 223-177 ATS (+28.6 Units) after a non-conference game since 1996.
COLORADO is 11-8 ATS (+24.2 Units) in road games after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 35-29 ATS (+75.3 Units) in road games after 3 or more consecutive losses since 1996.
VANCOUVER is 226-221 ATS (-134.4 Units) in home games second half of the season since 1996.
VANCOUVER is 362-328 ATS (-83.4 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
VANCOUVER is 4-3 (+0.2 Units) against the spread versus COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
VANCOUVER is 4-3-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
3 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.0 Units, Under=-0.7 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Monday, January 2

Blackhawks have already won twice in St Louis this year, after Blues ousted them from playoffs in seven games last spring; this is an outdoor game at Busch Stadium. Over is 5-1-1 in last seven series games. Chicago lost four of last five games overall but won four of last five road games. Under is 2-0-2 in their last four games. Blues lost six of last nine games, losing three go last four at home. Over is 3-2 in their last five home games.

Bruins won six of last seven games with New Jersey, winning three of last five visits here. Under is 4-0-2 in last six series games. Boston won 4-2/3-1 in its last two games; they split last six road games. Over is 3-1-1 in their last five road games. Devils lost eight of last ten games overall, three of last four at home. Three of their last four home games went over the total.

Road team won five of last six Colorado-Vancouver games; Canucks won three of last four series games, but Avalanche won three of last four visits here. Over is 4-2-2 in last eight series games. Colorado lost eight of last nine games; four of their last five games went over the total. Vancouver won its last three games, all by one goal, allowing total of five goals. Under is 2-0-1 in their last three games.




NHL

Monday, January 2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. ST. LOUIS
Chicago is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Chicago is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
St. Louis is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
St. Louis is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Chicago

8:00 PM
BOSTON vs. NEW JERSEY
Boston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing New Jersey
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games when playing New Jersey
New Jersey is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
The total has gone OVER in 6 of New Jersey's last 9 games at home

11:00 PM
COLORADO vs. VANCOUVER
Colorado is 7-18 SU in its last 25 games when playing Vancouver
Colorado is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games when playing on the road against Vancouver
Vancouver is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Colorado
Vancouver is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games at home

[StarDust Bum]

MONDAY, JANUARY 2

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

CHI at STL 01:00 PM

CHI +105 *****

O 5.0 *****

BOS at NJ 07:00 PM

U 5.0 *****

COL at VAN 10:00 PM

U 5.5 *****

[StarDust Bum]

NHL roundup: Blues take it outside to whip Blackhawks
January 2, 2017

ST. LOUIS -- Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals 1:53 apart in the third period to break a 1-1 tie and lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday in the Winter Classic at Busch Stadium.

Tarasenko's first goal at 12:05 of the third period came as he attempted to make a backhand centering pass and it deflected off the skate of defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and into the net. He scored again at 13:58 for his 18th goal of the season.

It was the fifth outdoor game for the Blackhawks, the most of any NHL team, but they fell to 1-4 in the Winter Classic. It was the first played by the Blues. Chicago is 1-4-1 in its last six games.

The game drew a sellout crowd of 46,556. Game-time temperature was 46 degrees. Much of the game was played in a light rain.

Canucks 3, Avalanche 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Sven Baertschi scored his second goal of the game at 16:23 of the third period and Daniel Sedin collected his 600th NHL assist as Vancouver defeated Colorado to extend its winning streak to four.

The winning goal came on a power play after Colorado's Cody Goloubef was called for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass. Sedin received a pass from brother Hendrik Sedin and took a shot that goalie Calvin Pickard stopped. Baertschi was there to put in the rebound. Bo Horvat also scored for the Canucks (18-18-3).

Mikko Rantanen, on the power play, and Tyson Barrie scored the Avalanche, who lost their fourth straight. The Avs (12-24-1) have one win in their last 10 games (1-9-0).

Devils 3, Bruins 0

NEWARK, N.J. -- Cory Schneider stopped 22 shots in his first start since Dec. 27 as New Jersey blanked Boston.

It has been a nightmare season for Schneider, who entered with a 10-12-4 record and a career-worst .904 save percentage. But he was strong and made a huge save on Brad Marchand in dying seconds of the first period to preserve a one-goal lead.

Taylor Hall, PA Parenteau and Sergey Kalinin each scored a goal for the Devils, who won in regulation for the second time in their past 13 games.

[StarDust Bum]

Tuesday’s 6-pack

— Florida 30, Iowa 3— Hawkeyes lost their fifth bowl in a row, last three by an average score of 40-16.

— Wisconsin 24, Western Michigan 16— Broncos hung in there, but lost for first time.

— Portland State’s basketball team was 4-21 on the foul line in a game over the weekend- they lost 73-59 to Northern Colorado. Kids should be able to shoot 4-21 if they’re drunk.

— Average exit velocity on a major league home run last year was 103.4 mph.

— Out of 2,430 major league baseball games LY, seven ended on a bases-loaded walk.

— A 32-year-old Starbucks barista named Damon won more than $900,000 in the Westgate SuperContest, the most prestigious football handicapping contest in the world. He went 54-28-3 with his weekly picks. Life-changing money; good for him.



Tuesday’s List of 13: Nobody asked me, but……..

13) USC 52, Penn State 49— Tremendous game; Penn State scored TDs on seven straight possessions….and lost!!!! Sam Darnold is Trojans’ freshman QB who will be very wealthy in a couple years. Looks a little like Andy Dalton, plays a little like Drew Brees.

12) Mike Krzyzewski is having a back operation Friday, will take a leave of absence from his job as Duke’s basketball coach. This happened once before, in 1996 and it didn’t go well- Blue Devils went 13-18 that year and Pete Gaudet, the interim coach then, wound up teaching phys ed at an Ohio college.

Jeff Capel will be the interim coach now; he was the best player on that ’96 Duke team. He’s been the head coach at VCU/Oklahoma, so he is capable, but very big shoes to fill.

11) Couple of other Duke-related issues:
a) When does Grayson Allen come back? I said all along he would be back for the Florida State game on January 10; maybe he comes back on Saturday when Capel coaches his first game.

b) Every Duke assistant coach is a former Duke player; this is a bad idea- they need an older guy who Coach K can trust to give him honest input. A former player is less likely to disagree with his boss. Joe Paterno needed someone like that at Penn State, to avoid the situation he wound up in.

10) I met a guy in Las Vegas who owns a home in Laguna Beach, CA, where the chairman of the home planning board is Eve Plumb, better known as Jan from the Brady Bunch. This guy was at odds with Ms Plumb for most of the last year over his house being remodeled. At odds to the point that she accused him of stalking/terrorizing her. Fun times.

I had no idea you needed approval to remodel your home, but still, it must be nice to live near a beach.

9) Lane Kiffin is out as OC at Alabama; he won’t be at the national title game. Nick Saban is a control freak and apparently Kiffin’s act became a bit too dramatic, so he was told to take a hike. Steve Sarkisian will be the Alabama OC. Clemson has to be a live underdog, right?

8) This week I heard a college basketball analyst say, “He isn’t a real high percentage shooter” which is a nice way of saying, “Damn he is a lousy shooter.”

7) There are 40 bowl games that are jammed with Chik-fil-A commercials; least they could do if they show all these commercials is to put a Chik-fil-A in the Albany area, right?

6) There were two twins born in San Diego late Saturday night; one was born at 11:56pm, the other at midnight, meaning there are twin girls who were born in different years. Unusual.

5) Do people still use pencils? I saw a pencil in a movie the other night; had forgotten about them.

4) When I see NBA players taking nights off to “rest” I think of this: John Stockton played all 82 games in 17 of his 19 NBA seasons. Players are becoming more babyfied (is that a word?) these days. Kids in AAU play 2-3 games a day, it isn’t that hard to play 82 games in 162 days.

3) Tyreke Hill has been a huge steal for the KC Chiefs, a 5th-round pick who has been dynamic as hell as a WR/returner. Why did he slip in the draft? He had domestic violence issues while at Oklahoma State, so teams laid off drafting him. Whoops.

You’re going to see kids in Hill’s shoes get drafted higher this April, because teams have to be kicking themselves for passing on Hill.

You lose you get fired and no one gives you bonus points if you passed on drafting a kid because he got into a fight with his girlfriend. It is a cut-throat business where you have to win to keep your job and talented players help you win.

2) Pet Peeve #1 of 2017: Red zone efficiency in football. Instead of TD %age, it is something that needs to be measured by points per possession.

Say Team A has three trips to red zone and kicks three FGs, that is 0%, but nine points.

Team B scores one TD, goes for 2 and makes it; they also lose two fumbles in red zone.

Team B has a 33% TD rate in red zone but only 2.67 pts/possession. Team A has 0% but 3.00 ppp. Points per possession is a more accurate measure of efficiency.

1) Over last three years in NFL Wild Card round, road team is 8-4 SU, 5-1 in games involving the #’s 3-6 seeds.

[StarDust Bum]

NHL SEASON RECORD: UNDERDOGS AND TOTALS ONLY

RECORD BASED ON 5 UNITS

M/L Picks 113-170-0 39.93% -14745

O/U Picks 224-218-78 50.68% -7900

DAILY RECORD;

Date W-L-T % Units Record

01/01/2017 1-3-0 25.00% -1100
01/02/2017 2-1-1 66.67% +500

DAILY BEST BETS:

ATS:.......0 - 2.............- 1100

O/U........2 - 2 ............- 100