Announcement

**Udog** · 03-22-2017, 07:23 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

Odds to win the Match Play championship this week:

6-1— Rory McIlroy

7-1— Dustin Johnson

10-1— Jordan Spieth

13-1— Jason Day

20-1— Hideki Matsuyama

22-1– Jon Rahm

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Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Mid-week musings………

13) Cam Newton is having rotator cuff surgery next Thursday; not sure of the recovery timeframe, or why the operation is happening now and not two months ago, but question is: Will he be ready for the regular season? Big question for the Panthers.

12) If I owned a major league baseball team, all my coaches would know both English and Spanish; have to be able to communicate with players. Would also want our players to know English; how the hell can you live in a country and not know at least some of the language?

Sometimes, players know more of the language than they let on, so they can avoid talking to the media. Being bilingual is a big advantage in today’s baseball.

11) Oklahoma State’s star guard Juwan Evans is leaving school for the NBA; at 6-1, he is a marginal prospect who could wind up in the D-League. He helped us some this year when we picked the Cowboys; we wish him well, but wish he was coming back for another season in Stillwater.

10) Will Wade leaves VCU for LSU and everyone on Twitter asks why; is it a better basketball job? Money is (surprisingly) similar, they care more about basketball at VCU, since there is no football and he had a top 20 recruiting class coming to VCU in September.

I’ve said this before here; sometimes big fish/smaller pond works better.

9) UMass hires Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey to take over its hoop program; Kelsey went 102-59 at Winthrop, 56-30 in Big South games- he replaced Gregg Marshall there.

8) New Jersey Jets have drafted six QB’s since 2009, yet still paid 37-year old Josh McCown $6M to come in and play for one year. This is called mismanagement; not the McCown part, but draft one guy who can play, will ya?

7) Went into a LIDS store in the **** the other day; had good talk with young person who works there, who happens to be a fellow A’s fan. Major league fitted caps are now $35; caps for the World Baseball Classic are $37. Glad my hat collection is already too big- no thanks.

6) They were talking on the Padres’ spring training game the other night how sometimes guys go down to the minor league camp and play in B games to get extra at-bats. A major leaguer would play in one of those games and lead off every inning, just to get more AB’s. Minor leaguers are not necessarily fond of that, since it costs them some AB’s, but thats how it works.

5) Cincinnati Reds’ announcers are different than most local baseball announcers- they’ll rip the home team if they deserve it. “Boy, this is like a circus.” moaned Thom Brennaman during a bad inning by the Reds in their game with the Angels Tuesday.

Two oddities from this Reds-Angels game:
a) Both teams wore red jerseys; it is 2017, we can’t get different color jerseys?
b) Angels used a DH, Reds did not. People bet on these games. Wonder how many people bet on this game not knowing that little nugget?

4) RIP Jerry Krause, 77— he was GM of the Jordan-era Bulls who later became a baseball scout after leaving the NBA. Krause brought Toni Kukoc over from Europe to join Jordan/Pippen, which didn’t go over well with his two stars. Krause probably didn’t get enough credit for the Bulls’ success.

3) Fans sitting behind the announcers at the Bakersfield-Colorado State NIT game Monday nite weren’t very happy with the officiating and were letting the refs know it— the mikes picked up some of their R-rated criticisms. I’m thinking someone with ESPN must’ve asked them to cool it, since they weren’t as vocal near the end of the game

2) Nicole Auerbach reports that of the 351 Division I basketball teams, only five haven’t had a kid transfer out in the last two years. North Carolina hasn’t lost a transfer since 2011.

1— The night the Knicks beat the Lakers to win the 1970 NBA title, when Willis Reed limped out and inspired the Knicks to win by scoring the first two hoops of the game on basically one leg, one of the ballboys that night was Steve Albert, now the Phoenix Suns’ play-by-play guy on TV.

1a) One of my heroes passed away late Tuesday night; Chuck Barris, the wacky host of The Gong Show, died at age 87. Creator of game shows like The Dating Game and Newlywed Game, Barris was a creative genius with a bizarre sense of humor. He made me laugh more than just about anyone other than Steve Martin. RIP, sir, you will be missed.

**Udog** · 03-22-2017, 07:27 AM

NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Wednesday, March 22

Maple Leafs won five of last seven games overall, two of last three on road. Under is 3-1-1 in their last five games. Blue Jackets won four in row, seven of last eight games; they won last four home games. Under is 2-0-1 in their last three games. Columbus won four of last five games with Toronto; road team won six of last nine series games. Teams split last four series games played here. Three of last four series games went over total.

Islanders won six of last seven games with Rangers; Isles won two of last three games in this building. Over is 4-0-1 in last five series games. Islanders lost four of last five games overall, but won three of last four on road- their last three games stayed under total. Rangers lost three of last four games overall, four in row at home; they’re 1-3 in game following their last four wins. Under is 3-1-1 in their last five games.

Ducks won five of last seven games with Edmonton but lost last two; teams split last four meetings here. Under is 4-0-1 in last five series games. Oilers won last four games by combined score of 18-5; this is their first road games in 22 days. Under is 4-2-1 in their last seven games. Anaheim won five of last seven games overall, three of last four at home. Ducks’ last three games stayed under the total.

NHL

Wednesday, March 22

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
TORONTO vs. COLUMBUS
Toronto is 4-9 SU in its last 13 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Columbus's last 6 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Columbus's last 16 games at home

9:00 PM
NY ISLANDERS vs. NY RANGERS
The total has gone OVER in 6 of the NY Islanders last 9 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
The total has gone OVER in 4 of the NY Islanders last 5 games when playing NY Rangers
NY Rangers are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games
NY Rangers are 0-5 SU in their last 5 games at home

11:00 PM
EDMONTON vs. ANAHEIM
Edmonton is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Edmonton's last 5 games when playing Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games when playing Edmonton
Anaheim is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Edmonton

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**Udog** · 03-22-2017, 09:20 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Wednesday, March 22

Edmonton @ Anaheim

Game 55-56
March 22, 2017 @ 10:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Edmonton
12.155
Anaheim
9.623
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Edmonton
by 2 1/2
4
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Anaheim
-125
5
Dunkel Pick:
Edmonton
(+105); Under

NY Islanders @ NY Rangers

Game 53-54
March 22, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
NY Islanders
12.969
NY Rangers
11.741
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
NY Islanders
by 1
3
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
NY Islanders
No Line
N/A
Dunkel Pick:
NY Islanders
N/A

Toronto @ Columbus

Game 51-52
March 22, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Toronto
10.361
Columbus
11.741
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Columbus
by 1 1/2
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Columbus
-150
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Columbus
(-150); Over

NHL
Long Sheet

Wednesday, March 22

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TORONTO (33-23-0-15, 81 pts.) at COLUMBUS (47-18-0-6, 100 pts.) - 3/22/2017, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
TORONTO is 27-60 ATS (+109.8 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 41-85 ATS (+146.3 Units) second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 1-9 ATS (-8.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
COLUMBUS is 47-24 ATS (+21.1 Units) in all games this season.
COLUMBUS is 12-2 ATS (+8.7 Units) when playing with 2 days rest this season.
COLUMBUS is 17-8 ATS (+5.9 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
COLUMBUS is 17-7 ATS (+8.2 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
COLUMBUS is 15-4 ATS (+10.2 Units) after a 3 game unbeaten streak this season.
COLUMBUS is 26-12 ATS (+10.8 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
COLUMBUS is 4-3 (+0.9 Units) against the spread versus TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
COLUMBUS is 4-3-0 straight up against TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.5 Units)

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NY ISLANDERS (33-26-0-12, 78 pts.) at NY RANGERS (45-24-0-4, 94 pts.) - 3/22/2017, 8:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
NY ISLANDERS is 9-3 (+6.4 Units) against the spread versus NY RANGERS over the last 3 seasons
NY ISLANDERS is 9-3-0 straight up against NY RANGERS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.7 Units)

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EDMONTON (39-24-0-9, 87 pts.) at ANAHEIM (38-23-0-11, 87 pts.) - 3/22/2017, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ANAHEIM is 513-416 ATS (-99.8 Units) second half of the season since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 240-182 ATS (+41.2 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 246-223 ATS (+507.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 9-3 (+4.8 Units) against the spread versus EDMONTON over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 9-3-0 straight up against EDMONTON over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.5 Units)

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**Udog** · 03-22-2017, 12:51 PM

NHL

Wednesday, March 22

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Wednesday’s NHL Game of the Day: Islanders at Rangers
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The home team won each of the first three contests of this four-game season series.

New York Islanders at New York Rangers (-130, 5.5)

The postseason is a certainty for the New York Rangers, but the same cannot be said for the New York Islanders, who attempt to move closer to a berth when they visit their crosstown rivals on Wednesday. The Rangers are firmly entrenched in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference despite dropping three of their last four games (1-1-2), including Tuesday's 3-2 overtime setback in New Jersey.

The Rangers' struggles at home go back even farther, as they have gone 0-4-2 at Madison Square Garden since edging Washington 2-1 on Feb. 19 for their fifth straight win in their own building. While the Rangers are 13 points ahead of Toronto in the wild-card race, the Islanders trail the Maple Leafs by three for the second spot. They haven't helped their chances of late, as they have earned points in only two of their last five contests (1-3-1). The home team won each of the first three contests of the four-game season series, with the Rangers posting a 5-3 victory in the 2016-17 opener - their only win in the last seven meetings - and the Islanders recording 4-2 triumphs on Dec. 6 and Feb. 16.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

LINE HISTORY: The Rangers opened as -120 moneyline favorites over their cross-bridge rivals from Long Island but by Wednesday morning that number was increased to -130. The total for this contest is set at 5.5.

INJURY REPORT:

Islanders - LW J. Bailey (Probable, illness), LW S. Prince (Questionable, leg), D J. Boychuk (Out Indefinitely, foot), C M. Grabovski (I-R, concussion).

Rangers - D K. Klein (Out Indefinitely, back), G H. Lundqvist (Out, hip), D D. Girardi (Questionable, ankle).

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (33-26-12, 37-29 O/U): John Tavares has been landing on the scoresheet with regularity, notching at least one point in seven of his last eight contests. The 26-year-old captain has scored four goals and set up four others in that span and is two assists shy of 300 for his career. Josh Bailey, whose next point will be his 300th in the NHL, missed Tuesday's practice with an illness but is likely to play against the Rangers.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (45-24-4, 36-31 O/U): The Rangers registered 40 shots Tuesday - the sixth time this season they reached the mark - with Jesper Fast and defenseman Nick Holden being the only members of the club not to record one while Mika Zibanejad unleashed a team-high eight. The squad has been very effective on faceoffs of late, winning at least 50 percent of its draws in each of the last four games - including a 61.4 success rate against the Devils. Rick Nash is one away from reaching the 20-goal plateau for the 12th time in his 14-season career while coach Alain Vigneault will pass John Tortorella for fifth place on the franchise list Wednesday by coaching his 320th game with the club.

TRENDS:

* Islanders are 1-5 in their last 6 vs. a team with a winning record.
* Rangers are 0-6 in their last 6 home games.
* Over is 11-5-1 in Islanders last 17 vs. Metropolitan.
* Under is 4-1 in Rangers last 5 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.
* Islanders are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings.

CONSENSUS: 71 percent of the public is siding with the home team New York Rangers on the moneyline and 60 percent are on the Over.

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Announcement

Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 3/22

Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 3/22

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