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**Udog** · 05-12-2017, 07:26 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

Some interesting pointspreads for NFL games this season:

— Week 8: Broncos @ Chiefs (-3)

— Week 9: Rams @ Giants (-8.5)

— Week 10: Seahawks (-1.5) @ Cardinals

— Week 11: Patriots (-1.5) vs Raiders (@ Mexico City)

— Week 12: Packers @ Steelers (-3)

— Week 13: Eagles @ Seahawks (-7)

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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff with the weekend here…….

13) We talked the other day about Sabres-Rangers playing at Citi Field on New Years’ Day; Buffalo will be the “home” team for that game, meaning they give up a home game in Buffalo for this game to be played in NYC. It is the Rangers’ third outdoor game in NYC- they were the “visitor” in all three.

Why? Because if the Rangers play a home game outside of Madison Square Garden, it costs them a tax exemption that could be worth as much as $40M—that’s million, with an M. Oy.

12) More bad news for the New York Mets; closer Jeurys Familia has an arterial clot in his shoulder and might need surgery.

11) This is one I’ve never heard before; Yale has a really good guard named Makai Mason, who helped the Bulldogs make the NCAA’s in 2016, where they upset Baylor in a first-round game. Mason broke his foot last year and missed the whole season.

Mason is going to graduate from Yale at this time next year; he is going to play for the Bulldogs this coming winter, then he is going to be a graduate transfer at (ironically) Baylor in 2018-19.

I’ve never heard of a player announcing where he will transfer to a full year before he actually transfers. Ivy League players can’t take a redshirt season like most D-I players can, but still it is odd that he got the suspense out of the way and now everyone knows he will be in Waco in the fall of 2018.

10) If you’re looking for a good TV series to follow, I’d recommend Billions on Showtime; it is about a rich hedge-fund trader and a US Prosecutor who despise each other- the prosecutor’s wife works for the hedge fund guy, which complicates the whole story tremendously. It is really well done with lot of twists and turns. I’m a little disappointed that Season 3 won’t be on until 2018.

They’ve had 24 episodes over two seasons; you can stream them on Showtimeanytime.com

9) Pittsburgh Penguins have played ten playoff series against Washington and won nine of them.

8) Washington’s Alex Ovechkin is a great player, but he’s played 12 years in the NHL and has never been past the second round of the playoffs.

7) The guy who went to the A’s game in Oakland Wednesday dressed as an elf did that because he was the last place finisher in his office’s March Madness pool and that was his penalty for finishing last.

6) A senior media relations guy for the Milwaukee Brewers had a cool job Thursday; he was the ball boy down the leftfield line at Miller Park. He took a decent amount of grief on Brewers’ TV but seemed to be enjoying himself.

5) Arizona Cardinals signed Blaine Gabbert as a backup QB, unwittingly igniting a controversy, since Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed. Supposedly, three teams have inquired about Kaepernick, but ain’t no one signed him and off-season workouts have already begun.

Fact of the matter is this: Whomever convinced Kaepernick to take his political stand last fall screwed him over and greatly hindered his NFL career, costing him millions. Hope it was worth it.

4) Rookies pitchers started the Colorado Rockies’ last four games; kid from North Colonie (I live in South Colonie) pitched for Colorado last night. He is winning 10-1 as I type this, so good for him.

3) Steve Stone was just saying on the White Sox game that the ideal difference in speed between a fastball and change-up is 11 miles an hour. Interesting thing to monitor while watching a game.

2) Teams ask players weird stuff at these draft combines; an NBA team asked Kansas’ Frank Mason III this week “……how he would prefer to die?” What does that have to do with basketball?

Apparently, Kawhi Leonard was so nervous at his Combine interview with the Phoenix Suns that he sweated thru his suit. Because of that, the Suns took him off their draft board. Brilliant!!!!

1) Spurs 114, Rockets 75—Leonard didn’t play in this game, so of course the Spurs won by 39. Bookmakers in Las Vegas had to enjoy this outcome. This, from David Payne Purdum on Twitter: “(A bettor in Nevada) placed 3 six-figure money-line bets on Rockets to beat Spurs tonight, totaling $386,000, to win $120,000.”

Yikes.

**Udog** · 05-12-2017, 08:46 AM

Friday’s Stanley Cup Playoffs betting preview: Predators at Ducks

Nashville Predators at Anaheim Ducks (-115, 5)

Having finally put an end to their demonizing streak of Game 7 postseason failures on their home ice, the Anaheim Ducks will host the upstart Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Nashville has won both playoff matchups against the Ducks, including a seven-game series in the 2016 postseason.

The eighth-seeded Predators are in the conference finals for the first time in franchise history, pulling off a stunning sweep of Chicago in the first round before dispatching St. Louis in six games. Nashville won Game 7 in Anaheim a year ago, which eliminated the Ducks from the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season in a Game 7 on their home ice and led to the dismissal of coach Bruce Boudreau. Pacific Division champion Anaheim, making its fifth appearance overall in the conference finals and second since winning the Stanley Cup in 2007, swept Calgary in the opening round before overcoming the Game 7 albatross with a 2-1 victory over Edmonton on Wednesday to earn a rematch against the Predators. “It’s, obviously, a team that’s playing outstanding in the playoffs,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf following the close-out win over the Oilers. “We’re going to have to be prepared, and we’ll start that process tonight and tomorrow morning.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVAS

LINE HISTORY: The home team Ducks opened as -115 favorites for Game 1 and that moneyline has not moved. The total hit the betting board at 5.5 and was reduced to 5 on Thursday.

INJURY REPORT:

Predators - LW Pontus Aberg (Questionable, upper body), LW Kevin Fail (Out For Season, leg)

Ducks - D Kevin Bieksa (Questionable, lower body), RW Patrick Eaves (Questionable, lower body), RW Logan Shaw (Questionable, lower body), D Simon Despres (Out Indefinitely, concussion), D Clayton Stoner (Out Indefinitely, abdominal).

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (49-31-8-4 42-40 O/U): Nashville's surprising playoff run is due to large part to the remarkable renaissance of veteran goaltender Pekka Rinne. The 34-year-old Finland native overcame an uneven regular season by allowing 14 goals in 10 playoff games, including a pair of shutouts in the sweep of top-seeded Chicago. The Predators' defensemen, despite the blockbuster offseason trade of longtime captain Shea Weber for fellow blue-liner P.K. Subban, are getting it done at both ends of the ice by amassing nine goals and 27 points in the postseason. The offensive burden up front will fall on the No. 1 line of center Ryan Johansen and 31-goal scorers Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson, who were fairly quiet against St. Louis before combining for four points in the series-clinching victory.

ABOUT THE DUCKS (54-26-10-3 34-39 O/U): Getzlaf got off to a miserable start to the season with only two goals in his first 26 games, but he has been superb in the playoffs with eight goals and seven assists. Linemate Corey Perry also has come alive after a pedestrian regular season with a goal and five assists in the last four games versus Edmonton while 33-goal scorer Rickard Rakell tallied in four straight games against the Oilers. Anaheim's defense, despite the absence of Cam Fowler in the first-round win over Calgary, is providing healthy offensive production with a combined three goals and 20 assists. Perhaps the biggest question marks in net, where John Gibson has surrendered at least three goals in six of his last nine appearances and lost both playoff starts against the Predators a year ago.

TRENDS:

* Predators are 8-2 in their last 10 overall.

* Ducks are 13-3 in their last 16 games following a win.

* Under is 10-2-5 in Predators last 17 vs. a team with a winning record.

* Over is 4-1 in Ducks last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.

* Home team is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.

**Udog** · 05-12-2017, 08:47 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Friday, May 12

Nashville @ Anaheim

Game 3-4
May 12, 2017 @ 9:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Nashville
12.262
Anaheim
11.488
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Nashville
by 1
3
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Anaheim
-115
5
Dunkel Pick:
Nashville
(-105); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Friday, May 12

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NASHVILLE (49-31-0-12, 110 pts.) at ANAHEIM (54-26-0-13, 121 pts.) - 5/12/2017, 9:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
NASHVILLE is 2-11 ATS (-9.3 Units) in road games after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
ANAHEIM is 54-39 ATS (+13.9 Units) in all games this season.
ANAHEIM is 56-26 ATS (+20.3 Units) in a home game where where the total is 5 or less over the last 3 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 36-19 ATS (+6.1 Units) second half of the season this season.
ANAHEIM is 19-6 ATS (+8.7 Units) in home games after a division game this season.
ANAHEIM is 29-18 ATS (+29.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ANAHEIM is 19-10 ATS (+8.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
NASHVILLE is 239-193 ATS (+30.2 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent since 1996.
NASHVILLE is 29-17 ATS (+10.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
NASHVILLE is 21-10 ATS (+10.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 9-7 (+0.2 Units) against the spread versus NASHVILLE over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 9-7-0 straight up against NASHVILLE over the last 3 seasons
8 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+5.3 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, May 12

Quick turnaround for Anaheim squad that won Game 7 over Edmonton 48 hours ago. Home side won five of last six Anaheim-Nashville games; Predators lost three of last four games in the Pond. Over is 2-0-1 in last three series games. Predators are 8-2 in playoffs, 3-2 on road; their last four games stayed under the total- they allowed five goals in last four games. Anaheim won four of last five games after losing Games 1-2 at home to Edmonton; over is 4-1 in their last five games. Ducks are 0-16 on power play in their last five games.

Conference finals
Ottawa-Pittsburgh

Nashville-Anaheim

NHL

Friday, May 12

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Trend Report
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9:00 PM
NASHVILLE vs. ANAHEIM
Nashville is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Nashville's last 5 games
Anaheim is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games

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Friday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/12

Friday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/12

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