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**Udog** · 05-12-2018, 08:01 AM

Armadillo: Saturday's six-pack

CG Technology released spreads for every Week 1-16 game for 2018-19 NFL season. Here are a few of the more interesting spreads:

Week 11: Eagles @ New Orleans (-2)

Week 12: Packers @ Minnesota (-3)

Week 13: Chiefs @ Oakland (-2.5)

Week 14: Eagles @ Dallas (even)

Week 15: Patriots @ Pittsburgh (-1)

Week 16: Redskins @ Tennessee (-5.5)

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Armadillo: Saturday's List of 13: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..

13) Toronto Raptors fired coach Dwane Casey Friday. Really, they did.

Last three years, Raptors went 166-80 in regular season; they were the #1-seed in the East this season, but Casey was 21-30 in playoff game, and that cost him his job.

The problem for the Raptors’ owners is this: Who do you replace that will maintain Toronto’s regular season success, but also do better in the playoffs? Won’t be easy.

I guess my point is this; all change isn’t positive. Winning 55 games a year in the regular season has to sell a lot of season tickets.

12) Then there are the San Diego Padres, who have a terrible team every year; how does GM AJ Preller (he is also the executive VP) keep his job? Dwane Casey gets fired, Preller keeps his job. Go figure.

This is Preller’s 4th full year running the Padres; their record during that time is 227-299. San Diego hasn’t finished within 16 games of first place in NL West since 2010.

11) Not only are the Padres terrible, but Preller has been nailed twice by MLB for cheating; when Preller ran international scouting operations for the Rangers, Major League Baseball suspended him for a month, for improper contact with a prospect.

In 2016, Preller was suspended 30 days without pay over improprieties related to the Padres’ trade of pitcher Drew Pomeranz to the Red Sox- he withheld medical information that he was required to give to the other teams.

So a two-time cheater who runs a terrible team (but hey, their farm teams are great!!!) has a contract that runs thru 2022. He went to Cornell, he must be smarter than everyone else.

No wonder some teams always suck.

10) Mets played their 36th game of the year Friday; Devin Mesoraco is already the fifth catcher they’ve used this season.

9) Before Friday night’s game, Astros were hitting .227 at home, .289 on the road.

8) Rangers 1, Astros 0— Houston has now been shut out in three of its last four home games. Texas (+$220) winning was 10th-biggest upset in the major leagues so far this season.

7) Remember Alan Alda, the great actor who played Hawkeye Pierce on MASH? Turns out he was a high school classmate of wrestling star Captain Lou Albano at Archbishop Stepinac HS in White Plains, NY.

6) How much do college commencement speakers get paid? Oprah Winfrey was the speaker at USC’s commencement this week; that had to be a pretty hefty tab.

Winfrey’s website says her speaking fee is $200,000; she must speak really well.

5) Chargers’ head coach Anthony Lynn is 49 years old; he’s getting his college degree Saturday, 30 years after he started college. Good for him.

4) Tilman Fertitta owns the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas and bought the Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in September- he is really rich.

Because casinos aren’t allowed to take bets on teams owned by their owner, if you bet on Golden State to win the NBA’s Western Conference at the Golden Nugget, you’ve already won, since you couldn’t bet on the Rockets in that casino.

3) Mariners’ manager Scott Servais is off this weekend; his daughter is graduating from Ole Miss this weekend. Bench coach Manny Acta will manage Seattle, with Ichiro Suzuki serving as bench coach for the two games Servais is missing.

2) Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 3 (12)— Luke Maile homered to tie the game in the 7th inning, then won it with a walk-off homer in the 12th. Those are his only two home runs this season.

1) Reds 6, Dodgers 2— Matt Harvey got the start for Cincinnati; he blanked the Dodgers for four innings, allowing one hit. He got only two misses on 23 LA swings, but Reds have to be pretty darned happy with his performance.

As for the Dodgers, they’re in a deep funk.

**Udog** · 05-12-2018, 08:06 AM

Saturday's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs betting preview and odds: Golden Knights at Jets

Vegas Golden Knights at Winnipeg Jets (-145, 6)

The Vegas Golden Knights long since surpassed expectations in authoring the most successful inaugural season in NHL history, and now the expansion team tries to continue its stunning run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference finals. The Jets host Game 1 of the best-of-seven series Saturday night, two days after capping a riveting 4-3 series victory over Nashville, while Vegas has not played since finishing off San Jose in six games Sunday.

Vegas swept Los Angeles in the opening round and in 10 games has allowed more than three goals just twice, but figures to be pushed by Winnipeg’s high-powered offense that scored four goals or more five times against the Predators. “If we can defend well and get on the attack ourselves, we’ll be alright,” Vegas forward James Neal told reporters during a Friday press conference. “It’s that time of year. Everyone is batting for space out there. Goals aren’t easy to come by.” The Golden Knights will look to unleash their speed while relying on center William Karlsson - who has added four goals in the playoffs after scoring 43 during the regular season - and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, while the Jets counter with center Mark Scheifele - who has scored a NHL-high 11 goals in 12 postseason games and Vezina finalist Connor Hellebuyck. “We’re here to win a Stanley Cup,” Hellebuyck told reporters during a press conference Friday. “We haven’t achieved anything yet.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, TVA

SERIES PRICE (PER WILLIAM HILL US):

LINE HISTORY: The Jets opened Game 1 as -140 home favorites and have been bet up slightly to -145 as of Friday night. The total hit the board at 5.5 and has seen enough action to move up to the even number of 6. Check out the complete line history here.

CONSENSUS: There could be some sharp action on the Jets as the line has moved in their favor despite seeing just 41 percent of wagers according to the public. The Over is seeing the slight edge in the total action with 53 percent of the bets.

GOALIE SHOWDOWN:
GP W L GAA SAVE % SO
Marc-Andre Fleury (Golden Knights) 10 8 2 1.53 .951 4
Connor Hellebuyck (Jets) 12 8 4 2.25 .927 2

INJURY REPORT:

Golden Knights - LW William Carrier (Questionable, upper body), D Clayton Stoner (Out, abdominal).

Jets - D Dmitry Kulikov (Out, back).

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Karlsson’s linemates, forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith, each have 11 points in 10 playoff games for a Vegas squad that finished the regular season with 109 points and won the Pacific Division title. Fleury, who played with Pittsburgh as they won the past two Stanley Cups, has posted a .951 save percentage and a 1.53 goals against average in going 8-2 with four shutouts. Another veteran presence to watch for Vegas is Neal, who owns seven points (three goals) this spring and has 90 games of postseason experience - the first 80 coming with Pittsburgh and Nashville.

ABOUT THE JETS: Winnipeg’s top line of Scheifele along with forwards Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor has been sensational in the playoffs, combining for 16 goals and 23 assists, while trade-deadline acquisition Paul Stastny scored twice in Game 7 against Nashville and boasts 14 points in the postseason. There is also more firepower that has been sporadic in the opening two rounds, including forwards Patrik Laine (44 regular-season goals, three in the playoffs) and Nikolaj Ehlers (29 in the regular season, zero in the postseason). Hellebuyck, playing in his first postseason, has two shutouts, a .927 save percentage and a 2.24 goals against average in winning eight of 12 starts.

MATCHUP CHART:

TRENDS:

* Golden Knights are 11-2 in their last 13 vs. a team with a winning record.
* Jets are 42-11 in their last 53 home games.
* Under is 12-5-1 in Golden Knights last 18 games following a win.
* Under is 7-1 in Jets last eight home games.

**Udog** · 05-12-2018, 08:10 AM

NHL
Long Sheet

Saturday, May 12

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VEGAS (59-26-0-7, 125 pts.) at WINNIPEG (60-24-0-10, 130 pts.) - 5/12/2018, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
WINNIPEG is 60-35 ATS (+19.0 Units) in all games this season.
WINNIPEG is 37-18 ATS (+6.7 Units) second half of the season this season.
WINNIPEG is 31-13 ATS (+17.5 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
WINNIPEG is 33-21 ATS (+5.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
WINNIPEG is 23-11 ATS (+9.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
VEGAS is 60-33 ATS (+20.3 Units) in all games this season.
VEGAS is 25-13 ATS (+7.5 Units) after a division game this season.
VEGAS is 33-17 ATS (+14.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
VEGAS is 2-1 (+1.2 Units) against the spread versus WINNIPEG over the last 3 seasons
VEGAS is 2-1-0 straight up against WINNIPEG over the last 3 seasons
2 of 3 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.0 Units)

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NHL

Saturday, May 12

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Trend Report
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Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games
Vegas is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Vegas's last 6 games
Vegas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Vegas is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Vegas's last 16 games on the road
Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games
Winnipeg is 19-5 SU in its last 24 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Winnipeg's last 6 games
Winnipeg is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 games at home
Winnipeg is 13-2 SU in its last 15 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Winnipeg's last 8 games at home

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Announcement

Saturday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/12

Saturday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/12

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