Announcement

**Udog** · 04-25-2019, 07:01 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

Odds to win the two Eastern Divisions in the NFL this year:

NFC East:
even: Philadelphia Eagles
5-4: Dallas Cowboys
8-1: Washington Redskins
14-1: New Jersey Giants

AFC East:
1-6: New England Patriots
5-1: New Jersey Jets
12-1: Buffalo Bills
50-1: Miami Dolphins

**********

Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but……

13) RIP to Ole Miss basketball star Johnny Neumann, who passed away this week after a long illness at age 68. Neumann led the nation in scoring as a sophomore at 40.1 ppg; he left school early to play in the ABA, but got his degree from Ole Miss in 2016, at age 65.

Neumann played for nine teams in seven seasons in the ABA/NBA, scoring 13.2 ppg.

12) He also coached in the old CBA; I know this because we had a team here in Albany, and one night, Neumann got tossed out of a game here. A few minutes later, he showed up in the corner of the small arena, watching the game while sipping a beer.

I went over and shook his hand and talked to him; we talked for 15-20 minutes about his playing career and basketball in general. Good guy. Hope he rests in peace.

11) Interesting article on SI.com this week about how teams gather information for the NFL Draft; couple years ago, one GM sent a message to a second GM that he wasn’t interested in a certain player, but the second GM should take him.

The second GM didn’t believe the first one’s message; he traded up ahead of him, then took the player in question. Paranoia runs rampant this week.

10) Another interesting aspect of the days before he draft is how some teams utilize the media to gain knowledge. Late night text messages, asking a media person if anyone else had mentioned something about Player A being injured. Some of the national reporters are pretty well-informed and can be useful conduits for information.

9) 20 years ago this week, Fernando Tatis Sr hit two grand slams in the same game at Dodger Stadium; odd thing is, he hit both of them off the same pitcher (Chan Ho Park).

8) Coaching carousel:
— Northern Kentucky hired former coach South Carolina/Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn as its new coach.

7) Temple’s new basketball coach Aaron McKie has already signed up three transfers, one each from Indiana, Wisconsin, Kennesaw State.

6) Milwaukee Brewers signed P Gio Gonzalez; only once in their last 13 games has the Brewers’ starting pitcher finished the 6th inning.

So far this season, Milwaukee has scored 71% of its runs via the home run, which would be a major league record if they did that all year.

5) In case you were wondering, Merriam-Webster added 640 new words/terms to the dictionary in this year’s edition, including “peak”, “buzzy” and “garbage time”

4) Not sure if I knew this or not: If an NFL player suffers a season-ending injury in a voluntary workout, he is paid for that season. In reality, “voluntary workouts” aren’t voluntary, unless you are one of the team’s stars.

3) If they ever make the movie Draft Day 2, they could take notes on Kyler Murray’s winter and run the plot around that. More and more, this kid seems like kind of an odd duck.

Murray was scheduled to be at a charity event Wednesday, but he ended up being a no-show, because “he had other places to be.” You want to be the #1 pick in the draft and you blow off a charity event the day before the draft? Oy.

2) Prayers to Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford, who had an operation to remove a brain tumor last week and is now trying to recover at home. Very painful thing; we wish her the best in her recovery.

1) The NFL Draft starts tonight; finally, no more mock drafts and fake news with teams lying about who they’re interested or not interested in. They stretch this out over three days now, but it is fun to watch.

Next year, it’ll be even more fun to watch; the 2020 NFL Draft is in Las Vegas, and I’ll be there to see it, which figures to be an interesting experience.

**Udog** · 04-25-2019, 07:04 AM

**Udog** · 04-25-2019, 07:05 AM

Second Round Cheat Sheet

Key:
A – Atlantic
M – Metropolitan
C – Central
P – Pacific
W – Wild Card

Eastern Conference

2A Boston vs. 2W Columbus

Bruins: 49-24-9, 107 points
Blue Jackets: 47-31-4, 98 points

Season series: These two teams didn't meet this season until March as they hooked up three times in the final three weeks. Columbus outlasted Boston in the first matchup at Nationwide Arena, 7-4 on March 12 as the Blue Jackets notched five unanswered goals after falling behind, 1-0. The Bruins captured the final two meetings as Boston edged Columbus, 2-1 in overtime at TD Garden on March 16, followed by a 6-2 blowout in central Ohio on April 2. Dating back to February 2016, these squads have split 10 meetings, while the OVER has cashed nine times.

Previous playoff outcome: The Bruins staved off the Maple Leafs in seven games of the first round for the third time in seven seasons to advance to the semifinals for the second straight season. Last season, Boston won the opener of the conference semifinals against Tampa Bay, but eventually dropped the final four games to the Lightning. The Blue Jackets pulled off the biggest shocker in the opening round by sweeping the top-seeded Lightning in four games to advance to the semifinals for the first time in franchise history. Boston and Columbus are meeting in the playoffs for the first time ever as the Blue Jackets have been eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion each of the last two seasons.

Western Conference

3C St. Louis vs. 1W Dallas

Blues: 45-28-9, 99 points
Stars: 43-32-7, 93 points

Season series: Although Dallas finished below St. Louis in the Central division standings, the Stars took three of four meetings from the Blues this season. Dallas grabbed a pair of victories at St. Louis, while limiting the Blues to one goal in each of those wins at Enterprise Center. The Stars ripped the Blues, 5-2 at American Airlines Center on February 21, while the lone win in the series by St. Louis came at Dallas on January 12 in a 3-1 triumph. The UNDER cashed in three of four meetings, while the Stars are 5-1 in the past six matchups with the Blues since December 2017.

Previous playoff outcome: The Stars and Blues each knocked off division counterparts in the opening round. Dallas eliminated division champion Nashville in six games, while St. Louis put away Winnipeg in six games as the Blues won three road contests in the series. Dallas is playing in the second round of the playoffs for only the second time since 2009 as its last appearance in this round came against St. Louis in 2016. The Blues downed the Stars in seven games of that conference semifinal series, capped off by a 6-1 blowout at Dallas in Game 7. St. Louis is seeking its first appearance in the conference finals since 2016, when the Blues lost to the Sharks in six games.

2P San Jose vs. 2W Colorado

Sharks: 46-27-9, 101 points
Avalanche: 38-30-14, 90 points

Season series: The Sharks took care of the Avalanche this season by capturing all three matchups. San Jose edged Colorado at Pepsi Center in early January, 5-4, followed by a 4-3 win on March 1 at SAP Center and a 5-2 home triumph on April 6. All three meetings easily went OVER the total, while the Sharks have won nine of the past 10 home matchups with the Avalanche since February 2013.

Previous playoff outcome: San Jose shocked defending Western Conference champion Vegas in seven games as the Sharks erased a 3-1 series deficit and climbed out of a 3-0 third period hole to beat the Golden Knights, 4-3 in overtime. The Sharks have advanced to the conference semifinals for the third time in four seasons as they seek their first Stanley Cup final appearance since 2016. The Avalanche are playing in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008 when Colorado was swept by Detroit. Colorado and San Jose last met in the playoffs in the 2010 first round as the Sharks won in six games.

**Udog** · 04-25-2019, 07:09 AM

1Dallas -2 St Louis
ST LOUIS are 16-6 ATS (11.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season in the current season.

3Columbus -4 Boston
COLUMBUS are 21-10 ATS (14.9 Units) in road games against good offensive teams - averaging 29.5+ shots on goal per game in the current season.

NHL
Long Sheet

Thursday, April 25

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DALLAS (47-33-0-8, 102 pts.) at ST LOUIS (49-29-0-10, 108 pts.) - 4/25/2019, 9:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 150-145 ATS (-57.1 Units) after a 3 game unbeaten streak since 1996.
ST LOUIS is 34-17 ATS (+7.2 Units) second half of the season this season.
ST LOUIS is 28-18 ATS (+7.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ST LOUIS is 16-6 ATS (+22.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
DALLAS is 10-6 ATS (+17.8 Units) in road games vs. division opponents this season.
DALLAS is 220-241 ATS (+512.0 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
DALLAS is 7-6 (+0.9 Units) against the spread versus ST LOUIS over the last 3 seasons
DALLAS is 7-6-0 straight up against ST LOUIS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.1 Units)

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COLUMBUS (51-31-0-4, 106 pts.) at BOSTON (53-27-0-9, 115 pts.) - 4/25/2019, 7:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 5-4 (+0.7 Units) against the spread versus COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 5-4-0 straight up against COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
8 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+7.4 Units)

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NHL

Thursday, April 25

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Trend Report
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Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Columbus is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Columbus's last 21 games
Columbus is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Columbus is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Columbus's last 15 games on the road
Columbus is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Boston
Columbus is 7-14 SU in its last 21 games when playing Boston
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Columbus's last 10 games when playing Boston
Columbus is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
Columbus is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Columbus's last 5 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston Bruins
Boston is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
Boston is 3-9 ATS in its last 12 games at home
Boston is 14-4 SU in its last 18 games at home
Boston is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games at home
Boston is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Columbus
Boston is 14-7 SU in its last 21 games when playing Columbus
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Boston's last 10 games when playing Columbus
Boston is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Columbus
Boston is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Columbus
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games when playing at home against Columbus

Dallas Stars
Dallas is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
Dallas is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
Dallas is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games on the road
Dallas is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games on the road
Dallas is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing St. Louis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 6 games when playing St. Louis
Dallas is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
Dallas is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 games
St. Louis is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis's last 7 games
St. Louis is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games at home
St. Louis is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis's last 7 games at home
St. Louis is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games when playing Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis's last 6 games when playing Dallas
St. Louis is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games when playing at home against Dallas
St. Louis is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Dallas

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**Udog** · 04-25-2019, 08:03 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, April 25

Columbus @ Boston

Game 3-4
April 25, 2019 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Columbus
13.333
Boston
11.834
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Columbus
by 1 1/2
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Boston
-155
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Columbus
(+135); Over

Dallas @ St. Louis

Game 1-2
April 25, 2019 @ 9:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Dallas
12.193
St. Louis
11.163
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Dallas
by 1
3
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
St. Louis
-155
5
Dunkel Pick:
Dallas
(+135); Under

Announcement

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 4/25

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 4/25

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