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**Udog** · 01-25-2020, 07:43 AM

Armadillo: Saturday's six-pack

Over/under win totals for first season of the XFL:

7.5— Tampa Bay Vipers

6— Dallas Renegades, Houston /Roughnecks

5.5— DC Defenders

4— Los Angeles Wildcats, New York Guardians

3.5— St Louis Battlehawks, Seattle Dragons

**********

Armadillo: Saturday's Den: Ranking the months of the year, and some other stuff…….

These days, there are no bad months, but some are better than others.

12) January— Living in upstate NY, 31 days of potentially horrendous weather; Sundays are lot slower once the NFL regular season is over. If I ever get smart and move to Las Vegas, then January would move up a few spots on the list.

11) February— Ranked ahead of January because it is three fewer days (this year, only two fewer days). Spring training starts in February, never a bad thing.

T9) April/May— Baseball season starts, NBA/NHL playoffs, NFL Draft, weather gets normal, a good time of year.

8) December— I’m in Las Vegas for Christmas most years; NFL regular season bowl games, college hoop, lot of good stuff, offsetting the potential for cruddy weather.

7) October— Good time for a trip to Las Vegas; baseball playoffs, football season, the college basketball magazines come out.

6) September— When I was a kid, September was by far the worst month of the year- back to school. Now? Not so much. Football season starts and the weather is still warm.

T4) June, July, August— Nothing bad about these three months in upstate New York; warm weather, lot of baseball to watch.

3) November — Busiest month of the year; college football/basketball, NBA/NFL, lot of research and studying to do. When I had an actual job, this was a great month— three days off— Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving. Now, every day is a day off. ��

1) March— Weather is getting better, lot of college basketball to watch and I try to throw a trip to the desert onto the schedule. Daytime TV’s best month; exhibition baseball every day.

Elsewhere on a winter Friday night……
a) Butler 89, Marquette 85 OT— Tremendous game to watch; Butler plays without its PG and wins, snapping a 3-game skid.

There was a weird moment in this game; tie game with 0:20 left, and Marquette fouls a Butler player who is shooting 85% on line- it looked intentional, and it looked like Wojciechowski told the kid to foul— why????? The SCORE WAS TIED!!!

b) Suns 103, Spurs 99— Phoenix is 10-10 on the road, a much-improved team

c) Bucks 116, Hornets 103— This game was played in Paris..

d) Siena 70, Marist 57— Saints are 8-0 at home, 0-9 on road; this was their first MAAC cover this season (1-8 ATS).

**Udog** · 01-25-2020, 07:43 AM

Central Division a driving force of ASG

If experience matters, the Central Division will have an edge at the NHL All-Star Game Saturday night in St. Louis.

Only two of its 11 players, winger David Perron and Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, are playing in this event for the first time. This squad features six players who have played in three or more All-Star Games.

Each of its selected players is expected to play at Enterprise Center, led by captain Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane.

The other division teams include multiple substitutions and one fill-in coach, with Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet taking over the Pacific Division team from fired Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant.

The Central squad will also feature a home-ice advantage while deploying four Blues, including defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and center Ryan O'Reilly. Blues coach Craig Berube is at its helm.

"You want to come home, be the champion, especially in our building," O'Reilly said. "There's four of us. The feeling kind of rises. Let's give the fans what they want. They want to see our division be the strongest division."

On the down side for the Central team, neither goaltender comes into this competition on a roll. Binnington has a 3.57 goals-against average and an .865 save percentage in six January starts while Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck is 3-5-1 this month with a 3.29 GAA and .898 percentage.

On-ice chemistry could also give the Pacific squad an edge. Tocchet can ride the dynamic duo of Edmonton Oilers forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

"I'll talk to a couple of guys to see who they want to play with, but I'm sure Draisaitl and McDavid, I'll stay out of their way on that one." Tocchet said.

He can also feature forward/defenseman teammate combinations with Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames and Elias Pettersson with Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks.

"I like to play something for competition, not for nothing," Tocchet said. "I don't want players to get hurt. I think you have to have competitive juices in there. I'm not sure that you want 3-on-0s going back and forth. Maybe 2-on-1s, that's fine. But not 3-on-0."

The Metropolitan Division suffered the most casualties for this game. Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin opted not to play and forwards Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers), Jake Guentzel (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Kyle Palmieri (New Jersey Devils) bowed out due to injuries.

Also missing from the Metropolitan squad due to injuries are defenseman Dougie Hamilton (Carolina Hurricanes) and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (Columbus Blue Jackets).

"It's tough to look at a team and say, 'Oh, they're a little bit weaker' or anything like that," O'Reilly said. "You have the elite of the elite. It's going to be tough."

The Atlantic Division team lost Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews to a wrist injury. Ottawa Senator forward Brady Tkachuk replaced Matthews, who is tied for second in the NHL with 34 goals this season.

"You want to compete out there and participate," said Matthews, who came to St. Louis to participate in off-ice activities. "Getting a couple of extra days to heal and rest is important, but I think it was also important for me to be here. It's a big honor to be selected for the All-Star Game."

--Field Level Media

**Udog** · 01-25-2020, 07:45 AM

NHL All-Star game betting predictions and picks: Central Division has the edge in 3-on-3 tournament
Rohit Ponnaiya

Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin will be playing in his sixth NHL All-Star game on Saturday. His Central Division team has +240 odds to win the 3-on-3 tournament this year.

If you like betting on the NHL, there's no reason to take a break this weekend just because the rest of the league is. The annual All-Star game in St. Louis on Saturday night should provide plenty of skills, thrills and betting intrigue.

For the fifth consecutive year the NHL All-Star game will consist of a 3-on-3 tournament between the best players from each of the four divisions. The new format has rekindled fan interest, creating a fast-paced, high-scoring environment that is perfectly suited for All-Star weekend.

The festivities begin Friday night with the skills competition, and the puck is dropped for the first game on Saturday evening at 8:15 p.m. ET between the Metropolitan and Atlantic Divisions.

Following that, the All-Stars from the Pacific and Central Divisions face off. The two teams that advance then play each other in the final game with the winning side receiving "one million dollars" to divide among their players.

If you're also hoping to cash in on the All-Star action on the ice this weekend, we break down the odds and give you the best bets for Saturday's games.

METROPOLITAN (+100) VS ATLANTIC (-120), OVER/UNDER: 12

While the Western Conference matchup is a pick'em, the Atlantic Division is the betting favorite out East. That said, the Atlantic squad is missing plenty of big names with Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron all sitting out either due to injuries or simply being left out.

The Metropolitan won the tournament last year, beating the Atlantic 7-4 and then outscoring the Central Division 10-5 in the finals. But the Met will be without their best forwards in Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Artemi Panarin, as well as one of their top defenseman in Doug Hamilton.

The Metropolitan has plenty of young and hungry talent but their forwards currently aren't performing at the same level as the top forwards in the Atlantic.

The Atlantic also has the edge between the pipes with the Central Division's Braden Holtby arguably one of the biggest surprises to make a roster. The usually reliable Holtby has struggled with a GAA over 3.00 and a save percentage under .900 for Washington this season. We're leaning towards the favorites and with so much offensive fire-power missing from both teams we like the Under 12 as well.

PACIFIC (-110) VS CENTRAL (-110), OVER/UNDER: 12.5

Of course the big name here is Connor McDavid, the player widely considered the best player in the world at the moment. But McDavid might not have the help around him for the Pacific Division to move on.

The importance of having a quarterback at the back end of three-man hockey can't be overstated, and while the Central Division only has two defensemen (Alex Pietrangelo and Roman Josi), they're both among the four highest scoring blueliners participating this weekend.

The Central also has a terrific blend of pure offensive talents (like Nathan Mackinnon and Patrick Kane) and two-way players (Eric Staal and Tyler Seguin) among their forwards. We like the Central to prevail.

With so many great skaters and stick handlers on both sides, we're expecting a ton of scoring opportunities, even for an All-Star competition. Take the Over 12.5.

NHL ALL-STAR GAME WINNER

Atlantic +200
Pacific +210
Central +240
Metropolitan +290

We expect to see the Atlantic Division and the Central Division in the finals, but from there it feels like splitting hairs. Both squads have great players at each level, terrific skating ability, and netminders who are currently playing at a high level. But with the Atlantic missing the elite talents we named earlier, they might not have the depth of the Central.

Motivation also plays a big factor in friendly competitions like this, and with three St. Louis Blues players in action for the Central Division, expect them to put on a show for the hometown fans. We're backing the Central at +240.

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Saturday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/25

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