The Bum's Best Bets For Wednesday June 3rd - MLB - NBA -NHL !

[StarDust Bum]

Holy $hit betting stat of the day: Favorites are a dominant bet in Game 1 of Stanley Cup final

Since the NHL returned from the lockout for the 2005-06 season, favorites have gone 9-0 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.
The Game 1 fave has gone on to average 3.4 goals in the opening contest, while the dog has averaged just 1.8 goals.

Only once over that stretch was the Game 1 favorite a road team. The 2012 Los Angeles Kings were -107 at the New Jersey Devils and posted a 2-1 win in overtime.

2014: Los Angles Kings (-146) 3, New York Rangers 2 (OT)

2013: Chicago Blackhawks (-153) 4, vs. Boston Bruins 3 (OT)

2012: Los Angeles Kings (-107) 2 at New Jersey Devils 1 (OT)

2011: Vancouver Canucks (-188) 1 vs. Boston Bruins 0

2010: Chicago Blackhawks (-187) 6 vs. Philadelphia Flyers 5

2009: Detroit Red Wings (-143) 3 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 1

2008: Detroit Red Wings (-140) 4 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 0

2007: Anaheim Ducks (-134) 3 vs. Ottawa Senators 2

2006: Carolina Hurricanes (-140) 5 vs. Edmonton Oilers 4

Furthermore, in seven of those instances did the Game 1 winner go on to hoist the Cup with the 2011 Vancouver Canucks and the 2009 Detroit Red Wings as they only teams to go on and lose the Cup after recording a victory in the opener.

Online book Pinnacle Sports opened the Lightning -116, but that has since been adjusted to -126 as of Wednesday morning.

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Do Blackhawks really have the edge?

While the Chicago Blackhawks are the favorites to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning and claim their third Stanley Cup in six years, the Bolts have had the Hawks' number going 6-1 in the last seven meetings.

The numbers get even worse for the Blackhawks when they play the Lightning in Tampa Bay, going 0-4 in their last four meetings there, outscoring them 19-12 in those contests.

The Lightning are currently -126 favorite to take Game 1.

[StarDust Bum]

Stanley Cup Final primer: Offense to star for Hawks, Lightning

Jun 02, 2015

The most obvious similarities evaluating the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning, high-end skill and speed, should make for one entertaining Stanley Cup Final.

The Blackhawks and Lightning are not defense-first, trap teams. They are high-flying skilled teams that can produce breathtaking plays, and have done so on a number of occasions in the postseason. That cannot be said of most recent finals, where defensive responsibility and opportunistic counter attacks -- boring hockey -- were the norm.

Not to say the combatants lack responsibility in their own ends, because they wouldn't be here if they didn't.

But with forward groups featuring the likes of Tampa's 'triplets' line of center Tyler Johnson (playoff leading 12 goals and 21 points) and wingers Nikita Kucherov (nine goals, 19 points) and Ondrej Palat (seven goals, 15 points), along with captain and Steven Stamkos (seven goals, 17 points) and forward Alex Killorn (seven goals, 16 points) on one side, and Chicago's recently united top line of winger Patrick Kane (10 goals, 20 points), center Jonathan Toews (nine goals, 18 points) and winger Brandon Saad (six goals, eight points) along with wingers Marian Hossa (four goals, 13 points) and Patrick Sharp (four goals, 12 points), there offense should not be in short supply.

Throw in two goaltenders -- Chicago's Corey Crawford and Tampa's Ben Bishop -- who struggled at times this postseason, and this has the potential to be an offensive classic.

The Blackhawks are the been-here-before team, winning Cups in 2010 and 2013 with this core, so the Lightning know it will be no small task, given their relative inexperience, to topple them.

"They've proven they can win at this time of the year," Stamkos said. "They're champions for a reason, so it's going to be a big mountain for us to climb. But I think everyone in this room is willing to do it."

Chicago also sees something special in the making with the Lightning.

"I think the thing that stands out to me is their team speed and their skill level up front," Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said after Chicago won Game 7 of the Western finals against Anaheim on Saturday. "I remember playing them, I think it was in March, toward the end of the season, and they beat us pretty good. You know, I think as a team we've got a lot of respect for them. They're there for a reason."

Which is why the battle-tested Blackhawks are looking forward to the challenge of holding off the up-and-coming Lightning.

"I think we're moving on for a reason, showing a lot of character, using our speed and skill," said Keith, who has two goals and 16 assists while logging over 31 minutes of ice-time per game during the Blackhawks' postseason run. "I don't think anybody's tired anymore this time of year right now. I think we're just excited to move on and be able to beat a great team like Anaheim and have the opportunity to try and beat another great team in Tampa Bay."

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

TAMPA'S TOP TWO LINES VS. CHICAGO'S TOP FOUR DEFENSEMAN: A lot has been written about the high-end skill of the top two lines of the Lightning, and the fact that the group scored 21 of 22 goals in the Eastern finals against the Rangers is impressive. But what does that say about the Tampa Bay bottom six? The top six will see a heavy dose of Chicago defensemen Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya. While Keith and Seabrook (six goals, four assists) are obviously the catalysts, Hjalmarsson and Oduya are solid complimentary pieces. The foursome, who are all averaging over 25 minutes per game, have the potential to shut down the top-heavy Lightning, and in the case of Keith and Seabrook, counter-punch them. That will put added pressure Tampa's depth players to step up.

TOEWS LINE VS. JOHNSON LINE: Toews, one of the best two-way center's in the game, and his linemates figure to draw the assignment against Tampa's 'triplets.' The 2015 playoffs have been a coming-out party for the trio, Johnson in particular. The Toews' matchup could be similar, defensively, to what the Lightning saw in the opening round against Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and his linemates.

"There was absolutely no space, no speed," Johnson said of facing Detroit. "I think that kind of taught us how to play. Using that against Montreal, then New York and just kind of doing that molded us into the team we are right now."

As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. If Chicago coach Joel Quenneville elects to keep game-breaker Kane on Toews' wing, the 'triplets' might also have to do their fair share of defending, hence tempering their effectiveness over the course of a series. And with Chicago's bottom six providing much more offense support so far in the playoffs, it adds even more pressure to the Lightning's bottom six to keep pace.

[StarDust Bum]

Team Pitcher Open Line Movements Current Runline Scores

1:45 PM EDT

901 MILWAUKEE BREWERS (R) Nelson, J 7.5u20 7o15 / 7o18 / 7o20 7o25 +1.5(-165)
902 ST LOUIS CARDINALS (R) Lackey, J -165 -165 / -169 / -165 -157 -1.5(+145)

TV: FS-Midwest, FS-Wisconsin, DTV: 669, 671 | PARTLY SUNNY, WIND RIGHT TO LEFT 6-11. GAME TEMP 78, RH 50% HEAT INDEX 79

3:40 PM EDT

903 ATLANTA BRAVES (R) Foltynewicz, M 8.5u15 9u20 / 8.5o25 / 8.5o20 8.5o15 +1.5(-190)
904 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (R) De La Rosa, R -125 -125 / -130 -125 -1.5(+160)

TV: FS-Arizona, MLB, SportsSouth, DTV: 213, 646, 686 | SUNNY, WIND LEFT TO RIGHT 11-16. GAME TEMP 100, RH 8% WIND CHILL 0 (CHASE FIELD ROOF MAY CLOSE IN HOT WEATHER)

3:45 PM EDT

905 PITTSBURGH PIRATES (L) Liriano, F -120 -120 -123 -1.5(+140)
906 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (R) Hudson, T 7u25 7u25 / 7u30 7u20 +1.5(-160)

TV: CSN-Bay, ROOT-Pittsburgh, DTV: 659, 696 | MOSTLY SUNNY, WIND OUT TO CENTER 12-22, GUSTY. GAME TEMP 67, RH 52%

7:05 PM EDT

907 CINCINNATI REDS (R) Leake, M 7u25 7u25 / 7u26 / 7u30 6.5o20 +1.5(-200)
908 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (L) Hamels, C -145 -145 / -128 / -130 -132 -1.5(+170)

TV: FS-Ohio, DTV: 661 | MOSTLY CLOUDY, 40% CHANCE SHOWERS. WIND RIGHT TO LEFT 7-12. GAME TEMP 65, RH 62%

7:10 PM EDT

909 CHICAGO CUBS (L) Lester, J -125 -125 -111 -1.5(+145)
910 MIAMI MARLINS (R) Haren, D 7o25 7o25 +1.5(-165)

TV: FS-Florida, DTV: 654 | PARTLY CLOUDY, 30% CHANCE THUNDERSTORMS EARLY. WIND IN FROM CENTER 9-14. GAME TEMP 84, RH 64% HEAT INDEX 89 (MARLINS STADIUM ROOF CLOSES IN WET WEATHER)

8:10 PM EDT

911 LOS ANGELES DODGERS (R) Bolsinger, M -145 -145 -125 -1.5(+130)
912 COLORADO ROCKIES (R) Bettis, C 10.5 10.5 +1.5(-150)

TV: ESPN2, ROOT-Rocky Mountain, DTV: 209, 683 | PARTLY CLOUDY, 40% CHANCE THUNDERSTORMS. WIND RIGHT TO LEFT 10-15. GAME TEMP 71, RH 56% HEAT INDEX 71

9:10 PM EDT

913 NEW YORK METS (R) Gee, D 6.5 6.5 +1.5(-190)
914 SAN DIEGO PADRES (R) Shields, J -145 -160 / -155 / -150 -147 -1.5(+160)

TV: FS-San Diego, SNY, DTV: 639, 694 | PARTLY SUNNY, WIND LEFT TO RIGHT 5-10. GAME TEMP 68, RH 60%

3:40 PM EDT

915 NEW YORK YANKEES (R) Tanaka, M -125 -125 / -120 -106 -1.5(+155)
916 SEATTLE MARINERS (R) Walker, T 7u15 7u15 7 +1.5(-175)

TV: MLB, ROOT-Northwest, YES, DTV: 213, 631, 687 | MOSTLY CLOUDY, 30% CHANCE SHOWERS. WIND LEFT TO RIGHT 7-12. GAME TEMP 63, RH 64% (SAFECO FIELD ROOF CLOSES IN WET WEATHER)

7:05 PM EDT

917 OAKLAND ATHLETICS (R) Gray, S 8u15 -101 / -104 / -107 -109 -1.5(+150)
918 DETROIT TIGERS (R) Sanchez, A -105 8u15 / 8u16 / 8u20 7.5u30 +1.5(-170)

TV: CSN-California, FS-Detroit, DTV: 663, 698 | MOSTLY FAIR, WIND IN FROM LEFT 6-11. GAME TEMP 74, RH 51% HEAT INDEX 75

7:10 PM EDT

919 MINNESOTA TWINS (R) May, T 9u20 9u32 / 9u30 / 9u25 8.5o15 +1.5(-150)
920 BOSTON RED SOX (R) Porcello, R -160 -160 -154 -1.5(+130)

DH Gm 2 | TV: FS-North, NESN, DTV: 628, 668 | MOSTLY FAIR, WIND RIGHT TO LEFT 5-10. GAME TEMP 59, RH 64%

8:05 PM EDT

921 CHICAGO WHITE SOX (L) Sale, C -140 -140 / -130 -140 -1.5(+120)
922 TEXAS RANGERS (R) Martinez, N 8.5u20 8.5u20 8u15 +1.5(-140)

CWS-1B-Jose Abreu-? | TEX-3B-Adrian Beltre-OUT | TV: CSN-Chicago, FS-Southwest, DTV: 665, 676 | PARTLY CLOUDY, WIND IN FROM RIGHT CENTER 7-12. GAME TEMP 86, RH 51% HEAT INDEX 89

8:10 PM EDT

923 BALTIMORE ORIOLES (R) Gonzalez, M 8.5u20 8 / 8u15 / 8 8.5o20 +1.5(-190)
924 HOUSTON ASTROS (R) Mccullers, L -135 -135 -127 -1.5(+160)

TV: MASN2, ROOT-Southwest, DTV: 641, 674 | PARTLY CLOUDY, WIND OUT TO LEFT CENTER 4-9. GAME TEMP 85, RH 58% HEAT INDEX 89

8:10 PM EDT

925 CLEVELAND INDIANS (R) Kluber, C -135 -135 / -140 -142 -1.5(+120)
926 KANSAS CITY ROYALS (L) Vargas, J 7.5o15 7.5o15 / 7.5 7 +1.5(-140)

TV: FS-Kansas City, SportsTime Ohio, DTV: 662, 672 | PARTLY CLOUDY, 30% CHANCE THUNDERSTORMS. WIND OUT TO LEFT 7-12. GAME TEMP 83, RH 52% HEAT INDEX 85

10:05 PM EDT

927 TAMPA BAY RAYS (R) Karns, N 7.5u20 7.5u20 +1.5(-190)
928 LOS ANGELES ANGELS (L) Santiago, H -135 -135 -131 -1.5(+160)

TV: FS-West, SunSports, DTV: 653, 692 | MOSTLY FAIR, WIND OUT TO LEFT CENTER 5-10. GAME TEMP 71, RH 59% HEAT INDEX 71

7:05 PM EDT

929 TORONTO BLUE JAYS (L) Buehrle, M 8 8 +1.5(-195)
930 WASHINGTON NATIONALS (R) Jordan, T -120 -120 -1.5(+165)

TOR-1B-Edwin Encarnacion-Doubtful | TV: MASN, DTV: 640 | CLOUDY, 60% CHANCE SHOWERS. WIND IN FROM RIGHT CENTER 5-10. GAME TEMP 63, RH 83%

1:35 PM EDT

931 MINNESOTA TWINS (R) Hughes, P 8.5u15 8 / 8o15 / 8u15 8u20 +1.5(-150)
932 BOSTON RED SOX (L) Rodriguez, E -140 -160 / -165 / -159 -158 -1.5(+130)

DH Gm 1 | TV: FS-North, NESN, DTV: 628, 668 | PARTLY SUNNY, WIND IN FROM RIGHT 5-10. GAME TEMP 58, RH 64%

[StarDust Bum]

MLB Consensus Picks


SIDES (ATS)

Time Away Line Picks Pct Home Line Picks Pct Detail Odds

1:45 PM Milwaukee +139 177 18.91% St. Louis -151 759 81.09% View View

10:05 PM Tampa Bay +120 249 33.38% LA Angels -130 497 66.62% View View

8:10 PM Baltimore +118 276 36.36% Houston -128 483 63.64% View View

9:10 PM NY Mets +136 289 38.08% San Diego -148 470 61.92% View View

8:05 PM Chi. White Sox -138 330 42.75% Texas +127 442 57.25% View View

7:08 PM Oakland -108 344 44.79% Detroit +100 424 55.21% View View

8:10 PM Cleveland -140 359 46.38% Kansas City +129 415 53.62% View View

7:05 PM Cincinnati +121 354 46.58% Philadelphia -131 406 53.42% View View

3:45 PM Pittsburgh -122 417 49.94% San Francisco +113 418 50.06% View View

1:35 PM Minnesota +143 456 50.84% Boston -155 441 49.16% View View

7:10 PM Minnesota +140 378 51.22% Boston -152 360 48.78% View View

7:05 PM Toronto +110 123 51.25% Washington -119 117 48.75% View View

3:40 PM Atlanta +113 411 52.16% Arizona -122 377 47.84% View View

3:40 PM NY Yankees -106 497 59.31% Seattle -102 341 40.69% View View

7:10 PM Chi. Cubs -111 455 60.83% Miami +103 293 39.17% View View

8:10 PM LA Dodgers -122 474 64.23% Colorado +113 264 35.77% View View



TOTALS (OVER/UNDER)

Time Away Total Over Pct Home Total Under Pct Detail Odds

1:35 PM Minnesota 8 200 44.74% Boston 8 247 55.26% View View

7:08 PM Oakland 7.5 180 45.57% Detroit 7.5 215 54.43% View View

8:10 PM Cleveland 7 172 45.62% Kansas City 7 205 54.38% View View

8:10 PM Baltimore 8.5 183 48.41% Houston 8.5 195 51.59% View View

8:10 PM LA Dodgers 10.5 199 48.42% Colorado 10.5 212 51.58% View View

8:05 PM Chi. White Sox 8 204 49.39% Texas 8 209 50.61% View View

7:10 PM Chi. Cubs 7 187 50.13% Miami 7 186 49.87% View View

1:45 PM Milwaukee 7 225 50.34% St. Louis 7 222 49.66% View View

3:40 PM Atlanta 8.5 222 50.57% Arizona 8.5 217 49.43% View View

7:10 PM Minnesota 8.5 207 51.62% Boston 8.5 194 48.38% View View

3:45 PM Pittsburgh 7 243 53.76% San Francisco 7 209 46.24% View View

10:05 PM Tampa Bay 7.5 210 53.98% LA Angels 7.5 179 46.02% View View

7:05 PM Cincinnati 6.5 217 55.64% Philadelphia 6.5 173 44.36% View View

7:05 PM Toronto 8 68 57.14% Washington 8 51 42.86% View View

9:10 PM NY Mets 6.5 232 59.18% San Diego 6.5 160 40.82% View View

3:40 PM NY Yankees 7 281 63.00% Seattle 7 165 37.00% View View

Games are highlighted when more than 59% of all cash contests players choose outcome.

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MLB RECORD FOR JUNE:

*****..........................4 - 0 .............................+4.00
DOUBLE PLAY...............3 - 5 .............................- 4.68
TRIPLE PLAY.................1 - 2 .............................- 3.09
GRAND SLAM................1 - 1 ............................+ 0.00

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3

Game Score Status Pick Amount

Minnesota - 1:35 PM ET Minnesota +143 500 DOUBLE PLAY
Boston - Over 8 500

Milwaukee - 1:45 PM ET St. Louis -154 500 *****
St. Louis - Over 7 500

NY Yankees - 3:40 PM ET Seattle -102 500 GRAND SLAM
Seattle - Over 7 500

Atlanta - 3:40 PM ET Atlanta +113 500 TRIPLE PLAY
Arizona - Over 8.5 500 TRIPLE PLAY

Pittsburgh - 3:45 PM ET San Francisco +113 500 DOUBLE PLAY
San Francisco - Over 7 500

[StarDust Bum]

2015 Stanley Cup Final: 5 things to know about the Tampa Bay Lightning

Out of all of the potential Stanley Cup Final matchups that existed at the start of the postseason, the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning might have been the most intriguing one.

You have a Chicago team that is looking to win its third Stanley Cup in six years and become the closest thing to a dynasty that you will find in the salary cap NHL, going up against an up-and-coming Tampa Bay team that is starting to establish itself as one of the NHL's elite teams. Get used to these guys playing deep into the playoffs because given their skill, youth and sharp front office they are probably not going away.

And if that's not enough they are also two of the most skilled, talented and exciting teams in the league, playing the type of up-tempo hockey that we have not always seen enough of this postseason.

The Eye On Hockey staff continues to get you ready for the 2015 Stanley Cup Final by giving you five things to know about each team. Here, we look at the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

More Stanley Cup Final: Expert picks | Building the Blackhawks | Building the Lightning

1. The Lightning are not just an offensive team. They can also defend.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are as good as any other team in the NHL when it comes to scoring and generating offense, and when you think of their style of play you probably think of Steven Stamkos scoring a ton of goals or the Triplets line of Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat making magic happen on the ice. And all of that is true. They led the NHL in goals during the regular season (3.16 goals per game) and even though they are not quite matching that output in the playoffs, they are still putting up some strong numbers and are always capable of scoring goals in bunches.

But the thing that sometimes seems to get overlooked about this team is the fact they can also defend.

During the regular season the Lightning were one of the best teams in the NHL when it came to limiting their opponents shots, allowing only 27.9 shots on goal per game, the fifth best mark in the league. When you drill it down to even-strength shot attempts allowed, the Lightning were the third best team in the league allowing only 49.6 per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey. They were only 12th when it came to preventing goals, but part of that can be pointed to the struggles of former backup goalie Evgeni Nabokov earlier in the season when he allowed 29 goals in only nine starts. If they had received the same league average goaltending they did from Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy in every other game in those Nabokov starts their goals against numbers would have gone from 12th in the league, all the way up to sixth.

Part of their success defensively is connected to their offense as they always seem to have a way of playing with the puck on their sticks and limit the amount of time they have to spend defending in their own zone. But when they do have to defend they have a pretty impressive collection of defenders led by Victor Hedman, a player that might have a Norris Trophy or two in his future, and Anton Stralman, one of the better defensive defenseman in the league.

Earlier this postseason Lightning coach Jon Cooper said this about Stralman and his impact on the game: "He may not win the Norris Trophy, but his partner will. That's how good he can make you look."

2. Ben Bishop can also lend a helping hand offensively

Ben Bishop has been a great addition to the Lightning lineup over the past couple of years and has given the team quality goaltending for a cheap price against the salary cap, something that can be one of the most valuable commodities in hockey. The less you spend on goaltending, the more you have to spend on other areas. This postseason he is playing some of his best hockey and enters the Stanely Cup Final with a .920 save percentage and two Game 7 shutouts.

But here is my favorite Ben Bishop stat: Since the start of last season he has recorded nine assists for the Lightning (regular season and playoffs). As a goalie. Only one other goalie in the NHL has more than five assists during that same time period (Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen has eight). Bishop already has three this postseason, making him one of just two goalies since 1997 to have more than two assists in a single playoff run. Martin Brodeur was the other, finishing with four during the 2011-12 postseason during the New Jersey Devils' run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Just for comparisons sake, Cory Conacher, the player that Bishop was traded for during the 2011-12 season, only had three points this season for the New York Islanders.

3. The Lightning don't have a ton of Stanley Cup Final experience

Playing in their third Stanley Cup Final in six years the Chicago Blackhawks are no strangers to hockey's biggest stage as several players on the team already have a pair of Stanley Cup rings.

The Lightning, on the other hand, don't have quite as much Stanley Cup experience.

The only players on the Tampa Bay roster that have appeared in a Stanley Cup Final: Valtteri Filppula (with Detroit), Anton Stralman (New York), Brian Boyle (New York), Matt Carle (Philadelphia), Braydon Coburn (Philadelphia) and Brenden Morrow (Dallas). By comparison, the Blackhawks still have 13 players that were on their 2013 Stanley Cup winning team and have seven players that have won two Stanley Cups.

4. The Lightning have been a very top-heavy team in the playoffs

When it comes to the Tampa Bay offense pretty much all of it is coming from the same five players: Steven Stamkos, Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov.

Those five players have combined to score 42 of the Lightning's 55 goals this postseason. That is more than 75 percent of the team's goals coming from just five players. All of them have at least seven, while only one other player (Filppula) has more than one. During the regular season, Tampa Bay's top-five goal scorers accounted for only 54 percent of their total goals.

Fortunately those five players have been dominant and done their part to carry the load, but if Tampa Bay is going to beat this Chicago team it might help if they find some offense somewhere else in the lineup, especially if Joel Quenneville goes for a power vs. power matchup and tries to get Jonathan Toews out against Steven Stamkos.

5. The Lightning speed vs. the Blackhawks defense

One thing to watch in this series is how the Blackhawks defense continues to handle their heavy workload. The Blackhawks' top-four on defense are not only still playing a ton of minutes, they are all still averaging more than 25 minutes per game. Since the NHL started tracking ice-time totals no team has won the Stanley Cup with four defensemen averaging more than 25 minute of ice-time per game in the playoffs.

The expectation all along has been that their defense might start to get worn down as the playoffs continue given that workload, especially in the Western Conference Final against an extremely physical Anaheim Ducks team. But it never happened.

It not only never happened, the Blackhawks seemed to get stronger and played better hockey as the series progressed.

The Lightning present a very different challenge in this series, and instead of relying on the size and force that the Ducks did, they will bring speed and skill to the table. A lot of it.

You know the Blackhawks top-four are going to get quite familiar with Stamkos, Killorn, and the Triplets over the next two weeks, and even though the Blackhawks' third pairing sees very limited minutes it is going to be crucial for Tampa Bay to take advantage of them when they are on the ice.

[StarDust Bum]

2015 Stanley Cup Final: How the Tampa Bay Lightning were built

When teams reach the Stanley Cup Final, the 28 other clubs sitting on the sidelines are going to be taking a long look at how the finalists got there. Perhaps the most time is going to be spent on how the teams play, but what is really important is how they were built over the years it took them to reach this point. With that in mind, Eye on Hockey breaks down how each of this year's Stanley Cup finalists were built. Up next, the Eastern Conference champions.

Since taking over as the Tampa Bay Lightning general manager in March 2010, Steve Yzerman and his staff have quietly assembled one of the most exciting teams in the NHL, completely overhauling a roster that had failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of the three seasons before he was hired.

When Yzerman arrived, two of the most important pieces were already in place: Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, top-two picks in 2008 and 2009 who would go on to become the foundation of everything the Lightning have become. Having those two already on the roster certainly helped, but other than that, it has been a complete teardown and rebuild, with 20 of the 24 players that have appeared in the postseason for the Lightning having been acquired by Yzerman, his staff and the scouts.

They have done it through the draft, where they are not afraid to go places other teams often avoid (i.e., smaller, skilled players; Russian-born players). They have done it by finding gems after the draft as undrafted free agents, including one of their best players (Tyler Johnson). They have made a few smart free-agent investments to pick up Valtteri Filppula and then snagging Anton Stralman in free agency from the New York Rangers.

After some initial success in the Yzerman era where they reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals (losing 1-0 to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins), the Lightning took a step backward the next two seasons. During that time they replaced Guy Boucher with Jon Cooper behind the bench, and then started to experience the benefits of the great work by the front-office talent evaluators by returning to the playoffs in 2014.

And now they are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2004.

This is how they got here.

(Note: Only players that have played at least one game in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs are included in these tables.)

The Draft

PLAYERS DRAFTED BY THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

PLAYER YEAR DRAFTED ROUND, PICK PLAYOFF POINTS

Nikita Kucherov 2011 2nd, 58 20 GP, 9-10--19

Steven Stamkos 2008 1st, 1 20 GP, 7-10--17

Alex Killorn 2007 3rd, 77 20 GP, 7-9--16

Ondrej Palat 2011 7th, 208 20 GP, 7-8--15

Victor Hedman 2009 1st, 2 20 GP, 1-9--10

Nikita Nesterov 2011 5th, 148 14 GP, 1-5--6

Cedric Paquette 2012 4th, 101 18 GP, 1-0--1

Vladislav Namestnikov 2011 1st, 27 12 GP, 0-1--1

Mark Barberio 2008 6th, 152 1 GP, 0-0--0

Jonathan Drouin 2013 1st, 3 3 GP, 0-0--0

Andrei Vasilevskiy 2012 1st, 19 2 GP, .879 SV%

TOTALS (10 skaters, 1 goalie) 33 goals, 52 assists, 85 points

Obviously the big names here are Stamkos and Hedman at the top of the 2008 and '09 drafts. When it comes to finding franchise players in the prime of their career, there is pretty much only two ways teams are going to get them: The draft or the extremely rare occasion when another team foolishly trades one. The latter doesn't happen often, and when it comes to the former your best hope is to be bad enough to get a top pick in a year when there is a player like Stamkos or Hedman available at the top of the draft.

But for as important as it is to have elite players at the top of your roster, they can't do it alone. They need help. And for as important as it was for the Lightning to get Stamkos and Hedman as lottery picks, in '08 and '09, the 2011 draft (which came just after the Lightning were one game away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final) was just as important. That is where they picked up two-thirds of their now famous Triplets line (Kucherov and Palat) and two more young, skilled depth players who are still playing for peanuts against the salary cap.

When it comes to the Lightning's top lines, Alex Killorn is sometimes the forgotten guy out of that group but he is having a terrific postseason playing alongside Stamkos. He is one of the holdovers still on the roster from the previous front office.

In a salary cap league it is a necessity for teams to find success through the draft if they are going to compete for a Stanley Cup, especially when they have big-money players at the top of the roster. The Lightning have succeeded.

Free Agency

PLAYERS SIGNED AS UFAS BY THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

PLAYER YEAR SIGNED ORIGINAL TERM PLAYOFF POINTS

Tyler Johnson 2011 UDFA 20 GP, 12-9--21

Valtteri Filppula 2013 5 years 20 GP, 3-8--11

Anton Stralman 2014 5 years 20 GP, 1-6--7

Matt Carle 2012 6 years 19 GP, 0-3--3

Brian Boyle 2014 3 years 19 GP, 1-1--2

Andrej Sustr 2011 UDFA 18 GP, 1-1--2

J.T. Brown 2012 UDFA 18 GP, 1-0--1

Brenden Morrow 2014 1 year 18 GP, 0-0--0

TOTALS (8 skaters) 19 goals, 28 assists, 47 points

We're including undrafted free agents as free-agent signings, and the Lightning have three of them on the roster this postseason (Johnson, Sustr and Brown). What's amazing about the Johnson signing is that it came just a couple of months before the team drafted Kucherov and Palat at the 2011 draft. That means that in the span of four months (again, just after they were one game away from the Stanley Cup Final) the Lightning front office added Johnson, Namestnikov, Kucherov, Palat, Nesterov and Sustr, another undrafted free agent, to the organization. Amazing.

When it comes to adding players via unrestricted free agency at the NHL level, Filppula and Stralman are the two making the most impact.

The Lightning gambled a bit on Filppula in 2013 after he came off of a brutal season with the Detroit Red Wings where he scored just nine goals and eight assists in 41 games. But there was still a really good track record there, and at 28 he was still young enough to think he could bounce back from it. So the Lightning signed him to a five-year contract worth $25 million. In the two years that have followed Filppula has had two of the best seasons of his career. That same offseason the Red Wings, who let Filppula walk, signed Stephen Weiss to an almost identical contract. Weiss has appeared in just 78 games due to injury and scored 11 goals and 18 assists. Filppula has topped those numbers each season since joining the Lightning.

And then there is Stralman. An underappreciated player who struggled to find his place in the NHL for several years, he finally made a name for himself with the New York Rangers the previous three seasons, and especially during their 2014 Stanley Cup Final run, and managed to turn that into a lucrative long-term contract with the Lightning in free agency.

It has proven to be a huge addition for the Lightning, especially as he helped shut down his former team in the Eastern Conference finals.

Trades

PLAYERS TRADED FOR BY THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

PLAYER (TRADED FROM) YEAR TRADED KEY EXPENSE(S) PLAYOFF POINTS

Ryan Callahan (NY Rangers) 2014 Martin St. Louis 19 GP, 1-3--4

Jason Garrison (Vancouver) 2014 2nd round pick 17 GP, 1-3--4

Braydon Coburn (Philadelphia) 2015 Radko Gudas

1st round pick

3rd round pick 20 GP, 1-2--3

Jon Marchessault (Columbus) 2014 Dana Tyrell

Matt Taormina 2 GP, 0-0--0

Ben Bishop (Ottawa) 2013 Cory Conacher 20 GP, .923 SV%, 3 assists

TOTALS (4 skaters, 1 goalie) 3 goals, 11 assists, 14 points

Remember in the free-agent section when we mentioned how in the summer of 2011 the Lightning added a ton of young players via the draft and as undrafted free agents? There was another young, skilled forward who was overlooked mostly due to his (lack of) size added to the organization that summer as well -- Cory Conacher.

And even though Conacher is not on the roster now, his presence is still being felt.

Conacher was signed by the Lightning on July 6, 2011, and a year later was playing in the NHL. After a great start that saw him score 24 points in 35 games, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for the player who is now Tampa Bay's starting goaltender, Ben Bishop.

How great has that trade worked out for the Lightning? Not only has Bishop been an above-average goaltender since joining the team and recorded a pair of Game 7 shutouts this year, he also has seven points offensively during the 2014-15 regular season and playoffs. Conacher, who spent the season playing for the New York Islanders, had three points.

The Lightning used a few draft picks to help bolster their defense before this season and during it when they acquired Jason Garrison from the Canucks and Braydon Coburn from the Flyers to improve the depth behind Hedman and Stralman.

The only other major trade that went into shaping the team was last year's deadline move that saw them trade Martin St. Louis to the New York Rangers for Ryan Callahan in a rare captain-for-captain swap after St. Louis wanted out of Tampa Bay and the Rangers were unable to sign Callahan to an extension. Offensively the two had pretty similar seasons and both struggled in the postseason. The Lightning were able to re-sign Callahan to a long-term contract extension after the 2013-14 season while St. Louis is eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer. The Lightning also have an additional first-round pick this summer (No. 28 overall) as a result of the trade.

Conclusion

It would be extremely difficult for another team to model what the Chicago Blackhawks have done when it comes to building their team. It takes a special set of circumstances for that type of roster to come together in a salary cap league and keep it together for that long.

But the Lightning should offer a lesson that every other team in the league would be wise to follow. Not only because it can lead to success on the ice, but also because it can produce a far more exciting game for the fans.

That lesson?

Skill.

Skill. Skill. Skill.

More skill.

Over the years the Lightning have been willing to overlook potential size and strength limitations of players in the draft to pick talented, skillful players that have NHL ability. They focus on getting players who project to be top-nine forwards and top-four defensemen and have built one of the best and most exciting teams in the league.

And they are not going away after this season. It's not a fluke.

They drafted well, they made some astute free-agent signings and had a couple of big trades to help build the necessary supporting cast that franchise players like Stamkos and Hedman need to seriously compete for the Stanley Cup.

There are now four wins away from completing it.

[StarDust Bum]

2015 Stanley Cup Final: How the Chicago Blackhawks were built

When teams reach the Stanley Cup Final, the 28 other clubs sitting on the sidelines are going to be taking a long look at how the finalists got there. Perhaps the most time is going to be spent on how the teams play, but what is really important is how they were built over the years it took them to reach this point. With that in mind, Eye on Hockey breaks down how each of this year's Stanley Cup finalists were built. Up first, the Western Conference champions.

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in six seasons after ousting the Anaheim Ducks in seven games in the Western Conference finals. With that level of success in the salary cap era, plenty of teams will probably be falling all over themselves to take whatever it is Chicago has and replicate it.

However, when you look at what has happened in Chicago, what they've done isn't exactly easy to replicate. The Blackhawks, under the stewardship of GM Stan Bowman since 2009, have built primarily through the draft. But it took years of good drafting to get there and it wasn't until their futility afforded them two top-three picks that the franchise was altered forever.

The arrival of Jonathan Toews, the third overall pick in 2006, and Patrick Kane, the top choice in 2007, signified a new era of Blackhawks hockey. Within a year of their rookie campaigns in 2007-08, the Blackhawks were in the Western Conference finals. In 2010, the franchise won its first Stanley Cup title since 1961.

The Blackhawks then had to be mostly dismantled ahead of the 2010-11 season due to salary cap constraints. In that reshuffling, the most important thing Bowman did was to identify a core of players that the team would hang onto at all costs. Seven players still remain from that group and they now have a shot at their third Stanley Cup title.

By 2013, after two seasons ended with early playoff exits, the team was back on top. The Blackhawks won the Presidents' Trophy and Stanley Cup in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. They were a goal away from going back to the Stanley Cup Final last year as well, but lost in overtime in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals to the Los Angeles Kings. Now they're back in the final for the second time in three years.

So how did they get here again? Here's how the 2015 Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks were built.

(Note: Only players that have played at least one game in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs are included in these tables.)

The Draft

PLAYERS DRAFTED BY THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
PLAYER YEAR DRAFTED ROUND, PICK PLAYOFF POINTS

Patrick Kane 2007 1st, 1 17 GP, 10-10--20
Jonathan Toews 2006 1st, 3 17 GP, 9-9--18

Duncan Keith 2002 2nd, 54 17 GP, 2-16--18

Brent Seabrook 2003 1st, 14 17 GP, 6-4--10

Andrew Shaw 2011 5th, 139 17 GP, 4-5--9

Brandon Saad 2011 2nd, 43 17 GP, 6-2--8

Niklas Hjalmarsson 2005 4th, 108 17 GP, 1-5--6

Teuvo Teravainen 2012 1st, 18 12 GP, 2-4--6

Bryan Bickell 2004 2nd, 41 17 GP, 0-5--5

Marcus Kruger 2009 5th, 149 17 GP, 2-1--3

Joakim Nordstrom 2010 3rd, 90 3 GP, 0-0--0

Corey Crawford 2003 2nd, 52 14 GP, 9 wins, .919

TOTALS (11 skaters) 42 goals, 61 assists, 103 points

Half of the Blackhawks' roster for the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs has come from the draft. Those 12 players (11 skaters and one goalie) account for 67 percent of the team's total point production, with each of the top three scorers on the club being homegrown.

The Blackhawks have drafted well over the past several years, but not perfectly. However, their three best players all came from this route. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were the right picks at the right time for the franchise.

Looking back, Toews dropped to third behind Erik Johnson, who the St. Louis Blues took first, and Jordan Staal, who the Pittsburgh Penguins selected second. Toews has inarguably been the best of those three players and it isn't in the least bit close.

The year Kane was selected, there was a lot of mystery in the draft buildup. Kane, James van Riemsdyk and Kyle Turris were all viewed as possible No. 1 picks. The Blackhawks took Kane and he has basically been the best playoff performer in the entire NHL since 2009.

Duncan Keith fell to the second round in 2002. The Blackhawks took Anton Babchuk with their first pick that year, and who could forget Anton Babchuk? Oh, everyone (except maybe a handful of Calgary Flames fans). Now Keith is probably Chicago's playoff MVP to date.

Sometimes there's just dumb luck involved in the draft. Brandon Saad falling to 43rd overall in 2011 was a draft windfall for Chicago, but don't give them too much credit. They, too, passed on Saad, who entered the draft a projected first-rounder, three times before selecting him with their fourth pick. Chicago had two first-round picks that year. Mark McNeill and Phillip Danault have two NHL games between them right now (both Danault's) and defenseman Adam Clendening, the team's first second-rounder that draft, was traded away this year. Saad, meanwhile, is tied for third on the team with six goals this postseason.

Chicago has had its share of draft misses, but it got the right guys when it had the can't-miss picks and did very well in finding some mid- and late-round gems, perhaps the best of which was Niklas Hjalmarsson in the fourth round in 2005.

Also, the Blackhawks very importantly matched an offer sheet from the San Jose Sharks for Hjalmarsson. That cost Chicago Antti Niemi, their 2010 Cup-winning goalie, as a cap casualty, but holding onto Hjalmarsson at that time was the absolute right call and he has earned his money and then some as part of that seven-player Stanley Cup core.

There is one player from each draft between 2002 and 2012, with the exception of 2008, on the roster. There would have been a 2008 pick on the roster had the team not traded Ben Smith for Andrew Desjardins earlier this year. Basically every single year, they've found someone to contribute at the NHL level. That's not easy to do.

Free Agency

PLAYERS SIGNED AS UFAS BY THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

PLAYER YEAR SIGNED ORIGINAL TERM PLAYOFF POINTS

Marian Hossa 2009 12 years 17 GP, 4-9--14

Brad Richards 2014 1 year 17 GP, 2-9--11

Michal Rozsival (inj.) 2012 1 year 10 GP, 0-1--1


Kyle Cumiskey 2014 1 year 6 GP, 0-0--0

Scott Darling 2014 1 year 5 GP, 3 wins, .936

TOTALS (4 skaters) 6 goals, 19 assists, 25 points

Free-agent acquisitions make up 20.8 percent of the team's roster and 16 percent of the team's point production this postseason. Scott Darling, the team's backup goaltender, also collected three of the team's four wins in the first-round victory over the Nashville Predators.

Unrestricted free agency is often used as a crutch in team building and that tends to be where some of the biggest mistakes are made under the salary cap. Buying free agents is particularly expensive and it's hard for the signees to match their value from inflated markets.

The Blackhawks have not had to lean on unrestricted free agency very much in the years since their 2010 Stanley Cup victory. They did make the most important purchase the year before that, however.

Bringing in Marian Hossa on a 12-year deal might end up being one of the best free-agent signings in the salary cap era. Hossa will be appearing in his fifth Stanley Cup Final in the last eight seasons, his third with Chicago. Until he entered the mix, the Blackhawks were missing something. When they got Hossa, one of the best two-way wings in the NHL, Chicago became a much more serious contender and has remained one by annually having one of the best top-six forward groups in the game.

Hossa is now 36. He is still effective, even if he's not as much as he was when he first joined the club. He remains one of the best defensive forwards in the game and Hossa still has six seasons remaining on his current contract.

The Blackhawks also made a bit of a splash in the summer by taking advantage of a pretty favorable situation with veteran forward Brad Richards. The former Conn Smythe winner had just been bought out by the New York Rangers, which meant that he could be signed to a more cap-friendly deal due to New York still having to pay Richards to not play for them. The Blackhawks got him on a one-year, $2 million deal.

Richards is not the player he used to be, but he has been effective in the playoffs, often playing alongside Kane, and has at least earned the $2 million the Blackhawks are paying him.

Trades

PLAYERS TRADED FOR BY THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

PLAYER (TRADED FROM) YEAR TRADED KEY EXPENSE(S) PLAYOFF POINTS

Patrick Sharp (PHI) 2005 3rd Round Pick 17 GP, 4-8--12

Antoine Vermette (ARI) 2015 Klas Dahlbeck,

1st Round pick 14 GP, 2-3--5

Johnny Oduya (WPG) 2012 2nd Round Pick

3rd Round Pick 17 GP, 0-4--4

Andrew Desjardins (SJS) 2015 Ben Smith 16 GP, 1-2--3

Kris Versteeg (FLA) 2013 Jimmy Hayes

Dylan Olsen 7 GP, 1-0--1

Kimmo Timonen (PHI) 2015 2nd Round Pick

4th Round Pick* 15 GP, 0-0--0

David Rundblad (ARI) 2014 2nd Round Pick 3 GP, 0-0--0

TOTALS (7 skaters) 8 goals, 17 assists, 25 points

* - Timonen was acquired for a 2015 second-round pick and a conditional fourth-rounder. Since the Blackhawks reached the Stanley Cup Final, that 2016 fourth-round pick becomes a 2016 second-round pick.

Blackhawks players acquired by trade make up 29.1 percent of the team's roster and have accounted for 16.3 percent of the team's total point production in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The biggest trades the Blackhawks have made to help their team happened years ago. Patrick Sharp is an integral piece of the team's Stanley Cup core as one of the seven players still on the team from each of the previous two Stanley Cup runs. He has also been around long enough to remember when the Blackhawks were terrible.

The Blackhawks sent prospect Matt Ellison and a third-rounder to the Philadelphia Flyers for Sharp and Eric Meloche midway through the 2005-06 season. Ellison played 43 games for the Flyers. He spent last season tearing up the KHL. Sharp has eclipsed the 30-goal mark four times in Chicago and has 41 career playoff goals, including four this year.

Johnny Oduya, a midseason acquisition in 2011-12, was part of Chicago's last Stanley Cup team and is now one of the four defensemen handling a mountain of minutes with the team's defense incredibly thin. In days when the Hawks had more depth, Oduya and Hjalmarsson made for the team's best shutdown pairing. Now, Oduya seems to have a new partner every shift and really hasn't missed a beat.

The 2014-15 season ended up representing one of the most active for the typically conservative Bowman on the trade market. This is not a team that has to find pieces at the deadline, but this year, they had more flexibility because Patrick Kane went down with an injury that required a stay on long-term injured reserve. That opened up a lot of cap space and Bowman used it, knowing that there's no salary cap in the postseason.

The deals have been scrutinized to date, and will definitely be if Chicago doesn't win the Cup. However, going for broke in the name of winning another title is reviewed quite differently if the team reaches its end goal.

The swing-for-the-fences trade Bowman made was to acquire Antoine Vermette from the Arizona Coyotes. The team sent highly regarded defensive prospect Klas Dahlbeck (who would have been an easy callup after Michal Rozsival's injury put the Hawks in a defensive depth nightmare) and its 2015 first-round draft pick for Vermette.

The former Coyote has been the team's third-line center, but has really only recently seemed to gain the trust of head coach Joel Quenneville. Vermette did score the OT winner in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. That's pretty big, but he still was a particularly expensive addition.

Bowman also pulled a bit of a shocker when he traded for Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, sight unseen, after Timonen missed three quarters of the season while recovering from blood clots. The Blackhawks sent two draft picks to the Flyers for the 40-year-old coming off a significant health scare. It has been high risk with little reward so far. Timonen was scratched for the final two games of the Western Conference finals, but Chicago sure would love to win the beloved veteran his first Stanley Cup in what is sure to be his final season.

Andrew Desjardins, the deadline acquisition greeted with the least fanfare, has been a serviceable fourth-line player for the Blackhawks throughout the playoffs. He has a goal and two assists, while averaging 14:30 per game this postseason.

Kris Versteeg, who the Blackhawks have actually traded for twice and was part of the 2010 Cup championship team, and David Rundblad, each acquired during the 2013-14 season have played sparingly in the playoffs.

Conclusion

The Blackhawks have done a lot right in the years since they acquired Kane and Toews. Those two players changed the face of the franchise and will be a big part of the club for years to come having recently signed identical eight-year, $84 million ($10.5 million AAV) extensions. Those contracts will be tougher to build around after previously optimistic salary cap projections have been undercut by the plummeting Canadian dollar.

Making the right decisions when it came to building around their core, and finding the right interchangeable pieces to plug in over the past few years has been huge for this club. Even more importantly, they always seem to identify the players they simply have to hang onto. Maintaining the core is the biggest reason they succeed. Everyone else is essentially expendable, though you can expect Brandon Saad to replace one of the core players that may have to be moved in the offseason for cap relief.

A lot of credit has to go to Dale Tallon, who was responsible for drafting Toews, Kane, Hjalmarsson, trading for Patrick Sharp, and signing Marian Hossa when he was Blackhawks GM. He laid the foundation, without question. But Bowman had some fires to put out soon after taking the reins of the front office and has definitely left his own mark on the club, too.

If everyone could follow Chicago's blue print, they probably would. But copy-catting in the salary cap era is increasingly difficult. What the Blackhawks have done over the last eight years, essentially, has been nothing short of remarkable.

[StarDust Bum]

Team Open Line Movements Current Puck Line Scores

8:05 PM EDT

1 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 5o40 5o45 / 5o50 / 5o43 5o40 +1.5(-275)

2 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING -121 -125 / -131 / -132 -130 -1.5(+227)

CHI-G-Corey Crawford-Probable | TAM-G-Ben Bishop-Probable | TV: NBC

[StarDust Bum]

MLB

Wednesday, June 3


Lackey dominant at home since joining Cards

St. Louis Cardinals starter John Lackey has a very impressive 1.84 ERA in 10 starts at Busch Stadium since being acquired from the Boston Red Sox last season, leading the Cards to a 9-1 record in those contests.

Lackey gets the call Wednesday afternoon against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals are currently -152 favorites over the Brewers, who counter with right-hander Jimmy Nelson.


Diamondbacks stumbling when tabbed as favorites

The Arizona Diamondbacks have lost their last six ball games when being tabbed as favorites, a distinction they find themselves in as -122 faves with the Atlanta Braves in town Wednesday afternoon.

The D-backs have only been tabbed as moneyline faves in a dozen ball games heading into Wednesday's meeting. They have only won three of them.

Rubby De La Rosa is the scheduled starter for the home faves, while the Braves are slated to counter with Michael Foltynewicz.

[StarDust Bum]

NHL Consensus Picks

SIDES (ATS)

Time Away Line Picks Pct Home Line Picks Pct Detail Odds

8:00 PM Chicago +109 511 47.89% Tampa Bay -120 556 52.11% View View


TOTALS (OVER/UNDER)

Time Away Total Over Pct Home Total Under Pct Detail Odds

8:00 PM Chicago 5 662 71.80% Tampa Bay 5 260 28.20% View View

[StarDust Bum]

UPDATED CONSENSUS PICKS 3:15 PACIFIC TIME

MLB Consensus Picks


SIDES (ATS)

Time Away Line Picks Pct Home Line Picks Pct Detail Odds

1:45 PM Milwaukee +156 246 19.03% St. Louis -170 1047 80.97% View View

10:05 PM Tampa Bay +120 386 32.19% LA Angels -130 813 67.81% View View

8:10 PM Baltimore +118 440 35.71% Houston -128 792 64.29% View View

9:10 PM NY Mets +136 445 36.00% San Diego -148 791 64.00% View View

7:05 PM Cincinnati +119 531 42.24% Philadelphia -129 726 57.76% View View

8:05 PM Chi. White Sox -150 537 42.38% Texas +138 730 57.62% View View

8:10 PM Cleveland -134 606 48.40% Kansas City +124 646 51.60% View View

7:08 PM Oakland -103 634 49.38% Detroit -105 650 50.62% View View

3:45 PM Pittsburgh -123 653 50.70% San Francisco +114 635 49.30% View View

1:35 PM Minnesota +136 628 52.12% Boston -147 577 47.88% View View

7:05 PM Toronto +115 418 52.25% Washington -124 382 47.75% View View

3:40 PM Atlanta +131 633 52.31% Arizona -142 577 47.69% View View

7:10 PM Minnesota +128 626 52.74% Boston -139 561 47.26% View View

3:40 PM NY Yankees -106 765 59.58% Seattle -102 519 40.42% View View

7:10 PM Chi. Cubs -121 770 62.25% Miami +112 467 37.75% View View

8:10 PM LA Dodgers -122 779 64.70% Colorado +113 425 35.30% View View



TOTALS (OVER/UNDER)

Time Away Total Over Pct Home Total Under Pct Detail Odds

1:35 PM Minnesota 8 284 43.96% Boston 8 362 56.04% View View

8:10 PM Baltimore 8.5 290 45.53% Houston 8.5 347 54.47% View View

8:10 PM LA Dodgers 10.5 329 46.40% Colorado 10.5 380 53.60% View View

8:05 PM Chi. White Sox 8 328 46.59% Texas 8 376 53.41% View View

10:05 PM Tampa Bay 7.5 332 47.91% LA Angels 7.5 361 52.09% View View

7:10 PM Chi. Cubs 7.5 326 49.62% Miami 7.5 331 50.38% View View

7:08 PM Oakland 7 344 50.51% Detroit 7 337 49.49% View View

8:10 PM Cleveland 7 328 50.70% Kansas City 7 319 49.30% View View

1:45 PM Milwaukee 7 338 51.60% St. Louis 7 317 48.40% View View

3:40 PM Atlanta 8 367 52.06% Arizona 8 338 47.94% View View

3:45 PM Pittsburgh 7 389 54.48% San Francisco 7 325 45.52% View View

7:10 PM Minnesota 8 382 55.28% Boston 8 309 44.72% View View

7:05 PM Cincinnati 6.5 412 59.54% Philadelphia 6.5 280 40.46% View View

3:40 PM NY Yankees 7 430 61.25% Seattle 7 272 38.75% View View

9:10 PM NY Mets 6.5 414 61.33% San Diego 6.5 261 38.67% View View

7:05 PM Toronto 8 305 65.87% Washington 8 158 34.13% View View

Games are highlighted when more than 59% of all cash contests players choose outcome.

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3

Game Score Status Pick Amount

Chicago - 8:00 PM ET Chicago +109 500 DOUBLE PLAY

Tampa Bay - Over 5 500 DOUBLE PLAY

[StarDust Bum]

MLB

Toronto - 7:05 PM ET Washington -124 500 DOUBLE PLAY
Washington - Under 8 500

Cincinnati - 7:05 PM ET Cincinnati +119 500 DOUBLE PLAY
Philadelphia - Over 6.5 500

Oakland - 7:08 PM ET Oakland -103 500
Detroit - Over 7 500

Minnesota - 7:10 PM ET Minnesota +130 500 GRAND SLAM
Boston - Over 8 500

Chi. Cubs - 7:10 PM ET Miami +112 500
Miami - Under 7.5 500

Chi. White Sox - 8:05 PM ET Texas +138 500 DOUBLE PLAY
Texas - Over 8 500

Baltimore - 8:10 PM ET Houston -130 500 GRAND SLAM
Houston - Under 8.5 500

Cleveland - 8:10 PM ET Kansas City +113 500
Kansas City - Over 7 500

LA Dodgers - 8:10 PM ET Colorado +113 500 *****
Colorado - Under 10.5 500

NY Mets - 9:10 PM ET San Diego -148 500 GRAND SLAM
San Diego - Under 6.5 500

Tampa Bay - 10:05 PM ET Tampa Bay +120 500
LA Angels - Over 7.5 500