Saturday's Trends and Indexes - 11/19 (NCAAB, NHL, CFL, Misc.)

[Udog]

NHL
Short Sheet

Saturday, November 19

PHILADELPHIA at WINNIPEG, 3:00 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA: 19-6 SU off a close home win by 1 goal
WINNIPEG: 6-12 SU in all games

DETROIT at LOS ANGELES, 4:00 PM ET NHL
DETROIT: 14-3 SU in road games after having lost 2 of their last 3 games
LOS ANGELES: 83-96 SU in home games after scoring 4 goals or more

PHOENIX at BUFFALO, 7:00 PM ET
PHOENIX: 14-6 SU after scoring 1 goal or less in their previous game o
BUFFALO: 5-13 SU off a road win by 1 goal

WASHINGTON at TORONTO, 7:00 PM ET
WASHINGTON: 8-13 SU after 2 or more consecutive losses
TORONTO: 69-56 SU after failing to cover the spread in 3 or more consecutive games

NY RANGERS at MONTREAL, 7:00 PM ET NHL
NY RANGERS: 14-7 SU in a road game where where the total is 5 or less
MONTREAL: 0-5 SU in home games after one or more consecutive overs

BOSTON at NY ISLANDERS, 7:00 PM ET
BOSTON: 13-20 SU on Saturday games
NY ISLANDERS: 9-4 SU after a close win by 1 goal in their previous game

NEW JERSEY at TAMPA BAY, 7:00 PM ET
NEW JERSEY: 19-34 SU first half of the season
TAMPA BAY: 14-6 SU off a home win by 2 goals or more

PITTSBURGH at FLORIDA, 7:30 PM ET
PITTSBURGH: 12-3 SU in road games on Saturday games
FLORIDA: 18-30 SU in home games

COLUMBUS at NASHVILLE, 8:00 PM ET
COLUMBUS: 6-25 SU off a road loss
NASHVILLE: 43-14 SU in home games after a blowout win by 3 goals or more

ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA, 8:00 PM ET
ST LOUIS: 3-12 SU after having won 3 of their last 4 games
MINNESOTA: 7-2 SU in November games

SAN JOSE at DALLAS, 8:00 PM ET
SAN JOSE: 4-11 SU after playing 4 consecutive home games
DALLAS: 22-13 SU as a home underdog of +100 to +150

CHICAGO at EDMONTON, 10:00 PM ET
CHICAGO: 30-11 SU when playing on back-to-back days
EDMONTON: 2-18 SU after allowing 5 goals or more

** (TC) Denotes Time Change

[Udog]

NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Saturday, November 19

Hot teams
-- Winnipeg won its last two games, 5-2/4-1. Flyers won four of their last five games.
-- Los Angeles won four of its last five games.
-- Coyotes won five of their last six road games. Buffalo won six of its last eight games.
-- Rangers won last seven games, allowing 11 goals.
-- Bruins won last seven games, scoring 36 goals.
-- Lightning won last six home games, allowing seven goals. New Jersey won three of its last four road games.
-- Predators won seven of their last ten games.
-- Minnesota won its last three games, allowing four goals. Blues won four of their last five games.
-- Sharks won five of their last six road games.
-- Blackhawks won four of their last five games.

Cold teams
-- Red Wings lost last five road games, outscored 19-5.
-- Washington/Toronto both lost five of their last six games.
-- Montreal lost seven of its ten home games.
-- Islanders lost ten of their last twelve games.
-- Penguins lost four of their last five road games. Panthers lost their last four home games, all by one goal.
-- Blue Jackets lost five of their last six games.
-- Dallas Stars lost last four games, outscored 17-3; they got shut out in their last two games.
-- Edmonton lost its last four games, outscored 20-8.

Totals
-- Over is 10-3 in Philly' last thirteen games.
-- Six of last nine Detroit games stayed under total.
-- Last four Phoenix road games stayed under total.
-- Last four Washington games stayed under the total.
-- Under is 4-1-1 in Rangers' last six road games.
-- Seven of last eight Boston games went over the total.
-- Five of Tampa Bay's last six road games stayed under.
-- Over is 3-1-1 in Pittsburgh's last five road games.
-- Seven of eight Columbus road games went over the total.
-- Last seven St Louis games stayed under the total.
-- Five of last seven San Jose games went over the total.
-- Four of last five Chicago games went over the total.

Series records
-- Jets won four in row vs Philly, winning last meeting 9-8 Oct 27.
-- Kings won four of their last five games against Detroit.
-- Phoenix lost its last five games against the Sabres.
-- Maple Leafs lost four of last five games against Washington.
-- Rangers lost their last four visits to Montreal.
-- Islanders lost five of last six games against Boston.
-- Devils won 13 of last 16 games against Tampa Bay.
-- Penguins won seven of last eight games against Florida.
-- Predators won five of last six games against Columbus.
-- Blues lost five of last six games against Minnesota.
-- Sharks won three of last four games against Dallas.
-- Oilers lost ten of last twelve games against Chicago.

[Udog]

CFL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Sunday, November 20

Conference finals

Hamilton (10-9) @ Winnipeg (10-8)-- Blue Bombers won all three games vs Hamilton this year; 24-16 (+9) in road opener, 30-27 (-2.5) at home in Week 8, then 33-17 (+3.5) on road in Week 15. Winnipeg lost three of last four at home, but did they did have bye last week, while Cats were winning slugfest 52-44 in Montreal. Both teams have struggled in second half of season. Bombers are 4-7 in last 11 games; TiCats are 6-8 in last 14. Six of last seven Hamilton games stayed under total; four of last five Winnipeg home games went over.

Edmonton (12-7) @ BCLions (11-7)-- Lions started season 0-5, wound up with a bye- they covered nine of last 11 games. BC won three of four in series this year, with Eskimos winning first meeting 33-17 at home in Week 3 (-2.5), then losing next three, 36-1 at home in Week 8 (-6), 33-24 (+5.5) at BC Place in Week 14, then 29-20 (+4.5) here again three weeks ago. Streaky Edmonton won five of last six games; they won first five games, but went 2-6 in between. Lion covered four of their last five at home. Under is 11-3 in BC's last 14 games.

[Udog]

CFL

Sunday, November 20

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Canadian Bacon: CFL Playoff Semifinals preview and picks
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HAMILTON TIGER CATS AT WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (-3, 51)

The Blue Bombers finished first in the East ahead of the Alouettes, who were ousted from the playoffs last week by the Tiger Cats. But neither Winnipeg nor Hamilton had a strong regular-season finish, with both teams having lost seven of their last 10 games.

While the Blue Bombers have struggled on offense, the Tiger Cats defense has proven way too generous, including in a 52-44 OT win last Sunday in Montreal. The good news for the Bombers is that Buck Pierce will be back behind center, although he has thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes in his last seven games (12 to four).

Winnipeg has arguably the league’s best group of receivers in Terrence Edwards, Clarence Denmark and Corey Watson. The team’s rushing game is not quite the same without Fred Reid, but Chris Garrett has done pretty good job with 689 yards in six games for an average of 6.2 yards per carry.

Running the ball is not a problem for Hamilton and the resilient Avon Cobourne is also excellent in pass protection. Cobourne always proves at his best in the most important games and he proved it once again with 97 rushing yards against the Alouettes and a key touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Tiger Cats will also benefit from the acquisition of receiver Terrence Jeffers-Harris on Friday, the day after he was let go by the Blue Bombers. The 23-year-old won’t be eligible for this game, but you can imagine he will be grilled by the Tiger Cats coaching staff for any information about Winnipeg’s playbook. Will it make some sort of difference? Our colleagues in Ontario certainly seem to think so, or at least wish it will.

With the return of Canadian CB Ryan Hinds, the Tiger Cats will be able to bring back into the lineup DE Stevie Baggs, who—because of the import/non-import ratio (which involves citizens and non-citizens of Canada; Baggs is not a citizen)—was left out against the Alouettes. The Bombers won their three regular-season games against Hamilton by a combined score of 87-60 and they have won five of the last six playoff showdowns between these two teams since 1988.

Winnipeg’s defense, led by Tim Burke, dominated in many statistical categories during the season and should be a difference-maker in this game.

Pick: Winnipeg



EDMONTON ESKIMOS AT B.C. LIONS (-6, 50)

The Lions had a terrible start to the season but have since been almost unbeatable, and now they are one win away of hosting the Grey Cup in front of their Vancouver fans. Wally Buono’s team had only one win in its first seven games only to go on an eight-game winning streak.

It has been the other way around for Edmonton, which boasted a perfect record before losing a few games in a row (the team has since bounced back down the stretch).

The Lions have won three of their four games against the Eskimos and have to be considered as heavy favorites in this Western final for many reasons. Travis Lulay must be considered one of the best quarterbacks in the CFL. His prime target, Geroy Simon, enjoyed his best campaign in three years with 1350 yards and eight touchdowns during the regular season.

B.C.’s defense is second best in the league, led up front by the likes of Keron Williams, Aaron Hunt, Brent Johnson and Khalif Mitchell. And let’s not forget that the front seven is anchored by MLB Solomon Elimimian, probably the best in the league at his position and a young athlete who may very well get an invitation from an NFL team next year.

Without Canadian RB Jerome Messam (knee), the Eskimos become a more predictable team on offense. Ricky Ray might still win the passing duel and once again gain more than 300 yards through the air against BC. Ray had the best QB rating in the league with a 99.3 mark during the regular season. He can count on two of the best receivers in the business with Fred Stamps and Adarius Bowman, who both caught for more than 1100 yards this year. And even if both are covered, Ray can rely on Jason Barnes.

But will that be enough? I doubt it.

Pick: B.C.


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