Cowan leads Canucks over Lightning
Hockey Betting Lines
03/07/2007 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Cowan scored two goals for the second consecutive game to lead the streaking Vancouver Canucks to a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at GM Place.
Kevin Bieksa and Daniel Sedin both registered a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who have won three straight and eight of their last 10 games overall. Vancouver remained atop the Northwest Division, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames, who were also victorious on Tuesday. Bryan Smolinski added his first goal as a member of the Canucks while Roberto Luongo made 16 saves in the win.
Vinny Lecavalier scored the only goal for Tampa Bay, which has lost two straight and now trails the Atlanta Thrashers by two points for the top spot in the Southeast Division. Johan Holmqvist allowed five goals on 28 shots in the losing effort.
Cowan opened the scoring at 8:44 of the first period. Brendan Morrison carried the puck deep down the right-wing side and, from behind the goal line, passed into the crease for a tap-in by Cowan from in close.
The visitors knotted the contest 6:51 into the middle session on Lecavalier's NHL-leading 43rd goal of the campaign. The Lightning were skating on the power play and Filip Kuba passed across the slot for Lecavalier, who partially whiffed on a one-timer from the right circle. However, the awkward speed of the fluttering shot fooled Luongo and the puck sailed into the top of the cage.
Before the second intermission, Vancouver grabbed a 2-1 lead on Bieska's 11th goal from the top of the crease at 15:19.
The Canucks then came out on fire in the third period and sealed the win with a goal just 21 seconds into the final stanza. The puck squirted free in Tampa's defensive zone before Lightning defensemen Nolan Pratt and Cory Sarich collided while trying to clear the puck. The collision allowed Henrik Sedin to gain control. He skated down the right-wing side and, from near the base of the half-wall, fired a centering pass to his brother Daniel for a redirection goal in front.
Shortly after Canucks forward Jan Bulis misfired on a breakaway attempt, the Canucks made up for it by taking a 4-1 advantage on Smolinski's short-handed tally. Vancouver successfully killed a 5-on-3 Tampa Bay advantage that lasted for nearly a minute and cleared the disc the length of the ice. Holmqvist went behind the net for a routine pass to a nearby defenseman, but he mishandled the puck and turned it over to Smolinski, who banked it home off the netminder from along the goal line at the 6:57 mark.
Cowan's second goal of the game inside the final minute capped the scoring.
Game Notes
After Lecavalier's goal, the play was reviewed to determine if it was tipped by a high stick on its way into the net...Vancouver improved to 22-9-2 at home this season...Cowan also scored two goals in Sunday's win versus Minnesota..The Canucks are now 5-0-2 in their last seven games against Tampa Bay...(Daniel) Sedin has 30 goals...Both teams ended 1-for-5 on the power play...Attendance was 18,630.
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Martin scored a game-high 27 points to go along with seven rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings edged the Indiana Pacers, 102-98, at ARCO Arena. Mike Bibby had 22 points for Sacramento, which wo
<< Crosby and Pens down Sens in shootout
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal in a
shootout for the third time in six days and the Pittsburgh Penguins
rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Ottawa
Senator
<< Iverson and 'Melo lift Nuggets over Hornets
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Allen Iverson scored 25 points and Carmelo
Anthony responded to recent criticism with 21 points, seven rebounds and six
assists as the Nuggets defeated the Hornets, 106-91.
According to a report in a Den
<< North Texas claims SBC title
Lafayette, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Calvin Watson scored 24 points -- including
six three-pointers -- to lead North Texas to its first-ever Sun Belt
Conference Tournament title with an 83-75 win over Arkansas State at the
Cajundo
<< T'Wolves outlast Lakers in double-OT
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Davis scored 33 points, grabbed 10
rebounds, and hit all 12 of his free throws to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves
to a 117-107 double-overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Minnesota played it
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manu Ginobili scored 23 points, and hit two clutch three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, and the San Antonio Spurs rallied from a 12-point deficit to post their 10th straight win, 99-94, over the Por
Heading Home: Denver reportedly inks TE Graham >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos have signed former New
England Patriots tight end Daniel Graham to a five-year, $30 million deal, the
Denver Post reported on its web site Tuesday night.
The contract will include $15
2007 Southland Conference Tournament Preview >>
Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Champion: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
HASH(0x859ac64)
NEC title game pits Pioneers against Blue Devils >>
New Britain, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is
up for grabs tonight in Detrick Gym in New Britain, Connecticut, as the
Sacred Heart Pioneers pay a visit to the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut
Stat
Red Storm face Golden Eagles in opening round of Big East Tournament >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles are
seeded sixth in the Big East Tournament field, and they will begin play at the
event by battling 11th-seeded St. John's in Wednesday's opening round.
Awaiting
SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.