Canucks hope to wreck Blackhawks' travel plans

Hockey Betting Lines

05/10/2010 -

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -The Chicago Blackhawks packed for a long road trip, but the Vancouver Canucks would like to send them home early for an unwanted Game 7.

The Canucks stayed alive in the Western Conference semifinal series with a 4-1 win in Chicago on Sunday that closed the deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2. Now they must now find a way to win Game 6 on Tuesday at home, where the Blackhawks won Games 3 and 4 by a score of 12-6.

It was in stark contrast to the regular season, when the Canucks had the NHL's second-best home record, set a franchise record with 30 wins, and hadn't lost consecutive games in regulation until last week. It might be time to bring the road style back home.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Gamblong Hockey Betting News

<< Canadiens without Gill, Spacek makes series debut
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens played without defenseman Hal Gill for Monday's Game 6 against Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Gill was cut by a skate blade on the back of his leg

<< Stinnett kicked off Creighton basketball team
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Creighton basketball coach Greg McDermott has reportedly kicked guard P'Allen Stinnett off the team. Stinnett had been suspended late in January by former head coach Dana Altman for "conduct not accept

<< LPGA golfer Blasberg dead at 25
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg has died of unknown causes, according to the Tour and her agent Chase Callahan. Blasberg, 25, was in her sixth season on the LPGA Tour. She turned professional in

<< Tigers' Willis scratched from start
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers pitcher Dontrelle Willis has been scratched from his scheduled start Monday against the New York Yankees because of an illness. Instead, Brad Thomas will start for the Tigers. Thomas also

<< Serena, Venus advance in Madrid
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Serena Williams and her former top-ranked sister Venus highlighted Monday's second-round winners at the $4.5 million Madrid Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up. The reigning Australian Op

Ex-Dallas Mavericks owner's company sues club >>
DALLAS (AP) -A company run by former Dallas Mavericks owner Ross Perot Jr. is suing the club, alleging that it's insolvent or verging on insolvency.''According to The Dallas Morning News, Hillwood Investment Properties III Ltd. sued Dallas Basketbal

Flyers G Boucher hurt in 2nd period vs. Bruins >>
BOSTON (AP) -Philadelphia Flyers goalie Brian Boucher (BOO-shay) is out of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against Boston because of an apparent knee injury.Boucher skated off the ice favoring his left knee with 15:25 left in the s

Flyers' Boucher leaves game >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher left Game 5 of his club's Eastern Conference semifinal series against Boston with an apparent lower-body injury. Boucher was hurt at the 4:35 mark of t

Dodgers place P Haeger on DL >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers placed knuckleball pitcher Charlie Haeger on the 15-day disabled list with plantar fasciitis. The 26-year-old is 0-4 with a 8.49 earned run average in seven games -- five starts -

UNC Wilmington names Cooper-Dyke women's coach >>
Wilmington, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina-Wilmington has named Hall of Fame electee Cynthia Cooper-Dyke its new women's head basketball coach. Cooper-Dyke won a pair of NCAA women's titles at Southern California and captured f

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.