Avs resume homestand with visit from Blues

Hockey Betting Lines

02/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to forge a tie atop the Northwest Division standings tonight, when they welcome the St. Louis Blues for a battle at Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche have 70 points and are two behind idle Vancouver for the top spot in the Northwest. Colorado has won two of its last three games after ending January with three straight regulation losses.

Colorado notched a win over lowly Edmonton on Saturday, as Craig Anderson needed to make only 20 stops to record his sixth shutout of the season in the 3-0 home victory.

Of Anderson's six shutouts this season, three have come against the Oilers. It was quite the turnaround from Anderson's previous start, when he yielded five goals on 36 shots in Thursday's loss at Nashville.

"I think it was just a great group effort tonight," Anderson said. "You need a little bit of luck to get some shutouts, and we're playing really well defensively against this team."

Wojtek Wolski, Ryan Wilson and Brandon Yip each scored for the Avalanche, who are playing the second test of a four-game homestand tonight. Colorado is 17-8-2 as the host this year and has won six of its last eight in Denver.

Avs rookie forward Ryan O'Reilly suffered a bruised foot in Saturday's game and is questionable for tonight. O'Reilly has seven goals and 20 points in 57 games this season.

The Blues, meanwhile, come into tonight with 59 points on the season. They are 13th in the Western Conference and seven points out of a playoff spot.

St. Louis, which has lost two straight and three of its last four games, is coming off Saturday's close regulation loss against visiting Chicago. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp scored first-period goals as the Blackhawks held on to take the 2-1 win at Scottrade Center.

Alexander Steen scored on a 5-on-3 advantage in the final two minutes for the Blues. Chris Mason let in both goals on 30 shots.

"(Scoring) can be tough -- it's like not being able to get a clutch hit; it's like not being able to punch it in in the red zone," said Blues head coach Davis Payne. "It's the part of the game that you need to execute in order to win."

The Blues have been much better on the road than at home this year, posting a 16-8-4 mark as the guest compared to a 9-16-5 record in the Gateway City. St. Louis, which will begin a three-game homestand tomorrow against Detroit, has won three of its last four on the road.

Colorado won its only meeting this season against the Blues, posting a 4-0 win in St. Louis on December 7. The Blues have still won four of the last six matchups in the series, and they have also taken three of the past five encounters between these teams held in Denver.

Pokerfanatik Hockey Betting News

<< Giguere seeks to continue hot streak as Leafs host Sharks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The new-look Toronto Maple Leafs will test themselves tonight against the top team in the Western Conference, as they host the San Jose Sharks at Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs ended January on a six-game losing streak

<< Ramblers try to cool off red-hot Bulldogs
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Butler Bulldogs continue their run at a perfect Horizon League campaign tonight, as they host the Loyola Chicago Ramblers at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs are enjoying another terrific season

<< Jayhawks and Longhorns duke it out in Austin
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Big 12 heavyweights collide in Austin this evening, as the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks take on the ninth-ranked Texas Longhorns from the Frank Erwin Center. Bill Self's Jayhawks sit atop the Big 12 stan

<< Villanova visits West Virginia in Big East showdown
Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off their first Big East Conference loss of the season, the Villanova Wildcats will attempt to get back on track in Morgantown against the West Virginia Mountaineers this evening. Villanova dropped a 1

<< Colonials face tall task in clash with Panthers
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Panthers take a break from their Big East Conference schedule this evening to battle the Robert Morris Colonials of the Northeast Conference at the Petersen Events Center in the Steel City. R

Devils, Flyers ready to renew rivalry >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk will seek his first goal in a New Jersey Devils uniform when his new team visits the rival Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Wachovia Center for the opener of a home-and-home series between Atlantic Division foes.

Streaking Kings try to continue mastery of rival Ducks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will be aiming to extend a franchise- record winning streak tonight. If recent history is any indication, the Anaheim Ducks may not be posing much of a problem towards achieving that feat. The Kings s

Coyotes hope to rebound against visiting Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After stumbling in their last trip to the ice, the Phoenix Coyotes will be seeking a bounce-back performance when they return to Jobing.com Arena tonight to take on an Edmonton Oilers squad trying to avoid setting a franchise

Bolton's Cahill could miss remainder of season >>
Bolton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bolton central defender Gary Cahill is set to miss the rest of the season due to a blot clot in his arm. The 24-year-old, who is on the fringes of the England senior squad, missed the weekend draw with Ful

Stoke's Fuller arrested >>
Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City have confirmed that striker Ricardo Fuller was arrested on suspicion of assault following an incident at a nightclub. The 30-year-old Jamaica international was detained in

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards