Panthers aim for rare win against Wild

Hockey Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers were able to stop their longest losing streak of the season with victories in their last two games. Now the team will turn its attention towards ending a long winless drought against the Minnesota Wild when the clubs face off this evening at the Xcel Energy Center.

Florida put an 0-6-1 skid to an end with Wednesday's 7-4 decision over Philadelphia at the BankAtlantic Center, then followed up with a 4-1 home win over Carolina on Saturday behind a 31-save performance from goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Michael Frolik and Kamil Kreps gave Vokoun all the support he would need by scoring within a span of 1:11 in the first period, and Kreps added an empty- net tally in the closing minutes to seal the win.

"We scored seven goals in the game before and were able to get two quick goals in this game," said Frolik. "It's good because it helps us grab the momentum in the game and carry it through. It was a big win for us."

The Panthers hope their recent success can extend to the road, a place where the team hasn't won since January 14. Florida is 0-5-1 in its last six outings as the visitor and scored a mere seven goals over that poor stretch.

Florida has an even longer winless drought against the Wild, having dropped the last seven meetings in this series. Minnesota is 7-1 with a tie over its nine all-time encounters with the Panthers and has outscored Florida 31-13 over the course of those games.

The Panthers' lone victory over the Wild took place in Florida on February 7, 2001. They are 0-3 with a tie in their four previous trips to St. Paul.

Minnesota will be trying to halt a string of back-to-back losses, including Sunday's disappointing 5-2 home setback to fellow Northwest Division member Calgary. Goaltender Nicklas Backstrom, who had yielded only two goals in his last four matchups with the Flames, stopped only 19-of-23 shots in a shaky performance between the pipes.

"I thought we had some breakdowns where we gave them some chances," Wild coach Todd Richards said. "We were already chasing right there, 19 seconds into the game," referring to a quick goal by Calgary's Rene Bourque in the game's initial stages.

One bright spot in Sunday's defeat was Guillaume Latendresse, who scored both Minnesota goals. The Quebec native has lit the lamp seven times in his last nine contests and recorded 21 goals in 30 games since being acquired by the Wild from Montreal in a November 23 trade.

Minnesota is a solid 21-9-2 at the Xcel Energy Center for the season but has struggled there as of late, having dropped three of its last four tests on home ice.

Both clubs enter tonight's tilt seven points out of a playoff spot in their respective conferences. Florida stands 12th in the East with 62 points, while Minnesota's 67 points is good for only 13th place in the West.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

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