Resurgent Red Wings try to get over on rival Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings are making a strong push for the playoffs, but the perennial postseason participants still have a long way to go if they want to catch the Chicago Blackhawks, who'll be hosting their longtime Central Division rival this afternoon at the United Center.

Although they're certainly no guarantee to be making a 19th consecutive playoff trip, the reigning Western Conference champion Red Wings have enhanced their chances by winning three of their last four games. That surge has placed Detroit into the eighth and final postseason seed in the West at the moment, one point in front of Calgary.

The Red Wings stayed in front of the Flames with Friday's big 5-2 victory over fellow Central member Nashville at Joe Louis Arena. Darren Helm led the offense with a pair of goals, while Pavel Datsyuk scored once and assisted on another to help Detroit bounce back from a 6-3 home defeat to Vancouver on Wednesday.

"These are extremely important games for us now," said Helm after Friday's win. "Coming out flat like we did [against] Vancouver is not acceptable. [This] was a lot better effort by us."

Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom also had goals for Detroit, while goaltender Jimmy Howard needed to make only 20 saves to record his 23rd win of the season.

The Red Wings will now focus on attempting to beat the Blackhawks, a task that has proven rather difficult as of late. Chicago has bested Detroit in five of the last six matchups between the Original Six foes, including three of four meetings this season, and the Red Wings have been shut out in each of their past two visits to the Windy City.

Chicago also blanked the Wings by a 3-0 count in Detroit on December 23 behind a 33-save effort out of goaltender Antti Niemi.

The Blackhawks' offense was the difference in their most recent outing, when the Central Division leaders erupted for five first-period goals en route to a 6-3 triumph over visiting Vancouver on Friday.

Andrew Ladd, Duncan Keith, Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg and Jordan Hendry all lit the lamp in the opening session as Chicago won for the second straight game and sixth time in its last seven tilts. The Blackhawks began this current four-game homestand with a 5-2 decision over Edmonton on Wednesday.

"They carried the play in the first period," said Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo. "They came out strong and that was pretty much the game."

Patrick Kane assisted on Hendry's tally to extend his scoring streak to eight games, with the United States Olympian amassing four goals and eight helpers during that stretch. Keith has a goal and five assists over a five-game point streak.

Chicago begins today's play two points behind San Jose for the Western Conference lead with 91 points and is 16 points ahead of second-place Nashville in the Central standings. Detroit is three points back of the Predators in the division race.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.