And the Show has Reached a New Low
I thought we were done with the Canucks, but it just gets better. I and nearly everyone else on the East Coast decided there was no point staying up to watch the 3rd with Vancouver leading the Islanders 3-0. Little did we know…The Islanders scored seven goals in the third period to complete a 7-4 comeback against the Canucks.
from Ian MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun,
Anyone who couldn’t believe what they saw Monday from the Vancouver Canucks hasn’t been paying attention the last two months.You may have been horrified, disgusted, disillusioned, sad or angry, but shocked? No, not with these Canucks. Not with the way their disintegration has been accelerating in recent weeks, how a team that was one of the best in the National Hockey League only a couple of years ago has completely dissolved before our eyes – and the eyes of coach John Tortorella and general manager Mike Gillis – this winter.
The collapse on home ice against the New York Islanders is merely the grotesque next step of a team that long ago lost its way and only barrels deeper and more hopelessly into the abyss week by week.
On the day Gillis sent a letter to season-ticket holders re-stating the organization’s goal to win the Stanley Cup, the chalice hasn’t looked as far away in 15 years as it did Monday night when the Canucks were outscored 7-1 in the third period by a lousy Islander team long ridiculed for its ineptitude.
My favorite part though is the Canucks blogger who refused to acknowledge that the third period even took place,
Fun fact: knowing I had somewhere to be tonight, I wrote up the gamer at the 2nd intermission. Should I just run that version instead?
@seangentille I give the people what they want, Sean. What they want is an alternate universe.
Just brilliant all the way around. 1-2 on our plays yesterday. Both hockey plays ended up going to OT with Nasvhille ultimately winning 4-3 after also attempting to set their game on fire and Winnipeg losing 3-2. Washington in NBA failed to cover by a point. Much too early for any plays today, but the Caps will be an option on the 2nd leg of a home & home with Pittsburgh. Dallas will also be an option since their game was suspended due to a Rich Peverley health scare. He should be OK though is obviously not traveling with the team today to St. Louis.
UPDATE: The Canucks Army Guys are the best.
UPDATE 2: Single play tonight and that’s the Devils +125 at the Flyers. Washington never materialized into anything close to a play and I am going to pass on Dallas though feel free to gambool there if you are in the mood.
Monday
Extended commentary later, but short on time for now.
Last note on the Canucks here likely for quite a while. They ended up winning against Calgary the other night 2-1, but what’s most interesting is not the goal from centre ice, but the fact that that was one of 12 shots for the Flames. Twelve. That’s a more typical total for a single period much less a whole game. They were admittedly on the second half of a back-to-back having “earned” a win after an Islander 3rd period collapse, but that’s just unacceptable. It makes me want to UFN the Flames as well.
Three plays tonight:
NBA: Washington +8 @ Miami
NHL: Nashville +122 @ Ottawa, Winnipeg +145 @ Colorado
UFNs
Lou recently noted the Canucks had officially moved into the “Do Not Bet Until Further Notice” category. UFNs generally result from a team playing so well, or much more likely, so poorly, there can be only one course of action for the immediate future. UFN is pronounced You F’n. The 76ers are a prime UFN candidate right now, but Vegas is aware of whats up. If you place a 20 dollar bet on them to lose tonight you will be rewarded with 67 cents American if the Knicks win. UFN kidding me?
San Francisco +5.5 -106 vs BYU @ 12
MTD : -23
Sunday Degeneracy
NHL:
Detroit ML +140 at NYR
I also might take the Bruins/Panthers under 5.5 at -130
NBA:
Bulls +9 and Under 191.5 Teaser vs MIA
BTW here is some more Canuck fail:
Puck Line
A couple years ago I asked about reverse run lines in baseball. Similar situation here with hockey. It has taken me a while in scoping out hockey lines to see that sites like covers.com seem to use ambiguous (some would say wrong) language. They tell me what percentage of the public is taking a side. Fine. What’s not fine is that they ultimately list these picks as ATS. But these are money line picks. Unless I am off-base, sites like covers and thespread run contests where people enter in ML picks and the site turns around and displays these as betting trends. Obvious flaws if this is the actual system are that these picks are not being made based on actual wagers and the puck line is not even a consideration. I want to know
1) if my claims about these sites are correct
2) if there are sites that give actual betting numbers for the money line
3) if there are sites that give actual betting numbers for the puck line
4) what love is
Soccer and UFC Saturday
Here’s are my plays for today:
UFC London:
Danny “The Cheesecake Assassin” Mitchell +190 (I have no idea who this guy is, but great nickname!)
Omari Akhmedow +265 (This guy I do know, another Dagestan Sambo killer. He shouldn’t be this big of a dog)
Soccer:
Tottenham +1 (even) and Draw +330
Also, to answer Lou’s question why things maybe falling apart in Vancouver, this episode from John Tortarella in Calgary a few months back may explain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCeuJPhrt8E
Marching Forward
Nauseating last 2 months on my end. When I should have realized things were getting ugly was when Tott was up against Newcastle 0-2 and I had 0-2, 1-2 and 1-3 scorelines covered on bets and the final went 0-4. Forward.
Cardiff City vs. Fulham Draw +240 @ 12
***UPDATE***
I am not 1000% on this but I think there is a conference tournament being held in Asheville, North Carolina (Southern Conf.), and that UNC Asheville (Big South) is not a member of said conference.
Pitts @ Clemson ML +109 @ 11
MTD : -12
Friday
Our play on Vancouver yesterday…was not close. The Canucks may be the most dysfunctional team in the league and have moved into ‘Do Not Bet Until Further Notice’ status for me. I think they’ve now lost 11 of 12 obviously dating back to before the Olympic break. I didn’t take into account any streaks that were pre-Olympics, but it’s clear that nearly everyone involved has stopped giving a crap. From Canucks Army:
It’s not that I find curling more exciting than hockey, but I don’t think I’ve watched a full Vancouver Canucks game beginning-to-end since their game against Toronto right before the Olympic break, and before then, well, yeah.
Nothing doing in NHL tonight. NBA has Cleveland and Milwaukee on the watch list but nothing definite as yet.
Thursday
Keeping up with the regular plays here after the NHL trade deadline. There’s no real tanking issue in the NHL, mainly because the draft is such a complete and total crapshoot. Nearly all of the first round are awkward high school juniors which makes for strangely decent television. Maybe we will liveblog it this year or attend in person…
Play today is Vancouver who sent Roberto Luongo back to Florida at Dallas for Mike Modano’s jersey retirement. Dallas finds ways to lose lots of winnable games and hopefully this is another one as this is a lost season for Vancouver who has lost three in a row. Canucks +126. Columbus or the Islanders for anyone feeling particularly frisky though neither is really close to being a play for me.
Wednesday
Colorado was a winner yesterday 4-2. Nothing doing today in either NHL or NBA. Not that there have been many NBA plays in general as I am using a pretty strict system. We’ve had 42 plays in NHL this season good for a 23-19 record and a +12.25.
