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01/17/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Chimera scored 2:31 into overtime to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.
Fredrik Modin, Sergei Fedorov and Rostislav Klesla also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won for the first time in five games (1-3-1). Fredrik Norrena started in goal for Columbus, but was pulled midway through the second period after he allowed three goals on 15 shots. Ty Conklin made 12 saves in relief while Joe Motzko added his first career goal for the Blue Jackets, who will visit Nashville on Thursday before a three-game homestand.
Bryan Smolinski scored two goals for the struggling Blackhawks, who fell to 0-6-1 in their last seven games overall. Patrick Sharp and Jimmy Vandermeer both added a goal in the losing effort.
Chicago goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin allowed five goals on 18 shots.
After Smolinski tied the score at 4-4 with a late third-period goal, the contest went into overtime. Midway through the extra session, the Blue Jackets gained a 3-on-1 rush and cashed in. Chimera hustled over the blue line down the right-wing side and fired home a wrist shot from inside the circle as the visitors skated off with the win.
"Our line was out there when they tied the game, so it was nice to win this see-saw battle with hard work," said Chimera.
Columbus improved to 3-2 against the Hawks this season and also beat their Central Division foes by the same 5-4 margin in Chicago in early October.
Modin gave Columbus a 4-3 lead with 5:56 remaining in regulation when his wrist shot from the top of the left circle made its way in through traffic.
However, at 18:27, Smolinski's second goal of the game -- which was scored in almost exactly the same fashion as his first -- sent the game into overtime. A wraparound clearing attempt by the Blue Jackets saw the puck take a strange bounce along the left half-wall, stay in the Chicago offensive zone and it ended up on the stick of Martin Havlat along the rear boards. Havlat quickly fed out to the low slot for Smolinski's a successful one-timer.
"We had a two-goal lead and mental mistakes cost us," said Chicago's Martin Lapointe. "It's frustrating."
The opening period saw the teams trade goals within a 33-second span.
First, at 4:25, Fedorov's 14th goal gave the visitors the lead. A redirection one-timer in the low slot by Nikolai Zherdev was saved by Khabibulin but the puck trickled behind him and sat on the goal line for several seconds. After several pokes, Fedorov finally pushed the puck over the goal line.
Only 33 seconds later, though, the Blackhawks answered on Sharp's seventh goal. Tony Salmelainen held control along the rear left boards and passed to Sharp, who corralled the disc beneath the left circle and fired a wrister that Norrena saved. But Sharp followed his shot and lit the lamp on the rebound.
Before the midpoint of the second period, Chicago scored twice for a two-goal edge.
Smolinski scored at the 4:37 mark after strong forechecking by linemate Karl Stewart, whose bodycheck along the rear boards squirted the puck free and Havlat swooped in. Havlat then fed a backhand pass from behind the net near the left post out to the low slot for an easy one-timer by Smolinski that flew past Norrena.
With 10:38 to go in the second, Vandermeer's first goal of the campaign made it 3-1. Tuomo Ruutu held the puck along the outer rim of the left circle on a 3-on-2 rush and left a soft drop pass for Vandermeer, who wound up and fired home a one-timer from the high left slot.
That sent Norrena to the bench in favor of Conklin, and the Blue Jackets responded positively to the change with a pair of goals inside the final six minutes of the stanza.
"It really turned the game's momentum around," said Conklin of the goaltender change. "I was surprised because I didn't think the goals (that Norrena allowed) were that bad."
After a one-timer from the point by Klesla beat Khabibulin with 5:58 remaining, Motzko's first NHL goal -- a blazing wrist shot from inside the left circle at 15:22 -- tied it up.
Game Notes
This marked the fourth time in franchise history that the Jackets have played on this date of January 16. They improved to 4-0 in such games...Chicago fell to 10-12-2 at home this season...The Blue Jackets have won nine of the last 14 games against the Hawks...It was Chimera's ninth goal of the season...All the goals in the game were scored at even-strength. Chicago ended 0-for-3 on the power play while the Jackets had just one chance with the extra skater...Attendance was 10,623.
<< Williams nets OT goal to lift Canes over Panthers
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into overtime to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the
Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center.
Florida's Mike Van Ryn got called for hol
<< Streaking Senators surge past Capitals
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Comrie had a pair of goals as the streaking
Ottawa Senators skated past the Washington Capitals, 5-2, at Scotiabank Place.
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Masz
<< Royals avoid arbitration with OF Brown
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals avoided salary
arbitration with Emil Brown on Tuesday, agreeing on a one-year contract with
the outfielder for the 2007 season.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 3
<< Crosby, Christensen lead Pens over Isles
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney Crosby and Erik Christensen notched a
pair of goals each, lifting the Pittsburgh Penguins over the New York
Islanders, 5-2, at Mellon Arena.
Michel Ouellet picked up a goal and an assist fo
Steen and Maple Leafs zap Lightning >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Steen's late third-period goal was the
eventual game-winner, as the Maple Leafs edged the Lightning, 4-2 at St. Pete
Times Forum.
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25th-ranked Wildcats crush Gamecocks >>
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Crawford poured in 23 points as the 25th-
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Colonial Center.
Randolph Morris scored 17 points and added 11 rebounds while R
Memphis crushes UAB >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sophomore forward Robert Dozier scored a team-
high 15 points and also grabbed eight rebounds as 17th-ranked Memphis ran over
UAB, 79-54, at FedEx Forum.
Jeremy Hunt contributed 14 points for Memphis (14-3, 4-
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South. Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC. The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game. For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft. Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.
1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign? New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1. Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT. Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.
Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami
2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season. With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round. LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems. If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.
Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU
3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season. The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach. The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub. High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career. With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson.
Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season. The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age. It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot. This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.
Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas
It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season. On the clock: the NFC North
Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2
Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1
Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1
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