Oilers visit Canucks, shoot for back-to-back wins

Hockey Betting Lines

12/26/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers will try to win consecutive games for the first time since earlier in the month, as they visit the Vancouver Canucks tonight at GM Place.

The Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak on Monday with a 4-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. It was just Edmonton's second win in its last six games and the Oilers haven't won back-to-back tests since a three-game winning streak from December 3-6.

Sheldon Souray notched his first goal since November 29 -- a span of nine games without a tally -- while Zack Stortini scored his first goal since March 11 of last season. Souray's goal came on a power-play in the third period and was the game-winner, while Andrew Cogliano also lit the lamp on a third-period power play.

Ales Hemsky and Lubomir Visnovsky assisted on both third-period goals, Marc- Antoine Pouliot also scored in the win and Dwayne Roloson stopped 27 shots to record his seventh win of the season. Roloson is 13-13-2 with five ties and a 2.25 goals against average lifetime versus Phoenix.

Edmonton, though, did lose captain Ethan Moreau in the game after he suffered a wrist injury while blocking a shot. Moreau has six goals and seven assists in 32 games this year after being limited to only 32 games in each of the past two seasons due to shoulder surgery, a fractured tibia and a broken left leg. He is day-to-day with his latest ailment.

Edmonton is 10-9-0 as the road club this year and will play its next two at home following tonight's game.

The Canucks begin a three-game homestand tonight and are 10-4-1 as the hosting team this year. They have won three of their last four at home, but were in San Jose on Tuesday and left town with a 5-0 defeat. The Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov notched his second shutout of the season and 42nd of his career with 33 saves, helping San Jose defeat Vancouver for a fifth straight time.

Cory Schneider allowed all five goals on just 15 shots before giving way to Curtis Sanford, who stopped all 16 shots he faced the rest of the way. The loss was the second in the last three games for the Canucks, who are expected to be joined tomorrow by free agent acquisition Mats Sundin. It is still currently unknown when he will play his first game with Vancouver though.

The Canucks could use him as soon as possible. They trail Calgary by just one point for first place in the Northwest Division.

Sanford should draw the starting assignment tonight, as he is 6-1-1 with a 2.19 GAA in nine career starts versus Edmonton.

The Canucks have won two of three versus the Oilers this year, with both wins coming on home ice.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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