Oilers battle Wild

Hockey Betting Lines

03/01/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers begin a new era tonight, minus forward Ryan Smyth, when they host the Minnesota Wild at the Rexall Place.

Edmonton's fans went through a variety of emotions on Tuesday's trade deadline. The Oilers began the day preparing to honor former Edmonton great Mark Messier, but the day's joyous overtone was hit with a jolt later on when the franchise was forced to deal fan-favorite Smyth.

Smyth was traded to the New York Islanders for young forwards Robert Nilsson and Ryan O'Marra and a first-round pick in the 2007 draft. The transaction became necessary when Edmonton and Smyth failed to come to terms on a new deal. Smyth is a free agent at the end of the season and the club didn't want to risk losing him and getting nothing in return.

Smyth had spent his entire career up to that point with the Oilers and was the team's leading scorer this season with 31 goals and 53 points.

Smyth's departure was obvious on the ice as the team was blanked by Phoenix, 3-0, later that night. Dwayne Roloson allowed three goals on 32 shots in the loss.

The Oilers escaped the fans' wrath on that evening due to the honoring of Messier. Edmonton won't be as lucky for the remainder of its current four-game homestand that began on Tuesday.

A native of Edmonton, Messier began his NHL career in 1979 with the Oilers and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP when Edmonton won its first Stanley Cup in 1984. Messier went on to win four more Cups with the Oilers and is the second all-time leading scorer in NHL history with 1,887 points (694 goals, 1,193 assists), behind only current Coyote head coach Wayne Gretzky.

Edmonton is 18-12-2 at home this season and trails Minnesota by 10 points for the eighth playoff spot in the West.

The Wild had a three-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, as Jarome Iginla scored the only goal of the shootout to lead the Calgary Flames over Minnesota, 2-1, at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Pavol Demitra tallied for the Wild, who lost goaltender Niklas Backstrom in the game. Backstrom made five saves before leaving the game at the first intermission due to a lower-body injury. Josh Harding took the loss despite stopping 21 shots in relief.

Harding's appearance marked just his fifth in the NHL so far in his career, but it is very possible the netminder will make his fourth career start tonight.

The Wild will hope Backstrom's injury isn't serious, as starting goaltender Manny Fernandez (sore left knee) is still at least one week away from returning.

Tonight's contest is the second on a three-game road trip for Minnesota, which is 13-18-2 as the visitor this season, and concludes the swing Sunday in Vancouver.

The Wild made a small deal before the deadline when they acquired center Dominic Moore from Pittsburgh for a third-round pick in the 2007 draft. Moore had six goals and nine assists in 59 games with the Penguins this season.

This is the fifth of eight meetings between the clubs this season and the third in Edmonton. Each team has two victories so far in the series, but the Wild have won eight of the last 11 overall and are 6-1-2 (two ties) in their last nine games in Edmonton.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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