Toronto tops Calgary in wild 14-goal affair

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Grabovski had two goals and an assist to highlight a 14-goal game and spoil a three-goal, five-point effort from Olli Jokinen, as the Maple Leafs outlasted the Flames in an 8-6 victory, continuing Calgary's drought at Air Canada Centre.

Jeff Finger had a goal and two assists, and Alexei Ponikarovsky registered a season high in assists with four for Toronto, which has won two of three. John Mitchell notched a goal and assist in the win.

Martin Gerber gave up six goals on 35 shots but was bailed out by a potent Leafs' attack that included a 2-for-5 effort with the man advantage and seven different goal scorers.

Jokinen continued his torrid pace since being acquired by Calgary from Phoenix at the trading deadline with his sixth career hat trick and second this season. The Finnish pivot now has eight goals in six games since joining the club.

"We've got a good hockey team here. I've been getting chances and getting lucky. We have a good defense but we have to do a better job of coming back on defense. We have a good goalie back there and we have to give more help," said Jokinen.

Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf each posted a goal and two helpers for the Flames, who were angling for their first victory in Toronto since 2000.

Calgary has lost four straight there since a December 16, 2000 triumph and 14 of its last 15 trips to Toronto overall.

Curtis Glencross added a goal and assist and Adrian Aucoin posted three helpers for the Northwest Division-leading Flames, who have dropped four of their last five.

Miikka Kiprusoff was beaten six times on 22 shots before being lifted early in the third for Curtis McElhinney, who made six saves the rest of the way.

The Leafs held a precarious 5-4 lead after two periods but ratcheted up the pressure in the final period, resulting in two quick goals to gain control.

Poinkarovsky hustled in behind the net, chasing down a dump-in and feeding Grabovski low in the left circle for a quick wrist shot that deflected in off Nikolai Kulemin's stick in front, ending Kiprusoff's outing just 1:19 into the frame.

"I coached a lot of games against Calgary, you have to have traffic in front of Kipprusoff to have any success. We did that and had a lot of chances," Leafs' head coach Ron Wilson said.

Jamal Mayers' deflection of a Luke Schenn shot gave Toronto a 7-4 cushion at 6:31, but the Flames got one back at 10:44 on a Jokinen-to-Iginla one-timer from just inside the right circle on what was a shaky effort from Gerber.

Then, with 2:19 left to play, Jokinen redirected an Aucoin slap-pass into the net, bringing the Flames to within one, 7-6.

But Grabovski doused any chance of a miracle comeback with an empty-net score after Calgary pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker, sending the Leafs to a wild win.

Finger started off the Leafs' early offensive explosion with a goal at 8:09, and Toronto scored twice with the man advantage to make it a 3-0 affair after Daymond Langkow was boxed on a double-minor for high-sticking at 8:55.

Jason Blake snuck in behind the defense from behind the net and tipped Anton Stralman's slap shot from the right point at 10:34. Just 26 seconds later, Grabovski set up in front and followed a loose puck to the right of the net for a tap-in off a Ponikarovsky slapper from nearly the same spot.

The Maple Leafs stifled their own momentum, though, with a pair of hooking penalties, allowing Calgary to score the next two on the power play.

Jokinen cleaned up a loose puck in front off an Iginla offering at 11:37, and Phaneuf cranked up a slap shot from the high slot through a double screen of Aucoin and Glencross at 17:28.

After Toronto survived yet another hooking call late in the period, Glencross tied the game at three after firing the puck into traffic. The disc got lost amongst a host of bodies, and it trickled past Gerber with only 28 seconds to go.

"Let's give credit to Calgary, that is a very good hockey team that was playing thier seventh game of the road trip. When they came back and tied the game, I didn't know what our reaction would be so we challenged them to play our game. We got pucks deep, we shot some of them and they went in," said Wilson.

Toronto got back on track to start the second, with Boyd Devereaux deflecting a Matt Stajan shot into the mid-section of Kiprusoff. The goaltender sprawled to clear the rebound but Jeffrey Hamilton swooped in to punch it across the line for a 4-3 advantage at 7:05.

Lee Stempniak led a Leafs' offensive rush up the right wing a short time later and dished to the slot for Mitchell, who put on the brakes and whipped a wrister, short-side, to the back of the net at 12:20 for a two-goal lead.

Jokinen brought it back to a one-goal game with a nifty power-play score with 1:45 to go in the second. Jokinen gained the blue-line with a head of steam, had the puck chipped up in the air by a defender and backhanded the fluttering disc out of mid-air past Gerber.

Game Notes

Toronto finished up a three-game homestand and is 13-13-9 as the home team this year...The Leafs had lost six of their last eight as the host...The Maple Leafs next take to the road for three straight starting in Tampa Bay on Tuesday...Blake snapped a 10-game goalless drought...Toronto signed forward Chris DiDomenico to a three-year entry level contract on Saturday...Calgary ended a seven-game road trip 3-4-0 and returns home for Wednesday's opener of a three-game homestand against Dallas...Calgary was 3-for-4 on the power play...The eight goals for Toronto was a season high...Grabovski has three goals in the last three games...Toronto has not lost in regulation this season when leading after two periods (14-0-8)...It was Hamilton's first goal as a Maple Leaf...The Leafs are 7-3-1 over the last 11 games overall.

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SPORTS BETTING

NFL Football Betting Online

In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.

It is called the "pointspread."

Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.

But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.

A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.

In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.

The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .

Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.

Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook betting credit cards

Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.