Hawks end drought as TV ratings skyrocket

Hockey Betting Lines

06/11/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the first time since the days of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, the Chicago Blackhawks have delivered the Windy City a championship.

The 2009-10 Blackhawks will have their name etched on Lord Stanley's Cup after a highly entertaining final round against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Chicago's first title since 1961 was not just a great development for Blackhawks fans, but the Stanley Cup Finals also turned out to be a TV ratings bonanza for the NHL in the United States.

After the Blackhawks clinched the title Wednesday with an overtime victory in Game 6, it was revealed that the NHL saw its best ratings for a Stanley Cup Finals contest since 1974. The final game of the 2009-10 season was watched by 8.28 million viewers -- a 43-percent increase from last year's Game 6 between Pittsburgh and Detroit. Wednesday's viewers were also greater than the eight million who watched last year's decisive Game 7.

The numbers are great news for the NHL, of course, but the Cup Finals matchup did work in the league's favor. We'd probably be talking about how poor the TV ratings were if Montreal and San Jose happened to meet in this year's final.

Chicago and Philadelphia are both major media markets and both cities' fan bases were desperate to win another hockey title. Fortunately for Hawks fans, their drought ends at 49 years, while Philadelphia still hasn't tasted the ultimate victory since 197. The snake-bitten Flyers are now 0-6 in the Cup Finals since that last championship.

Along with those notable elements, here are some other storylines from a closely contested and highly entertaining Cup Finals.

TOEWS WINS SMYTHE

Those who questioned whether Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews truly deserved the NHL's playoff MVP award certainly have a case. Toews did lead Chicago with 29 points this postseason, and even though the Conn Smythe is awarded to the best player throughout the playoffs, usually the winner is a player who shines in the Cup Finals as well. Toews certainly did not stand out in the final round, posting just three assists and playing to a minus-five rating over the six games. His best work came in the faceoff circle, where the Flyers simply did not have an answer for the quick-handed centerman.

Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp both had better final rounds and wound up with 28 and 22 points, respectively, during the playoffs. Kane also scored the series-clinching goal in overtime of Game 6, and he recorded three goals and eight points in the Finals after going pointless in the first two games of the series.

Still, it's hard to complain about Toews winning the Smythe. He may not have finished as strong as Kane, but he was the best player throughout the Western Conference playoffs, and that's what impressed voters the most in the end.

HOSSA CURSED NO MORE

Nobody was as relieved as Marian Hossa to finally lift Lord Stanley's Cup. Of course, the Slovakian star was a member of the Penguins in 2008 when they lost in six games to Detroit, and was on the Red Wings last spring when they were defeated by Pittsburgh in seven games. When he signed a big free agent deal with Chicago in the summer, many joked that it meant the Blackhawks were assured of a runner-up finish in this year's Cup Finals.

By jumping ship from Pittsburgh to the winning team following the 2007-08 season, Hossa became an outlaw in the Steel City. He doesn't have many fans in Detroit either, considering he left for the Red Wings' divisional rival this past summer. So, it's fair to call Hossa a mercenary, but it was nice to actually see him lift the Cup. It probably would've been even better for Hossa if he was able to add more than three goals and 15 points towards Chicago's playoff run, but he did have a solid Finals and gave Philadelphia's defense fits at times.

I consider the reasons that folks are turned off by Hossa to be valid, but have a heart, people. Schadenfreude is a fun hobby, but Hossa is really only guilty of wanting to go to the places where he can win. What's so wrong about that?

REDEMPTION FOR BRIERE

Flyers forward Danny Briere entered this spring's playoffs as a poster boy for bad contracts, but a superb postseason went a long way towards rehabilitating his image. Briere led all NHLers with 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in the playoffs and set a Philadelphia record for most points in a single postseason. He also had 12 points in the last round alone, falling one point shy of Wayne Gretzky's record for most ever in the Cup Finals.

Despite all that, Briere's contract remains a concern. This is the salary cap era and the 31-year-old Briere, who is signed through 2014-15, needs to pick it up in the regular season over the next five years to justify his annual $6.5 million cap hit. He has played in just 104 games over the last two regular seasons, and totaled 37 goals and 78 points in those contests. In order to truly live up to his deal, Briere needs to regain the form he displayed in 2006-07, when he posted 95 points in his final season with the Buffalo Sabres.

Perhaps, a full season playing on a line with Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell will allow Briere to gain some level of consistency for the Flyers. That line was one of the best units in this year's playoffs, and it will be interesting to see if next year the trio can pick up where it left off in the postseason.

LEIGHTON THE ANSWER FOR FLYERS?

For a while this postseason, it seemed that the Flyers had solved the franchise's perennial goaltending problem. That is, until Michael Leighton turned in a poor Cup Finals. Leighton was pulled twice against Chicago in the final round, and Kane's OT game-winner that clinched the Cup was so soft, that at first nobody besides Kane, and most likely Leighton, knew that it was in the net.

My guess is that the Flyers, who already have Brian Boucher signed for next year, will bring Leighton - a midseason waiver-wire acquisition - back for at least another year. After all, the journeyman may have made himself some money with his play early in the spring, but Leighton still doesn't have the resume of a No. 1 NHL netminder and won't command an outrageous salary when he hits the free agent market this summer. Combine that fact with Philadelphia's recent history of going for the cheap option in net, and Leighton will probably be wearing Orange & Black next season.

Just don't expect the Flyers to commit to Leighton for more than two years. Despite his strong play in the regular season and most of the playoffs for Philadelphia, it's hard to believe Flyers GM Paul Holmgren will think of Leighton as much more than a stop-gap.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting

Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)

"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."

Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins

There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.

Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins

Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.

USC Trojans - 10.5 wins

A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.

Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.

"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."

Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1

The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.

Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1

If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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