Sharks begin epic trek in St. Louis

Hockey Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place San Jose Sharks will make the first stop on their longest road trip of the season tonight, as they visit the St. Louis Blues in a Western Conference showdown at Scottrade Center.

The Sharks lead the Pacific Division by three points over Los Angeles and they'll try to hold onto that advantage while they pick their way through a nine-game swing that starts tonight in the Gateway City and ends Feb. 26 in Minnesota. San Jose is 12-7-4 as the road team this year compared to an 18-9-2 home record.

San Jose ended a two-game slide and won for the fourth time in six games Friday night against visiting Chicago. Benn Ferriero's goal early in the third period proved to be the winner, as the Sharks notched a 5-3 win over the struggling Blackhawks at HP Pavilion.

Justin Braun, Dan Boyle, Joe Thornton and Jamie McGinn also tallied goals for the Sharks, while Antti Niemi stopped 30-of-33 shots for the win.

"We have got to find ways to be a little more consistent," Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said. "You could see the desperation in both teams, which are good games to play in, especially when we're winning."

The Sharks will not face a single Pacific Division foe during its road trip, but will have five tests against teams from the Western Conference.

St. Louis will try to improve to 3-0 against the Sharks this year after posting a win at home and one in San Jose during the season series. The clubs have split the six meetings overall and St. Louis has won two of the last three on its home ice.

The Blues have won three straight overall and are three behind Detroit for first place in the Central Division and the Western Conference.

St. Louis has recorded its last two victories after regulation and is coming off Saturday's overtime win over visiting Colorado. The dramatic victory over the Avalanche improved St. Louis' record at home this year to 23-3-4 and the Blues have gained a point in a club-record 18 straight home games (15-0-3).

Carlo Colaiacovo scored the first goal since the opening period with 1:42 to play in overtime, sending St. Louis to the 3-2 victory over Colorado.

"I had a lot of chances tonight. I've been getting a lot of chances lately. I'm just happy that one finally went in and it didn't take my stick to put it in," said Colaiacovo, who admitted that he felt the puck glance off his elbow after a wrist shot by Patrik Berglund.

Brian Elliott stopped 17 shots for St. Louis, which also received a pair of assists from T.J. Oshie.

Jason Arnott is not expected to play tonight for the Blues after sitting out the last four games with a bruised left shoulder. Matt D'Agostini will also miss a third straight game since sustaining a blow to the head on Tuesday against Ottawa.

However, the Blues could get forward Andy McDonald back today. McDonald, who had 50 points in 58 games for the Blues last year, has been out since suffering a concussion on Oct. 13 in Dallas.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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