Leafs down Flyers; Philly deals Forsberg

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mats Sundin had a goal and an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wachovia Center.

The big news during the game came when the Flyers traded coveted center Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators for right wing Scottie Upshall, defenseman Ryan Parent and a first and third round draft pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft.

"Peter Forsberg is one of the NHL's most complete players and the ultimate competitor - a consistent winner who has year in and year out been a difference maker in the Stanley Cup playoffs," said Nashville vice president and general manager David Poile. "He strengthens our club up the middle and will provide another battle-tested, veteran voice to our dressing room."

Forsberg skated with the team in practice Thursday in preparation for the home game against Toronto, but was listed as a healthy scratch just before the start.

"This is a deal, we didn't want to do it, he knows we didn't want to do it, but at the end of the day we had to do it," said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, who added Forsberg was noncommittal at returning to the team if he becomes a free agent after this season.

Jeff O'Neill, Nik Antropov and Carlo Colaiacovo each scored a goal for the Maple Leafs, who snapped a three-game slide. Andrew Raycroft made 34 saves in the win.

Simon Gagne had a goal and an assist while Mike Knuble added a goal for the Flyers, who had won their previous two games.

Michael Leighton started in net for Philadelphia but was pulled after giving up three goals on 12 shots. Antero Niittymaki finished in net and made 19 saves.

The Maple Leafs were all over the Flyers in the first period and took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

Just 6:39 in, Matt Stajan sent a turnaround pass from the top of the left circle to the slot and from the right circle O'Neill snapped a wrister in between the pads of Leighton.

A little over two minutes later on the power play, Antropov completed a 2-on-1 rush when his wrist shot from the right circle beat Leighton again through the five-hole.

With 5:50 left in the first period, Colaiacovo's wrist shot from the slot beat Leighton and chased the goaltender from the net.

The Flyers got one back in the second period when, while skating on the power play, Alexei Zhitnik sent a pass from the high slot to the right side where Gagne gathered the puck and flicked a wrister over the right shoulder of Raycroft to make it a 3-1 game with 7:50 left in the middle frame.

Sundin gave the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead with 8:14 left in the game when his wrist shot from the right circle went over the glove of Niittymaki.

Philadelphia got a goal back when, skating on the power play, Jeff Carter grabbed a loose puck behind the net and sent it to the low right circle where Knuble one-timed it between the pads of Raycroft with 5:14 to play.

Forsberg will now join the top team in the Western Conference, although he has been battling injuries all season as he has missed 16 games. He had a procedure done on his right foot this past May and also had two bursas removed. He was originally scheduled to have surgery on both his feet, but learned surgery on his left foot was not necessary. Forsberg returned in time to appear in the Flyers starting lineup for their first game of the season.

However, since then he had a right ankle problem that forced him to miss four consecutive games in December. Forsberg returned to the Flyers lineup on December 16 at Washington, but promptly suffered a concussion and missed the next three games. He has also sat out several games as he has had constant problems finding a skate that would comfortably fit his right foot.

"I was playing this year and some games I didn't know if I was going on the ice," Forsberg said. "That's how bad my foot didn't fit in the skate. It's tough to play hockey."

Despite this, the Flyers wanted Forsberg to re-sign before his two-year contract was to expire at the end of this season. However, Forsberg didn't give the Flyers a long-term commitment.

"We've gone round and round with Peter the last fair amount of time, making a commitment to us for future years," Holmgren said. "Due to Peter's uncertainty, he could not and would not do that moving forward. It was our belief in the long run, for the betterment of the franchise, for the future, this is something we needed to do."

Game Notes

Toronto returns home to face Edmonton on Saturday...The Flyers play the Rangers in New York on Saturday afternoon...Gagne has a four-game goal streak with six tallies during the run...The Flyers went 2-for-7 on the power play while Toronto scored on one of its six attempts...Gagne has 30 goals on the season, his third time he has reached that plateau in his career.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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