Coyotes welcome Ducks to the desert

Hockey Betting Lines

01/31/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes hope their victory prior to the All- Star break can get them headed in the right direction, while the Anaheim Ducks will try to avoid falling back into a rut that plagued a good portion of their first half.

Phoenix looks to record consecutive wins for the first time in over a month against a visiting Anaheim club that had a nine-game point streak snapped right before the break.

The Coyotes enter this meeting in a tie for 10th in the West with 52 points, three back of a playoff spot. They have won just two of their last eight games and have struggled to win the close ones as of late. In Phoenix's six most recent setbacks, two were one-goal losses in regulation and three others came in a shootout.

However, the 'Yotes did pick up a tight 3-2 win over Ottawa a week ago, one that goaltender Mike Smith hopes will create some momentum. Phoenix hasn't won two straight since Dec. 20-21.

"This was a huge two points for our team," said Smith after making 32 saves. "We've been playing good hockey lately but just weren't able to get that win, so we needed to have this game. We feel pretty good right now."

One Phoenix skater who certainly feels good is defenseman Keith Yandle, who skated for Team Alfredsson in Sunday's 12-9 loss to Team Chara in the All-Star Game. That stats weren't pretty for Yandle -- one assist and a minus-5 rating -- but he enjoyed the trip to Ottawa nonetheless.

"Nobody likes losing, but it was a good weekend and it was a good show," Yandle said on Phoenix's website. "You just hope the fans got what they paid for."

The Coyotes played their final three games before the break at home and begin another three-game stay tonight. They haven't played on the road since Jan. 18 and won't do so again until Feb. 7.

The Ducks, meanwhile, played their last game before the All-Star hiatus on the road and remain the guest tonight. They had won a season-high five straight and had points in nine in a row (8-0-1) before suffering a 1-0 loss in Dallas. Anaheim had outscored its opponents 20-7 over the five-game win streak.

With its recent run of points, the Ducks have climbed to within nine points of Phoenix, Calgary and Dallas in the Western standings.

Anaheim, which will play four in a row at home following this game, is 3-1-2 in its past six on the road and will welcome back leading goal-scorer Corey Perry after his trip to the All-Star Game. Perry leads the Ducks with 22 goals and had a goal and an assist for Team Chara.

Perry is also second on the club with 39 points, six back of forward Teemu Selanne, while goaltender Jonas Hiller has posted a 5-1-1 mark, 1.29 goals- against average and .954 save percentage in his past seven games. He stopped 16-of-17 shots in the loss to the Stars.

The Coyotes had won their first two encounters with the Ducks this season to stretch their series win streak to four in a row, but the Ducks have won the past two meetings -- both in Anaheim -- by a 10-3 margin. That includes a 6-2 win on Jan. 18 in the most recent battle, with defenseman Francois Beauchemin leading a balanced Anaheim attack with two goals and an assist.

Phoenix has won six of its past eight at home versus Anaheim.

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Football Betting Lines

The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.

Bet NFL Sports Lines

Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.

Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.

A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.

Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.

Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.

And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.

2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win

Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1

Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1

Donald Brown (IND) 5/1

Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1

Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1

Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1

Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1

Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1

Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1

Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1

Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1

Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1

Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1

Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1

Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1

Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1

LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1

Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2

Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1

Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1

Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1

Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1

Jason Smith (STL) 40/1

Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1

Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1

Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1

Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2

Pat White (MIA) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 9/1

Betting Line

To visit this sports betting site go to BettingExpress.com for all your football betting lines needs.

For sports betting with credit cards site go to BettingExpress.com as well.

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.