Brodeur, Devils visit Islanders

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils were already one of the Eastern Conference's top teams when Martin Brodeur was sidelined. They've been unbeatable since the legendary goaltender has come back to the fold.

The Atlantic Division leaders will attempt to notch a fifth consecutive win when Brodeur and his mates travel across the Hudson River today for an afternoon tilt with the New York Islanders.

New Jersey's winning streak has coincided with Brodeur's return from surgery to repair a torn distal biceps tendon, an injury that caused the perennial All-Star to miss 50 games, and the 36-year-old has allowed only four goals and posted a pair of shutouts over those four victories.

Brodeur stopped 30-of-32 shots in the Devils' 3-2 triumph at Toronto on Tuesday, in which Johnny Oduya scored the game-winning goal with just 11.4 seconds remaining in overtime.

The win was the 548th of Brodeur's career, leaving him just three shy of Patrick Roy's all-time record for a goaltender.

David Clarkson and Patrik Elias tallied in regulation for New Jersey, which closed within six points of slumping Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Devils hold a nine-point advantage on second-place Philadelphia in the Atlantic.

New Jersey has not lost since a 4-0 setback to the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on February 21, with Yann Danis making a career-best 40 saves for New York to record his second career shutout.

The Isles have gone 2-2-1 since that victory, most recently dropping a 4-2 decision at home to the new-look New York Rangers on Thursday. Danis turned back only 19-of-23 shots in that one.

Blake Comeau had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who are in the midst of a six-game homestand and have gone 2-1-1 so far on the residency. The team wraps up the stretch Sunday against Phoenix.

The Islanders halted a five-game losing streak in this series with their recent win over the Devils, who had taken the first four matchups between the clubs in 2008-09. However, New Jersey has been dealt a defeat in four of their last trips to Nassau Coliseum.

Spinboz Hockey Betting News

<< Sliding Bruins welcome Blackhawks to Beantown
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins are still standing at the top the Eastern Conference, but they certainly haven't played like a Stanley Cup contender over the past month. The slumping Northeast Division leaders wrap up what's been a disappo

<< Hornets go for seventh straight win vs. Thunder
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot New Orleans Hornets shoot for their season-high seventh straight win tonight when they welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Big Easy. The Hornets will also be aiming for their ninth straight win

<< Clippers, Pacers square off in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The lowly Los Angeles Clippers hope to snap their latest losing streak on Saturday when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to Staples Center. The Clippers dropped their fourth straight contest on Wednesday and fell

<< Portland plays host to Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers will kick off a four-game homestand tonight, starting with the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Rose Garden. Portland will also host the Lakers, Mavericks and Nets on the residency,

<< Wizards make a stop in Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The lowly Washington Wizards resume a four-game road trip Saturday against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Washington has lost the first two tests of the trek and four straight overall, including a 10

Surging Leafs play host to Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Although it may be too little and too late, the Toronto Maple Leafs are making a case for inclusion in the postseason. The resurgent Leafs will try to earn at least a point for a ninth straight time when they return home t

Sabres try to stay on a roll in Ottawa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The playoff-hopeful Buffalo Sabres will shoot for a third straight victory when they visit the Ottawa Senators for tonight's Northeast Division battle at Scotiabank Place. The Sabres come into Saturday's action just one po

Preds put win streak on the line in Philly >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sizzling Nashville Predators will try to extend their season-high winning streak to seven games when they visit the struggling Philadelphia Flyers for tonight's interconference battle at the Wachovia Center. The Preda

Cavs welcome Heat to town >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will try to bounce back from a tough loss as they welcome the Miami Heat this evening to Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs just dropped a 105-94 decision at Boston Friday night and their four- game winn

Blues, Panthers collide in Sunrise >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams battling for a playoff berth in their respective conferences will meet tonight, as the Florida Panthers host the St. Louis Blues at BankAtlantic Center. The Panthers have 74 points and are currently tied wi

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.