Toronto honors '67 Cup team; downs Edmonton

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mats Sundin and John Pohl each had a pair of goals, as the Toronto Maple Leafs hung on to beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, at Air Canada Center.

Andrew Raycroft stopped 28 shots for Toronto, which has won two straight following a three-game skid. The Leafs also held a lengthy pregame ceremony honoring the surviving members of their 1966-67 Stanley Cup Championship team.

"It was inspiring for us to have them watch us play tonight," said Sundin. "It was a long ceremony and usually after those things it's tough for both teams to get going. Both teams needed the points. We realized we need to win a lot of games because there are a lot of teams battling for playoff spots. We have the same position, the same train of thought that we just have to try and win every night. We've been doing that."

Marc Pouliot, Steve Staios and Ryan Smyth all tallied for Edmonton, which has lost three in a row and four of six overall. Dwayne Roloson stopped 31 shots but lost for the seventh time in ten starts.

Clinging to a one-goal margin, the Leafs increased their lead in the third, as Sundin tallied his second of the night. The Toronto captain battled with Staois behind the Edmonton net before nabbing the puck and carrying out in front. He finished the play by snapping the disc past Roloson to make it 4-2 at 10:55.

Smyth then made it a one-goal game with just 1:03 to play, as Ales Hemsky's slapshot deflected off his skate and past Raycroft to make it 4-3.

The Oilers peppered Raycroft down the stretch, with Shawn Horcoff getting the best scoring chance on a backhand shot with just two seconds remaining. Hemsky's last chance went wide of the net as the final horn sounded.

Toronto cashed in on the man-advantage to grab a 1-0 lead in the first period. Facing triple coverage in the slot, Tomas Kaberle dumped the puck down low to Sundin, who's one-timer from the bottom of the left circle got past Roloson on the stick-side at 11:59.

Roloson made a couple of huge saves in the final minute of the period, first robbing Alex Steen on a pair of chances before making a glove-save on Pohl's backhander with just one seconds remaining.

Toronto doubled its lead early in the middle stanza. Bates Battaglia ripped a shot on net deep in the Oilers end and Pohl managed to get his stick in front of the disc, redirecting it through the legs of Marc-Andre Bergeron and past Roloson at 4:31 to make it a 2-0 contest.

Edmonton needed just 47 seconds to answer, as Staios rifled a shot through traffic and past a screened Raycroft to make it 2-1.

Pohl then notched his second of the contest to help Toronto regain its two- goal lead. Bergeron failed on a clearing attempt, as Chad Kilger stole the puck and sent it toward the crease, where Pohl quickly stuffed it past Roloson at 11:24 to make it 3-1.

Then, with nearly two minutes left in the period, Pouliot rushed the net on a breakaway before being hauled down by Leafs' defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo. Pouliot was awarded a penalty shot, where he made a terrific deke before backhanding the puck high and just inside the left post to cut the Edmonton deficit to 3-2 at 17:51.

Game Notes

The teams were meeting for the first time this season...Right wing Fernando Pisani missed his third straight game with a concussion, while center Jarret Stoll missed his seventh straight, also with a concussion. Neither player is traveling with the team...The Leafs are 21-15-2-0 against the Oilers lifetime in Toronto...Sundin has 20 goals and 24 assists lifetime against Edmonton...Sundin has six multi-point games this season...Edmonton is 2-for-2 on penalty shots this season...Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in attendance with his son and was a visitor in the press box during the first intermission. He is a native of Alberta, but a life-long Toronto fan.

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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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