THE WEEK IN SPORTS
It has been a hectic time last week for gamblers and sports fans of all stripes as we have had the NHL playoffs, the NBA playoffs, and on Sunday the start of the major tournament of the clay season, The French Open. The NHL playoffs look to be about decided and the stage set for the Stanley Cup so lets start off with a look at the NHL.
It seems pretty obvious this week after the dominating performances of Detroit and Pittsburgh that we are going to be seeing a Stanley Cup rematch. As much as I would have loved to see the Hurricanes return to Stanley cup action I must admit the two most talented teams in the league are going to be in the finals. Both of these teams are fun to watch with fast high scoring offenses and we should be in a treat. Of course we are now learning we may have a lobng wait for the finals to begin.
The Stanley Cup Finals are now being scheduled to begin on Friday June 5 .That’s according to a release sent out by the NHL a few days ago. It means the Penguins will have a nine-day break if they wrap up the Eastern Conference final with a sweep on Tuesday, and if the Wings finish off the Blackhawks in five games, they will get an eight-day break.
Here is what the NHL said in their release and the dates the National Hockey League announced as start dates for the Stanley Cup Finals:
“If both Conference Final series have been decided by Tuesday, May 26, the Western Conference winner would host Game 1 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final on Thursday, May 28. Otherwise, Game 1 will be played on Friday, June 5.”
The first option would have happened had both Conference Finals ended in sweeps, which was heading that way when Detroit came back to tie the game last night against Chicago. Then, Patrick Sharp put inthe overtime winner and now we are looking at a very long layoff between the Conference Finals and Game One of the Stanley Cup.
Unreal. This is going to be an awfully long wait for the playoffs and all thanks to a rotten NHL/NBC deal.
I am hoping for a rally by Carolina and Chicago but I sort of doubt it.
TV notes
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Pittsburgh 7:30 pm EDT
Carolina VS., CBC
Penguins lead series 3-0
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Chicago 7:30 pm EDT
Detroit VS., CBC
Red Wings lead series 3-1
In the NBA we may not be seeing that long awaited Kobe- Lebron showdown as expected as last night Dwight Howard had 24 points and nine rebounds and the Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-89 to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
The Cavaliers, who had the NBA’s best record during the regular season, won Game 2 at home 96-95 when James hit a three- pointer as time expired. It was one of Cleveland’s two wins in six games against Orlando this season.
What is really interesting is to see the odds on Orlando now, last week the Orlando Magic most books had a payout of more than $800 for every $100 bet. Those odds have since been cut to +370 (for a payout of $370 on every $100 bet). This is still a great payout if you feel Orlando can win it all. The Cavs are now at +200 to win it all ,it would pay $200 for every $100 bet compared to the much smaller odds just days earlier when they were better than even favorites to win the 2009 NBA Championship. Though, in my opinion, this may be a great time to place a futures bet on LA to win it all.
In the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers once again proved their critics, haters and most of vegas oddsmakers wrong, taking home court advantage back from the Denver Nuggets, beating them at the Pepsi Center, 103-97, Saturday night.
Tonight, in Game 4 of this best-of-seven series, it may be desperation time for the Nuggets, as they would be in big trouble going down 1-3 heading back to LA and the series shifting back to the Staples Center for Game 5.
The sad truth is Denver Nuggets could very well be up 3-0 in this series if they were able to pull off something as incredibly complicated as a decent inbounds pass.
LA looks like the team to beat right now for the title but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Denver win this one tonight.
TV Notes
LA Lakers 65-17 (Road: 29-12) 9:00pm ET
Denver 54-28 (Home: 33-8) TV: ESPN
Lakers lead series 2-1
Cleveland 8:30 pm EDT
Orlando TNT
Magic lead series 2-1
Finally , the big major of the Clay season is here as Tennis fans are getting set for the “biggest show on dirt.” Over the next two weeks, the tennis players from around the world in the world will play on the clay courts of the Stade Roland Garros for the French Open Championships in Paris.
This is a very tough tournament to win as the men play best-of-five sets on a tough surface that takes years to master , and the champion will have survived seven rounds in a tourney that alot of tennis fans consider the most difficult of the four grand slams to win.
We will see if Nadal can pull off another one, he has owned this tournament in the past and despite the results in Madrid is the clear favorite to repeat.
Have a great week and check back for updates on what promises to be an exciting week in sports.
cheers
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