Brodeur tries for record-tying win in Montreal

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal is where Martin Brodeur was born and where Patrick Roy won a plethora of his 551 career victories. It is also where Brodeur will get his first shot at tying Roy's all-time wins mark.

Just one victory shy of Roy's record, Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils visit the Canadiens in what could be yet another historic night at the Bell Centre.

Many thought that the 36-year-old Brodeur would have long surpassed Roy's record by now. However, a torn biceps in the netminder's left elbow in early November sidelined him for 50 games and kept him on the shelf until late last month.

Brodeur has been on fire in seven games since returning to action on February 26, going 6-1-0 with a 2.08 goals against average and two shutouts for the Atlantic Division-leading Devils, who own a nine-point edge over Philadelphia in the division and are also just six points back of Boston for the top mark in the East.

Brodeur is 12-3-2 on the season with a 2.13 GAA and earned win No. 550 on Thursday with a 5-2 victory over Phoenix. The four-time Vezina Trophy Award winner halted 26 shots. In 54 career starts versus Montreal, Brodeur is 34-15-0 with five ties, a 1.80 GAA and eight shutouts.

Patrik Elias had a goal and an assist while Zach Parise recorded his 40th goal of the season for the Devils, who have won six of their last seven games. Parise, second in the league in goals scored, reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in his four-year career.

New Jersey, which is 20-10-2 on the road this year, did just fine versus the Canadiens this year without Brodeur. The clubs wrap their four-game season series tonight and the Devils won all three previous meetings while Brodeur was injured.

The Devils have won 12 of their last 15 versus the Canadiens and five of their last seven trips to Montreal.

The struggling Canadiens had a two-game win streak end on Thursday with a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. Tomas Plekanec and Tom Kostopoulos accounted for the Montreal goals, while Carey Price halted 36 shots in defeat.

The setback dropped Montreal to just 9-13-2 since January 20, though the club is still fifth overall in the East with 80 points, two back of Philadelphia and one up on Pittsburgh.

Montreal's loss to the Islanders halted a four-game home winning streak and came in the second contest of a four-game residency. The Canadiens are 21-6-5 as the host this year and wrap their stand on Tuesday versus the Rangers.

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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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