Digital Sports Desk

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Archives for December 5, 2018

Breakfast with BBC’s Darts

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LONDON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – BBC AMERICA announced the expansion of its highly successful broadcast and streaming of Professional Darts, adding the 2018/2019 World Darts Championship from London’s Alexandra Palace from December 13 to January 1. The best matches of the week will air Sunday mornings from 9:00am-12:00pm ET. BBCA will stream a record 111 hours live on BBC America.com. The Final will air in primetime on BBC AMERICA on Tuesday, January 1 at 9:30pm ET following the Doctor Who New Year’s Day special.

This year’s World Championship includes U.S. Champion Chuck Puleo, North American Champion and Canadian Jeff Smith and Canadian Jim Long, in the largest field in event history with 96 competitors battling for over $3.1 million in prize money and the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy.

The biggest names in the sport have been generating buzz in the weeks leading up to the championship – reigning World Champion Rob Cross “Voltage,” world number one Michael van Gerwen “Mighty Mike,” Gary Anderson “The Flying Scotsman,” recent Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price “The Iceman,” Peter Wright “Snakebite,” Russia’s Anastasia Dobromyslova, England’s Lisa Ashton and more will take the center stage.

Puleo, who topped the domestic rankings this year to earn his World Championship debut, plays World Youth Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh in the competition’s first round on Tuesday, December 18.

“Darts brings together everything we love about sports – drama, suspense, excitement and wildly passionate fans. BBCA’s comprehensive coverage will super-serve sports fans and also engage more casual viewers who want to experience this fan-fueled phenomenon first-hand,” said executive director of BBC AMERICA Courtney Thomasma.  “We were thrilled at the level of enthusiasm for the debut of Premier League Darts last spring, and are looking forward to being the U.S. home of the World Darts Championship this month. Game on!”

 

Odds for Seattle’s New NHL Franchise; Futures on NBA, Sounders, Mariners and Seahawks

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to expand to Seattle, awarding the league’s 32nd franchise to the an ownership group which will bring NHL ice hockey to the USA’s Pacific Northwest in the 2021-22 season.

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To mark the historic day for Seattle sports fans, oddsmakers at MyTopSportsBooks.com issued odds and future props for the entire Seattle sports scene:

Odds on possible team name for new Seattle NHL franchise:

  1. Totems: 5/4
  2. Sockeyes: 6/1
  3. Emeralds: 9/1
  4. Rainiers: 9/1
  5. Eagles: 20/1
  6. Renegades: 20/1
  7. Cougars: 30/1
  8. Metropolitans: 150/1
  9. Pirates: 200/1
  10. Mavericks: 250/1
  11. Titans: 250/1
  12. Sparrows: 500/1
  13. Flashes: 1000/1

Odds Sonics return to Seattle (NBA franchise expansion or relocation to Seattle) in next five years: 3/4

If a team does return to Seattle, odds it is:

– Expansion team: 1/3

– Relocated team: 3/1

Other Seattle Sports Scene Odds:

Odds Seahawks make NFL Super Bowl LIII (February 2019): 15/1

Odds Mariners make 2019 MLB World Series: 90/1

Odds Seattle NHL team makes NHL Stanley Cup Final in first (2021-22) season: 99/1

Odds Sounders make MLS Cup (2019 season): 6/1

Which of the following will happen first in Seattle?

  1. MLS Finals appearance: 2/1
  2. Super Bowl appearance: 5/2
  3. NBA team returns: 3/1
  4. World Series appearance: 10/1
  5. Stanley Cup final appearance: 19/1
  6. Major Cascadia earthquake (8.0 or higher, felt in Seattle): 75/1

Sports fans and gaming insiders are turning to the most reliable and accurate odds/information source available online at MyTopSportsbooks.com for analysis.

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With:

Slapshots in Seattle

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SEATTLE – Seattle was approved for an NHL expansion franchise by unanimous vote Tuesday.

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The NHL Board of Governors signed off and commissioner Gary Bettman announced after the vote that the league’s 32nd franchise will enter the league in 2021-22 as a member of the Pacific Division. Adding Seattle triggers division realignment that bumps the Arizona Coyotes to the Central Division.

“I am delighted to announce that this morning the Board of Governors unanimously approved a plan of expansion that will bring a National Hockey League team to Seattle, Washington, to play beginning in the 2021-22 season,” Bettman said from the league meetings in Sea Island, Ga., before Seattle majority owner David Bonderman and Tod Leiweke presented him with a No. 32 jersey.

Bettman said Arizona typically draws better against Central teams.

“We thought it made the most sense when we looked at all of the other conceivable possibilities,” said Bettman, who added the Coyotes draw better against Central teams.

The cost for league entry went up 30 percent for Seattle to $650 million, as compared to the $500 million paid by the Vegas Golden Knights to enter the NHL last season.

Seattle pushed to begin play in 2020-21, but the NHL rejected the proposal based on trepidation about the $700 million renovation to downtown KeyArena being completed on that schedule. KeyArena is scheduled to open in March 2021.

More than 25,000 season-ticket deposits were made in March during a season-ticket drive in Seattle, which last had a winter sports franchise in 2008 when the NBA’s SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City.

The move will displace the WNBA’s Seattle Storm for the 2019 season during the KeyArena project.

Houston was hoping to join Seattle as an expansion NHL franchise in the next two years, but Bettman said Tuesday there is no plan to grow beyond 32 teams.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Go South

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Florida Panthers 5, Boston Bruins 0

When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Attendance: 12,058
Recap for Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media
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SUNRISE – Roberto Luongo returned from the injured list and earned a shutout, and Mike Hoffman scored two goals as the host Florida Panthers routed the Boston Bruins 5-0 on Tuesday night.

Florida winger Jonathan Huberdeau extended his streak to six straight multi-point games. He had one goal and two assists on Tuesday and has three goals and 11 assists during his streak.

He can tie Pavel Bure’s franchise record with a multi-point game in his next outing.

Mike Matheson and Evgenii Dadonov had Florida’s other goals. Aleksander Barkov had three assists, and Keith Yandle had two.

This was Luongo’s first game since Nov. 23, but he looked sharp, making 33 saves. He missed the previous five games with his second lower-body injury of the season.

He played just nine of Florida’s first 25 games due to injuries, and the Panthers lost his past four starts before everything changed against the Bruins.

This was Luongo’s 77th career shutout, moving him past Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito for ninth place on the NHL list.

Hoffman, acquired from the Ottawa Senators in a steal of a trade this past offseason, has a team-high 14 goals. He also has 26 points in his past 24 games.

After a scoreless first period, the Panthers were dominant with four goals against Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak (39 saves).

Florida opened the scoring with 15:39 left in the second. Colton Sceviour, who had skated north of the net, tossed the puck toward the goal. Halak made a stop, but he couldn’t find the puck, and Hoffman moved quickly to tap it in.

Matheson put the Panthers up 2-0 with 6:47 left in the second period. He skated down the right side along the boards, blowing past Jake DeBrusk and Torey Krug before unleashing a wrist shot that snuck in under Halak’s right arm.

Florida poured it on with Huberdeau’s goal and the second one by Hoffman, which came on a power play that clicked with just 3.7 seconds left in the period.

The Panthers’ power play has scored in 16 of their past 17 games.

–Field Level Media

Odds on Urban Meyer and Ohio State’s College Football Future

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Ohio State University’s head coach Urban Meyer today announced he would retire as the school’s head football coach after the 2019 Rose Bowl game against Washington, scheduled for January 1, 2019. Immediately after the announcement, oddsmakers at MyTopSportsBooks.com issued updated odds on Urban Meyer’s future in coaching and Ohio State’s won/loss record in 2019 and other future successes.

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Will Urban Meyer Coach Again?

– College: 1/2

– Pro: 8/1

– Never coach football again: 7/2

Where might Urban Meyer coach next?

  1. USC: 5/1
  2. LSU: 9/1
  3. Notre Dame: 15/1
  4. Florida: 19/1
  5. Auburn: 19/1
  6. NFL’s Cleveland Browns: 30/1
  7. Alabama: 35/1
  8. Michigan: 199/1
  9. FIELD: 1/1

What’s next for The Ohio State University football team?

  • O/U – Ohio State Wins in 2019 season: 9.5
  • Will Ohio State’s win streak vs. Michigan end: 2/3 (OSU plays at Michigan on Nov. 30, 2019)
  • O/U next CFB playoff appearance: 2020.5 season
    • Oddsmaker’s note: 2020.5 means they would hit the under if they qualified for CFB Playoffs in either of the next two seasons

Sports fans and gaming insiders are turning to the most reliable and accurate odds/information source available online at MyTopSportsbooks.com for analysis.

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