Thanksgiving Picks ATS
Green Bay (+11) over Detroit (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman)- Matthew Stafford is starting at QB for the Lions despite an injured shoulder, and Calvin Johnson is also playing hurt. Aaron Kampman is done for the season, but Green Bay should still get enough pressure and do enough against Kevin Smith and the running game. The Lions couldn’t stop Brady Quinn on Sunday and won’t be able to stop Aaron Rodgers and Ryan Grant and the rest of that offense.
Dallas over Oakland (Raiders cover the 13.5 point spread) (Jim Nantz, Phil Simms)- Dallas has had a great deal of trouble scoring over the last two games, and they’ll have to sweat it out against a Raiders team suddenly confident after an upset of the Bengals with Bruce Gradkowski at QB. Expect Dallas to take some shots down the field early, but Oakland is poor against the run and Marion Barber and Felix Jones should get a good deal of carries. The Cowboys can give up big plays on defense, but the Raiders aren’t very good at that. I don’t know if Dallas has the firepower right now to cover, but it will be close. Cowboys win, but I doubt by enough to cover.
NY Giants over Denver (Broncos cover the 6.5 point spread) (Bob Pappa, Matt Millen)- New York snapped a four game skid last week against Atlanta, something Denver needs to do tonight to save their season. The Giants have struggled on defense, especially in the red zone, but Eli Manning is playing well and will have to with Ahmad Bradshaw out and Brandon Jacobs hurting. Denver has zero confidence right now, and will have to right their ship in a hurry against a well-coached team. I don’t see the Giants running away with this and the game should be close to the end, much to the dismay of the overstuffed fans in New York and Denver.
NHL Week In Preview
Chicago now has a lot to be thankful for. Marian Hossa scored twice in his long awaited season debut in a 7-2 win at West leader San Jose for their eighth straight win. The league’s second hottest team also resides in the Central Division as Nashville is 8-2 in their last 10, including a 4-3 OT win at western contender Colorado on a David Legwand goal. Boston is 6-1-3 in their last 10 to take the Northeast lead by one point over also hot Ottawa and two points clear of slumping Buffalo. Washington and Pittsburgh are tied atop the east at 34 points, but the Devils are keeping close pursuit in the Atlantic Division and are just three points back with a full three games in hand on the Penguins.
Week In Preview
Thursday- Canada needs to have something to be thankful for as well, so TSN provides Columbus playing at Ottawa in a good battle at 7:30 eastern. Top four west team Los Angeles is at Vancouver in the only other game.
Friday- New Jersey at Boston is the highlight of several matinée games after the shopping is done and the tryptophan has worn off. Buffalo-Philadelphia, Penguins-Islanders, Avalanche-Wild and Blackhawks-Ducks are the other games. Calgary is one of the hottest teams in the game, they’ll be at Detroit as the feature game in the evening. San Jose will be at Edmonton and Dallas is at Phoenix in other games of note.
Saturday- 13 games are on the schedule, including the Oilers at Canucks at 10 eastern on CBC. The Islanders and Devils play a matinee, Ottawa is at Boston for the Northeast lead and Washington visits Montreal. Flames-Blue Jackets, Rangers-Penguins and Blackhawks-Kings are other games of note.
Sunday- The Pacific is in action on Sunday as Phoenix visits Anaheim and San Jose plays at Vancouver.
Monday- Toronto’s struggles will be shown on a national stage as they host Buffalo at 7 eastern on Versus. The Penguins and Rangers play the second game of a home-and-home at MSG, Dallas is at Detroit, Colorado visits Tampa and Calgary is at Nashville in a battle of scorching teams.
Tuesday- A Central showdown goes down on Versus at 8 eastern as Columbus visits Chicago and the biggest hockey rivalry takes Canada by storm as Toronto visits Montreal at 7:30 on TSN. Ottawa is at San Jose.
Wednesday- Tampa-Boston and Vancouver-New Jersey are the games of note.
Players of the Week
Goals- Six players tied with four. Nine players tied with three.
Assists- Brad Richards, C, DAL & Flilip Kuba, D, OTT tied with 7. Duncan Keith, D, CHI & Joe Thornton, C, SJ (6).
Points- Richards & Kuba tied with 8. Thornton has 7. Five tied with 6.
Plus/Minus- Keith (+7). Six players tied at +5.
Penalty Minutes- Shane Hnidy, D, MIN & James Neal, LW, DAL & Ilya Kovalchuk, LW, ATL tied with 19.
Power Play Points- Richards, 5. Shea Webber, D, NSH & Jason Arnott, C, NSH tied with 4.
Shots On Goal- Radim Verbata, RW, PHX & Phil Kessel, RW, TOR tied with 21.
Wins- Pekka Rinne, NSH & Tuuka Rask, BOS tied with 4. Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT & Christobal Huet, CHI tied with 3.
Goals Against Average (goalies with at least 2 wins)- Huet (1.67), Rask (1.68).
Saves- Carey Price, MON (124). Ondrej Pavlevic, ATL (115). Rask (114). Marty Turco, DAL (112).
Save % (goalies with at least 2 wins)- Jean-Sebastien Giguere, ANA (.945), Rask (.942).
Shutouts- Turco, Pavlevic, Semyon Varlamov (WSH) & Antti Niemi (CHI) tied with one.
