NHL unveils 2010-11 schedule

Hockey Betting Lines

06/22/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NHL revealed its 2010-11 schedule on Tuesday and will begin its slate of 1,230 regular-season games with five contests on Thursday, October 7.

It had already been announced that six teams will open overseas, starting with the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild playing a pair of games in Helsinki, Finland on October 7 and October 8.

The North American openers for October 7 will take place in Pittsburgh, Colorado, Edmonton and Toronto.

Pittsburgh will open its new Consol Energy Center against reigning Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia. The Penguins finally get a new building after playing at the Mellon Arena, commonly known as the Igloo, since their inception in 1967.

The Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks will begin their quest to repeat in Colorado, while the night's other two openers feature Canadian rivals as the Oilers host Calgary and the Maple Leafs welcome Montreal.

In the other overseas openers, the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks will square off for two games in Stockholm, Sweden on October 8 and October 9, while the Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes will take the ice for two games in Prague, Czech Republic on October 9 and October 10.

It will mark the fourth consecutive year that NHL teams will travel overseas to begin the season.

The Blackhawks will raise a Stanley Cup banner for the first time since 1961 on October 9 before arch-rival Detroit visits the United Center. Chicago beat Philadelphia for the title earlier this month and those teams will meet for the first time next season on January 23 in the Windy City.

New Year's Day is also a feature on the schedule with the fourth annual Winter Classic. This season's contest pits the Capitals and Penguins, with superstars Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

The All-Star Game is back after going on hiatus last season because of the Olympics. Carolina will host the contest on January 30.

Another outdoor game highlights the February slate with Montreal visiting Calgary at McMahon Stadium. The Canadiens were part of the last outdoor game in Canada on November 22, 2003 against Edmonton.

The final day of the regular season is April 10 and the Stanley Cup playoffs are scheduled to start three days later. June 17 is the last possible day for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.