Michigan State moves into final

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04/06/2007 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Mueller had a goal and an assist to help the Michigan State Spartans advance to their first championship game since 1987 with a 4-2 win over the Maine Black Bears in the Frozen Four.

Nick Sucharski, Chris Snavely and Kim McKenzie all lit the lamp for the Spartans (25-14-3), who will play the winner of the North Dakota/Boston College game later on Thursday.

"The biggest thing today was the penalty kill," said Mueller. "We knew Maine had the top power play, but we played with patience and stayed out of the box, which was the key to winning the game."

Jeff Lerg finished with 29 saves for Michigan State, which last won a national title in 1986.

"We expected Maine to come out flying," said Lerg. "We didn't match them for the first two period, but we got our game going and the late goal in the second period gave us momentum for the third to carry on for the win."

Josh Soares and Keith Johnson each had a goal and an assist and Ben Bishop finished with 29 saves for the Black Bears (23-15-2), who defeated Michigan State in last season's East Regional final, 5-4.

"We played a great game," said Bishop. "But their goalie got off to a tough start, giving up a goal on the first shot, but he played well at the end and made some key saves in the third period."

The championship game will be played on Saturday.

Maine initially grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first when Johnson scored just 23 seconds in and a little over three minutes later Soares scored on a shot from the slot through traffic.

However, the Spartans scored four unanswered goals to win the game.

Mueller got his team on the board when he banged the puck out of mid-air into the net to make it a 2-1 game at the 7:25 mark of the first.

Michigan State tied the game with the only goal of the second period when Snavely scored to make it a 2-2 game.

The Spartans grabbed their first lead of the game as Sucharski jammed the puck into the net during a jam in front for a 3-2 advantage 5:11 into the third.

"There was traffic in front and the rebound popped out in front and I went to dive on it but somehow they slipped it underneath me into the net," said Bishop.

McKenzie sealed the win for the Spartans when he snapped a wrister on the fly from the left circle that Bishop stopped, but the rebound went right back to McKenzie and he buried it in the back of the net with 10:14 to play.

It is the fifth time in school history that Michigan State will appear in the championship game.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.