09/24/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a tale of two seasons for the Vancouver Canucks recently as the NHL's lone franchise in British Columbia has experienced the best and worst of times in a short span.
In 2006-07, the Canucks won the Northwest Division, set franchise records with 49 wins and 105 points, advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and Alain Vigneault won the Jack Adams Trophy as the league's best head coach.
Last year, Vancouver dropped off 17 points and 10 wins and stumbled out of playoff contention with losses in seven of eight games to the end year. The negative turnaround resulted in the firing of general manager Dave Nonis and the risky hiring of former player agent Mike Gillis as his successor.
The good news is that Roberto Luongo, one of the best goaltenders in the world, will still be stationed between the pipes at General Motors Place. The bad news is that the same offensive issues that plagued the team last year will likely be a problem once again.
FORWARDS - It's a shame that the Sedin twins weren't quadruplets instead because that would be the best way for Vancouver to double it's offensive output from last season.
The Canucks were 23rd in the NHL with an average of 2.52 goals per game and the Sedins accounted for a huge portion of that.
Centerman Henrik Sedin, the playmaker of the duo, led the Canucks with 76 points (15 goals, 61 assists), while left wing Daniel, who is six minutes younger than his twin, led the team with 29 goals en route to a 74-point season.
When longtime Canucks captain Markus Naslund, who had 55 points in Vancouver last year, left to sign a free-agent deal with the New York Rangers in the offseason, Vancouver had a pair of 37-point producers as their next highest returning scorers.
Ryan Kesler, a 24-year-old centerman, posted 21 goals and 16 assists for his 37 points, while 27-year-old right winger Taylor Pyatt reversed the numbers with 16 tallies and 21 helpers.
Both players will be called upon to increase their production in 2008-09 as will centerman Pavol Demitra, who was signed as a free agent this offseason. Demitra had 54 points (15g, 39a) in 68 games last year with Minnesota for his lowest point total since recording 45 points in just 44 contests with St. Louis during the 2000-01 campaign.
To Vancouver's credit, it did offer free-agent center Mats Sundin a $10 million a season offer to play for the Canucks, but as of press time the former Maple Leaf is still mulling over whether or not he is going to retire or return for another season. Toronto, Montreal, the Rangers are also among the teams interested in the future Hall-of-Famer's services.
Another attempt by Gillis to boost Vancouver's offense was evident in the acquisition of big forward Steve Bernier from Buffalo in exchange for a pair of draft picks. The 23-year-old Bernier is a beast at 6-2 and 235 pounds and is coming off a season in which he had 32 points (16g, 16g) in 76 total games with San Jose and the Sabres.
The Canucks also added forward depth with offseason moves that brought centerman Ryan Johnson and right wing Kyle Wellwood to BC. Johnson tallied 18 points in 79 games with St. Louis in 2007-08 and Wellwood had 21 points in 59 contests for Toronto.
Along with Naslund, the Canucks also saw fan favorite Trevor Linden, who had just 12 points last year, retire after a 19-year NHL career that was primarily played in Vancouver.
DEFENSE - Playing in front of Luongo can make a defensemen look good, but that doesn't mean that the Canucks have a good defense.
The combination of an offense that doesn't score with a defense that doesn't excel at moving the puck is a dangerous one for an NHL team and that is the present situation in Vancouver.
Sami Salo led Canucks in scoring last season, posting 25 points on eight goals and 17 assists, while Mattias Ohlund, the franchise's all-time leader in goals by a defenseman, was a close second with 24 points (9g, 15a). Both players are well into their 30s and have lost speed.
Alexander Edler is a promising blueliner for the Canucks at just 22 years of age. As a rookie in 2007-08, the Swede posted eight goals and 12 assists while posting a solid plus-six rating. Expect the youngster to be given an expanded role this season.
At 6-1 and 205 pounds, Kevin Bieksa isn't the biggest of Vancouver's blueliners, but is the most physical. He led Canucks defensemen with 90 penalty minutes last season despite playing in just 34 games due to injury.
Willie Mitchell, Lukas Krajicek and Rob Davison will also compete for playing time in Vancouver's defensive rotation.
Also, in a tragic turn of events the Canucks lost a defensive prospect in May, when Luc Bourdon, a first-round pick in 2005, was killed in a motorcycle accident. Bourdon showed great promise in 2007-08, scoring two goals and posting a plus-seven rating while playing in 27 games.
GOALTENDING - Last year Luongo didn't have quite the season he did in 2006-07 -- his debut campaign with Vancouver -- but then again nobody on the Canucks did.
After setting a franchise record with 47 wins in his first year after he was traded from Florida, Luongo went 35-29-9 with a 2.38 goals against average and .917 save percentage in 2007-08. He did have one more shutout last year with six.
With four straight seasons of 70 games played or more, the 29-year-old Luongo is a workhorse with little need for a backup. However, Curtis Sanford will be back in the role this year after going 4-3-1 with a 2.83 GAA and .898 save percentage in 16 games (9 starts) during the 2007-08 campaign.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - The Canucks enter the 2008-09 campaign with many of the same issues that caused them to miss the playoffs last season. That being said, a goaltender like Luongo can make those problems disappear on a frequent basis. Unless a few skaters step up with career seasons, Vancouver is only going to make the postseason out of the extremely competitive Northwest Division with a superb season from their goaltender.
<< 2008-09 Tampa Bay Lightning Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - So much for summer vacations for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rather than soaking up the Florida sun since the end of a disappointing
2007-08 performance - last overall in the 30-team league - the Lightning have
spent the inte
<< Rams cut CB Brown; sign CB Craft
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams released cornerback Fakhir
Brown on Wednesday.
A nine-year veteran, Brown started for St. Louis the past two seasons but was
hampered by a shoulder injury this year and was also suspended
<< 2008-09 St. Louis Blues Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hold tight, St. Louis. Help is on the way.
The St. Louis Blues are in the midst of a youth movement and the club didn't
want to spoil that strategy this offseason with a bunch of messy free-agent
contracts.
Being patien
<< 2008-09 San Jose Sharks Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting bounced out in the second round of the
playoffs for the third straight season, can the San Jose Sharks still be
considered a legitimate Stanley Cup contender?
With the amount of talent peppered throughout the
Week 4 - Back to the 90's for Frerotte, Green, Collins >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gus Frerotte just might out-run that
padded wall yet.
Until he was handed the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback job last week,
it was nearly certain that Frerotte's main legacy would be the incident o
Thumb injury sidelines Bills WR Parrish 4-6 weeks >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Bills wide receiver and
return specialist Roscoe Parrish may miss four to six weeks after undergoing
thumb surgery.
Parrish injured a ligament in his thumb early in the fourth q
Lions fire Matt Millen >>
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Millen has been relieved of his duties
as president and CEO of the Detroit Lions.
Lions owner and chairman William Clay Ford made the announcement Wednesday.
"I believe that this decision is in the
Goodwood Handicap has 11 set to run >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Four weeks until Santa Anita plays host to the
25th Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, this Saturday the track
will be the scene of the $500,000 Goodwood Handicap for older horses. The
winner
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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