09/22/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche are no longer the dominating club they were in the late 1990s and early part of this decade, but they still have captain Joe Sakic to remind them of the good old days.
Sakic, now 39 years old, opted to return for his 20th and, perhaps, final NHL season, signing a one-year, $6 million deal. The Burnaby, British Columbia native is a two-time Stanley Cup winner, a former league MVP and, with 1,363 points, is also the eighth-leading scorer in NHL history.
So, is Sakic back for another season simply because injuries took away too much time from his farewell tour last year or does he think the Avalanche can make a run at another Cup? Not surprisingly, the answer from both Sakic and general manager Francois Giguere is yes, the Avs can compete for the Cup this year.
In a change, Colorado brought back Tony Granato as head coach after he held the same position with the Avs for parts of two seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Granato will replace Joel Quenneville, who opted not to return after Colorado was swept by Detroit in the second round of last year's playoffs.
The Avalanche didn't make many moves in the offseason, so Granato's task will be to help the club improve from within. One piece Granato will not have that Quenneville possessed is starting goaltender Jose Theodore, who signed a free- agent deal with Washington in the offseason.
FORWARDS - The Avalanche suffered through numerous injury problems during the 2007-08 campaign, but none was more symbolic than the health struggles of Sakic, who signifies the end of an era in many ways for Colorado.
Sakic missed a career-high 38 games last year while dealing with a hernia, but still was nearly a point per game player when healthy. He wound up with 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) in 44 regular-season contests and added two goals and eight helpers in 10 playoff games.
Unfortunately, the injuries didn't end with Sakic as the team's leading scorer Paul Stastny as well as sniper Ryan Smyth also missed considerable time.
An appendectomy limited Stastny to just 66 games of action, but he still led Colorado with 71 points (24g, 47a). Smyth, who signed a five-year, $31 million deal with the Avs before the 2007-08 campaign, missed 27 games due to various injuries and wound up with a disappointing output of 14 goals and 23 assists.
In addition, winger Marek Svatos sat out 20 games, including the final 15 contests and all of the postseason with a torn ACL. The 26-year-old Czech still finished second on Colorado with 26 goals during the regular season.
Andrew Brunette was one of just two Colorado players to play in all 82 games last season, but won't be back in Denver as he opted to sign with his former club Minnesota in the offseason. The Avs will have to find someone to replace Brunette's 59 points (19g, 40a), which was good for second on the team a year ago.
Wingers Milan Hejduk and Wojtek Wolski stayed healthy for the majority of the season and turned in solid offensive campaigns. Hejduk led the club with 29 goals and finished with 54 points overall, while Wolski added 18 goals and 30 helpers.
The Avalanche will have a new face up front this year after signing longtime Toronto pest Darcy Tucker to a two-year deal. The 33-year-old Tucker, who was inked shortly after being bought out by the Maple Leafs in June, has six 20- goal seasons on his NHL resume and posted 18 goals and 34 points for Toronto last year.
Tucker, who has frequently eclipsed the century mark in penalty minutes during his numerous NHL seasons, will also bring his brand of physical play to Colorado.
The Avalanche are also taking a flier on winger Per Ledin, who will make his NHL debut as a 30-year-old this season. Ledin has spent the last eight years playing professionally in Sweden and is considered to be a physical forward with some offensive skills.
It's also worth noting that the Avalanche will again be the likely destination for enigmatic centerman Peter Forsberg should he return again. Just like last year, Forsberg isn't expected to offer his services until the season is already underway. The former league MVP had one goal and 13 assists in nine games for the Avs last year.
DEFENSE - In addition to the signing of Smyth in the summer of 2007, the Avs also picked up one of the NHL's top defensive defenseman by signing Scott Hannan to a four-year, $18 million deal.
Hannan became a mainstay on the Colorado blueline during the 2007-08 season, as he frustrated opposing forwards while playing in all 82 games. Hannan isn't prolific on offense, but is consistent as he's tallied between 21 and 24 points in each of his last five seasons. Last year, the 29-year-old registered 21 points on two goals and 19 assists.
The Avs brought back another player from the glory days at last year's trade deadline as they sent a pair of conditional draft picks to Columbus for defenseman Adam Foote, who won Cups with the Avs in 1996 and 2001. Foote is now 37 years old, but was also one of the NHL's best shutdown defensemen in his prime. He was re-signed in the offseason two a two-year, $6 million deal.
Colorado's best offensive blueliner is John-Michael Liles, who led the Avs defense with 32 points (6g, 26a) in 2007-08. Giguere re-signed Liles to a four-year, $16.8 million contract in the offseason.
Jordan Leopold has played in just 58 games combined over the past two seasons and the 28-year-old will try for his first healthy campaign in an Avalanche uniform this year. Big things were expected from the defenseman when he was acquired from Calgary for winger Alex Tanguay in the summer of 2006, but he has disappointed thus far.
The Avalanche's solid six-man defensive rotation will be rounded out with minutes from Ruslan Salei and Brett Clark.
GOALTENDING - Theodore angered some folks when he opted to leave for Washington despite being offered a similar contract by the Avalanche, but there's no use dwelling on that matter any further as Peter Budaj is back in place as the team's starting goaltender.
Budaj was the Avs' No. 1 goaltender in 2006-07 and was 31-16-6 with a 2.68 goals against average and .905 save percentage. Last year, the Slovakian backstop was 16-10-4 with a 2.57 GAA and .903 save percentage in 35 games as Theodore's backup.
The Avalanche picked up this year's No. 2 netminder off the scrap heap, signing Andrew Raycroft just days after he was waived by the Maple Leafs. Raycroft won the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) with Boston in 2003-04, but has been dreadful since then.
Raycroft played in just 19 games with Toronto last year and was 2-9-5 with a lofty 3.92 GAA and .876 save percentage.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - The Avalanche did an excellent job in making the playoffs last year, considering the amount of injuries they had to deal with and could possibly win the always tough Northwest Division if they stay healthy this year. Smyth needs to have a better effort as Colorado will need all the offensive help it can get if the shaky goaltending situation rears its ugly head. The Avalanche should be considered a favorite to make the postseason in 2008-09, but a deep playoff run would be surprising.
<< Fielder named NL Player of the Week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder
has been named the National League's Player of the Week for the period ending
September 21.
Fielder led the NL with a 1.038 slugging percentage and 27 total base
<< Pena captures AL weekly honor
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Carlos Pena has
been selected as the American League Player of the Week for the period ending
September 21.
Pena batted .368 with a pair of doubles and three home runs among
<< 2008-09 Carolina Hurricanes Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the NHL's best stories during the regular season was
the Washington Capitals' late-season charge to win the Southeast Division.
The Carolina Hurricanes didn't enjoy that story.
That's because the Hurricanes were t
<< 2008-09 Calgary Flames Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Since making the Stanley Cup final in 2004, the Calgary
Flames have been stuck in a holding pattern.
The idea last year was to bring fiery head coach Mike Keenan on board to shake
things up. However, just like the previous
2008-09 Columbus Blue Jackets Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Each year we're told this is the season the Columbus Blue
Jackets will finally make the franchise's first playoff appearance and, thus
far, that's been empty talk.
This past offseason, Blue Jackets general manager Scott Ho
JMU's McGee heads up Sports Network national players of the week >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Antonio Heffner of Tennessee
State, defensive end James Develin and kick returner Scotty McGee of James
Madison have been named The Sportsbook Betting Lines's FCS national players of the week.
OFFENSIVE
2008-09 Dallas Stars Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars surprised many folks last spring when
they marched to the Western Conference finals. They could get back there again
this year, but the shock value would be gone.
The Stars were presumed to be on the dow
Panthers rookie LB out for season >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carolina Panthers rookie linebacker Dan
Connor will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament
in his left knee.
An MRI on Monday revealed the tear suffered in Sunday's
Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
Will he or won't he? Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.
Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.
"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."
Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.
Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.
But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.
Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback. It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.
Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Baltimore Ravens 15-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Carolina Panthers 18-1
Chicago Bears 10-1
Cincinnati Bengals 15-1
Cleveland Browns 100-1
Dallas Cowboys 15-1
Denver Broncos 15-1
Detroit Lions 100-1
Green Bay Packers 50-1
Houston Texans 100-1
Indianapolis Colts 6-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1
Kansas City Chiefs 30-1
Miami Dolphins 40-1
Minnesota Vikings 75-1
New England Patriots 10-1
New Orleans Saints 18-1
New York Giants 20-1
New York Jets 30-1
Oakland Raiders 100-1
Philadelphia Eagles 18-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1
Saint Louis Rams 60-1
San Diego Chargers 6-1
San Francisco 49ers 75-1
Seattle Seahawks 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1
Tennessee Titans 40-1
Washington Redskins 50-1
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The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
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