10/09/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will begin their Stanley Cup title defense tonight as they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to Joe Louis Arena for the opening contest of the regular season for both teams.
Detroit's recent championship was their fourth Stanley Cup title in the last 11 seasons and this year it could become the first club to repeat as champions since the Steve Yzerman-led Red Wings won consecutive titles in 1997 and '98.
Tonight, the crowd in the Motor City will witness the raising of the Wings' latest championship banner.
The Red Wings were the class of the NHL during the 2007-08 regular season, winning the Presidents' Trophy for the fourth time in six campaigns.
This year, Detroit is returning basically the same team that won it all last spring and has now added prolific winger Marian Hossa, who will make his official debut as a Red Wing tonight.
Hossa had somewhat of a disappointing regular season, recording 66 points (29g, 37a) in 72 combined games with Atlanta and Pittsburgh in 2007-08, but had a total of 192 points in his previous two years with the Thrashers.
However, the 29-year-old Slovakian did help shed the notion that he isn't a big-game player by posting 12 goals and 14 assists in 20 playoff games with the Penguins. Shortly after the postseason, Hossa decided to join the Red Wings, signing a one-year, $7.4 million with the team who downed Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup final.
Hossa's scoring touch should make a dangerous team even more formidable, as he joins forwards like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk and defensemen such as Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski.
After using a goaltending platoon over the last few seasons, the Red Wings are sticking with Chris Osgood as the main option this year.
Both Osgood and Dominik Hasek had strong regular seasons for Detroit in 2007-08 and head coach Mike Babcock opted to name Hasek as the starter for the playoffs. However, after the six-time Vezina winner Hasek went 2-2 in the first four games of the opening series against Nashville, Osgood was handed the starting reins, and the rest was history.
Osgood went 14-4 with a 1.55 goals against average, .930 save percentage and three shutouts during the 2008 postseason. For Osgood, it was his third Stanley Cup title, all of which have come with Detroit, and his second as the team's starting goaltender.
Hasek opted to retire after the season ended.
Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs begin this season with an attempt to shed the disappointment that has plagued the team since the lockout. Toronto has been left out of the playoffs in each season since the work stoppage wiped out the entire 2004-05 campaign, marking the first time in the franchise's storied history that the team has missed the postseason in three straight years.
Last year, the Leafs finished 12th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference with 83 points.
This summer, Toronto said goodbye to familiar face likes Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Bryan McCabe and Andrew Raycroft in order to get the franchise back to basics.
The task for the Leafs franchise now is to remain patient and try to stay with the youth movement. It will be tempting to placate a small portion of the Toronto fans with big free-agent signings, but most Maple Leafs fans are savvy enough to know that this rebuilding process, if done right, is the best way to get their team back on the right track.
Toronto has won two of the last three meetings with the Red Wings, but Detroit has taken two straight and four of the last five encounters in the Motor City.
<< Dodgers, Phils kick off NLCS in City of Brotherly Love
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies will
battle for the right to represent the National League at the World Series when
the best-of-seven NLCS gets underway on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.
Los Angeles is b
<< Report: Cowboys CB Newman could need surgery for sports hernia
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl cornerback Terence
Newman may reportedly need surgery for a sports hernia, and could miss six
weeks after the procedure.
Newman missed Dallas' win over the Cincinnati Bengal
<< Sweden eight clear at Women's World Amateur
Adelaide, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden finished two rounds of stroke
play at 15-under 275 and made more history en route to the 54-hole lead of the
2008 Women's World Amateur Team Championship at the Grange Golf Club.
One day aft
<< Report: Rogers ruled to repay Lions
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Detroit wide receiver Charles Rogers
will reportedly need to repay the Lions millions of dollars, after the
franchise won a grievance against the player.
Citing Lions chief operating officer
Canucks host Flames in season opener >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Northwest Division rivals will begin their
2008-09 campaigns tonight, as the Vancouver Canucks welcome the Calgary Flames
to General Motors Place.
The Flames finished third in the division last year with 94 point
Sharks, Ducks begin 2008-09 slate in San Jose >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Pacific Division rivals, as well as Stanley Cup
hopefuls, will meet tonight in Silicon Valley as the San Jose Sharks welcome
the Anaheim Ducks to HP Pavilion.
Both teams made the postseason last spring, but neith
Ferdinand set to skipper England >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rio Ferdinand is set to captain England in
Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan as regular skipper John Terry
is almost certain to be ruled out with a back injury.
Chelsea defender Terry did
City's Richards allays fitness fears >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City defender Micah Richards
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Richards pulled
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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