Coyotes shoot for historic win in Florida

Hockey Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes set their sights on a history-making win when the surprising playoff contenders skate into the BankAtlantic Center this evening to take on the Florida Panthers.

One of the NHL's great success stories of the 2009-10 campaign, the Coyotes appear well on their way to their first postseason appearance since 2001-02 and enter tonight's clash riding a six-game winning streak. The surging club's most recent triumph, a 2-1 verdict over Tampa Bay on Tuesday, matched a franchise record for victories in a single season that was initially set by the 1984-85 Winnipeg Jets.

Phoenix, which has amassed an excellent 14-4-0 record since January 26, currently occupies the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference standings and has moved within five points of San Jose for the top spot.

"I think everybody is (contributing), and that's why we're so successful this year," said forward Vernon Fiddler, who scored one of the Coyotes' two goals in Tuesday's win. "Everybody's bringing something different -- it doesn't matter if you're a checker or an offensive guy. Our goaltending is great, defense is playing well and everybody's pulling on the same rope."

The Coyotes have indeed gotten strong goaltending during their hot stretch. No. 1 netminder Ilya Bryzgalov has posted a 0.98 goals against average and .967 save percentage in winning his last three starts, and stopped 27-of-28 shots on Tuesday to notch his 37th victory of the season.

Matthew Lombardi also scored for Phoenix against the Lightning and Lee Stempniak set up Fiddler's tally to extend his personal point streak to seven games. The ex-Toronto forward has recorded six goals and two assists in six outings since being acquired from the Maple Leafs at the March 3 trade deadline.

If they're able to knock off the Panthers, the Coyotes will have put together their first seven-game winning streak since December 28, 2006-January 7, 2007.

Phoenix will wrap a string of four straight road games against Southeast Division foes tonight and has outscored the opposition by a 9-3 margin in consecutive decisions over Carolina, Atlanta and Tampa Bay on this swing.

Florida got a four-game homestand off to an undesired start on Tuesday, when the high-scoring Washington Capitals cruised to a 7-3 win over the Panthers despite playing without suspended NHL points leader Alex Ovechkin.

The NHL's best offense didn't miss a beat despite not having Ovechkin, who served the first of a two-game penalty for a dangerous hit on Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell on Sunday. Washington scored five times on 21 shots against Tomas Vokoun before the Panthers goaltender was removed with 5:54 remaining in the second period.

"This is a disappointing effort. We left our goalies out to dry," Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer said. "We were too soft. You can't expect to get a playoff spot in this league when you don't play harder than the team you're playing against."

Florida is on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture at the moment, trailing eighth-place Boston by eight points with 14 games left in the regular season and four other teams standing in between the Panthers and Bruins.

On a more positive note, the Panthers seem to be close to getting one of their top scorers back in the lineup for the stretch run. Forward Nathan Horton, who hasn't played since breaking his left tibia in a January 21 loss to the New York Islanders, resumed practicing this week and is a possibility to return tonight. The talented 24-year-old had 46 points (17 goals, 29 assists) in 51 games before going down.

These teams will be facing one another for the first time since a 4-1 Coyotes' win in Arizona last season. In Phoenix's last visit to the BankAtlantic Center, the Panthers came away with a 5-2 decision on February 10, 2007.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines

New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.

"The World Series is the biggest baseball event in the sports betting world and MySportsbook.com is excited that we are first to market with betting lines on every team," says Tim Dalton, Marketing Director, MySportsbook.com. "We are getting things ready for a great baseball season and our members are looking forward to our Player Payback Bonuses, as well as Dime Lines, all season long."

Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.

"These betting lines are ripe for the picking," Dalton added, "baseball fans know that the season is long and many factors, including players staying healthy, will affect these Future odds as the baseball season progresses. Betting on your favorite team in the beginning of the season could prove quite lucrative. We are seeing examples of this right now in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament with a lucky few that placed pre-season bets on George Mason to win it all. Anything can happen."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs..

About www.MySportsbook.com
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