Second Period Sparks Games For Regulation

Hockey Betting Lines

Anderson and the Sens will try to snap their season-high six-game slide this evening. The skid is the club's longest since an 0-9-2 drought from Jan. 14- Feb. 9 of last year and has dropped it seven points behind Boston for first place in the Northeast Division. The Sens are also sitting eighth overall in the East, now one point back of the Maple Leafs and three ahead of the ninth- place Capitals.

 

Ottawa lost ground to Toronto on Saturday with a 5-0 setback to the club. Anderson made 35 saves in his 17th straight start as the Senators were held to one goal or less for the fourth time on their skid.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through a rough patch to begin February, but they'll try to get back on track tonight when they visit the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. The Penguins ended January on an eight-game winning streak, but have lost two of three games to begin the new month as well as a four-game road trip that is set to end tonight.

 

Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists on Sunday for the Devils, who scored the game's first three goals. The shorthanded Penguins, playing once again without centers Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal, got a goal apiece from Evgeni Malkin and Matt Niskanen.

 

Meanwhile, Marc-Andre Fleury, who was coming off a 28-save performance against the Bruins, was pulled in the second period on Sunday after allowing three goals on 12 shots. Brent Johnson made 11 saves in relief.

 

The setback dropped Pittsburgh to 15-12-2 on the road this season and also allowed New Jersey to pull within one point of the Pens for the fifth seed in the East. Pittsburgh is just two points behind Philadelphia for the conference's fourth spot.

 

Pittsburgh will try to sweep the season series against the Canadiens tonight. The Pens are 3-0 versus Montreal, but the last two games have gone past regulation. Pittsburgh's most recent win over Montreal came when it rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits to notch a 5-4 shootout win over the visiting Habs on Jan. 20.

 

Max Pacioretty and Alexei Emelin both scored for the Canadiens, who are 12 points out of a playoff spot in the East.

 

The Habs are just 10-11-7 as the host this year and are completing a three- game homestand tonight.

 

Washington has won the last four Southeast titles, while the Panthers have never won a division crown and haven't even qualified for the playoffs since 2000. Florida has taken two of the first three meetings with the Caps this season, but Washington has won three in a row and six of the last seven encounters in D.C.

Sportssbook Hockey Betting Blog

<< Elliott Puck Crush Claim Into Blues

<< Win Joins Points From Nashville

<< Stars Boosts Blackhawks In Game

<< Flyers Into Detroit Concussion

<< Personnel Department Leaves Bowl Against Pittsburgh

Suter At Russell Devils >>

Such Streak For Leafs Goals >>

Power Play Helps Nabokov Into Shutout >>

Win Leaves Games Against Price >>

Roloson Into Fly Kings >>

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

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.