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Blackhawks hope to get on track versus OilersHockey Betting Lines03/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For a Chicago Blackhawks team that's given up its share of goals of late, a matchup with one of the NHL's lowest-scoring clubs comes at a good time. The Central Division leaders will shoot for a season sweep of the offensively- challenged Edmonton Oilers when the two teams face off this evening at the United Center. Chicago entered the Olympic break on a four-game winning streak, despite allowing four goals each in a pair of shootout victories to close out that stretch. The Blackhawks also struggled on the defensive end in their first outing back from the stoppage, surrendering four second-period goals en route to a 5-3 road loss to the New York Islanders last night. Trailing 2-1 after one period, the Islanders went in front on goals by Blake Comeau and Jonathan Sim that came 25 seconds apart early in the second. Richard Park scored later in the frame for a 4-2 advantage, and Comeau completed a hat trick when he beat Blackhawks goaltender Cristobal Huet with a wrist shot with 17.3 seconds left before the second intermission. "We lost a lot of momentum when they scored [to make it] 3-2," said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. "We seemed to give up everything we had going in the first period." Huet replaced ineffective starter Antti Niemi and stopped 9-of-11 shots in 35 minutes of action. Niemi was pulled early in the second period after yielding three goals on 12 attempts. The Blackhawks did make a minor move in an attempt to bolster their defense on Tuesday, acquiring veteran blueliner Nick Boynton from Anaheim for future considerations. The 31-year-old had one goal and six assists in 42 games with the Ducks this season. Chicago returns home tonight to take on an Edmonton squad that ranks second- to-last in the NHL with 151 goals and owns the league's worst overall record at 19-37-6. The Oilers resumed their losing ways in their first game after the break, dropping a 4-3 decision in Nashville on Tuesday. Edmonton had tied the contest at 3-3 on Marc-Antoine Pouliot's goal with less than three minutes elapsed in the third period, but one-time Oiler Jason Arnott lit the lamp just over two minutes later to give the Predators back a lead they would not relinquish. Denis Grebeshkov also netted a goal along with an assist for Nashville, one day after the defenseman was traded by the Oilers to the Predators. "You always wish the best for guys you play with...guys that you know, your friends," said Edmonton's Tom Gilbert of Grebeshkov. "But not always when you're playing a guy that was on your team. You obviously wish the best, but not to score on you." The Oilers have now lost two in a row and six of their last seven games and fell to 8-20-2 on the road for the season. Edmonton has also been handed defeats in six of its last seven meetings with the Blackhawks, including all three clashes held this season. In their lone previous visit to the United Center in 2009-10, the Oilers suffered a 4-3 loss on October 14. Chicago last put together a season sweep of Edmonton in 1994-95.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 millionIn 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. To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs. Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers. A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers. Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers. The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5). Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries. The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38). To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. |
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