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03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues are in position to record their longest winning streak in over six years, but to reach that mark they'll have to find a way to halt their struggles versus the Colorado Avalanche this season.
St. Louis goes for a sixth straight victory when it visits Colorado and the Pepsi Center this evening.
The Blues open their post-Olympic schedule with six straight games on the road, a season high, and they have won the first two contests of that trek to run their overall win streak to five games. After a victory at Phoenix on Tuesday, St. Louis claimed a 6-1 triumph in Dallas on Thursday behind a pair of goals from Paul Kariya that give him 398 in his NHL career.
Kariya also had an assist and Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund, Brad Boyes and T.J. Oshie all added goals for the Blues, who haven't won six straight since December 6-18, 2003. St. Louis has 23 goals over its current win streak.
"Going into the [Olympic] break there, I thought we were playing our best hockey of the year," said goaltender Chris Mason after making 29 saves. "Fortunately enough, we seem to be carrying it over after the break. We're playing hard, getting the pucks at the net and making it difficult for the goalie."
Andy McDonald added an assist for St. Louis to give him three goals and two assists over a five-game point streak.
St. Louis, now 18-9-4 as the visitor this year, are within three points of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Blues hope their current momentum can help them capture their first win over the Avalanche this season. St. Louis has been outscored 9-2 in losing both of its previous meetings this year with Colorado, including a 5-2 road setback on February 8 that dropped the club to 3-6-0 in its last nine trips to Denver.
Mason was pulled in the second period of that loss after allowing five goals on 15 shots faced. Ty Conklin halted all 18 shots he faced in relief.
Chris Stewart has three goals and three assists for Colorado in the two meetings this year, and the forward has four goals in his last seven games. He did not score in the Avalanche's last contest, a 3-1 setback to Phoenix on Thursday.
Craig Anderson made 27 saves but allowed the game-winning goal to former teammate Wojtek Wolski with 23.7 seconds left in regulation. Wolski was dealt to Phoenix on Wednesday for Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter.
Mueller scored in his Phoenix debut on Wednesday night and assisted on John- Michael Liles' tally Thursday, but Colorado still lost for the third time in four games and is two points behind Vancouver for first place in the Northwest Division.
"We've come back from tough losses where we maybe should have got a point, but we respond the right way," said Anderson.
Colorado kicks off a three-game homestand tonight and is 20-9-2 as the host thanks to wins in five of six and nine of its last 12 at the Pepsi Center.
<< Thrashers' playoff push resumes in Tampa
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers will shoot for a third straight
victory when they visit the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at St. Pete
Times Forum.
The Thrashers have won two straight since the NHL came back from the Olympic
<< Rangers brace for test from high-powered Caps
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After struggling to keep the opposition off the scoreboard
their most recent time out, the New York Rangers now have to face the NHL's
most potent offense in tonight's showdown with the powerful Washington
Capitals from the V
<< Hurricanes go for eighth straight in visit to Florida
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A fire sale at the trade deadline has yet to slow down the
Carolina Hurricanes, who'll be taking aim at an eighth consecutive victory in
tonight's clash with the Southeast Division-rival Florida Panthers from the
BankAtlantic
<< Bruins visit Isles in first stop of long trip
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins closed out their pre-Olympic break
schedule with excellent play on the road, something the team hopes carries
over when it opens up a season-long seven-game trek with this afternoon's
matchup with the New Yo
Sharks aim to maintain home mastery of Jackets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks have gotten off to a bit of a slow
start since the Olympic break. A visit from the Columbus Blue Jackets could
provide the spark they need.
San Jose continues a five-game residency tonight seeking an 11
Suddenly-slumping Senators to host rival Leafs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will try to get back in the win column
tonight, when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in a battle between Northeast
Division foes at Scotiabank Place.
The Senators have 76 points and are one back of Bu
Hornaday Jr. claims Atlanta pole >>
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. will start on the pole for
Saturday's E-Z GO 200 Camping World Truck Series race after topping the
qualifying charts at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Hornaday, the defending series champion, secured
Bob Bryan, Isner get U.S. on the board against host Serbs >>
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A doubles team of Bob Bryan and John Isner
got the United States a much-needed point on Saturday, as the last-minute
pairing bested a Serbian duo of Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic in their
best-of
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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