Coyotes want to be more than 'nice story'

Hockey Betting Lines

04/26/2010 -

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -While on their way to 50 wins and their first playoff berth since 2002, the Phoenix Coyotes were labeled a feel-good story and Cinderella.

They believe a Game 7 win Tuesday will show they're much more.

The Detroit Red Wings are trying to avoid a second straight series loss after holding a 3-2 lead and to stay alive for a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

Phoenix is hosting the first Game 7 of these NHL playoffs, but home ice hasn't meant much in this series. The road team has won four of the six games so far.

Whichever team advances will finally end an undesirable streak.

The Coyotes are 0-4 in Game 7s.

The Red Wings haven't won a Game 7 on the road since 1964.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Casinos--sportsbooks Hockey Betting News

<< Titans sign Blount, Stafon Johnson among rookie FAs
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tennessee Titans announced Monday they have agreed to terms with 15 undrafted free agents, including running backs LeGarrette Blount and Stafon Johnson. Blount played in just three games last seaso

<< Jaguars release DT Henderson
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday released two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle John Henderson. A first round pick in 2002, Henderson recorded 29 sacks and 563 tackles in 124 career games (120 start

<< Jaguars' draft heavy on the FCS
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars play in the AFC South, but they seem to be stockpiling players like it's the FCS South. They're getting close to being able to field an FCS all-star team. Four of the Jaguars' six

<< Angels' Morales picks up AL weekly honor
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Kendry Morales has been selected as the American League Player of the Week for the period ending April 25. Morales hit a major-league high .542 with three home

<< Bucs release Hovan, five others
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released six players on Monday, chief among them 10-year veteran defensive tackle Chris Hovan. Hovan finished 2009, his fifth season with the Buccaneers, with 33 tackles and half a sac

De La Rosa has MRI done on left middle finger >>
DENVER (AP) -Colorado Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa had an MRI done on his left middle finger Monday, a day after suffering a bone bruise on his pitching hand.Manager Jim Tracy said the team wanted to determine if the injury was more serious than

Berdych, Ljubicic advance; Ferrero exits Rome >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tenth-seeded Tomas Berdych and 11th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic were a pair of first-round winners, while former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero came up a loser Monday at the $2.97 million Italian Masters

Oregon makes Creighton's Altman next basketball coach >>
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Oregon has made Creighton's Dana Altman its next head basketball coach. The 51-year-old Altman has compiled a 327-176 record in 16 seasons for the Bluejays. They went 18-16 last seas

No one injured in Hawks' bus accident >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks' team bus was involved in an accident Monday, but no one was injured. According to a story on the team's website, the bus was hit by a white Cadillac while leaving the Bradley C

Cardinals place INF Lopez on DL >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have placed infielder Felipe Lopez on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain. Lopez is batting .273 (12-for-44) with a home run and four RBI in 15 games this season.

$12,000,000.00 MARCH MADNESS BRACKET CONTEST

2009 MARCH MADNESS BRACKET CONTEST

Offering $12 Million Dollars to whoever fills in the perfect March Madness Bracket. For the fifth year in a row MySportsbook.com is giving March Madness bettors a chance to never have to work another day in their lives. MySportsbook.com has been in business for 12 years and to celebrate this years March Madness they are offering $1 Million Dollars for every year they have been taking college basketball wagers along with every other sports wagering type imaginable.

The MySportsbook.com March Madness contest is simple just Sign-up for the March Madness bracket contest and come back after Selection Sunday to submit your March Madness picks. Then place $20.00 in wagers during each round of the March Madness tournament. Even if your bracket is not perfect you could potentially still win $10,000.00.

There is not an office pool on the planet that can offer this March Madness Grand Prize. Get together with your office, work as a team or keep the $12 Million and do it yourself and win the $12 Million. Also feel free to print out the Printable March Madness Brackets .

Get free 2009 March Madness Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online March Madness betting VISA Mastercard

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.