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07/15/2010 - Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rod Brind'Amour will have his No. 17 jersey retired by the Carolina Hurricanes prior to a February 18, 2011 contest against the Philadelphia flyers.
Brind'Amour announced his retirement after a 20-plus-year NHL career last month. He had one year left on the five-year contract he signed in 2006 after captaining Carolina to the franchise's only Stanley Cup title.
"There is no image of our franchise more memorable than that of Rod Brind'Amour, our captain, hoisting the Stanley Cup above his head, the emotions from a lifetime of hard work and dedication pouring out of him," said Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford. "There is no doubt that Rod's number belongs in the rafters of the RBC Center, and February 18 will surely be a very special night for our fans and everyone connected with the Hurricanes organization."
Brind'Amour was dealt to Carolina from Philadelphia on January 23, 2000 in a trade that sent forward Keith Primeau to the Flyers. He registered 174 goals and 299 assists in 694 games with the Hurricanes.
Originally drafted ninth overall by St. Louis in the 1988 draft, Brind'Amour registered 452 goals and 732 assists in 1,484 career games. He added 51 goals and 111 points in 159 playoff contests.
Once one of the most talented two-way players, Brind'Amour captured back-to- back Frank J. Selke Trophies as the NHL's top defensive forward in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Though best known as a Hurricane, Brind'Amour's single-season personal bests in goals, assists, points, plus-minus and penalty minutes all came during his tenure with Philadelphia (1991-2000). In addition, his lone All-Star selection occurred in 1992, his first year with the Flyers.
<< Warriors sold for record price
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors have been sold to
Joseph Lacob for a record price of $450 million, according to a report
Thursday from the Oakland Tribune.
Chris Cohan, who had owned the team since 19
<< Verdasco, Robredo ease into Bastad quarters
Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco
and two-time champion Tommy Robredo of Spain were among Thursday's second-
round winners at the Swedish Open. Fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro was also a
Spanish
<< Ex-Bearcats coach Minter among five new Indiana State assistants
Terre Haute, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former University of Cincinnati football
coach Rick Minter has joined third-year Indiana State coach Trent Miles' staff
as one of five new assistants.
The 55-year-old Minter was named linebackers coach. In
<< Miller joins Heat
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Miller has become the latest player to join
the Miami Heat.
Miller said the transaction was official on his personal website.
"It's official," Miller tweeted. "Thanks to the Miami Heat organization, Mr.
Nets ink first-round picks Favors, James >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets signed 2010 first-
round draft picks Derrick Favors and Damion James on Thursday.
The Nets selected Favors with the third overall pick after the 6-foot-10, 246-
pound forward aver
Blue Jackets re-sign Sestito >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed
forward Tom Sestito to a one-year contract.
Financial terms of the two-way deal were not disclosed.
Sestito appeared in three games for the Blue Jackets last s
Oilers sign D Peckham >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers have signed defenseman
Theo Peckham to a one-year contract.
Peckham, 22, has played in 31 career NHL games with the Oilers, including a
15-game stint during the 2009-10 campaign.
Lightning re-sign C Jones >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning added some depth to the
forward position on Thursday by re-signing center Blair Jones to a one-year
contract.
Financial terms were not announced.
The 23-year-old appeared in 14 g
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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