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03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Finally healthy, the Red Wings' offense has looked like a dangerous unit that could give teams trouble in the playoffs. However, Detroit still needs to get there first.
The Red Wings will try to leap into the eighth spot in the Western Conference this evening at Joe Louis Arena against a Buffalo Sabres squad that will look to rebound after having a three-game winning streak snapped.
The Red Wings have been strong as of late, winning five of their last seven games. However, Detroit is still outside of the playoff picture as it currently holds the ninth spot in the Western Conference. The Red Wings are a point back of the Flames for the eighth spot in the conference, but Calgary is idle today.
Detroit has scored four or more goals in four of its last seven games, including on Thursday when it bested Minnesota by a 5-1 score.
Johan Franzen had a pair of goals and Henrik Zetterberg chipped in with a goal and two assists. Zetterberg notched his first three-point contest since posting five versus Anaheim on November 14, while Franzen scored for the seventh time in just 12 games this year.
Zetterberg has never scored versus Buffalo, posting three assists in six career games against them.
Tomas Holmstrom added a goal and an assist versus the Wild and Andrew Miller, brother of Buffalo netminder Ryan, also scored. Jimmy Howard ended with 21 saves.
"It was nice. We have to play with more desperation," Howard said. "That's how we need to play for the rest of the season."
Howard has never started versus the Sabres but did stop 14-of-15 shots faced in relief of Chris Osgood in an Oct. 13 meeting that ended in a 6-2 Sabres win. That victory for the Sabres snapped a three-game series losing streak. Buffalo has won just once in its last 10 trips to Detroit, however, and was handed a 3-1 defeat at Joe Louis Arena on Jan. 10, 2009 in its last trip there.
Thomas Vanek scored twice during a four-goal surge in the second period of the October victory, while Ryan Miller made 23 saves in net. That had been Vanek's only multi-goal game this season until he scored twice in last night's 3-2 setback to Minnesota. Vanek leads Buffalo with 22 goals after posting 40 a season ago.
Jason Pominville assisted on both tallies and Patrick Lalime made 30 saves in the start over Miller.
"A thousand chances aren't going to win games," said Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. "We like the number of shots, but there are some situations where they have to turn them into goals. Our key players have to do a better job of turning those shots into goals."
Miller should get the start tonight and he is 2-5-0 with a 3.58 GAA in seven career starts versus the Sabres.
Buffalo remained two points up on Ottawa for first place in the Northeast Division with two games in hand. The Sabres start a five-game road trip tonight but have lost eight of their last nine as the guest.
<< Devils visit Islanders with first place in sight
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils will try to move into a first-place
tie in the Atlantic Division this evening when they take on the New York
Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
The Devils picked up their second victory in a row last night
<< Habs and Bruins square off as playoff hopefuls
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens look to further their playoff
chances and defeat Boston for the fifth time in six meetings this year tonight
at the Bell Centre, while the Bruins hope to strengthen their hold on the
Eastern Conference'
<< Raptors resume road trip in Oakland vs. Warriors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors haven't been playing like a team headed
towards the postseason and will resume a four-game road trip Saturday night
against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland.
Toronto is currently eighth in the Easte
<< Mavs aim to push win streak to 14 vs. Knicks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Dallas Mavericks will try to stretch their
season-high winning streak to 14 games tonight when they resume a four-game
homestand against the woeful New York Knicks.
Dallas kept its longest winning streak of the
Home sweet home: Canucks return to GM Place to battle Senators >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The wait is finally over.
After playing 14 straight times on the road over a span of six weeks, the
Vancouver Canucks finally return to GM Place for tonight's interconference
showdown with the slumping Ottawa Senators.
Terriers and Catamounts clash in America East title tilt >>
Burlington. VT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A berth in the NCAA Tournament is on the
line in Burlington today, as the second-seeded Vermont Catamounts battle the
fourth-seeded Boston University Terriers in the 2010 America East Conference
Championship Ga
Top-seeded Duke faces upstart Miami in ACC semifinals >>
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils are the
top seed in the 2010 ACC Tournament, and they are set to clash with the 12th-
seeded Miami-Florida Hurricanes in the semifinal round this afternoon.
The winner of t
SEC Tournament showdown pits Volunteers against Wildcats >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The semifinal round of the 2010 SEC
Tournament pits the second-ranked Kentucky Wildcats against the 15th-ranked
Tennessee Volunteers.
Up next for the winner of this game is a trip to tomorrow's championship
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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