Seasoned Malkin keeping Penguins among the elite
Hockey Betting Lines
02/15/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins know that replacing Sidney Crosby is no easy task.
Evgeni Malkin is making it look not only possible, but, at times, easy.
Now that is not to say that the Penguins wouldn't benefit greatly from having their captain back in the lineup, but the effort that Malkin has put forth during Crosby's absence isn't just leaving his coach and teammates impressed. It also is keeping Pittsburgh in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh has gotten just eight games of action from Crosby since he suffered a concussion last January. The head injury cost the former MVP the final 41 games of last year's regular season and the first 20 of 2011-12 before a brief return in late November. However, a return of concussion symptoms has him back on the shelf indefinitely.
Yet, despite missing arguably the league's best player with no return date in sight, the Penguins still find themselves tied for fourth overall in the conference with 69 points heading into play on Wednesday.
They have Malkin to thank for that.
The Russian forward was a bit of a question mark himself entering the season as a right knee injury suffered last February caused him to miss the final 29 games of the season. Malkin, though, has showed no ill effects, leading the NHL with 69 points while ranking second in goals with 32. He has posted five goals and 10 points over his last five games and has keyed Pittsburgh's 11-2-1 surge.
Malkin's latest heroics came on Sunday versus Tampa Bay. He scored twice and just missed an empty-net goal in the final seconds of a 4-2 victory and has clicked with linemates Chris Kunitz and James Neal.
Defenseman Kris Letang thinks the time Malkin missed last season has helped ignite a fire under the forward.
"I think sitting down for like almost half of a year last year kind of makes me think that he missed hockey," Kunitz said after Sunday's win. "He missed playing. He came out this season in shape and ready to go and you could see in his eyes he was pretty confident about this year."
Confidence is just one factor sparking Malkin. Being down this road before has probably also helped the 25-year-old take on a bigger role.
"It looks like in 2009 maybe, when Sidney went down and he kind of took over and was playing unbelievable," Letang said of Malkin. "But I think his game is better than it was two years ago. I think he's playing great hockey and it's the first time I've seen him being that dominate."
Letang may have actually been referring to the latter part of the 2007-08 season, when Crosby sat out 21 games with a right ankle sprain suffered in January. Malkin caught fire in Crosby's absence en route to a 106-point season, logging 14 goals and 36 points in the time Crosby missed.
In fact, Malkin exploded with four goals in the first three games without Crosby in the lineup and put forth a jaw-dropping effort with a 10-game point streak in February in which he accounted for 24 points.
Asked to elaborate on what has made Malkin better this season, Letang noted that Malkin is playing with a tougher edge to his game.
"He doesn't have any problem going to the net," Letang said. "You see his goals, he's always driving into the tough area. He's battling on the walls. He's just playing a great game."
Leaders tend to score in big moments and Malkin has been doing that this season as well. His seven game-winning goals through 49 contests already matches his career high set over 67 games in 2009-10 and is tied for fourth- best in the league. That statistic has certainly caught the eye of head coach Dan Bylsma.
"Right now he's playing some dominating hockey and throwing up some unbelievable efforts in games," the coach said. "He's come up with some one- goal games that were in the last five minutes to tie the game and he's come up with some huge efforts."
Malkin's current pace has all but made him the current favorite to lock up his first Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP. But the way he has been able to take over a game at a moment's notice has the Penguins thinking they can be contenders come playoff time.
Crosby or no Crosby.
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames announced on Wednesday their intention to honor former defenseman Al MacInnis' service to the organization. The ceremony will take place prior to a February 27 game against the St. Louis Blue
<< Students arrested in TCU drug bust
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Police made a drug bust at Texas Christian
University on Wednesday morning, a sting which reportedly included the
arrest of four football players.
According to the Star-Telegram, the six-month inv
<< Huddlestone undergoes second ankle operation
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham announced Wednesday that
midfielder Tom Huddlestone will undergo a second operation in a bid to repair
an ankle injury sustained at the end of last season.
The North London club releas
<< Rays give Maddon three-year extension
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays rewarded manager Joe
Maddon with a three-year contract extension on Wednesday.
Maddon took over the team prior to the 2006 season and suffered through two
losing campaigns before
<< Cavs' Irving cleared to return
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Kyrie
Irving was cleared to return to action.
Cavs team physician Dr. A.J. Cianflocco gave the first-overall pick the go-
ahead on Wednesday, hours before Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The compressed NBA schedule is much like those KFC Famous Bowls: Mix everything together in a condensed space and see how it tastes. But what if you're a buttermilk biscuit fan? Will it whet your appetite when it's layered
Berdych, del Potro advance in Rotterdam >>
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas
Berdych and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro were a pair of
first-round winners Wednesday at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis
Tournament.
Erakovic wins Bogota opener >>
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Marina Erakovic of New
Zealand was an easy opening-round winner at the $220,000 Copa BBVA
Colsanitas tennis tournament.
After having her first-round match suspended because of rain here on
Bucs release DT Haynesworth >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released defensive
tackle Albert Haynesworth on Wednesday.
"I appreciate Albert playing for us after some key injuries this past season,"
said Buccaneers general manager Mark Domin
Four football players arrested in TCU drug bust >>
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Police made a drug bust at Texas Christian
University on Wednesday morning, a sting which included the arrest of four
football players.
The six-month investigation by Fort Worth and TCU Campus Police r
Sportsbooks to bet on football
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.