Phoenix's Maloney named NHL GM of the year

Hockey Betting Lines

06/02/2010 -

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -The NHL says Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes has been chosen as the league's top general manager this season.

Maloney became the award's first winner on Wednesday during a meeting of the NHL's general managers at the Stanley Cup finals.

Voting was conducted after the season among the league's 30 GMs and a panel of NHL executives, and print and broadcast media. Maloney edged out fellow finalists George McPhee of the Washington Capitals and David Poile of the Nashville Predators.

The Coyotes endured a difficult season in which the team's future in Arizona was unsettled. Phoenix, under new coach Dave Tippett - who was hired by Maloney - set franchise records with 50 wins and 107 points and made the playoffs for the first time since 2002.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 The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Musportsbook Hockey Betting News

<< Muirfield Village to host 2013 Presidents Cup
Dublin, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Muirfield Village Golf Club has been selected as the host of the 2013 Presidents Cup. Jack Nicklaus' course in Ohio will become the first venue to host three of golf's most prestigious international team competi

<< Tigers hope to reverse fortunes against Tribe
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The slumping Detroit Tigers will try to reverse their recent fortunes when the American League Central's last-place team, the Cleveland Indians, invades Comerica Park tonight for the first of three straight meetings between t

<< Zambrano returns to rotation in finale with Bucs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs hope to get a needed spark from Carlos Zambrano when the fiery pitcher returns to a starting role for tonight's finale of a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates from PNC Park. Zambrano, a three-ti

<< Sheets, Dice-K square off in Boston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After coming through with a comeback victory in Tuesday's opener of this three-game series, the Boston Red Sox will attempt to maintain that momentum when the resurgent club takes on the Oakland Athletics again this evening

<< Hughes goes for Yanks against woeful O's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of American League East rivals continue a series that's been rather one-sided as of late tonight at New York's Yankee Stadium, where the defending world champion Yankees set their sights on a seventh consecutive vict

Harper seems headed for our nation's capital >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft gets underway on June 7th, with the Washington Nationals holding the top pick for the second straight year. It is just the second time since the inception

Ice Box heads Belmont field of 12 >>
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box has been installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday's running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. Neither Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver

Redknapp expects Cole departure from Chelsea >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp does not expect to sign Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole this summer but believes the out-of-contract player will be leaving Stamford Bridge. Redknapp work

Villa puts value on Milner >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aston Villa have reportedly told Manchester City that they will not sell James Milner for less than $45 million. Last month the former Newcastle and Leeds United midfielder was linked wi

Maloney takes home GM award >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix's Don Maloney was honored with the inaugural General Manager of the Year Award on Wednesday. Maloney, in his third season as general manager in Phoenix, built a Coyotes team that had a league-

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.

MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.