Oilers among Canadian winners at NHL draft

Hockey Betting Lines

06/28/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This past Friday in Los Angeles, 30 general managers and their scouts got together for the NHL Entry Draft.

It was a head-scratching draft for those watching, and a hand-sitting affair for many involved.

The following is a Canadian roundup of the winners and losers of draft day.

EDMONTON OILERS

With the first overall pick, the Edmonton Oilers select ... a franchise player. And for those living under a rock this past year, his name is Taylor Hall.

While there was a lot of hype surrounding the battle between Taylor and Tyler [Seguin], the Oilers opted to go for the most accomplished and NHL-ready of the top two.

It was the first time the Oilers had the luxury of picking first overall, and they used the selection on a player with major offensive upside, plenty of grit and Alberta roots...how can you go wrong?

Barring any unforeseen catastrophes, Hall will be lacing up in Oil Country come the start of next season.

In total, the Oilers finished draft weekend in Los Angeles with 11 total picks, including highly-touted forwards Tyler Pitlick (2nd round) and Ryan Martindale (3rd round). NHL Central Scouting ranked them 18th and 27th respectively, among North American skaters.

Synopsis: Big-time winner; Oilers fans should be excited.

Draft list: Taylor Hall (1), Tyler Pitlick (31), Martin Marincin (46), Curtis Hamilton (48), Ryan Martindale (61), Jeremie Blain (91), Tyler Bunz (121), Brandon Davidson (162), Drew Czerwonka (166), Kristians Pelss (181), Kellen Jones (202).

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Phil Kessel is good, but it still must have hurt to see the Boston Bruins entourage slowly saunter to the stage to announce the second overall pick.

The pick, of course, ended up being Plymouth Whalers center and Ontario Hockey League MVP Tyler Seguin.

And to make matters worse, Brian Burke didn't put his scouts to work until Saturday, having reportedly turned down a first-round pick in an undisclosed deal on Friday.

After swinging a trade that sent prospect Jimmy Hayes to the Chicago Blackhawks for a second-round pick, the Leafs gobbled up Portland Winterhawks sparkplug Bradley Ross.

Ross is compared to former Leaf Darcy Tucker based on his chippy style of play and timely goal scoring, having put up 27 goals and 68 points playing on a line with first-round draft picks Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Johansen.

Synopsis: Good recovery; plenty of truculence.

Draft list: Bradley Ross (43), Greg McKegg (62), Sondre Olden (79), Petter Granberg (116), Sam Carrick (144), Daniel Brodin (146), Josh Nicholls (182).

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

After trading their first-round selection to the Florida Panthers in a deal centered around defenseman Keith Ballard, the Canucks had to sit tight until the fourth round to make their first pick.

With it they selected Patrick McNally, a 6'2" offensive defenseman out of Milton Academy high school in Massachusetts.

McNally was the 40th-ranked skater by Central Scouting and is said to possess great poise with the puck and the ability to use his skating ability to jump into the rush, a factor highlighted by his 14 goals and 35 points in only 28 games.

He has committed to Harvard next year so it should be a while before he becomes a household name in Vancouver.

Synopsis: Not bad, considering limited picks.

Draft list: Patrick McNally (115), Adam Polasek (145), Alex Friesen (172), Jonathan Ilahti (175), Sawyer Hannay (205).

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Although they only had five picks in total, the Canadiens made some shrewd decisions throughout the draft.

For starters, trading up to land American defenseman Jarred Tinordi with the 22nd pick was a great move by GM Pierre Gauthier.

Tinordi is a strapping shut-down blueliner with a cannon from the point. He also captained the U.S. National Development Program in 2009-10 and has hockey bloodlines (his father is longtime NHL defenseman Mark Tinordi).

While the younger Tinordi is committed to the University of Notre Dame for next season, there is speculation he could opt to hone his craft playing for the London Knights in the OHL.

Another interesting name to keep an eye on is Vancouver Giants forward Brendan Gallagher. Although he is on the small side (only 5'9", 163 lbs), he put up 41 goals and 111 PIM's as a 17 year-old.

Synopsis: Outside of Tinordi, not too much to get excited about.

Draft List: Jarred Tinordi (22), Mark MacMillan (113), Morgan Ellis (117), Brendan Gallagher (147), John Westin (207).

CALGARY FLAMES

The Flames came into Los Angeles with a dire need to replenish the prospect cupboard, despite not drafting until the third round.

With his first pick, GM Darryl Sutter took Maxwell Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice. Despite passing up some flashy names, Reinhart brings an all-around game and is the son of former Flame Paul Reinhart.

It should also be noted that Reinhart jumped from 157th to 79th between Central Scouting's midterm and final rankings for North American skaters.

Sutter stuck to the bloodlines in the next round as well, drafting physical defender John Ramage out of the University of Wisconsin. John is the son of former NHLer Rob Ramage.

Synopsis: Made the best of a bad situation.

Draft List: Maxwell Reinhart (64), Joey Leach (73), John Ramage (103), Bill Arnold (108), Michael Ferland (133), Patrick Holland (193).

OTTAWA SENATORS

Having found themselves in a favorable position in the first round (16th), the Senators opted instead to trade that pick to the St. Louis Blues for Swedish defenseman David Rundblad.

Rundblad was a first-rounder in 2009 (17th), with the potential to become a solid offensive puck mover. And despite the hype lost in trading a first round pick, the Sens must have felt he fit their needs better than any player left at 16.

The Sens didn't pick until the third round and ultimately settled with Czech winger Jakub Culek. Culek currently plays for Rimouski in the QMJHL and brings good size with great hands to complement his offensive vision.

Synopsis: Not a lot of action, not a lot of hype.

Draft List: Jakub Culek (76), Markus Sorensen (106), Mark Stone (178), Bryce Aneloski (196).

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.