Avalanche stick with plan of relying on youth

Hockey Betting Lines

07/02/2010 -

DENVER (AP) -The Colorado Avalanche won't stray from their strategy by taking a shortcut in free agency.

The plan is to build a contender from within the organization, an approach that Avalanche general manager Greg Sherman steadfastly believes in and backs.

No quick fixes.

The Avalanche were rather quiet on the opening day of free agency Thursday, electing to allow veterans Darcy Tucker, Brett Clark, Ruslan Salei, Stephane Yelle and Marek Svatos to become unrestricted free agents.

The stage is being set for the youngsters.

``I remain focused on that plan,'' Sherman said of the youth movement. ``You see what we have put together here with a young group of enthusiastic, energetic, exciting players we have on our own club. I feel very strongly about the group of players we have.''

The Avalanche hit the jackpot in the 2009 draft by taking Matt Duchene with the third overall pick and Ryan O'Reilly early in the second round. The talented duo helped the Avalanche surge back into the playoffs in 2009-10 after finishing last in the Western Conference the year before.

While that success may have been unexpected around the league, the Avalanche fully envisioned the resurgence. This is an organization with lofty standards, having won the Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001.

And this was just the first step in restoring respectability.

``We felt very confident in the group of players that were assembled,'' Sherman said.

That's why Colorado doesn't figure to wade too deep into free agency this summer.

Instead, the team will concentrate on getting deals done for some of its upstarts, players such as Chris Stewart, Brandon Yip, Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Daniel Winnik, who was acquired Monday in a deal with Phoenix.

They all were tendered a qualifying offer, meaning Colorado has the right to match any deal or will be given draft-choice compensation should a player bolt.

Sherman wouldn't elaborate on how close he was to any potential deal with any of the players, saying ``those conversations are ongoing.''

``These are the type of players, the young group, that we are building within and building around,'' Sherman said.

With Clark and Salei hitting the free agent market, the Avalanche appear to be in need of a few more defensemen to join captain Adam Foote, Scott Hannan and John-Michael Liles in the back.

However, Sherman maintained the solution at defense could already be in the minor-league system, possibly a player such as Kevin Shattenkirk, the 14th overall pick in the 2007 draft.

``We certainly believe that our depth on the blue line is very strong,'' Sherman said. ``As we look toward the future, we feel very confident about the young group we have, that we're going to build around.''

NOTES: There have been overtures that former Avalanche great Joe Sakic wouldn't mind joining the organization in some capacity. Sherman said the team was open to the possibility.

``I think Joe was very clear a couple of weeks ago - he's in no rush,'' Sherman said. ``At the appropriate time, Joe will reach out and indicate what he's looking to do with the franchise. ... When Joe's ready, those discussions will be had.''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.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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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:

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