Brodeur notches another shutout, moves closer to Sawchuk

Hockey Betting Lines

03/20/2009 - Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the wins record now in his grasp, Martin Brodeur is inching closer to another fabled milestone.

The Montreal native turned aside all 35 shots he faced to notch the 101st shutout of his legendary career, as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-0, at Prudential Center. Brodeur is now just two shy of the great Terry Sawchuk in that category.

Brodeur notched the 552nd win of his career on Tuesday against Chicago to pass Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy for first on the all-time list. Brodeur was given a rare night off Wednesday when New Jersey lost at Carolina, but was his usual self two nights later.

Patrik Elias scored twice for the Devils, who have won a club-record 11 straight games on home ice.

Niklas Backstrom got the start between the pipes for Minnesota and was yanked in the second period after yielding three goals on 11 shots. Josh Harding finished with 17 saves for the Wild, who had recorded at least a point in five of their last six games coming in (2-1-3).

A misplay by a Wild defenseman led to a 1-0 lead for the Devils. New Jersey backliner Johnny Oduya flipped the puck from center ice and Marek Zidlicky corralled the dump-in behind his own net, where the tenacious forecheck of Brian Gionta forced him to throw the puck out blindly to Elias. Elias then wasted little time and snapped the puck behind a bewildered Backstrom at the 1:24 mark of the middle frame.

It was 2-0 when a sliding Gionta tapped in a feed from Zach Parise at 9:59 of the second period, and Oduya lit the lamp 63 seconds later, unleashing a drive from the point that bounced and fluttered over the left shoulder of Backstrom.

Elias added a power-play tally in the third period.

Game Notes

Parise collected two assists...New Jersey is 6-1 with two ties in the nine all-time meetings against the Wild...Minnesota has lost four straight, five of six and eight of its last 10 road tests.

Oddsaker Hockey Betting News

<< Gibson perfect from field as USC tops BC
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Taj Gibson had the perfect game, shooting a 10-for-10 from the field for 24 points, as the 10th-seeded Southern California Trojans dominated the second half to defeat Boston College, 72-55, in first- round a

<< Brodeur, Devils blank Wild
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the wins record now in his grasp, Martin Brodeur is inching closer to another fabled milestone. The Montreal native turned aside all 35 shots he faced to notch the 101st shutout of his legendary

<< Wise choice: Arizona advances with win over Utah
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nic Wise scored 29 points as Arizona, one of the last bubble teams to get an at-large NCAA Tournament berth, pulled out an 84-71 win over Utah in a first round contest in the Midwest Region. Chase Budinger

<< Xavier gets balanced attack in win over Portland State
Boise, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. Anderson poured in 14 points, as fourth- seeded Xavier dominated 13th-seeded Portland State, 77-59, in an East Region first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament. Derrick Brown, B.J. Raymond, and Dan

<< Top-seeded Louisville pulls away to beat Morehead State
Dayton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samardo Samuels led a balanced attack with 15 points and seven rebounds, and the Louisville Cardinals stymied the Morehead State Eagles, 74-54, in Midwest Regional first-round action of the NCAA Tournam

Nowitzki's last-second shot lifts Mavs over Pacers >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers with 23 points, and his jumper with 1.1 ticks on the clock gave the Dallas Mavericks a 94-92 win against the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse. Jason Terry had 17 po

Bobcats creep closer to playoffs with win over Toronto >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boris Diaw equaled a season-high with 30 points, while Gerald Wallace matched that total as the Bobcats continued their push for a playoff spot with a 102-89 win over the Toronto Raptors. Wallace also h

LaRose nets a pair as Hurricanes rally to overtake Isles >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chad LaRose scored twice, including the game- winner in the third period, as the Carolina Hurricanes edged the New York Islanders, 5-4, at RBC Center. Matt Cullen had two goals and an assist while R

Earthquakes sign midfielder McDonald >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes signed Brandon McDonald, the Major League Soccer team announced on Friday. The 6-foot-1 midfielder appeared in 16 matches, including 10 starts, with the Los Angeles Galaxy last

Celtics' Garnett returns after month-long absence >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Garnett returned to Boston's starting lineup against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday after a posterior muscle strain of his right knee kept the All-Star forward sidelined for one month. Without Garnet

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.