Montreal doubles up Los Angeles

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Gionta and Benoit Pouliot each had a goal and an assist in Montreal's 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Tomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore also scored for the Canadiens, who bounced back from a 3-2 loss at San Jose on Thursday. Scott Gomez had a pair of assists, while Jaroslav Halak stopped 23 shots as the Canadiens topped the Kings for the fifth straight time.

Montreal has 68 points and moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Atlanta and the New York Rangers.

Anze Kopitar and Fredrik Modin had the goals for Los Angeles, which has lost back-to-back contests. Jonathan Quick made 21 saves in defeat, just the Kings' third in regulation in the last 15 games.

Moore's shot from above the left circle beat Kopitar high to the glove side for a 2-1 lead 4:43 into the middle period, and it became a two-goal lead 36 seconds into the third when Pouliot lifted the disc from in front over the fallen Los Angeles netminder.

Modin scored 7:12 into the period on a backhander between Halak's pads, but Plekanec solidified the win with an empty-net tally with 71 seconds left.

Gionta scored just 22 seconds into the game on a wrist shot, but Kopitar evened the contest with a backhand tally at 18:16 of the same period.

Game Notes

The Kings lost for the first time (5-1-0) against the Northeast Division this season...Los Angeles hasn't bested the Habs since March 8, 2003...Kopitar scored his 30th goal of the season. His career high is 32, set in 2007-08. This was his 300th NHL game...The Kings are 13-4-0 against the Eastern Conference this season.

Wwwnyra Hockey Betting News

<< Bucks topple Cavs; James rests
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Jennings led five Milwaukee players in double figures with 25 points on 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, as the Bucks took down the Cleveland Cavaliers, minus LeBron James, 92-85, at the Bradley Center.

<< Big Sky Conference Tournament Recaps
Bozeman, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melvin Jones sunk a three-pointer with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation, sending the sixth-seeded Portland State Vikings to a 68-65 victory over the third-seeded Montana State Bobcats in the quarter

<< Suns help Pacers finish four-game trip winless
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amare Stoudemire poured in a game-best 30 points to go with six rebounds, as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Indiana Pacers, 113-105, at US Airways Center. Grant Hill added 22 points and eight rebo

<< UTEP clips UAB to finish season on 14-game win streak
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Caracter scored UTEP's final six points and finished with 13 to lead the 24th ranked Miners to a 52-50 win over the UAB Blazers at Don Haskins Center in the regular-season finale for both teams. Myro

<< Stewart nets hat trick as Avs rout Blues
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Stewart netted a hat trick and added an assist as the Colorado Avalanche took a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Blues at Pepsi Center. Milan Hejduk added two goals while T.J. Galiardi had a goal and tw

Sharks rally in third to down Blue Jackets >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov made 21 stops, and San Jose rallied in the third period to take a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at HP Pavilion. Dany Heatley and Joe Pavelski each had a goal for the Sharks, who h

Buckeyes top Wisconsin in Big Ten semifinals >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Prahalis scored 29 points and went 4-of-7 from three-point range in leading 10th-ranked Ohio State to an 82-73 win over Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. Jantel Laven

Redskins sign OL Hicks >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins bolstered their offensive line by signing veteran guard Artis Hicks on Saturday. The deal is reportedly for three years and worth as much as $9 million. Hicks has played for

Webb blows away field at ANZ Ladies Masters >>
Gold Coast, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Karrie Webb, who led by one entering Sunday's final round of the ANZ Ladies Masters, fired a course-record 11-under 61 to blow away the field for a six-stroke victory. Webb completed her seventh AN

Teenager Seung-yul Noh wins Malaysian Open >>
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seung-yul Noh got up and down for birdie on the final hole Sunday to fend off K.J. Choi and win the Malaysian Open by a single stroke. The South Korean Noh shot four-under 68 and completed his

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.