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06/21/2010 -
DENVER (AP) -After hitting the jackpot with two high picks in the draft last June, the Colorado Avalanche feel the pressure to replicate that this summer.
Hardly easy.
Those two players they selected weren't your typical teenagers.
From now on, every Colorado draft pick will be measured against Matt Duchene (third overall) and Ryan O'Reilly (No. 33).
Hardly fair.
The performances Colorado received last season from Duchene and O'Reilly were far from the standard. The talented twosome became a crucial component in the team's turnaround, lifting the organization back into the playoffs a year after finishing in the basement.
``That instant success tells us we're on the right path,'' said Avalanche director of scouting Rick Pracey, whose team has seven total picks - including the 17th overall - during the two-day draft that begins Friday night. ``But I think the hockey fan base is knowledgeable enough to realize it's more of a wait and see thing.''
Wait and see didn't really apply to these two.
Duchene and O'Reilly made the team out of camp as the Avalanche became the first NHL squad to boast two 18-year-olds in the season opener since the Winnipeg Jets suited up Shane Doan and Jason Doig in 1995.
The youngsters held their ground quite nicely, too, the ever-elusive Duchene leading all NHL rookies with 55 points and O'Reilly contributing in less glamorous areas such as faceoffs and blocked shots.
And to think these two were almost sent to their major-junior squads for one more year of maturing.
Instead, Duchene moved into captain Adam Foote's basement to help advance his hockey education while O'Reilly took up residence with veteran Darcy Tucker.
With the duo's rapid rise, expectations have gone up.
``There is pressure on us,'' Pracey said of uncovering that next draft gem. ``But I think it's more that there is pressure for us to find a player than it is that plays next year.''
Going into this summer's draft, the Avalanche aren't really targeting a certain position.
Rather, they're taking a similar approach as last time - scouring for the best player available. That's how O'Reilly wound up in Colorado.
The team had him pegged as a top-15 prospect. So when O'Reilly began to tumble down the board, the Avalanche attempted to move up to snare him.
A trade partner couldn't be found, yet O'Reilly still fell to Colorado.
``We're confident that depending on how the board shakes out, we're looking at a group of players in our area that we'd be happy to get our hands on,'' Pracey said. ``But I would like to hit it out (of the park) every year.''
Colorado has actually had a string of bountiful drafts in recent years.
In fact, the 2010 playoff roster against the veteran-laden San Jose Sharks contained 16 players who were drafted by the franchise. That included another first-rounder in Chris Stewart (2006) and second-rounders such as T.J. Galiardi (2007), Paul Stastny (2005) and Ryan Stoa (2005).
Buoyed by a group of fledglings, no one really expected Colorado to accomplish much of anything last season.
Clearly, the prognosticators concluded, another last-place finish awaited.
The young players developed an us-against-the-hockey-world mindset, serving them well all season long. Colorado regrouped from a late-season slide to make the postseason for a 12th time in 14 seasons in Denver.
In the playoffs, Colorado had 12 different members make their debut in a loss to the Sharks, including coach Joe Sacco, who was hired soon after last season's meltdown and groomed this core of kids into a cohesive unit.
He relied heavily on the leadership of Foote, who recently signed on for one more season of mentoring despite turning 39 in July.
``Having a young group like we did last year come together and compete at a high level was very special,'' Foote recently said. ``We're looking to carry that momentum into next season.''
Another draft class like last season certainly would help. But striking gold twice is a difficult proposition.
``We are obviously very pleased with the way things worked out last year,'' Pracey said. ``But I think it's important to keep in mind that having two 18-year-olds play in the National Hockey League certainly isn't the norm. So we have to remind ourselves that this is a process.
``The best way to stay the course is to stay with the plan and not get ahead of ourselves - keep in mind what has been successful in the past.''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.
<< Federer, Djokovic survive; Roddick rolls at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer was on
the ropes but managed to avoid an opening-round shocker against game Colombian
Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon on Monday. Novak Djokovic, like Federer, also
needed
<< Nationals send P Lannan to minors
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals have optioned
opening-day starter John Lannan to Double-A Harrisburg.
The left-hander was 2-5 with a 5.76 earned run average in 14 starts this
season.
In a correspond
<< Jeff Gordon became driver enemy number one at Sonoma
Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Gordon is a four-time NASCAR Cup champion
and a five-time race winner at Infineon Raceway, but at the conclusion of
Sunday's race at the Northern California road course, Gordon was a marked man
in the garage.
<< Coyotes re-sign LW Pyatt
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes re-signed left wing Taylor
Pyatt to a two-year contract on Monday.
The 28-year-old Pyatt had 12 goals and 23 points with a career-high plus-13
rating in 74 games last season, his first w
Nuggets make qualifying offer to Kleiza >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets have extended a qualifying
offer to restricted free agent forward Linas Kleiza. Terms of the offer were
not disclosed.
Kleiza spent this past season playing in Greece, but prior to that
Wild acquire RW Staubitz from Sharks >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild added depth to the
forward position on Monday by acquiring right wing Brad Staubitz from the San
Jose Sharks for a 2010 fifth round draft pick.
"Brad is a tough, physical player
FSU eliminates Gators from CWS; Clemson handles Arizona State >>
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike McGee hit a three-run homer, knocked in four
and earned the save, as Florida State eliminated Florida from the College
World Series with an 8-5 victory at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Tyler Holt chipped in wi
Kim leads Women's Public Links stroke play by one >>
Notre Dame, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Kimberly Kim carded a
five-under 66 Monday to take the lead after the first round of stroke play at
the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
The 18-year-old Kim won the 200
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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