AHL Stars ready to shine in Toronto

Hockey Betting Lines

01/23/2007 - Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2007 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic, set for this coming Sunday and Monday, will bring some of the best young players in hockey to Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto to continue a tradition that actually began 65 years ago.

While 2007 marks the 13th installment of the leagues modern All-Star event, the first AHL All-Star Game was held on Feb. 3, 1942, under the support of league president Maurice Podoloff. The game, played at the famed Arena in Cleveland, was a fundraiser for U.S. and Canadian efforts in World War II and featured some of the most notable names in league history, including Les Cunningham and Eddie Shore, two men whose names now grace AHL awards honoring the leagues MVP and outstanding defenseman, respectively.

The AHL All-Star Game was brought back in 1954, and for the next six years the contest pitted the defending Calder Cup champions against a team of league all-stars. Many of the AHLs great players of the era participated, including AHL Hall of Famer Fred Glover, who played in all six of these games. Other AHL All-Stars in the 1950s included future Hockey Hall of Famers Frank Mathers, Emile Francis, Brian Kilrea, Harry Lumley, Pierre Pilote, Gump Worsley and Johnny Bower, who made 47 saves in a 4-0 shutout win in the October 1956 game.

Following the All-Star Game in December 1959, the event was not held again until current league president and CEO David Andrews revived it 35 years later. In Providence on Jan. 17, 1995, a team of All-Stars from the AHLs six Canadian teams faced off against All-Stars from the leagues 11 U.S.-based clubs.

The annual Skills Competition was added in 1996, and the format was changed in 1997 to the current set-up pitting Canadian-born players against those born outside Canada.

Fans in Toronto - regarded as the hockey capital of the world - and a live international TV audience is set to once again witness the AHLs best face off on one of hockeys brightest stages, the 2007 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic. The AHL All-Star TV network will reach over 100 million households; click here for a schedule of air times.

ALL-STAR RADIO COVERAGE ... In addition to the extensive TV and video webcast coverage of the 2007 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic, Mondays AHL All-Star Game can be heard anywhere in the world on the official Web site of the AHL, theahl.com.

Toronto Marlies play-by-play voice John Bartlett will provide the call of the All-Star Game on a worldwide audio cybercast courtesy of the Marlies flagship radio home, AM640 Toronto.

The 2007 AHL All-Star Game will also be carried live on XM Satellite Radio and XM Canada, with more than six million subscribers, on Home Ice XM 204, the networks all-hockey channel.

CHERRY TO SPEAK AT ALL-STAR LUNCHEON ... Former American Hockey League All- Star defenseman and long-time Canadian broadcasting legend Don Cherry will serve as the guest speaker at the 2007 Hockey Hall of Fame AHL All-Star Classic Luncheon, Jan. 29 in Toronto.

The Luncheon, which is annually attended by 1,000 guests, will also feature the induction of four new members into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame. The Class of 2007 includes Fred "Bun" Cook, Dick Gamble, Gil Mayer and Mike Nykoluk.

ALL-STAR OFFICIALS NAMED ... The AHL has named the on-ice officials for the 2007 AHL All-Star Game in Toronto. Steve Kozari will serve as the games referee, while John Campbell and Scott Cherrey will be the linesmen.

It will be the first AHL All-Star appearance for all three.

500 FOR SLANEY ... Philadelphia Phantoms captain John Slaney, who has more career points in AHL All-Star Game play than anyone in league history, on Sunday became the first defenseman - and the 72nd player overall - ever to record 500 points in an AHL career.

With his second-period assist against Norfolk, Slaney now has 160 goals and 340 assists in 597 career AHL contests.

ETC. ... Omahas All-Star goaltender Curtis McElhinney is 0-6-0 this season against Chicago and Peoria, and 18-2-0 against the rest of the American Hockey League... Norfolk All-Stars Brandon Bochenski (4g, 5a), Troy Brouwer (3g, 4a) and Martin St. Pierre (2g, 6a) combined for 24 points in five games last week... All-Star Wade Dubielewicz set a Bridgeport team record with 51 saves in Saturdays 4-3 shootout win at Hershey... Toronto rookie Robbie Earl, a native Chicagoan and a University of Wisconsin product, scored at Milwaukee on Saturday night before potting the decisive shootout goal in Chicago on Sunday... Mark Hartigans hat trick against Albany on Friday gave him 106 career goals with Syracuse and made him the Crunchs all-time leading goal scorer, surpassing Lonny Bohonos (104)... After going 29 games without a goal, Lowell rookie Stephen Gionta scored in back-to-back games for the Devils over the weekend... Yan Stastny scored two goals and was a plus-4 in Peorias 5-4 win at Iowa on Saturday... Springfield is 6-1 this season in games decided after regulation (1-0 in overtime, 5-1 in shootouts)... Chicago snapped a seven-game home winless streak with a 7-2 victory over San Antonio on Saturday night, with 14,927 fans in attendance at Allstate Arena... Average attendance at 32 weekend games in the AHL was 6,431... With the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo taking over the AT&T Center, the Rampage kick off a 16-game, 28- day road odyssey covering nearly 7,500 miles on Thursday night with a game against the Marlies at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

(Courtesy of AHL)

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.

2007 online football betting Preview

My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."

The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.

To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.

However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.

Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.

Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.

Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.

2007 College Football Betting Preview

There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.

The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.

So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.

USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.

USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.

Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.

That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.

The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"

The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.

Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.

Las Vegas Sports Lines

The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.

It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."

The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.

The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.

Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.

After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.

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