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03/17/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Brodeur got to tie Patrick Roy's all-time wins record in his hometown. Now, he will get a chance to set a new mark in front of the fans that have supported him for 16 seasons.
Brodeur gets his first shot at career win No. 552 tonight in the New Jersey Devils' home test against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Prudential Center.
A Montreal native, Brodeur took the ice on Saturday in front of a Canadiens crowd that included Roy and turned aside 22 shots in a 3-1 victory over the Habs. The 36-year-old was flooded by teammates after the final buzzer and was given a standing ovation by the Montreal faithful that witnessed the bulk of Roy's 551 career wins.
The victory was New Jersey's and Brodeur's seventh in eight games since he returned from elbow surgery that sidelined him for 50 contests from early November through late February. The four-time Vezina Trophy winner, who is also just three shutouts away from tying Terry Sawchuk's all-time record of 103, is 13-3-2 with a 2.06 goals against average in 18 starts this year.
A seven-time 40-win netminder, Brodeur had started at least 70 games in each of his previous nine seasons and is 551-293-22 with 105 ties and a 2.20 GAA in 986 career games. He began his career with the Devils in 1991-92 and has never worn another uniform, guiding New Jersey to three Stanley Cups.
Brodeur also sports a 7-2-0 career mark with four ties and a 1.88 GAA versus the Blackhawks. He is one of the main reasons that Chicago is winless in its last seven trips to New Jersey (0-5-1 with a tie) and hasn't won in the Garden State since December 30, 1997.
The Devils are also unbeaten (9-0 with two ties) in their last 11 overall matchups versus Chicago and notched a 2-1 shootout win at home when the clubs last met on November 9, 2006.
Lost in all the Brodeur focus is the fact that Patrik Elias will get his first chance at becoming New Jersey's all-time leading scorer tonight. Elias had a goal and an assist versus Montreal to give him 701 career points, tied with current Devils assistant coach John MacLean for first-place on the team's all- time list.
Brian Rolston notched his 300th career goal in the win over the Canadiens, while Jamie Langenbrunner had a goal to extend his point streak to eight games (5 goals, 5 assists).
New Jersey also brings a nine-game home winning streak into tonight's game. The Atlantic Division-leading club, which is one point up on Washington for the East's second seed, is 24-10-1 at home and hasn't lost at The Rock since February 7.
The Blackhawks don't seem like the ones who will end that run, as they went just 1-3-0 on a four-game homestand and have lost four of five overall with Sunday's 4-2 setback to the New York Islanders.
Chicago's recent slide has allowed Vancouver to pull within two points of the Blackhawks for the fourth seed in the West.
The Blackhawks' Kris Versteeg scored in his third straight game on Sunday, allowing the rookie to reach the 20-goal mark, while Patrick Kane also scored in the loss. Nikolai Khabibulin returned to the ice for the first time since suffering a groin injury on February 11 against Atlanta and allowed four goals on only 19 shots.
Chicago is 19-13-3 on the road this year and will visit Columbus on Wednesday.
<< Canucks try for 10th straight home win vs. Stars
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will be shooting for a franchise
record for consecutive home victories when the scorching club welcomes the
Dallas Stars to GM Place this evening.
Vancouver has ripped off nine straight wins on home i
<< Surging Blues take on Oilers in battle of playoff contenders
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A recent surge has the St. Louis Blues right back in the
playoff mix, while the Edmonton Oilers have been playing themselves out of the
race as of late. The two postseason contenders face off in a key clash tonight
at Rexall
<< Wild hope to get on track at home versus Avs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild hope a return home and a visit from one
of the Western Conference's bottom feeders will enable them to break out of a
horrendous recent slump. The club will try to get back on track in tonight's
matchup wit
<< Flyers aim for first win in Detroit in over 20 years
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting an important road trip off to an undesired
start, the Philadelphia Flyers will attempt to rebound in a place where they
haven't tasted victory in more than 20 years.
Philadelphia gets a chance to end its exte
Sabres hoping to end struggles in Ottawa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will attempt to halt a five-game road
losing streak in a city where they haven't had much luck as of late. Buffalo
wraps its season series with the Ottawa Senators tonight at Scotiabank Place.
Buffalo ha
Penguins visit Thrashers in clash of surging clubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Pittsburgh Penguins aim for a series sweep of
the Atlanta Thrashers, who are on the longest winning streak in franchise
history, when the two clubs meet tonight at Mellon Arena.
Pittsburgh has won four straight
Colts re-sign OL Federkeil >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts re-signed offensive
lineman Dan Federkeil on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Entering his fourth season in the NFL, all with the Colts, he has played in 22
games, inc
Maple Leafs try to avenge recent loss to Lightning >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs will
meet for the second time in five days tonight, as the two franchises battle it
out at St. Pete Times Forum.
The Lightning picked up their third victory versus the Ma
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.
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