08/07/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers announced Thursday that Craig Berube has been named an assistant coach.
"Craig will bring new energy to the Flyers' coaching staff," said general manager Paul Holmgren. "His knowledge of, and experience with many of our young players will be invaluable."
Berube, who spent part of the 2006-07 season as an assistant with Philadelphia, put together a 46-27-4-3 mark with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League a season ago.
The 42-year-old Alberta native carved out a niche as an enforcer over a 17- year NHL career with five teams, including the Flyers. He enjoyed two stints with Philly (1986-91; 1998-2000), recording 20 goals and 54 points along with 1,138 penalty minutes in 323 games.
In 1,054 total contests, the burly winger nicknamed "Chief" racked up 61 goals, 159 points and 3,149 minutes in penalties.
Berube's hiring fills the vacancy created when Terry Murray was hired as Los Angeles Kings head coach. He joins Joe Mullen, Jack McIlhargey and Reggie Lemelin as assistants to head coach John Stevens.
"I'm very happy to get a chance to return to the NHL with the Flyers," said Berube. "A year ago, going back down to the Phantoms was a good opportunity for me to get experience and to show that I could be a head coach."
In addition, the club announced that John Paddock will be the new head coach of the Phantoms, replacing Berube.
The 54-year-old Paddock enjoyed a brief NHL career with the Capitals, Nordiques and Flyers.
However, he is better known as a head coach and general manager in the AHL and NHL. He won two Calder Cup titles in 1988 and 1999 with Hershey and Hartford, and spent four seasons as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets from 1991-95.
Last year, Paddock went 36-23-6 as head coach of the Ottawa Senators before his firing late in the regular season.
<< Curlin not avoiding tough competitors
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Managing partner Jess Jackson announced on
Tuesday that 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin will make his next start at
Saratoga in the $500,000 Woodward Stakes on the main track. This is an
indicat
<< Braves' road trip resumes in Arizona
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks' inability to generate offense
almost made them a part of history last time out. The team tries to get its
bats going tonight in the opener of a four-game set with the Atlanta Braves at
Chase F
<< Astros' Oswalt vies to extend dominance over Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Roy Oswalt faces his all-time favorite
opponent when his Houston Astros visit Great American Ball Park tonight for
the first of four weekend games with the Cincinnati Reds.
Oswalt enters the game w
<< Rockies, Nationals wrap up set with double dip
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Streaking right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez looks for his fifth
consecutive win and seventh in eight starts today, when the Colorado Rockies
host the Washington Nationals in the doubleheader finale of a weather-
impacte
Fulham signs England striker Johnson >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fulham has finally completed the signing of
England striker Andrew Johnson from Everton for an initial fee reported to be
in the region of $10.5 million.
The 27-year-old has opted to return to the ca
Barca will allow Messi to play in Olympics >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona will allow forward Lionel Messi
to remain with Argentina for the remainder of their Olympic campaign.
Barca, along with German clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke, had brought an action
to the Co
Mets' Castro leaves game >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets catcher Ramon Castro left
Thursday's game against the San Diego Padres with a sore right ankle.
Castro departed the contest prior to the bottom of the sixth inning, and was
replaced by R
Cates, Wake, Jackson named CFL Players of the Month >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saskatchewan running back Wes Cates, and
British Columbia teammates Cam Wake and Paris Jackson were honored as CFL
Players of the Month for July.
Cates earned offensive honors for the Riders by rus
Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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