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03/13/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to set a franchise record for the most wins in a single season tonight, as they visit the Chicago Blackhawks in a battle of playoff contenders at the United Center.
The Blue Jackets halted Pittsburgh's seven-game winning streak with a 4-3 shootout win on Thursday night. Kristian Huselius, who scored in regulation, beat Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrister, while Evgeni Malkin fired wide left on his subsequent chance to give Columbus the win.
The triumph matched the franchise-record 35 victories Columbus posted in 2005-06 and the club is now just four points shy of the single-season record 80 it notched last season. The Blue Jackets, sixth in the Western Conference and one point back of fifth-seeded Vancouver, have never made the playoffs since entering the league prior to 2000-01.
Jason Williams and Antoine Vermette tallied a goal and an assist apiece for the Blue Jackets, who have won three consecutive contests. Steve Mason made 38 saves to pick up his 28th win on the year, breaking the franchise's single- season record set by Marc Denis in 2002-03.
Columbus, 13-17-4 on the road this year, returns home to host Detroit on Sunday before getting a visit from Chicago on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks, who sit fourth overall in the West with 83 points, won for just the third time in eight games on Wednesday with a 3-2 shootout win over Carolina. Kris Versteeg had the deciding shootout tally, converting a wrister just below the crossbar in the fourth round.
Sergei Samsonov represented the last hope for Carolina, but Cristobal Huet made the save to secure the win for Chicago, its first over the Hurricanes since 1999.
Troy Brouwer and Versteeg scored in regulation for Chicago, while Huet made 29 saves for his 19th win of the season.
Chicago activated goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin off injured reserve on Wednesday. He has been out since February 11 due to a groin injury and could return to the ice tonight.
However, Martin Havlat is questionable with a lower-body injury that forced him to miss Wednesday's game. Havlat is tied with Jonathan Toews for second on the club with 57 points off 21 goals and 36 assists.
Chicago has split the first two games of a four-game homestand and is 18-6-6 at the United Center this year. The Blackhawks end the residency on Sunday versus the New York Islanders.
The 'Hawks have won both of their meetings with the Blue Jackets this year, claiming one victory by way of the shootout. Chicago has won three straight and five of the last six meetings in the series, as well as three of the last four as the host.
<< Gove, Norris soar into New Zealand Open lead
Queenstown, New Zealand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Gove fired a nine-under 63
Friday to jump into a share of the lead after two rounds of the New Zealand
Open.
Gove was joined at 10-under-par 134 by Australian Jason Norris, who fired
<< Collison propels UCLA past Washington State
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Collison had 15 points, as 15th-
ranked UCLA topped Washington State, 64-53, in a quarterfinal matchup of the
Pac-10 Tournament.
Nikola Dragovic added 12 points and six rebounds for UCLA
<< LeBron's third straight triple-double lifts Cavs over Suns
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James notched a triple-double with 34
points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, while Mo Williams exploded for 30 points
in Cleveland's 119-111 victory over Phoenix.
James recorded a triple-double for
<< Syracuse tops UConn in 6-OT epic
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Devendorf's buzzer-beater in regulation
left his hands too late to count, but after five overtimes of hanging on,
18th-ranked Syracuse dominated the sixth extra session to beat No.3
Connect
Bobcats hope to improve playoff standing vs. Rockets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will hit the road Friday night for a
showdown with the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Houston had its three-game winning streak stopped with a 102-96 loss versus
the Los Angeles Lakers on
Playoff-bound Magic aim for season sweep of Wizards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeast Division-leading Orlando Magic will take on
the Washington Wizards tonight from the Verizon Center.
Orlando, which is third in the East, has won five of its last six games and is
coming off Wednesday's 107-79
Celtics play host to Grizzlies in Beantown >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics haven't been up to their usual high
standards as of late, but the Memphis Grizzlies figure to provide a good
opportunity for the reigning world champions to get back on track.
The Celtics and Grizzlies s
Hawks resume long homestand vs. Pacers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks will try to remain perfect on their
current homestand when the Indiana Pacers pay a visit to Philips Arena this
evening.
Atlanta has posted victories in each the first three tests of the seven-game
resid
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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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