NHL: Five burning Northwest Division questions

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09/07/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks plowed through the Northwest Division with a 15-7-2 mark en route to the third best record in the Western Conference last season. However, their regular season success did not translate to the playoffs, as they fell in the conference semifinals for the second time in the last three years.

Putting the puck in the net was the least of the Canucks' worries, as the team finished with a second-place finish to the Washington Capitals in goals scored. The problem was a defense that allowed three goals or more in 15 of the final 21 regular season games.

Since Vancouver did not employ a shutdown defenseman after Willie Mitchell was lost in mid-January, the likes of Shane O'Brien and Andrew Alberts, and even Kevin Bieksa, averaged just as much ice time as the trio of Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Edler and Sami Salo.

The main question coming into the new season is how much the new additions on defense - Dam Hamhuis (Nashville) and Keith Ballard (Florida) - will help solidify the unit, especially in the playoffs?

Hamhuis (arguably the top free agent defensive defensemen) and Ballard, (third in the league in blocked shots), will play important roles with Vancouver, especially on the penalty kill - an area of weakness all season long, as well as in the playoffs when the Canucks allowed 17 power-play goals on only 54 chances.

With the pressure of an Olympic year on home ice off of goaltender Roberto Luongo, look for the gold medalist netminder to regain his past form and lead Vancouver into the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1994.

CAN COLORADO'S CRAIG ANDERSON REPEAT LAST YEAR'S SUCCESS?

Most prognosticators predicted the Avalanche would finish last in the Northwest Division last season after compiling just 69 points the year before. That was not to be the case, as Colorado stunned the experts with 95 points and a spot in the postseason.

Leading the charge was Craig Anderson, who came into 2009-10 with a grand total of 88 career starts in six career NHL seasons. Tomas Vokoun's former backup in Florida set the city of Denver on fire in his first two games, with wins over San Jose and Vancouver on his way to a 10-2-2 October and an outstanding .939 save percentage.

However, his post-Olympic numbers were pedestrian, with Anderson winning only seven times in 18 games with a 3.28 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage. Some folks pointed to his sizeable workload (71 total starts) as the reason for the late-season demise but how would that account for his tremendous postseason play against San Jose, a series in which he literally stood on his head?

Look for backup Peter Budaj to ease Anderson's load this season, especially since the organization acted quickly in re-signing the five-year veteran well before the July 1 free agency deadline. To that end, Anderson should continue his outstanding play leading the Avalanche to the playoffs for a second straight season.

WILL THE RETURN OF JOKINEN AND TANGUAY PAY DIVIDENDS?

The Flames were rolling along at the midway point of last year with a 24-12-5 mark, but a second-half slide (16-20-5) prevented the club from reaching the postseason for the first time since 2003.

Scoring was a huge problem as the club ranked last in the league with 204 goals. Only two players tallied more than 15, with Jarome Iginla potting 32 and Rene Bourque netting 27 - a far cry from 2008-09 when five forwards hit for 16 or more.

Olli Jokinen never meshed on the top line with Iginla, so last year's trade with the Rangers made sense. Nevertheless, Jokinen was brought back this off- season along with another former Flame, Alex Tanguay - a winger that has seen his goal totals drop each season since the lockout.

Will both forwards help Calgary move up the ladder in goals scored when they failed the first time around? The final answer will not come until the season starts but the prognosis is not a positive one.

CAN MINNESOTA ENJOY A FAST START IN 2010-11?

In college football, it usually takes a full season for a team to adjust to a new coach and his system. If one applies that logic to the NHL, look for the Wild to have a much-improved campaign.

Minnesota got out of the gate slowly last year with a 3-10 record in its first 13 games. In fact, the Wild did not win a game by more than one goal until its 17th contest.

What should be taken from last season was a solid 35-26-8 mark over the final 69 games. More importantly, the team played exceptionally well inside its own division, tying Vancouver with a 15-7-2 record in those contests.

The Wild was also tough to beat at home. Only seven of the other 29 squads won more games in their own building last year, and as luck would have it, eight of this season's first 10 games (after the two matchups with Carolina in Finland) will be played at the Xcel Energy Center.

WILL THE KIDS BE ALRIGHT?

Not much is expected from Edmonton this season except the steady progression of a pair of teenagers and the reigning Canadian Junior player of the year.

Taylor Hall, the 2010 first overall draft choice, and Magnus Paajarvi are the teens, while Jordan Eberle is the elder statesman at 20 years of age.

Only Calgary and Florida scored fewer goals last season than Edmonton, so look for the three youngsters to get ample opportunities to shine. If they can inject some quickness and passion into the team, the Oilers have a chance to climb out of the NHL cellar, especially with Ales Hemsky healthy for the first time since last November.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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