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02/13/2007 -
BOSTON (AP) -The Boston Bruins completed the hat trick for John ``Chief'' Bucyk on Tuesday night, giving the Hall of Fame forward a third night in his honor to commemorate his 50th anniversary with the team.
The last Bruins captain to skate with the Stanley Cup, Bucyk was given a gold watch by current captain Zdeno Chara before Boston's game against the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins played with Bucyk's No. 9 on their jerseys, and highlights from his career were shown during the game.
``It's very exciting. I never thought there was another thing they could do for me,'' Bucyk said. ``I've had two nights already, they had my number retired, I'm in the Hall of Fame and now this.''
Bucyk was also honored in 1968, when the team feared he might have to retire because of a back injury. But he stuck around and, along with Bobby Orr, led the Bruins to the 1970 and '72 Stanley Cup championships.
``The 1970 Cup. To me that was the highlight of my career as a player,'' he said. ``You wait, and you want your name on the Cup. That was a great honor, and being the captain I was the one who accepted it and was the one who skated around the rink with it.''
Bucyk retired as the team's leading scorer, a mark that was surpassed by defenseman Ray Bourque in 1997. The Chief remains Boston's goal scoring leader, compiling 16 seasons of 20 or more goals, receiving two Lady Byng Trophies, and appearing in seven NHL All-Star Games. He was the fifth NHL player to score 50 goals with 100 points in a season.
A second night was dedicated to him in 1980, when his No. 9 was retired; a year later, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
On Tuesday, Bucyk was back on the ice for a pregame ceremony. This time while wearing a full Indian headdress.
``Hail to the Chief'' was played on the organ in recognition of the nickname Bucyk was given by teammate Bronco Horvath when he was breaking in during the 1950s. Bucyk shook hands and posed with former Bruins stars Johnny McKenzie, Terry O'Reilly, Cam Neely, and Bourque.
Bucyk played for the Bruins from 1957-78, worked in the broadcast booth and is now the team's road service coordinator. He has also been active in community service through the Boston Bruins Alumni Association.
``I am really enjoying this season. I hope and I think it will happen - that this team will turn around,'' he said. ``Still, we have a lot of time to make (the) playoffs. I hope they can string some games together and get us back there into the playoffs. I think the wheel will turn.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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