Ducks, Stars clash in Anaheim

Hockey Betting Lines

03/06/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minus a few familiar faces, the Anaheim Ducks will host a Pacific Division foe tonight when they welcome the Dallas Stars for a battle at Honda Center.

Anaheim is tied with Edmonton and Dallas for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference, but the Ducks were certainly sellers at Wednesday's trade deadline. The Ducks dealt away forwards Samuel Pahlsson and Travis Moen and defensemen Steve Montador and Kent Huskins. Pahlsson, Moen and Huskins were all members of Anaheim's 2007 Stanley Cup championship squad.

The Ducks mainly received draft picks and prospects in return for those players, but they also acquired a pair of players with NHL experience in forwards Erik Christensen and Petteri Nokelainen.

Anaheim, however, did hold on to All-Star defensemen Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, who were both rumored to be available in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline.

The Ducks are 3-1-1 in their last five games and are coming off Tuesday's overtime loss in Chicago. Martin Havlat scored the game-winning goal 1:40 into OT to lift the Blackhawks to the 3-2 win at United Center.

Bobby Ryan netted his 22nd goal of the season and Drew Miller also scored for Anaheim, which concluded a six-game road trip with a 3-2-1 mark. Jean- Sebastien Giguere allowed three goals on 37 shots in the loss.

The Ducks are kicking off a five-game homestand tonight and will try to avoid a third straight loss at the Honda Center. Anaheim has a 15-13-3 record as the host this season.

Dallas didn't make any trades at Wednesday's deadline, but did pick up veteran centerman Brendan Morrison off waivers from Anaheim. Morrison played his first game with the Stars in Thursday's overtime setback in Los Angeles and will get a chance to face his former club tonight.

The Stars were handed a 5-4 setback by the Kings, as Michal Handzus netted his second career hat trick by scoring the winning goal at 1:31 of OT.

James Neal, Loui Eriksson, Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro were the goal scorers for the Stars, who lost for the sixth time in seven contests. Marty Turco made 35 saves for Dallas.

Tonight marks the end of a three-game road trip for the Stars, who are 13-14-4 as the guest this year and have lost three of their last five road tilts.

Dallas and Anaheim have split four meetings so far this year, but the Stars have won eight out of 13 in the series. The Stars have also taken two of three and three of their last five tests at the Honda Center.

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Super Bowl XLIV Odds

Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.

Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.

That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.

Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.

After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.

The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).

To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.

NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV

New England Patriots 8/1

Dallas Cowboys 9/1

New York Giants 10/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

Indianapolis Colts 12/1

San Diego Chargers 12/1

Baltimore Ravens 14/1

Tennessee Titans 16/1

Carolina Panthers 18/1

Philadelphia Eagles 18/1

New Orleans Saints 20/1

Atlanta Falcons 25/1

Denver Broncos 25/1

Green Bay Packers 25/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1

Minnesota Vikings 25/1

New York Jets 25/1

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Chicago BearS 30/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1

Buffalo Bills 35/1

Houston TexaNS 35/1

Miami Dolphins 35/1

Washington Redskins 35/1

Seattle SeahawkS 50/1

Cleveland Browns 55/1

Cincinnati Bengals 60/1

San Francisco 49ers 60/1

Oakland Raiders 75/1

St. Louis Rams 75/1

Detroit Lions 100/1

Kansas City Chiefs 100/1

Odds as of: 2/2/09

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.