Sharks load up for playoffs

Hockey Betting Lines

02/28/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doug Wilson must quickly be moving up Joe Thornton's Christmas card list.

Not only did San Jose's executive vice president and general manager rescue Thornton from hockey purgatory last season, also known as Boston, but Wilson has picked up some nice pieces for Thornton this campaign as well.

The Sharks came out big winners in Tuesday's trade deadline when they acquired forward Bill Guerin from the St. Louis Blues for forwards Ville Nieminen and Jay Barriball and a 2007 first-round pick that they received from New Jersey.

That deal came just two days after acquiring veteran defenseman Craig Rivet from Montreal for defenseman Josh Gorges and the Sharks' first-round pick in the 2007 Draft.

"I'm thrilled, I am really excited about it," Guerin said about the trade. "This is one of those teams that was on my radar. I am very happy to be going there."

Guerin had 28 goals and 19 assists for 47 points in 61 games with the Blues this season. It was his first season in St. Louis as the former first-round pick has also skated with New Jersey, Edmonton, Boson and Dallas.

In 1,010 career games, Guerin has 356 goals and 354 assists for 710 points.

The addition of Guerin now gives the Sharks a potentially powerful line combination of Guerin, Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo. That would also allow San Jose to drop promising rookie Ryane Clowe onto a line with leading scorer Patrick Marleau should it choose to do so.

San Jose did trade away a pair of first-round picks to pull off the two deals, but with young talents like Clowe, forward Joe Pavelski and defenseman Matt Carle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic already cracking the roster, the Sharks were able to mortgage a little bit of the future.

The Sharks also moved a pair of players before the deadline, sending goaltender Nolan Schaefer to Pittsburgh for a seventh-round pick in the 2007 draft and forward Scott Parker to Colorado for a sixth-round selection in 2008.

Both players were easily expendable. Schaefer is 27 and is stuck behind Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala on the depth chart while Parker, who was originally selected by the Avs in the first round of the 1998 draft, played in just 11 games this season. Parker has been on injured reserve three times this season because of ankle problems.

Hopefully, Guerin and Rivet will provide a spark to a Shark club that has lost five of its last seven games. That recent losing stretch has dropped San Jose two points behind second-place Dallas and seven points behind Anaheim for the lead in the Pacific Division.

The Sharks will get a chance to make up ground on their own terms however. The club hosts Nashville on Wednesday and then faces consecutive road games against the Ducks and Stars.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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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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