Blackhawks ship Versteeg to Maple Leafs

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06/30/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Battling against the salary cap, the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks have traded gritty forward Kris Versteeg to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a five-player deal.

The Maple Leafs also acquired the rights to forward Bill Sweatt while sending Chicago forwards Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis.

Versteeg, who burst onto the hockey scene with 22 goals and 31 assists in 78 games as a rookie in 2008-09, recorded 20 goals and 24 assists in 79 regular season games this past season while adding 14 points in the team's run to the Stanley Cup.

The 24-year-old had recently signed a three-year contract last offseason after being named a finalist for the Calder Trophy, but the Blackhawks were forced to make some roster moves due to the restrictions of the salary cap.

Versteeg moves to a team that is in desperate need of his offensive skill. The Maple Leafs, who finished with the league's second worst record at 30-38-14, scored only 214 goals last season, which was 13th out of 15 Eastern Conference teams.

Sweatt, 21, was a second-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2007 and has spent the last four seasons playing for Colorado College. Last season, in 39 games, he registered 15 goals and 18 assists.

Stalberg, a sixth-round pick in 2006, split last season with the Leafs and the club's AHL affiliate. In 40 NHL games, he registered nine goals and five assists.

DiDomenico was a sixth-round pick of Toronto in 2007 and played only 12 games last season, all for the Drummondville Voltiguers of the QMJHL. Despite the limited action, he registered seven goals and 15 assists.

Paradis will move on to his third organization after being sent to Toronto last season from Carolina for Jiri Tlusty. He finished the season with two assists in four games with the Leafs' AHL affiliate after registering 24 goals and 20 assists in 63 games with the QMJHL's Shawinigan Cataractes.

The 19-year-old Paradis was originally the 27th overall pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Hurricanes.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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