Cooke hit, GM meetings give NHL shot to protect players
Hockey Betting Lines
03/09/2010 -
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Here we go again.
The NHL has yet another chance to address the issue of blows to the head, and
while it's never a good thing when a questionable hit brings the topic into the
limelight, the latest infraction may been perfectly timed to affect change.
On Sunday, Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke leveled Boston Bruins star Marc Savard with
a blind side hit to the head. Like several hits we've seen this year, it was
vicious, and it once again brought to the forefront the debate on whether
something needs to be done to better protect players.
Cooke's hit came just one day before the NHL's annual general manager
meetings, putting even more pressure on the league to fix the problem. The GMs
are currently gathered in Boca Raton and although it was already on the
docket, the issue of head hits is really the only issue that matters now.
In short, they need to come up with some kind of an answer before the meetings
conclude on Wednesday.
The league owes it players like Savard, who has been diagnosed with a Grade
Two concussion as a result of the hit, to finally come up with something
concrete that will in some way make players safer from head injuries. After
all, Savard is a huge part of the Bruins' offense and may wind up missing the
rest of the season because of Cooke's action.
Even Cooke's teammate, Sidney Crosby, seemed open to rule changes after
Sunday's incident.
The Penguins captain and resident superstar said, "At some point there's got
to be a clear indication from the league, because we've seen this so many
times now."
And that's the most important thing for the NHL to come up with in Florida,
some sort of "clear indication" as to what is illegal.
As of now, the NHL only considers it to be a dirty hit if an elbow is
delivered to the head, and not if contact is made with a shoulder. All hits to
the head have been banned in international play, and we didn't see anybody
trying to cross that line during the Olympics, so maybe it could work in the
NHL.
But what Crosby implied in his statement is what the NHL needs to come up with
immediately -- a tangible rule change. It doesn't have to be a drastic change
like the IIHF's zero tolerance policy on head hits. Not that we have to worry
about that really, after all this is the NHL, which should never be confused
with an organization receptive to big changes.
But, under the current NHL rules, the Cooke hit did not even draw a penalty,
despite the fact that it caught a player from the blind side and was also
delivered well after Savard released the puck. The officials apparently didn't
think it was late and they saw that it was a shoulder hit so they let Cooke
skate by without a penalty.
Yet when you watch the video, and see Savard lying unconscious on the ice, can
you really feel that Cooke did nothing wrong? Is it possible that the GMs
could watch that replay over and over and think that the rules of the game, as
they are now, are sufficient to protect players?
A possible solution that is being kicked around in the blogoshpere is the
banning of blind-side hits by the NHL. That would certainly draw a line
against at least one type of dangerous hits.
After all, Savard wasn't irresponsibly skating with his head down, he was
simply in the act of shooting when he was obliterated by a player he couldn't
possibly have seen. Hardly seems fair.
A zero tolerance policy on blind-side hits, if enforced, would be a good
starting point and would prove to the NHL Players Association that the league
is serious about protecting its players.
The NHLPA has been way ahead of the league in identifying hits to the head as a
major problem. Why wouldn't they be...the NHLPA has seen over 200 concussions
reported by players over the last two and a half years and they have to answer
to their members when it comes to medical coverage.
As far as Cooke's suspension, the penalty of games should reach double-digits,
but as usual, the NHL brass will most likely fall short of expectations. Colin
Campbell, the NHL director of hockey operations and the man in charge of
suspensions, has routinely shown a lack of interest in making examples of
players.
The league even failed to give Philadelphia's Mike Richards a single game for
his notorious hit on Florida's David Booth earlier this season. That wasn't
officially Campbell's decision, since he recused himself from ruling on the
incident because his son Gregory plays for the Panthers, but clearly his
underlings were just following the precedent the director has set time and
time again.
Oh yeah, about the Richards hit, it occurred on October 24 and Booth didn't
see action in another game until January 31. Not that the league knew Booth
would miss over three months due to his concussion, but looking back, it seems
impossible that Richards didn't have to sit out a single game for his head
hit.
Missing the boat with Richards is just another reason why the NHL needs to
seize their moment in Boca Raton. If they won't stand up for the players now,
it seems unlikely that they ever will.
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What Is the Point Spread?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
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.
What Is the Point Spread?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
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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