Scott Niedermayer calling it a career

Hockey Betting Lines

06/22/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Niedermayer has reportedly decided to announce his retirement after an 18-year NHL career.

The Anaheim Ducks have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon and the Orange County Register reported that Niedermayer will make it official at that time.

Niedermayer spent the past five seasons with the Ducks after 12 full seasons and part of another with the New Jersey Devils. He won three Stanley Cup titles with New Jersey and led the Ducks to the 2007 championship while winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

The Edmonton native will turn 37 years old in August and had previously hinted at retirement. He considered calling it a career after the Ducks' title run and again in the summers of 2008 and 2009, but in 2009-10 played in 80 games with Anaheim and registered 10 goals with 38 assists for 48 points.

Selected by the Devils with the third overall pick of the 1991 draft, behind Eric Lindros and Pat Falloon, Niedermayer made his NHL debut during the '91-92 season at age 18 and became a mainstay of the New Jersey blue line the following year. He helped the Devils to Stanley Cup titles in 1995, 2000 and 2003 and played one more season in New Jersey, winning his only Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman in 2004, before moving on to Anaheim.

In addition to his Cup triumphs, Niedermayer also won an Olympic gold medal with Canada at the 2002 Games and has been a part of title teams at the World Championship, World Cup, Memorial Cup and World Juniors -- making him the only player in history with all six championships.

Niedermayer was selected to the All-Star Game six times, missing one contest because of injury, and was a First-Team NHL All-Star in 2004, 2006 and 2007 with a Second-Team selection in 1998.

In 1,263 regular-season games, Niedermayer scored 172 goals and added 568 assists for 740 points. He added 25 goals and 73 assists for 98 points in 202 playoff games.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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