Doan says commitment to winning was key in decision to stay

Hockey Betting Lines

02/15/2007 -

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -If team captain Shane Doan finishes his new five-year, $22.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes, he could be one of the few professional athletes to spend his entire career in the same organization.

It's a franchise, though, with scant success throughout his 12 years with the team.

After peppering team officials with questions at a long dinner Monday, Doan said he came away satisfied that the Coyotes were making the right moves, and that the last prime years of his career won't be wasted in a losing cause.

``I guess it's a little bit of trust because I would have left if I didn't think it was possible, I didn't think it was capable of turning it round and going in the right direction,'' he said Thursday at a news conference announcing his new contract.

``I truly want to win, and I want to win sooner rather than later,'' Doan said, ``because I know how short the window is and how quickly it's closing for me personally.''

The 30-year-old right wing from Halkirk, Alberta, was the first-round pick of the then-Winnipeg Jets - the seventh choice overall - in the 1995 draft. He ranks third in games played in franchise history (775), fifth in goals (191), second in game-winning goals (33), fifth in power-play goals (55) and sixth in assists (261).

Since his rookie season, the franchise has reached the playoffs six times, most recently in 2002, but never has advanced past the first round.

Coach Wayne Gretzky said that ``10 or 15'' teams would have tried to acquire Doan if he had decided to leave, most of them NHL contenders. But Doan said it would mean more to him to succeed with the Coyotes.

``This is my home and I want to win here,'' he said. ``I really don't want to go somewhere else and just be a player that's brought in to win. Here I know I could be a part of something special.''

With the Coyotes 15 points out of the West's final playoff berth, Gretzky said the team needs more offensive speed to help Doan succeed.

``We need to get guys who first of all play at as consistent a level as Shane does, work-ethic-wise and effort-wise.'' Gretzky said. ``Defensively, we have a pretty good core back there, especially our young guys. We need to get people up front who are going to help guys like Shane become a better hockey team.''

Doan, a member of Canada's 2004 Olympic team and 2003 gold medal world championship squad, is the only player on the Phoenix roster who was with the franchise when it moved from Winnipeg in 1996. His decade in Arizona was a factor in his decision.

``I've got four kids that love it here. My wife loves it here,'' he said. ``I wanted to stay here. I don't want to move. I felt that it was important to know that for the next five years this is their home. They don't know any place else.''

Gretzky said it's an example of the kind of player Doan is that he wouldn't tell anyone about his back problems early this season because he felt he needed to play through the pain for his team.

Finally, Gretzky sat Doan down and basically ordered him to get his back checked by doctors. Doan was out for several weeks but has returned to play, in Gretzky's words, ``the best hockey I've seen him play.''

``That just shows you the character of the person he is,'' Gretzky said. ``He takes care of his teammates. He's very protective of his teammates, and more importantly, he's really well respected by his teammates.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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