Kovalchuk pact approved; NHL-NHLPA adopt rules for long-term deals

Hockey Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk will finally join the New Jersey Devils after his re-submitted contract was officially and finally approved by the National Hockey League just before 3 a.m. (et) Saturday morning.

The re-worked contract now calls for Kovalchuk to collect a reported $100 million over 15 years, with an annual cap hit of close to $6.66 million. The deal is thought to pay out $90 million in the first 10 years and $10 million over the last five.

Kovalchuk's initial 17-year, $102 million deal with the Devils was rejected by the league on the grounds that it circumvented the league's salary cap. The deal was front-loaded so Kovalchuk could have earned as much money as possible while providing the lowest possible cap hit for the team.

The NHL Players' Association filed a grievance on Kovalchuk's behalf, but an arbitrator ruled in favor of the league. The Russian star, now 27, would be approaching age 43 when the contract expires.

The rejection of the contract provided much debate throughout the league in terms of "lifetime" contracts given to players that have helped reduce the yearly salary cap hit. Several players in previous years signed deals that took them past 40 years of age and saw the annual salary dip below $1 million in the final years of the contract.

The NHL and NHLPA together, did away with those scenarios in one fell swoop Friday, jointly adopting new regulations on such pacts while simultaneoulsy ruling on Kovalchuk's situation after a whirlwind of postponements on a ruling that stretched well into the night.

The new rules will apply only to long-term contracts, five years or longer in length, and only those going forward beyond the September 4 ruling date. All previous contracts are grandfathered in, meaning Kovalchuk's contract will likely be the last of its kind.

To that end, the two entities also announced that the league will terminate its circumvention investigations into the contracts signed in 2009 by Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks, Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins and Chris Pronger of the Philadelphia Flyers.

"We are pleased to finalize an agreement which ends the league's circumvention investigations and also establishes rules on long-term contracts that will provide players, their certified agents and general managers clarity for the negotiation of new contracts," said Roland Lee, associate counsel for the NHLPA and director of Salary Cap/Marketplace. "Turning the page on this process is something that will benefit all parties involved."

Taking into account the NHL's salary cap system and forthcoming CBA negotiations, a special calculation of value will be made in two ways for contracts that extend beyond a player's 41st birthday, and any long-term contract that averages more than $5.75 million for the three highest- compensation years will have rules put into place that limit that player's compensation to a minimum of $1 million between the ages of 36 and 40.

Because of the league's previous rules on player contracts after the age of 35, it was conceivable that someone could retire before a contract had expired, wiping the contract off the salary cap. This rule allowed teams to sign players to front-loaded contracts to benefit both the team and player.

"We're pleased to be able to establish clearly-defined rules for these types of contracts going forward and just as happy we can turn the page on uncertainties relating to several other existing contracts," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. "From start to finish of this multi-week process we were able to work closely and cooperatively with representatives of the Players' Association, who shared our belief that the creation of definitive rules and guidelines in this area would be beneficial to everyone -- clubs and players alike."

Kovalchuk's deal will reportedly take the team about $3 million over the salary cap with 21 players under contract, and the Devils will have to get under the $59.4 million cap before the beginning of the season while adding two more players to the roster.

Kovalchuk posted 41 goals and 85 points in 76 games last season, 10 goals and 27 points coming in 27 games with New Jersey. In a five-game first-round playoff loss, the 27-year-old added two goals and six points.

In 621 games since entering the league in 2001, he has accumulated 338 goals and 642 points with Atlanta and New Jersey.

Gambliung Hockey Betting News

<< Dodge faces win-or-else season at North Texas
DENTON, Texas (AP) -Todd Dodge is no longer the hot shot high school coach hired to energize the North Texas football program.After 31 losses in three years, he's just trying to hang on to his job and avoid becoming another case study in why it's so

<< Rockies extend San Diego's losing streak to eight
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki each hit a two-run homer, as the Colorado Rockies dealt San Diego an eighth consecutive defeat, 4-3, in the opener of a three-game series. Aaron Cook (5-8), who was acti

<< A's blank struggling Angels behind Gonzalez
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Pennington and Kevin Kouzmanoff each homered during a six-run seventh, as the Oakland Athletics dominated the Angels, 8-0, in the opener of a three-game series. Gio Gonzalez (13-8) tossed si

<< Giants trade for Sage Rosenfels
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants have found a backup quarterback after acquiring Sage Rosenfels from the Minnesota Vikings on Friday. The trade also saw running back and return specialist Darius Reynaud h

<< D-Backs edge Astros
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Augie Ojeda's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth delivered the winning run as Arizona downed Houston, 4-3, to start a three-game set. Adam LaRoche went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and Gerardo Pa

Tuberville's Texas Tech to debut vs. improving SMU >>
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -June Jones knows the order is a tall one for his improving SMU squad.The Mustangs will open the season Sunday in Lubbock as the first opponent for new Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville, who vowed when he took over in January not

Sisk keeps lead at Mylan Classic >>
Canonsburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoffrey Sisk remained atop the leaderboard Saturday when the second round of the rain-delayed Mylan Classic was completed. Sisk played the final three holes of his round and finished off a four

Georgia holds A.J. Green out of opener >>
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -Georgia star receiver A.J. Green is being held out of the Bulldogs' opening game against Louisiana-Lafayette.Georgia spokesman Claude Felton says Green will miss Saturday's game for the No. 23 Bulldogs pending a ruling from the NCA

Scorching Yanks seek eight straight win in test with Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The New York Yankees have solved just about all their problems during a seven-game winning streak that matches the team's longest of the season. The defending world champions will now turn their attention towards getting Jav

Red Sox, White Sox to begin set with double dip >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- After mother nature delayed the opening of this important weekend set, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox will renew acquaintances with a day-night doubleheader that begins this afternoon from Fenway Park. The arriv

Credit Card Betting: Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards

Online Sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard

MySportsbook.com is the best at processing US credit cards for deposits. Welcome to the most player friendly online sportsbook on the planet!

The principals behind MySportsbook are obviously a management group that understands the players needs as evidenced by their commitment to provide easy depositing with their high credit card acceptance rate and free weekly $10 bets they offer to clients with active betting accounts.

The perks don't end there! MySportsbook offers casino, poker and horses as well. Twice named Best Sportsbook by eGaming Review, this place is rock solid financially so you don't ever have to sweat the payout as you may with some other online bookies operating with less betting volume and client base.

Sign up today and grab your share of a 10% bonus that is added instantly to your betting account. Enjoy 52 risk free bets throughout the year as well!

Reasons to Play There: You have to see their no hitter, cycle hitter and slaughter rule promos for baseball. Worth a laugh and probably a few bucks throughout the MLB season. They offer supersized bonuses of 15% if you up your minimum deposit to $500 or more. Lay -105 on Friday NBA! Contests during the NFL football season!


SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.