Oilers to honor Messier against Gretzky's Coyotes

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02/27/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers will begin their four-game homestand in style tonight, when they honor Mark Messier before taking on the Phoenix Coyotes at Rexall Place.

The Oilers will retire Messier's No. 11 jersey in a pre-game ceremony this evening and fittingly, Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky will be there to witness the special night. Messier will join Gretzky as one of six Edmonton players (Al Hamilton, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr and Paul Coffey) to have their numbers retired.

Messier won six Stanley Cup championships in his career, five with Edmonton and one with the New York Rangers in 1994. The last title with the Oilers came in 1990, when Gretzky had already been traded to Los Angeles.

The St. Albert, Alberta native is the second all-time leading scorer in NHL history with 1,887 points (694 goals, 1,193 assists), trailing only Gretzky.

The Oilers are the second team to have retired Messier's number, after the Rangers raised his sweater to the rafters last year.

Edmonton hopes that Messier's big night will give the team a much-needed boost in the playoff race. The defending Western Conference champion Oilers currently have 66 points and trail Calgary and Minnesota by nine for the final postseason berths in the West.

Edmonton had won two straight before dropping a decision in Minnesota on Sunday. Pierre-Marc Bouchard had a goal and an assist as the Wild defeated the Oilers, 4-1, at Xcel Energy Center.

Fernando Pisani scored the lone goal for the Oilers, who finished their seven- game road trip with a 2-3-2 mark. Dwayne Roloson made 23 saves in defeat for Edmonton.

The Oilers are 18-11-2 as the home team this year and will also battle Minnesota, Calgary and Tampa Bay on this stand.

Meanwhile, the Coyotes have dropped seven of their last eight games and were handed a decisive loss Monday in Calgary. Wayne Primeau scored twice as the Flames downed Phoenix, 5-2, at the Saddledome.

Yanic Perreault and Steven Reinprecht each had a goal for the Coyotes, who are 20 points behind Minnesota and Calgary for the conference's last playoff spots.

Phoenix is playing the middle test of a three-game road trip tonight. The Coyotes have lost five straight as the visiting team and are 12-20-1 away from Arizona this year.

Edmonton is 2-1 against the Coyotes this season and has taken four of the last five overall meetings with Phoenix.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.