The Top Contenders For the 2013-14 NHL General Manager Of The Year Award

The top sports betting sites think it is about time for the panel that votes for the General Manager of the Year Award in the NHL to dig a little deeper and really recognize top talent. Last season was only the fourth time this award was handed out and it was given to Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Shero built that Penguins’ franchise into the juggernaut it is some time ago. This season, there are several general managers that deserve recognition for the jobs they have done. Only one can be crowned the General Manager of the Year and the folks who frequent the sportsbetting.ag/live-betting website are hoping to see a real NHL mastermind get the award this season.

George McPhee – Washington Capitals

Just when you think the Washington Capitals are going to sink to the bottom of the league standings again, along comes new players to boost the team to the top. George McPhee has been the man behind the curtain for the Capitals since 1997, but his string of personnel moves over the past four or five years have been pretty brilliant. One of the things that McPhee has become renowned for is not sticking with a player or coach for longer than is necessary. Semyon Varlalmov and Dale Hunter will attest to that. McPhee makes some very good moves and it is about time he is recognized for them.

Stan Bowman – Chicago Blackhawks

In 2009, the NHL was all but dead in Chicago. Fans were flocking to see the surging Chicago Bulls of the NBA, but almost no one cared about the Chicago Blackhawks. Four years later, Stan Bowman has two Stanley Cups to his credit and a roster that threatens to win another Cup. The mere fact that Bowman has been able to retain a roster full of superstars speaks volumes to his abilities as a general manager. The guy that put together the most dominant team in the NHL for the past three years deserves recognition.

Dean Lombardi – Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings seemed to burst onto the scene two seasons ago and steal the Stanley Cup. The truth is that Dean Lombardi carefully put together a roster of players and a coaching staff that will keep Los Angeles competitive for a long time. It is no accident that Lombardi put Jonathan Quick, Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar on the same team. The man knows talent and he also knows how to blend that talent together into a winning team.

Chuck Fletcher – Minnesota Wild

The more that Chuck Fletcher does to improve the Minnesota Wild, the more impressed people are with his skills as a general manager. The Wild have made some pretty savvy moves over the past couple of years, but it isn’t just the moves that Fletcher has made that should earn him this honor. It is his ability to stay out of the talks with big name players who want more money than they are worth that should also rank him high in the voting.

Author Bio:

Rick Tildor is a sports expert and betting enthusiast who loves to swap predictions with fellow fans on his blog. While recently searching for the top sports betting sites online, he came across sportsbetting.ag and was extremely impressed by their services. He highly recommends their website, http://www.sportsbetting.ag/live-betting, to anyone interested in maximizing their live online sports betting experience.

Russell Athletic Bowl – 3 Best Storylines

By Jonny Doveless

1 – Teddy’s Last Dance

Payperhead.com’s sportsbook software makes it easier for you to bet, but you have to make the right bets in order to come out ahead. Teddy Bridgewater will have more eligibility left at the University of Louisville, but he’s almost certain to leave school and go to the 2014 NFL Draft. Bridgewater doesn’t seem to be making the wrong move if indeed he goes. He has the arm. He can make all the throws. His speed is above average though not tremendous. Reading defenses can be a bit of an issue, and it’s also true that this past season, he was not overwhelmingly brilliant against a lot of average defenses. Yet, in the NFL, with quality receivers and linemen on the field, Bridgewater should be able to thrive. If he’s surrounded with really good talent, there’s no reason to think he won’t make a very solid professional. He will continue to learn as he goes along, and he doesn’t have to stick around in Louisville for another season in order to develop as a quarterback. Should this be Bridgewater’s last game, it will obviously be an emotional moment for him and the Louisville program. More important is the idea that if this is Bridgewater’s last college game, it will be an important time for him to show off his talents to the NFL scouts that will either be watching the game in person or on television.

2 – Can Stephen Morris Outshine Bridgewater?

At payperhead.com, you become more knowledgeable as a betting player. NFL scouts want to become more knowledgeable about Stephen Morris, the quarterback who is going to oppose Teddy Bridgewater in this game. Morris has not been surrounded by elite talent in his years at Miami, since the Hurricanes have not recruited nearly as well as they once did. Miami has been dogged by NCAA sanctions and has been forced to self-impose a few bowl bans in recent years, depriving the Hurricanes of chances to play in bowl games. Morris has really missed out on a number of opportunities in his collegiate career, so this is one of the bigger stages he will have to prove that he’s NFL-ready. Going up against Bridgewater will only up the ante for Morris and a Miami team that is finally back in the bowl season spotlight. If Morris matches Bridgewater, this game could be wildly entertaining and captivating.

3 –Miami Faces An Important Moment

This is a significant game for Louisville, since the Cardinals missed out on a BCS bowl with an 11-1  record and want to be able to beat a team from a state (Florida) in which Charlie Strong, the Cardinals’ head coach, has recruited a great deal. Yet, while Louisville is intent on winning, Miami has been barred from the postseason in recent years. This is definitely a place for the Hurricanes to make a statement to a national audience about how far they’ve come under head coach Al Golden.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – 3 Best Storylines

By Steve Millburne

The best sports online betting advice one can give with respect to the 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is to expect the unexpected. That might be a cliché, but clichés are clichés because they are true. This is a most unusual matchup for a number of evident reasons.

1 – Buffalo In A Bowl Game – How Will The Bulls Respond To Pressure?

When consulting a college football betting outlet, you want to get the kind of input that will enable you to win. You can then see their sportsbook at sportsbook.lowvig.ag and be prepared to do business. In this game, the foremost question is how Buffalo will handle the pressure of playing in a bowl game. The Bulls are playing in just their second bowl game in program history. They lost their one previous appearance at the end of the 2008 season to Connecticut. This is just not a regular part of Buffalo’s normal in-season rhythms. The Bulls are not used to December practices and the bowl game that comes after them. If any of these players had been around in the 2008 season, one might be able to say that the Bulls would be in position to have a normal build-up to this bowl, but that’s just not the case. San Diego State is the team that’s used to playing in bowl games, and that is something that could certainly matter when this game runs its course. The Aztecs are not one of the elite teams in the Mountain West Conference, but they’ve had plenty of experience making bowl games in recent years under former coach Brady Hoke and current coach Rocky Long.

2 – Khalil Mack On The Attack

When this game begins, Buffalo will have the best NFL prospect on the field, linebacker Khalil Mack. With over 90 tackles and 10 sacks this season, Mack has been one of the most disruptive forces in all of college football, a defensive dynamo who also causes a lot of fumbles and has a nose for the ball. San Diego State’s offensive linemen and blocking running backs have to know where Mack is at all times. Yet, that attention to Mack cannot allow San Diego State to lose track of other Buffalo defenders. San Diego State offensive coordinator Bob Toledo has to spend the next two weeks finding ways to neutralize Mack while providing a blocking and protection scheme that will keep other Bulls at bay.

3 – San Diego State’s Erratic Identity: Which Aztecs Will Show Up?

This is a game that will be so hard to predict chiefly because San Diego State is such an up-and-down team. The Aztecs looked great against Fresno State and good against Boise State, but were awful against Eastern Illinois and UNLV and shaky against a number of other opponents. It is so hard to gauge the Aztecs. Will they relish the chance to play in a bowl game, or will they be turned off by the idea of having to leave sunny Southern California for Boise just before Christmas?

Author Bio:

Steve Millburne is a lifelong lover of football whose blog is the best place to find the latest info on picks and drafts. He was recently searching for the best sports online betting out there, and came across Low Vig. He was highly impressed by their service, and recommends that anyone looking for an excellent service see their sportsbook at http://sportsbook.lowvig.ag/.