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06/21/2010 -
DENVER (AP) -After hitting the jackpot with two high picks in the draft last June, the Colorado Avalanche feel the pressure to replicate that this summer.
Hardly easy.
Those two players they selected weren't your typical teenagers.
From now on, every Colorado draft pick will be measured against Matt Duchene (third overall) and Ryan O'Reilly (No. 33).
Hardly fair.
The performances Colorado received last season from Duchene and O'Reilly were far from the standard. The talented twosome became a crucial component in the team's turnaround, lifting the organization back into the playoffs a year after finishing in the basement.
``That instant success tells us we're on the right path,'' said Avalanche director of scouting Rick Pracey, whose team has seven total picks - including the 17th overall - during the two-day draft that begins Friday night. ``But I think the hockey fan base is knowledgeable enough to realize it's more of a wait and see thing.''
Wait and see didn't really apply to these two.
Duchene and O'Reilly made the team out of camp as the Avalanche became the first NHL squad to boast two 18-year-olds in the season opener since the Winnipeg Jets suited up Shane Doan and Jason Doig in 1995.
The youngsters held their ground quite nicely, too, the ever-elusive Duchene leading all NHL rookies with 55 points and O'Reilly contributing in less glamorous areas such as faceoffs and blocked shots.
And to think these two were almost sent to their major-junior squads for one more year of maturing.
Instead, Duchene moved into captain Adam Foote's basement to help advance his hockey education while O'Reilly took up residence with veteran Darcy Tucker.
With the duo's rapid rise, expectations have gone up.
``There is pressure on us,'' Pracey said of uncovering that next draft gem. ``But I think it's more that there is pressure for us to find a player than it is that plays next year.''
Going into this summer's draft, the Avalanche aren't really targeting a certain position.
Rather, they're taking a similar approach as last time - scouring for the best player available. That's how O'Reilly wound up in Colorado.
The team had him pegged as a top-15 prospect. So when O'Reilly began to tumble down the board, the Avalanche attempted to move up to snare him.
A trade partner couldn't be found, yet O'Reilly still fell to Colorado.
``We're confident that depending on how the board shakes out, we're looking at a group of players in our area that we'd be happy to get our hands on,'' Pracey said. ``But I would like to hit it out (of the park) every year.''
Colorado has actually had a string of bountiful drafts in recent years.
In fact, the 2010 playoff roster against the veteran-laden San Jose Sharks contained 16 players who were drafted by the franchise. That included another first-rounder in Chris Stewart (2006) and second-rounders such as T.J. Galiardi (2007), Paul Stastny (2005) and Ryan Stoa (2005).
Buoyed by a group of fledglings, no one really expected Colorado to accomplish much of anything last season.
Clearly, the prognosticators concluded, another last-place finish awaited.
The young players developed an us-against-the-hockey-world mindset, serving them well all season long. Colorado regrouped from a late-season slide to make the postseason for a 12th time in 14 seasons in Denver.
In the playoffs, Colorado had 12 different members make their debut in a loss to the Sharks, including coach Joe Sacco, who was hired soon after last season's meltdown and groomed this core of kids into a cohesive unit.
He relied heavily on the leadership of Foote, who recently signed on for one more season of mentoring despite turning 39 in July.
``Having a young group like we did last year come together and compete at a high level was very special,'' Foote recently said. ``We're looking to carry that momentum into next season.''
Another draft class like last season certainly would help. But striking gold twice is a difficult proposition.
``We are obviously very pleased with the way things worked out last year,'' Pracey said. ``But I think it's important to keep in mind that having two 18-year-olds play in the National Hockey League certainly isn't the norm. So we have to remind ourselves that this is a process.
``The best way to stay the course is to stay with the plan and not get ahead of ourselves - keep in mind what has been successful in the past.''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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Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer was on
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Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon on Monday. Novak Djokovic, like Federer, also
needed
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Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals have optioned
opening-day starter John Lannan to Double-A Harrisburg.
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In a correspond
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Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Gordon is a four-time NASCAR Cup champion
and a five-time race winner at Infineon Raceway, but at the conclusion of
Sunday's race at the Northern California road course, Gordon was a marked man
in the garage.
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Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes re-signed left wing Taylor
Pyatt to a two-year contract on Monday.
The 28-year-old Pyatt had 12 goals and 23 points with a career-high plus-13
rating in 74 games last season, his first w
Nuggets make qualifying offer to Kleiza >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets have extended a qualifying
offer to restricted free agent forward Linas Kleiza. Terms of the offer were
not disclosed.
Kleiza spent this past season playing in Greece, but prior to that
Wild acquire RW Staubitz from Sharks >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild added depth to the
forward position on Monday by acquiring right wing Brad Staubitz from the San
Jose Sharks for a 2010 fifth round draft pick.
"Brad is a tough, physical player
FSU eliminates Gators from CWS; Clemson handles Arizona State >>
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike McGee hit a three-run homer, knocked in four
and earned the save, as Florida State eliminated Florida from the College
World Series with an 8-5 victory at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Tyler Holt chipped in wi
Kim leads Women's Public Links stroke play by one >>
Notre Dame, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Kimberly Kim carded a
five-under 66 Monday to take the lead after the first round of stroke play at
the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
The 18-year-old Kim won the 200
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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