Oilers honor legendary Messier

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02/28/2007 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers retired former center Mark Messier's No. 11 prior to Tuesday's home game against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Messier began his NHL career in 1979 with the Oilers and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP when Edmonton won its first Stanley Cup in 1984. Messier went on to win four more Cups with the Oilers and is the second all-time leading scorer in NHL history with 1,887 points (694 goals, 1,193 assists), behind only longtime Edmonton teammate and close friend Wayne Gretzky.

Gretzky is now the head coach of the Coyotes and became quite emotional several times during the ceremony.

"I want to thank the Oiler organization for putting this date on the calendar when Phoenix was going to be in town because the night wouldn't have been the same without Wayne being here," Messier said. "Wayne was our leader. He was our inspiration. He was a guy that we leaned on and he never let us down and he never put himself above anybody. I certainly learned a lot from Wayne."

Messier joined Gretzky as one of six Edmonton players (Al Hamilton, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr and Paul Coffey) to have their numbers retired.

A native of Edmonton, Messier played 25 seasons in the NHL for Edmonton (1979-91), the New York Rangers (1991-97, 2000-04), and Vancouver Canucks (1997-2000). While with Edmonton, he accumulated 392 goals, 642 assists for 1,034 points in 851 games.

"Nobody could stand here in a team sport, nobody could do it by themselves," Messier said as he fought back tears. "It's good to be back home. Coming back after a long time, one of things I'm most proud of is that the Edmonton Oilers organization remains today so intact as it was when we left," Messier said.

The Oilers are the second team to have retired Messier's number. The Rangers raised his sweater to the rafters last year. Messier led New York to the Stanley Cup title in 1994.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

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