Today’s the most exciting day of the hockey season, it’s Trade Deadline Day! I’ve been waiting all day to blog, because the deadline ends at 3PM EST. The final trades are still trickling in, but I think most of the big ones are done. The weeks up to the trade deadline was exciting for a Leafs fan, because JFJ was fired and we were supposed to be sellers. Think of all the prospects that we can pick up for blue-chip players like Sundin, McCabe, Kaberle, Kubina, and Tucker. But as all of them decided to stay in their cushy positions on the Leafs, the day was a pretty big disappointment for the Leafs. We made two trades, Belak and Kilger to Florida for a 5th and 3rd rounder (which I don’t understand since Florida is doing worse than us in the standings), and Gill to Pittsburgh for a 2nd and 5th rounder. Stocking up on draft picks is the best that can be expected of Fletcher, and is just another example of how JFJ handicapped the Leafs with his decision to grant no-movement clauses to unworthy players (i.e., Kubina, and Tucker).
A couple of other teams made some good moves. Ottawa and the Avalanche picked up solid role players. Dallas traded for a franchise player in Richards, and San Jose got the best defenceman on the market in Campbell (hopefully SJ will do something in the playoffs). The biggest deal was Hossa to the Penguins for blue-chip Angelo Esposito and pest Colby Armstrong. I think the Penguins overpaid considering they don’t have a Stanley Cup calibre team without a goalie. The big winners today would be the Capitals who added (another) #1 goaltender in Cristobal Huet, (the aging) Sergei Federov and Matt Cooke. Now they only need to make the playoffs. I was very surprised when I read that the Canadiens, currently fighting for #1 in the Northeast, traded their #1 goaltender. And for only a 2nd rounder. Although Montreal does have a history of riding rookie goaltenders (Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy) to the cup.
Overall, I didn’t see as many blockbusters as I wanted there to be today, although mostly because the Leafs didn’t make any splashes. Also, the TSN NHL site can’t seem to handle high load. Ever since 2PM, many pages are timing out. Too bad there’s no other alternative for news, as a slow TSN site is still faster than NHL.com.
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