Thoughts on the Deadline

When I woke up this morning I fully expected Toronto to be in flames after Don Cherry ripped Mats Sundin a new one for not waiving his NTC. I totally fault Mats for being such a team player, it isn't the fault of the Toronto management that they couldn't find talent for the better part of the last decade. Good players are hard to find, man! If Mats was a great captain he would have thought only of himself and left for another team.

With that said, here are a couple of short thoughts on the deadline before I go back to micromanaging my fantasy team into the ground.

-Hossa to the Pens makes that offense positively terrifying. I had completely forgotten about Angelo Esposito before that deal. Maybe the trick in the "New NHL" is to absolutely suck for years, nearly lose your team to a number of different cities, then turn around and draft a dynasty with so much talent that you can swing phenoms like Esposito for rentals like Hossa.

-No Rob Blake to the Avs, eh? Oh well, after seeing Footer run the ice while smacking around the Flames last night, I am fully satiated. Even if Foote does nothing he's still a great leader...and that isn't counting the effect he's already had on the natural wonder known as Scott Parker's biker beard. As Footer sat down on the bench last night Liles actually looked happy for once...that was enough for me.

The only thing I can compare that to is how the crew lights up whenever the competent grill manager clocks in at the Mickey D's.

-Brad Richards to Dallas
Am I the only one who thinks the best part of this deal was Mike Smith getting a chance to start in Tampa? Richards is a good fit in Dallas, and Modano can now retire in peace...or overstay his welcome until he is eventually traded...kinda like...

-Fedorov to Washington.
Why was this even news? Fedorov should have retired 5 years ago, but there he is getting overvalued in a trade. Backstrom will still be centering Ovechkin when they are mercilessly knocked out of the first round of the playoffs in a few weeks. Oh and bang up job getting Huet. Nothing like picking up a former back up keeper who lost his job to a rookie to back up for your sub par starter.

-Prospal to Philly
This slays me. Philly slays me. I think Forsberg going back to the Avs destroyed the moral fabric of that squad and now they are so desperate that they've taken to trading for warm bodies like a drunk at the bars. What is Prospal going to do there exactly? Doesn't Holmgren know that he is in the tail end of his "Up" season and like clockwork he'll drop to 55 points next year?

-Skrastins for Salei.
Let me let you in on a joke my friends and I have whenever we spot a hot chick at the Can: We say "Skrastins". Seriously. And not "SKRAS-TICH" like it is pronounced, it's "Skrass-tins...dude". It works like a charm! They think we are talking about Karlis every time, when we are actually busy talking about the tensile strength of cashmere sweaters...

I'm going to miss doing that. We need the Avs to get another Euro defenseman with a funky name...Salei sort of works, but not really.

-Andrew Ladd for Tuomo Ruutu.
Ladd is an up and comer. Ruutu is an out of control Finn with no knees. Do the math.
Good move by the Hawks.

-Detroit doing almost nothing outside of getting Brad Stuart.
I'd make fun of Detroit here, but I'm not the kind of person who likes to make fun of the handicapped. Sooo...they need offense...sooo they get Brad Stuart. Mmmkay. Here's a notion, has it occurred to the Wings that their goalies are old and overrated? What's that you say? Jimmy Howard is the real deal? Okay...so why wasn't he playing 3 years ago?

-The Rangers failing to get Boyle, but filling up with some pluggers on D.
I'm kinda pissed about this because I have Lundqvist on my fantasy team. Imagine having Marty Brodeur on your squad but tying his legs together and taking his stick from him before every game. That's what this season with Lundy has been like for me.

Does Slats just not understand the concept of having a defense composed of shut down defensemen? Oh wait...he did leave Grant Fuhr on an island all those years.

I don't understand the Rangers some...well...ALL of the time.

-Minnesota adding Chris Simon to Boogaard and Fedoruk. So...they are going to fight their way to more goals? The O'Sullivan trade for Demitra last year is looking dumber by the minute. I hate Jacques Lemaire. His coaching, Carl Polhad, and the fact the Vikings will never win a Superbowl are responsible for taking about 12 years off of my Dad's life.

Here's an idea, why don't they get all three guys Chiefs sweaters and thick glasses and get it over with.

Lame.