The lunch hour back east and the breakfast hours of the west proved to be busy times for the NHL’s General Managers.
The early portions of this block from 11 am-1 pm ET and 8-10 am in the West didn’t’ get off to a great start, we were treated with details of Marian Hossa’s hotel room view, apparently a stunning vision of the landscape keeping him occupied as he awaits his fate.
TSN delivers the news at 8:20 that the Leafs nation can rejoice with news that the great dismantling has begun, with Wade Belak trading snow shovels for sunscreen and a move to Florida.
Over at Sportsnet this sets off a wide ranging discussion on where the Leafs may go next with trades, seeking to discover who might be next to take flight from the Air Canada centre.
While the fixation with the Leafs reaches a boil at Sportsnet, TSN is busy interviewing Red Wing GM Ken Holland who doesn’t give much away, except that he would like to make a small deal in order to shore up a few concerns with his line up.
The Sharks and Sabres cut a deal which sends Brian Campbell to San Jose, a move that will cause more hand wringing in Buffalo as yet another talented young player moves on to greener pastures, a recurring theme in Sabreland over the last few years.
The flood of trades picks up with Tampa Bay finally making the splash of the day so far with Brad Richards off to Dallas, as the Stars add some potent scoring potential for the showdowns to come in the Western Conference.
Montreal shocks the trading panels with their move of Christobal Huet to the Washington Capitals, leaving Carey Price as the starting goaltender of the Habs who look to be serious contenders in the East this year. Making for a lot of pressure on the young goaltender, whether Huet stays in Washington remains to be seen, some suggest he may be flipped shortly.
The different networks take a breath to digest all the action of the hour, TSN seems quicker to the interview window, with a string of interviews with many of the major participants in the trades of the first couple of hours of Deadline day.
By 915 in the west, Colorado and Florida have swung a deal with Ruslan Salei heading to Florida while the Panthers pick up Karlis Skrastins and a third round pick.
A few minutes later Chicago begins what will be a couple of snap trades that catch the attention of the chattering crews, they send Tuomo Ruutu to Carolina receiving Andrew Ladd for their troubles. Then they make a deal with the Ottawa Senators, who pick up Martin Lapointe from Chicago for a sixth round pick in the 2008 draft.
Sportsnet is still stuck on the Leafs expressing frustration at the limitations of the no trade clause and other impediments to more bodies being shuffled along out of Toronto.
TSN moves along considering more moves for Ottawa, with Chris Neil coming up for discussion as a possible piece of the puzzle in Ottawa, though they suggest that by picking up Lapointe Ottawa may be out of the Marian Hossa derby.
Hossa apparently still gazing out the window at the view of Mount Royal, perhaps nibbling on some room service as the suitors line up to barter for his services.
Showing posts with label Hockey trading deadline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hockey trading deadline. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
From the Trading floor observatory—Speculation but few revelations
They’ve run out of spoons at Sportsnet, as the day moves on the Sportsnet situation room (sure hope they ran that by Wolf Blitzer at CNN) we learn that they’ve laid in the yogurt but have no spoons for the hard working rumour chasers. Should have gone with yogurt tubes, poor planning at Sportsnet…
As for the situation room, we are given a quick tour of what’s available on the net for the dedicated trading deadline devotee, which features a number of links to different trade items.
Sportsnet doesn’t have a trade to report yet, but they do let us know that Mike Comrie is not going to be a deadline feature player this year, having just signed a contract extension with the Islanders.
By 715 at TSN James Duthie is reading viewer mail, taking e mails and recounting the thoughts of the viewers at home, a few more hours of this and they’ll be breaking out the phone books of the thirty NHL cities and naming the names.
There’s a Marian Hossa equipment update on TSN by 718, it’s still in his stall at the Bell Centre ready for use tonight, maybe to be moved over to the Montreal side or maybe to be moved out to parts unknown.
The Reporters discuss the state of the Anaheim Ducks and whether Brian Burke is going to make a move or two or if he’s happy with his line up as it is.
Sportsnet has the Paddock bug at 725, with their own speculation that the Ottawa coach is on thin ice, though they don’t have him packing his bags just yet.
Bryce Salvador is on the trading block goes the rumour from Sportsnet, possibly bound for New Jersey for Cam Jannsen. Not quite confirmed they move on to other items, as that happens TSN’s jumps in with their confirmation of the deal at 734, Sportsnet verifies their own rumour at 7:35
More speculation on Marian Hossa’s future at Sportsnet, as they set the table for a potential move of the Atlanta sniper, though they have no candidates just yet.
Chris Kelly is also put out as on the market now, meaning we suppose that Ottawa is starting to percolate a deal or two.
The hour winds down with TSN hanging around the Thrasher’s practice waiting for Hossa, who it seems won’t be practicing today, told to stay at the hotel until further news comes out.
Perhaps he’s watching television waiting to see if he crosses a floor or crosses a continent.
As for the situation room, we are given a quick tour of what’s available on the net for the dedicated trading deadline devotee, which features a number of links to different trade items.
Sportsnet doesn’t have a trade to report yet, but they do let us know that Mike Comrie is not going to be a deadline feature player this year, having just signed a contract extension with the Islanders.
By 715 at TSN James Duthie is reading viewer mail, taking e mails and recounting the thoughts of the viewers at home, a few more hours of this and they’ll be breaking out the phone books of the thirty NHL cities and naming the names.
There’s a Marian Hossa equipment update on TSN by 718, it’s still in his stall at the Bell Centre ready for use tonight, maybe to be moved over to the Montreal side or maybe to be moved out to parts unknown.
The Reporters discuss the state of the Anaheim Ducks and whether Brian Burke is going to make a move or two or if he’s happy with his line up as it is.
Sportsnet has the Paddock bug at 725, with their own speculation that the Ottawa coach is on thin ice, though they don’t have him packing his bags just yet.
Bryce Salvador is on the trading block goes the rumour from Sportsnet, possibly bound for New Jersey for Cam Jannsen. Not quite confirmed they move on to other items, as that happens TSN’s jumps in with their confirmation of the deal at 734, Sportsnet verifies their own rumour at 7:35
More speculation on Marian Hossa’s future at Sportsnet, as they set the table for a potential move of the Atlanta sniper, though they have no candidates just yet.
Chris Kelly is also put out as on the market now, meaning we suppose that Ottawa is starting to percolate a deal or two.
The hour winds down with TSN hanging around the Thrasher’s practice waiting for Hossa, who it seems won’t be practicing today, told to stay at the hotel until further news comes out.
Perhaps he’s watching television waiting to see if he crosses a floor or crosses a continent.
From the Trading Floor observatory--The opening scenes
Dress for success; is this the key to a winning broadcast this year?
The first thing that jumps out as we settle in for these seven hours of the circles of hell known as the trading deadline, is that we should make sure that the coffee urn is always full, this may be a long, long morning.
As the big network shows get underway though it seems that fashion statements are going to be the most obvious thing to talk about in the early rounds.
If we are to judge our content by the way it looks, then all business is taking on casually informative as the opening hour gets underway.
Ties it seems are not only frowned upon in the new NHL, they’re also an optional fashion accessory at Sportsnet. As the first hour of the trading shows winds down, it would seem that like prisoners heading for lock up, the ties and loose clothing have been collected at the door.
Sartorial splendour is the order of the day at TSN though, as the talking heads are all decked out in some spiffy looking suits, complete with a wonderful collection of ties, some fine looking rags that would make Don Cherry a happy man.
The TSN’s crew resembles a gallery of George Clooney’s while the competitors all look like Gary Busey laying in wait for starlets on a red carpet.
Over at Sportsnet the panel looks as though they’ve already been up all night, slugging back gin and chasing down rumours, it’s a more casual look for the Rogers crew, with open collars and ties nowhere to be seen.
And it may be the early hour or the angle of the cameras but it certainly look as though one of the many panel’s assembled have been crammed into a rather tight spot. If things get heated, it won’t be much of a reach for Keith Primeau to reach across and slug co panelist Bill Clement.
We do a quick click over to the Score (timing is everything and our first two attempts land during some kind of wrestling commercial marathon), eventually we find the assembled cast of the Score, who like Sportsnet have decided to go without neckwear, though we suspect that may be more budgetary than any kind of sense of hip fashion trends.
Unemployed Former GM’s are finding the sun shines again, with Bill Watters and Don Mclean sharing their thoughts (sans ties by the way) over at Sportsnet while John Ferguson Jr. examines the so far less than rapidly developing events of the day at TSN.
The first hour is turning into a rehash of everything we’ve heard in the last three weeks. The TSN line up is the stronger of the bunch so far, the more recognizable names, the sheer number of the cast at least providing for a new face every few minutes to rehash the same old same old.
Though from TSN we learn that the carpets have apparently been cleaned in Montreal and that John Paddock may not have much of a shelf life left in Ottawa, though it would be nice if perhaps they could flesh that thought out a bit, providing more than just a throw away line in a morning of throw away lines.
Overall, it’s a triumph of visuals over substance in the first hour for TSN, as Fernando once said from his hideaway, they looked marvelous!
The first thing that jumps out as we settle in for these seven hours of the circles of hell known as the trading deadline, is that we should make sure that the coffee urn is always full, this may be a long, long morning.
As the big network shows get underway though it seems that fashion statements are going to be the most obvious thing to talk about in the early rounds.
If we are to judge our content by the way it looks, then all business is taking on casually informative as the opening hour gets underway.
Ties it seems are not only frowned upon in the new NHL, they’re also an optional fashion accessory at Sportsnet. As the first hour of the trading shows winds down, it would seem that like prisoners heading for lock up, the ties and loose clothing have been collected at the door.
Sartorial splendour is the order of the day at TSN though, as the talking heads are all decked out in some spiffy looking suits, complete with a wonderful collection of ties, some fine looking rags that would make Don Cherry a happy man.
The TSN’s crew resembles a gallery of George Clooney’s while the competitors all look like Gary Busey laying in wait for starlets on a red carpet.
Over at Sportsnet the panel looks as though they’ve already been up all night, slugging back gin and chasing down rumours, it’s a more casual look for the Rogers crew, with open collars and ties nowhere to be seen.
And it may be the early hour or the angle of the cameras but it certainly look as though one of the many panel’s assembled have been crammed into a rather tight spot. If things get heated, it won’t be much of a reach for Keith Primeau to reach across and slug co panelist Bill Clement.
We do a quick click over to the Score (timing is everything and our first two attempts land during some kind of wrestling commercial marathon), eventually we find the assembled cast of the Score, who like Sportsnet have decided to go without neckwear, though we suspect that may be more budgetary than any kind of sense of hip fashion trends.
Unemployed Former GM’s are finding the sun shines again, with Bill Watters and Don Mclean sharing their thoughts (sans ties by the way) over at Sportsnet while John Ferguson Jr. examines the so far less than rapidly developing events of the day at TSN.
The first hour is turning into a rehash of everything we’ve heard in the last three weeks. The TSN line up is the stronger of the bunch so far, the more recognizable names, the sheer number of the cast at least providing for a new face every few minutes to rehash the same old same old.
Though from TSN we learn that the carpets have apparently been cleaned in Montreal and that John Paddock may not have much of a shelf life left in Ottawa, though it would be nice if perhaps they could flesh that thought out a bit, providing more than just a throw away line in a morning of throw away lines.
Overall, it’s a triumph of visuals over substance in the first hour for TSN, as Fernando once said from his hideaway, they looked marvelous!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thrashers and Sharks get a head start on the competition
The weekend saw Atlanta and San Jose strengthen up for the present, while losing a little for the future as the two NHL teams put together separate deals as the deadline day gets closer.
San Jose swung a deal with Bob Gainey in Montreal, taking soon to be free agent Craig Rivet in exchange for Josh Gorges and a 2007 first round pick, the Habs will send a fifth round pick in the 2008 draft back to San Jose to complete that deal.
For Gainey it was probably the realization, that he was most likely lose Rivet to free agency this summer that led to the deal. And while Gorges is an unknown quantity, it’s most likely the first round draft pick that helped make the deal go down. Rivet will be a solid addition to the Sharks blue line corps, which has been having a troublesome time of late controlling the zone and clearing out attacking forwards.
Atlanta mortgaged the future completely with their acquisition of rent a player Keith Tkachuk . Don Waddell gave up a raft of draft choices over the next couple of years all in the goal of securing at least the eighth place in the playoff race and then making a run of the table. Prior to the Tkachuk deal, Waddell had secured the services of Alexei Zhitnik from Philadelphia, all in a bid to shore up the defensive end of the rink. The Thrashers gave up former number one pick Braydon Coburn in the process.
It’s an interesting strategy that smacks more of this is the year, than any long term desire to build the team up for the next few years. Tkachuk, who is an unrestricted free agent, could very well walk away from the team whenever the playoff run ends, with or without Lord Stanley’s Cup on parade down Peachtree Street. There are even those in the world of conspiracy theories that suggest, that he’ll end up right back where he left from next year, as St. Louis realizing that they’re done for this year rent out the players and collect some draft choices for a better future. After all it’s not like that is untested territory for the blues who sent Doug Weight to Carolina last year, only to welcome him back to the Midwest over the summer.
It’s all short term for the Thrashers, a team that got off to a pretty terrific start this year but has begun to tail off as the march towards the playoffs begins. The Thrashers currently sit in sixth place, three away from third and three away from tenth. They are one of four teams in the conference that have already played 64 games, leaving them in a spot of trouble against the others that have two or three games in hand to work with.
Of the two deals over the weekend, the Atlanta one seems to provide some interesting omens for the post season and beyond. First off if the gambit fails and the Thrashers don’t make the playoffs, let alone go far in them, it’s doubtful that Waddell will have to worry about the missing draft picks down the line.
Secondly, it’s likely the opening salvo in the much anticipated St. Louis Blues fire sale, where they release their faithful servants of recent years to seek fame and fortune in the rental world, a chance to grab a Stanley Cup ring before the retirement years beckon. Next skate to drop perhaps will be Bill Guerin’s, another Blue who it has been rumoured could be skating elsewhere and if things go as he’d like maybe for a little longer than the Blues apparently have planned to skate this year.
San Jose swung a deal with Bob Gainey in Montreal, taking soon to be free agent Craig Rivet in exchange for Josh Gorges and a 2007 first round pick, the Habs will send a fifth round pick in the 2008 draft back to San Jose to complete that deal.
For Gainey it was probably the realization, that he was most likely lose Rivet to free agency this summer that led to the deal. And while Gorges is an unknown quantity, it’s most likely the first round draft pick that helped make the deal go down. Rivet will be a solid addition to the Sharks blue line corps, which has been having a troublesome time of late controlling the zone and clearing out attacking forwards.
Atlanta mortgaged the future completely with their acquisition of rent a player Keith Tkachuk . Don Waddell gave up a raft of draft choices over the next couple of years all in the goal of securing at least the eighth place in the playoff race and then making a run of the table. Prior to the Tkachuk deal, Waddell had secured the services of Alexei Zhitnik from Philadelphia, all in a bid to shore up the defensive end of the rink. The Thrashers gave up former number one pick Braydon Coburn in the process.
It’s an interesting strategy that smacks more of this is the year, than any long term desire to build the team up for the next few years. Tkachuk, who is an unrestricted free agent, could very well walk away from the team whenever the playoff run ends, with or without Lord Stanley’s Cup on parade down Peachtree Street. There are even those in the world of conspiracy theories that suggest, that he’ll end up right back where he left from next year, as St. Louis realizing that they’re done for this year rent out the players and collect some draft choices for a better future. After all it’s not like that is untested territory for the blues who sent Doug Weight to Carolina last year, only to welcome him back to the Midwest over the summer.
It’s all short term for the Thrashers, a team that got off to a pretty terrific start this year but has begun to tail off as the march towards the playoffs begins. The Thrashers currently sit in sixth place, three away from third and three away from tenth. They are one of four teams in the conference that have already played 64 games, leaving them in a spot of trouble against the others that have two or three games in hand to work with.
Of the two deals over the weekend, the Atlanta one seems to provide some interesting omens for the post season and beyond. First off if the gambit fails and the Thrashers don’t make the playoffs, let alone go far in them, it’s doubtful that Waddell will have to worry about the missing draft picks down the line.
Secondly, it’s likely the opening salvo in the much anticipated St. Louis Blues fire sale, where they release their faithful servants of recent years to seek fame and fortune in the rental world, a chance to grab a Stanley Cup ring before the retirement years beckon. Next skate to drop perhaps will be Bill Guerin’s, another Blue who it has been rumoured could be skating elsewhere and if things go as he’d like maybe for a little longer than the Blues apparently have planned to skate this year.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Buyers and Sellers ponder their options as February moves along
First will come Valentine’s Day, a celebration of undying love and fidelity, where many a special relationship is cemented for good under the augurs of the heavens.
But for the NHL, the other shoe will drop shortly after the festive celebration of St. Valentine. The NHL Trading deadline fast approaches, as on the dawn of the 27th of February, many of those Valentines delivered on the 14th crushed like so many lost love affairs.
Addresses will change as fast as an exchanged Valentine, as the NHL’s 30 General Managers decide if they’re in the market or on the market by the end of the month. They will spend the next nineteen days looking for that one player, the one missing ingredient that will lead their squad past the pack and into the playoffs and beyond.
The Trading deadline is the thing of high drama on the sports talk shows and television networks, already the major sports networks are trumpeting their comprehensive coverage of what effectively becomes the NHL version of the Chicago Stock Yards for a day, a massive moving of beef that could pay dividends in mid June.
But will this year be like those in the past? Teams must deal with any number of concerns as the trading deadline approaches, team chemistry, and current roster commitments and how it all fits into the salary cap, a financial instrument that is giving many a GM Grey hairs as the deadline approaches.
Some suggest that the fever pitch of trading of years past won’t be repeated this year, the cap rendering wild stabs at fancy a thing of history. Others feel that the GM’s will find creative ways to build the perfect mix to head into the playoffs.
We’ll find out on the 27th, bright and early on the West Coast as the coastal GM’s sit down to a working breakfast, a day of work that will get under way shortly after the first coffee break of the day in the East.
Pierre LeBrun of the Globe and Mail, has put out the first look of who is looking for what and whom, expect the names to change as well as the requirements by the time the deadline approaches.
Sportsnet Deadline day ticker
TSN's Trade Centre
But for the NHL, the other shoe will drop shortly after the festive celebration of St. Valentine. The NHL Trading deadline fast approaches, as on the dawn of the 27th of February, many of those Valentines delivered on the 14th crushed like so many lost love affairs.
Addresses will change as fast as an exchanged Valentine, as the NHL’s 30 General Managers decide if they’re in the market or on the market by the end of the month. They will spend the next nineteen days looking for that one player, the one missing ingredient that will lead their squad past the pack and into the playoffs and beyond.
The Trading deadline is the thing of high drama on the sports talk shows and television networks, already the major sports networks are trumpeting their comprehensive coverage of what effectively becomes the NHL version of the Chicago Stock Yards for a day, a massive moving of beef that could pay dividends in mid June.
But will this year be like those in the past? Teams must deal with any number of concerns as the trading deadline approaches, team chemistry, and current roster commitments and how it all fits into the salary cap, a financial instrument that is giving many a GM Grey hairs as the deadline approaches.
Some suggest that the fever pitch of trading of years past won’t be repeated this year, the cap rendering wild stabs at fancy a thing of history. Others feel that the GM’s will find creative ways to build the perfect mix to head into the playoffs.
We’ll find out on the 27th, bright and early on the West Coast as the coastal GM’s sit down to a working breakfast, a day of work that will get under way shortly after the first coffee break of the day in the East.
Pierre LeBrun of the Globe and Mail, has put out the first look of who is looking for what and whom, expect the names to change as well as the requirements by the time the deadline approaches.
Sportsnet Deadline day ticker
TSN's Trade Centre
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)