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The
soap opera is over. They’ve only been saying it for years, but finally the
Washington Capitals unloaded Jaromir Jagr to New York, with Anson Carter going
the other way. As if New Jersey Devils fans needed another reason to
chant “Rangers Suck” during every home game. If you ask me, Jagr hasn’t been
the same since Ron Francis left the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. Perhaps the
spotlight of Broadway and having Mark Messier in the dressing room is just what
the doctor ordered. But let’s be real here, if the Rangers really think this
deal will help them secure a playoff spot, they really haven’t learned anything
about building a team.
And
the Caps aren’t done. They seem to be following suit to Pittsburgh last year,
if you don’t have a hope in hell of making the playoffs, may as well dump some
salaries before the as yet uncertain NHL future doesn’t allow it. The fire sale
has officially started. Expect Peter Bondra and Sergei Gonchar to have new
postal codes by the time you read this, and maybe even Robert Lang before it’s
all over. Ottawa is expected to snag Bondra for a prospect and/or high draft
pick. Shane Hnidy, Brian Pothier and Peter Schastlivy are all names mentioned
in trade rumors, and Schastlivy will probably end up the odd man out as he is
really the only weak link on the heavily favored Senators team. Gonchar could
find himself in Toronto, where regardless of where they sit in the standings,
need one or two proven defensemen if they have any hope in the playoffs. It’s
anybody’s guess where Lang will end up. Perhaps New Jersey will nab him to add
offense. It seems weird suggesting the Stanley Cup Champs need more offense,
but if it wasn’t for Martin Brodeur who knows where they’d be?
With
all the uncertainty of next season, teams on the bubble are making decisions
early. Do they shed salaries and cut their losses or stock up for the stretch
run? One thing you’re going to see are teams trimming their rosters earlier
than usual, as nobody wants to get stuck with a $2 billion payroll with the
prospect of a salary cap being implemented. Washington won’t be the only team
holding a garage sale this spring. The floodgates are now officially open and
some big names are available to the highest bidder!
I’ll
have much more on some of the big moves as they develop, and of course as always
you can count on Puckin’ Around to deliver the lowdown on the trade deadline.
Stay tuned, it’s heating up out there.
"HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR?"
Just
who’s in charge of picking the rosters
for the All-Star game anyway? I don’t mean the votes from fans. I mean the
rest of the players who will make up the All-Star lineup in Minnesota. Since
when are Tomas Vokoun, Dwayne Roloson and Marty Turco considered the best
goalies in the West? Turco was a fan vote, so he’ll start, but what about Jean-Sebastien
Giguere? Dan Cloutier? David Aebischer? Brian Boucher? Sean Burke? While
we’re at it, why not vote Marc Denis to the squad? It would make more sense
than the other two who are going. We have three goalies playing for teams who
could all miss the playoffs! Let’s forget the net for a minute. Do you mean to
tell me Filip Kuba would be going if he played anywhere other than Minnesota? I
think not. Personally I would have sent Alexandre Daigle before I would have
even considered Kuba, because he deserves it more.
What happened to picking a representative from every team? When did this
change? Not even one member of the Edmonton Oilers? Ryan Smyth? Nobody from
last year’s Stanley Cup finalist Anaheim? Hey, what about Peter Forsberg from
Colorado? How can Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Lidstrom be the only Detroit Red
Wings going?
Here’s
a prediction for you. The Eastern Conference will win by triple the score, and
the score will be double digits. Does 12-4 for the East seem like too much?
We’ll see. Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermeyer will start.
Jose Theodore and Roberto Luongo will be the other two goalies, which begs the
question, what about Patrick Lalime, or dare I even say Ed Belfour? Although,
the East shouldn’t need the goaltending, when they have firepower like Ilya
Kovalchuk, Joe Thornton (both voted starters by the fans), not to mention Marian
Hossa, Daniel Alfredsson, Gary Roberts, Mats Sundin, Jeremy Roenick, Keith
Primeau, Wade Redden, Martin St. Louis, and Sheldon Souray. Surprisingly, even
Jaromir Jagr will be there. Does the West even have a chance?
Whatever
the result, this yearly popularity contest should yield some interesting
moments, most notably Gary Bettman’s yearly interview with Hockey Night In
Canada. Don’t you dare miss it.
So let
me get this straight, Jeremy Roenick is the only player out of the NHL’s 700+
members with enough balls to speak out about the officiating? Maybe if more
players would come out and call out the NHL’s feeble attempt at policing the
game then and only then there might be an improvement. It’s really sad to see
Hockey’s showcase league struggle on a nightly basis to get the calls right. I
know I’ve had my say on this many times, so at the risk of sounding like a
broken record, I’ll leave the subject alone, but consider this: Even a baseball
umpire doesn’t miss as many calls as 75% of the referees in the NHL.
If
watching the Boston Bruins raise Cam Neely’s #8 to the rafters didn’t leave you
teary eyed, you’re either not a hockey fan or didn’t have the opportunity to
watch him play. All I have to say is it’s about time. Next stop, the Hockey
Hall of Fame, they have to make it happen.
With
the Neely ceremony aside, one couldn’t help but wonder what’s wrong with the NHL
when a ceremony to retire Cam’s jersey drew more fans to the Fleet Centre than a
historic rivalry match between Boston and Montreal.
As much
as everybody would love to see it happen, just how credible and serious are the
prospects of an NHL franchise relocating to Winnipeg? Better than you may
think. The word on the street is there are a handful of teams who are already
in big trouble and could be on the move if the league doesn’t get its own house
in order, especially if we face any sort of lockout whatsoever. After the mayor
of Winnipeg was snubbed by Pittsburgh, speculation has been running rampant, and
any one of the following teams could end up relocating to the brand new MTS
Centre, due to open this fall: Buffalo, Carolina, Washington, New Jersey,
Nashville, Anaheim and maybe even Pittsburgh (although they won’t admit it).
One would have to think a stable economic system for the NHL will be essential
to making this happen, but we all know attendance was never a problem for the
Winnipeg Jets, and certainly won’t be a problem if and when an NHL franchise
could ever grace the city again. Phoenix should take notice.
There
is a great website about this located at
http://www.jetsowner.com. If the NHL is willing to listen, I’m sure this
could happen, but it is mere speculation at this point. As a writer of all
things "puck", I'll be sure and talk more about this as it happens.
If
anybody happens to know the whereabouts of Adam Oates, please notify the
Edmonton Oilers immediately before they fall too far out of playoff contention,
if it isn’t already too late.
Finally,
hats off to recently retired defenseman Phil Housley for an outstanding 21 year
career.
That’s
all for now folks. For better or for worse, enjoy the All-Star break, and look
for the brand-spanking new redesigned Puckin’ Around website, located in its
rightful domain - RIGHT HERE!!
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