Me: (noticed who it was on the caller ID, so this isn’t my normal protocol for answering the phone at a highly regarded establishment) “Yo man!” in an excited, yet surprised tone of voice. My brother usually doesn’t wake up until 4:30 in the afternoon.
Bro: “BERRRRRRTTUUUUUUUZZIIIIIIII!!!!”
Me: “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!” followed by a couple fist pumps, a few pounds on my desk and the forthcoming bizarre glares from my 60-year old female co-worker. I don’t care what she was thinking, we just landed the best player available and for nothing! I couldn’t believe that it happened. I was getting flash backs to the late 90s again, my body started tingling for a few seconds as I caught my breath.
It was a good call to get. It was the call I was looking forward too all day.
Even though I was closely monitoring the status of the on-goings at the NHL’s trade deadline, I wasn’t able to hit refresh fast enough on my tsn.ca homepage to catch the latest trade: Todd Bertuzzi to the Detroit Red Wings for Shawn Matthias and a few conditional draft picks.
After a lack luster and disappointing stint in sunny south Florida, the man who was chastised by the league and a big populace of its fans was coming to Motown. And I couldn’t be happier.
This was exactly what the Wings have been in need of all year. A team that has been built on speed, skill, finesse, puck control and strong team defense has been able to comfortably climb the standings throughout the year and look a lock to be one of the top seeds, if not the top seed, in the Western Conference. With the addition of a player, who just a few short seasons ago dominated games as though he were a man amongst boys, the Wings have done exactly what was needed entering the stretch run; get bigger, get stronger, get nastier. Now we finally have that added “grit” everyone keeps attributing playoff success with. We’d have a guy who wasn’t scared to drop the gloves and send a message, even if the opposition refuses to turn around and man up.
Ken Holland was able to be the contentious GM and assess both the present and the future by not surrendering any top ranked prospects currently on the NHL roster and adding a player who only has one direction to go; up. Before going down after only seven games, Bertuzzi was able to notch 8 pts and look as though he may have put his worst behind him after the unfortunate Moore incident, and once again be the premier power forward so many were accustomed to seeing earlier in his career. The situation in Detroit is a perfect fit for both the bruising winger and the high flying Wings.
Being able to play alongside skilled forwards such as Zetterberg, Datsuyk, Lang, Samuelsson and Flipula and with the experienced veterans Lidstrom, Schneider, Chelios, and Draper will enable him to hide in a sense, not being asked to be the savior some teams search for at a trading deadline (Nashville anyone…). Rather, he can come in, crash the corners hard, use his skillfully soft, yet ruggedly strong hands around the net and provide a perfect complimentary skill set to that previously existing on the Wings. Toss in the added chip on his shoulder that grows with every ill-willed comment about him not being able to fit into the “new” NHL or his nagging injuries the past few seasons, and you’ve got a restless giant, just waiting to extract his vengeance on those doubters. The only people I feel a tiny sense of pity for are those hapless fans who went out and bought a #44 Bertuzzi Panther’s jersey when they traded Roberto Luongo away. Honestly though, that was probably about four people, and three of them are probably landed immigrants from Canada, so really, I don’t feel that bad.
Holland’s work would begin prior to the festive February 27th deadline. In a move made to safeguard the club in case they lost out on the Bertuzzi/Guerin/Smyth sweepstakes, he dealt the over hyped, under performing Jason Williams to the Chicago Blackhawks in return for the “gritty” Kyle Calder. Calder is a player who was having a terrible season on a terrible team. Being involved in a three-team deal, Calder came from Philly and I’m staring to think that it was his pearly whites shining in the mid-February sun that made the glare tough on my eyes coming into work this morning. His perma-smile probably had to be smacked off his face by Babcock when he showed up for his physical with the Wings trainers, as he must have been more giddy than an 8-year old kid on Christmas Eve to join the Wings just in time for a spirited playoff run.
Here was a guy who had spent his first six years in the league stuck on a Chicago Blackhawks team that only finished over .500 once in his tenure. He’s only been around for a total of five games in the playoffs throughout his career, losing to the St. Louis Blues in the Conference Quarter Finals in 01-02. Now he’s joining arguably the top team in the West and has the chance to be a part of something bigger than he ever imagined, because in Hockeytown there’s only one time of the year the season is graded upon; the playoffs. We’ve been here before. We’ve won Presidents Trophy’s. We’ve won divisions. We’ve been the top seed numerous times. Those are all impressive accomplishments, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It takes hours of preparation and exact execution in order to gain those accolades. For Wings fans however, we’re only concerned with what happens in the season after the regular season. This year looks to be as promising as any in recent memory, now if we can just keep Hasek healthy we should be okay.
The pleasantly surprising thing about this trade deadline, unlike the No Balls Association, was that GMs weren’t going to sit on their hands and watch the clock tick and the deadline pass without anything happening. GMs weren’t satisfied to simply play out the remainder of the season with only an adequate squad, and in the situations where contracts were expiring and extensions weren’t looking imminent, teams acted. All this action led to a day where James Duthie ended up being almost as happy as Kyle Calder. Deals were getting done and teams were loading up for a vigorous playoff run. Let’s take a look at both the East and the West and evaluate who the winners and losers were on a busy NHL trade deadline (hint – Edmonton fans are sending paper bags full of shit to Kevin Lowe as you’re reading this).
The Penguins led the way in the East, which is a refreshing sight, and are starting to look as
though they finally realize how talented a group of young players lies in front of them after repeat tank jobs and top overall picks. It also helps that people are comparing them to the young Oilers teams of the 80s and look to be on the verge of becoming great…dynasty, well that’s another argument for another day. Adding the tough, but extremely friendly and lovable, Georges Laraques will finally shut the mouths of sports talk hosts, writers and fans everywhere who were constantly playing the role of special advisors and berating the Pens front office every time the subject of protecting Sidney Crosby came up. They also went out and snatched up a player, albeit in his decline of a very good career, away from two of hockey’s hotbeds in Ottawa and the all mighty Toronto. Gary Roberts waived his no trade clause to join the Pens and will add the leadership and experience to a team who will definitely need it during the playoffs. Oh, he also has that million dollar attribute everyone keeps mentioning; grit. This team will be dangerous in the playoffs, especially if Marc-Andre Flurry can get hot and the young guns play like they’re not scared of tomorrow.The biggest news of the day however - and I’m only mentioning it now because if there are any Oilers’ fans reading this, I feel for you - was the departure of Ryan Smyth. Unable to reach an agreement and not wanting to lose out like they did with Curtis Joseph and receive nothing in return for their best player, GM Kevin Lowe decided the best thing to do with Smyth would be to send him to Long Island. Yes, you read that correct, Long freakin Island! My initial reaction was that of sympathy for Edmontonions. Again they get slapped in the face, kicked in the balls, and punched in the stomach. Even after the NHL alters its infrastructure specifically for small market clubs to compete, they still can’t get a deal done to keep the heart and soul of the franchise in town.
I’m not sure if Smyth was driving up the price and not accepting anything below what Alex Tanguay got from the Flames last off-season (the market showed he would be looking for something in the $5.5-$6M range). But to tell you the truth, I don’t think it should have mattered. The Oilers are a team built around Smyth. He bleeds Blue, White and Orange (which is a good thing because his new unis will be just those colors). On a day where they were set to honor one of the greatest, if not the greatest Oiler of all-time, they went and knocked the life out of the city, a great PR move on all accounts (I wonder who the fool was that set up the Messier retirement ceremony on the same day of the trade deadline, when their premier player and
hometown hero was in the final year of his contract. He must be curled up inside of himself right now and rightfully so.)Why this deal was so surprising was even though it’s happened before, and even though you expected teams to still play it cheap and not invest much, it always seemed as though Smyth and Lowe would find a way to work it out. That evidently was not the case. No deal was reached and the trade was made, but to Long Island? If he were to be traded anywhere you’d have expected them to be graciously cordial and send him to a contender with a legitimate chance at winning a Stanley Cup. If you look at it from Lowe’s perspective though, anything short of shipping Smyth out to the waste land that is the Isle would have been career suicide; it’s like finally deciding to break up with your long time girlfriend and then buying a house right next to hers. That would be the end of your life, and all that would be left to do is call the corner to pull you out of the house in a body bag within a week. Lowe wanted to live to see another day.
There was no way he could stay in the division, that’s a no brainer. There was no way he was going to stay in the West, the chances of lining up with Edmonton later on during the season or, and the chances are slim, in the playoffs, would be devastating on all levels. So you look to the East. There is no way he could have been dealt to a Canadian counterpart, which would just twist the dagger that’s been stabbed in the sides of Oilers fans everywhere. So the logical place to put him was as far away from Edmonton as possible, while still giving Smyth a dim light at the end of the tunnel.
In New York he’ll join a team who is in need of a true leader and provide them a huge boost entering the final months of the season. And who knows, they’ve got a very smart coach leading the way in Ted Nolan and if Depietro can get hot – and he’s shown signs of brilliance throughout the year – and the likes of Blake, Satan, Yashin, Kozlov mixed with new comers Zednik and Bergeron can regain what has made them successful throughout their careers, the Isles could have a fun playoff run, eerily similar to that of Edmonton in years past. The irony-level here is exponential. The sick and empty feeling at the pit of Oiler fans stomachs is something however, that will last long after all the snow and ice melts as another depressing departure should make them wonder if it’s even worth cheering anymore.
The rest of the day was full of teams jockeying for position both in the standings and in the headlines. The West looks as though it’s regaining the powerhouse title it had a few years ago as all the top teams loaded up and tried to one-up each other.
The San Jose Sharks added depth, scoring and that infamous grit everyo
ne is desperate for in forward Bill Guerin while also strengthened their blue line with the likes of Craig Rivet. The Sharks will get a boost to their five-on-five play which has been lackluster thus far, and will gain from having a proven leader and playoff contributor in a young dressing room. They’ll have a legitimate shot to go deep in the playoffs, but their fate will lie on their ability to shut other teams down, and being able to finally step up and take out the top dawgs in the West when it matters most (their current record against teams situated in a playoff spot in the West is 12-15 with 8 more match-ups against such teams throughout the remainder of the season).Anaheim was not as active as was previously thought, but may be due to the fact that Brian Burke was just not willing to part with any of the young talent currently on their NHL roster. It was rumored that Burke was very interested in reuniting with Todd Bertuzzi but a deal was not reached. It was also rumored he had a keen eye for Bill Guerin, but again, unable to get something done. What he did add was depth and strength in defensemen Doug O’Brien (its okay if you’ve never heard of him, I haven’t either) and tough guy Brad May (who I thought had already retired). So it looks like the Ducks are going to have to take what they’ve got and make the best of it. This shouldn’t be too difficult a task to ask as they’ve been situated at, or near the top of the league for the duration of the season.
Vancouver will be an interesting team to watch during the final month and a half of the season as they were able to add depth in the likes of Bryan Smolinski and Brent Sopel to provide added leadership and grit – that word keeps popping up in these trade talks. They’ll only go as far as Roberto Luongo can take them and I’m predicting that unless they get a favorable match-up against Minnesota in the first round, their playoffs story will be short lived.
Moving east, the Buffalo Sabres finally parted ways with the starter who never got to be the number one guy in Marty Biron, as he was moved to Philadelphia for a 2nd round draft pick in ’07. This makes sense as Ryan Miller is, and will be, the guy moving forward and the dynamic of having two number one goaltenders usually doesn’t work out very nicely – goaltenders are very temperamental individuals. They were able to fill the void of having a legitimate NHL back-up by replacing him with Ty Conklin. The Sabres were also able to add Dainius Zubrus from the Washington Capitals and made a very potent offense that much better. Zubrus is coming out of a very formidable situation playing alongside Ovechkin and Semin and into a high-octane offense where he should continue to flourish. This deal also makes me a happy camper as Zubrus was one of my sleeper picks on my fantasy team at the start of the year and entering a playoff run will only help his stats.
In a move just prior to the dramatic trade deadline final day, the Atlanta Thrashers were able to scoop the washed up Keith Tkachuk from the St. Louis Blues for a bag of pucks. Tkachuk will enable the Thrashers to check-off grit from their playoff emergency list, and provide them a solid player entering the playoffs, although I hardly think this move will put a team who has
been highly inconsistent since the middle of November over the top. As is the case in Toronto, where the laughable Leafs were able, for the third time, to bring Yanic Perreault back to town. This deal makes little sense, if only because the Leafs will not make the playoffs this year and need a complete over haul of their franchise in order to make any progress. The fair natured John Ferguson is scared to make any landmark moves, like shipping Mats Sundin out of town, and will be his own worst enemy come contract time. I predict at least another three years of mediocrity and faded playoff hopes for this franchise until something drastic happens, if it even happens at all.Some surprising moves or lack there of, at the deadline were made by a few teams. We are seeing a shift in the Avalanche philosophy as no one was brought in to attempt a playoff run, and rightfully so. This is an organization that is in the rebuilding process and knows it. They have some good young talent and are going to try to shape these players into what they hope to be a very strong core group of guys for years to come. It will be strange though not to see the Avs in the playoffs, the last time that happened was in 1993-94 - when they were still the Quebec Nordiques.
Montreal was another team who may be on the cuff of making the playoffs, but should take a look in the mirror and realize, even if they do make it in by the skin of their neck, they have a
date with either the Buffalo Sabres or New Jersey Devils, and will not come close to making it out of the first round. There must have been offers on the table for Sheldon Souray, who has publicly admitted to wanting to take a look at the free agent market and has always had an affinity to the west coast. The Habs would have been smart to deal the anchor of their power play now, restock with some young talent and draft picks and then make a play for him in the off-season. Now all they have to look forward to is a couple more months of frustrating hockey without their top goaltender and a quick playoff exit, a very smart strategy by the Frenchmen.The final head-scratching move came from Beantown as the Bruins dealt young forward Brad Boyes to the St. Louis Blues for defensemen Dennis Widemen. This is Boyes third time being dealt in his young career and Boston must be hoping to find a diamond in the rough in Widemen, who has powerplay quarterbacking skills and is a strong all around defensemen as Boyes is a skilled forward who can transition between the wing and centre seamlessly and possess great hockey sense – the jury is still out on this deal.
Overall it was a very eventful day with many trades happening in a very short time. What all this will mean come playoff time is yet to be determined, but if anything, at least there was an honest effort put forth by all and we were given a lot to talk about. I’m not sure if that will be the same sentiment shared by those in Edmonton, but like they say, that’s the business.
- JW
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