Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots - February 29th, 2008 Edition

By Hartley Miller

After analyzing the 25 deals on the NHL trading deadline day I quickly came to the realization that not one Canadian team upgraded its roster.

The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers didn’t make any moves. The Vancouver Canucks again did little by trading, non Alain Vigneault favorite, Matt Cooke, to Washington for another fringe left winger, Matt Pettinger.  The Ottawa Senators acquired “over the hill” winger, Martin Lapointe from Chicago for a 6^th round pick. Meanwhile, five Toronto Maple Leafs refused to waive their no-trade clauses (yes, I am puzzled to as to why anyone would want to remain a Leaf). However, the Leafs did ship Chad Kilger and Wade Belak to Florida for 3^rd and 5^th round picks respectively and they also unloaded defenceman Hal Gill to Pittsburgh for 2^nd and 5^th round draft choices. The reaction to those transactions is whoopee.

The Montreal Canadiens, a team I have admired since I was a tiny tot (yes there was an NHL back then) raised my eyebrows when they gave goalie Cristobal Huet a one way ticket to Washington for a second round pick. This means Carey Price of Williams Lake has taken over as the Habs number one stopper. Even Bob Gainey admits it is a gamble since Price and his back-up Jaroslav Halak have no NHL playoff experience. Although the Canadiens have been a pleasant surprise, they do not have illusions of winning a Cup this season. Gainey admits that Montreal made a significant offer for Marian Hossa, but wasn't about to part with three roster players plus draft picks. Although Gainey faced his critics on the Huet deal, he should be commended for not making the Hossa trade.

While Gainey is a risk taker Canucks GM Dave Nonis is just the opposite. Vancouver needed to acquire a frontline forward, like a Brad Richards, but as usual chose the path of least resistance and made a conservative pass.

Dallas may have been the biggest winners when they won the Richards sweepstakes. Goalie Johan Holmqvist was also part of that package from Tampa in return for netminder Mike Smith and forwards Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen. Who says Stars co-GM Brett Hull doesn't know what he is doing?

Atlanta Thrashers GM Don Waddell may have regained credibility he lost in that trade last year when he acquired rental player Keith Tkachuk from St Louis for draft picks and prospects. The Tkachuk deal turned out to be a bust when Atlanta lost four straight in the first round of the playoffs to the Rangers and then Tkachuk returned to the Blues as a free agent.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot as the Thrashers unloaded rentals Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh for a first round pick,  plus good young players in Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen and 2007 first round draft pick, Angelo Esposito.

The Penguins overpaid and regardless of their firepower it is doubtful they will win significantly in the playoffs because of their suspect goaltending.

Colorado was a winner as well as they signed Peter Forsberg and then reacquired Adam Foote from Columbus for conditional first and fourth round picks.

San Jose upgraded when they took Brian Campbell off Buffalo's hands for Steve Bernier and a first rounder.

Even Washington might make the playoffs now that they have Huet, Cooke and Sergei Fedorov from Columbus for little known defenceman Ted (I'm not Babe's great great grandson) Ruth.

In summary, I am amazed at what teams will give up for players that will become unrestricted free agents in the summer.

Last year Anaheim and Ottawa watched the other contenders make moves at the deadline while they basically kept the same rosters. We all know where these two teams ended up!

From the quote rack:

“Danica Patrick is one of the swimsuit models for the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition which brings a whole new meaning to driving with the top down.”Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)

“Roger Clemens withdrew last week from a scheduled appearance at "ESPN. the Weekend," an event at Walt Disney World in Florida. What a shame, he would have been a real headliner in Fantasyland.”Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com)

“A Photo has placed Roger Clemens at Jose Canseco's party---they've identified the outline of the silhouette under the lampshade.”Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

“Spring training has begun for major leaguers. Hey, that's interesting: Change one letter and add another one and you've got "syringe training."Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post

And in case you missed it:

From a headline at Fark.com: “Vancouver Olympics needs 25,000 volunteers: 100 to take tickets and the rest to collect urine samples." 

And how was your week?

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com

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