Thursday, March 04, 2010

What is this "hockey" you speak of?

Apparently, yesterday was the trade deadline in the NHL. Not the first trade deadline mind you, that occurred pre-Olympics, but the second deadline. I know this only because Work Jerry told me. To which I said, "OK hockey boy, why don't you sum up all the trade goodness for the loyal reader of G:TB." Much to my surprise, he took time away from his beer blog and newborn twins to actually write something. And in the rarest of occurrences, we discuss hockey today in this corner of the internet (warning...this blurb was sent to me with one comment only - "it's longer than a Whitney music review"):

You were probably too busy recovering from your Olympic hockey hangover to notice that yesterday, when the clock struck 3pm, the NHL trade deadline passed. As usual there were winners and losers but mostly losers. Anaheim and Calgary swapped backup goaltenders - that’s awful.

While most of the deals were a waste of time a few teams showed a sense of purpose at the deadline and made good deals. Of course, just because you get better doesn’t mean you will have more success. The teams below made the best deals of the day so we will loosely call them the “winners.”

Winners – Sort of
Pittsburgh Penguins – they gave up Martin Skoula and prospect Luca Caputi but the Pens are a young team so maybe that makes Caputi expendable to acquire Alexei Pnokarovsky. This gives Pittsburgh an upgrade in their top 6 forwards making a scary team scarier. The obvious question is did Pittsburgh really need to upgrade its offense? Sorry Caps fans but the Eastern Conference still goes through Pittsburgh.

Buffalo Sabres – acquired Raffe Torres from Columbus for Nathan Paestch. It’s probably better that Paestch got traded because he never really cracked the starting lineup. Buffalo’s front six forwards are soft so Torres brings toughness and 20+ goals so it was a good trade. That leaves four forwards and two defensemen that could or should have been dealt. Even with Torres the Sabres are still far behind the likes of Pittsburgh, Washington, New Jersey.

Washington Capitals – picked up defenseman Joe Corvo, which the team sorely needs, but gave up a lot to get him. Particularly Oskar Osala. Sure, Hershey is stacked but Osala has quite an upside. Let’s not also forget that G is still an issue for Washington. Their current roster is good enough for repeat visits to the Conference Finals but they don’t have the necessary skills between the pipes to compete with top quality goaltending. They certainly don’t have enough to bring home the Cup. Frankly, the Detroit Redwings were the only team to win a Cup with average G when they relied on Chris Osgood.

Edmonton Oilers – the Oilers were busy leading up to the deadline but it’s their last deal that helps them most. Acquiring Ray Whitney from Anaheim for Lubomir Visnovsky may be one of those rare trades that helps all parties. Whitney is a good defenseman who struggled in Anahiem so a change of scenery might do him well. Let’s not discount the trouble Edmonton has in attracting quality players. Free agents shun the city so acquiring Whitney, who has a lot of upside, could be a long-term winner for the team. Oh, and Visnovsky is an obvious upgrade for Anaheim.

Losers
West Coast teams – because nobody pays attention to them anyway. Actually, you could say most of the Western Conference.

Washington Capitals Announcers – please stop coming up with clever new names for hockey terms. It is bad enough we lost the unique division names (Adams, Norris, etc). Every time we try to watch the Caps it’s the sin bin (penalty box) or the cage (goal) or a twig (hockey stick). Sin bin is almost offensive and nobody uses wood sticks anymore.

Quotable
"We talked to a lot of people about lots of things, not necessarily about that, but just nothing made sense. It takes two to tango. Sometimes you want to do something and they don't, and sometimes they want too much and that's why deals don't get made.
- Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman to ESPN.com on Wednesday evening.

This is a classic line for GMs who didn’t bother to make a quality trade to improve a team that is just a player or two short of greatness. In fact, as a Sabres fan we would appreciate it if Mr. Bowman acknowledges that this quote was practically invented by Darcy Regier.

51 comments:

T.J. said...

I've heard of only one guy in this post - Ray Whitney.

d-train said...

that's one more than me.

d-train said...

can i get another post on tribe bball?

T.J. said...

You'll get a road trip diary on Saturday...

d-train said...

i apologize - that was disrespectful to the individual that took the time and energy to write the post. uncalled for on my part. and no, i have nothing better to add.

T.J. said...

Dan, Work Jerry has to put up with a lot worse than that from me every day, so I think you're set.

rob said...

the pictures are a nice touch.

have we mentioned that the tribe are the only team to beat maryland at home this season?

T.J. said...

Yes. You seem to mention that quite a bit.

Did you catch Jay Bilas basically take a crap on every "bubble" team last night, saying not a one would've made the field last year?

TR said...

Did not see Bilas do that, but I have seen several German men, some Japanese women and a Dominican dwarf do it. Gross.

rob said...

at least bilas is consistent (or regular, as the case may be). he's been decrying the quality of this year's tournament field for the better part of a month.

zman said...

I guess I can cross Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Louisiana off my list of potential places to live. This is why we'll all end up working for Chinese companies is 25 years.

http://tinyurl.com/yfj2t2p

d-train said...

superfreakonomics hits on the topic of global warming too...veddy intedesting.
to steal from dave's rating system, i give it 9 pounds per sqaure inch out of a possible 10.

Michael said...

Western Conference hockey as a whole is better than the Eastern Conference . So you can suck it. But I do wish that the Blackhawks had been able to upgrade their goalie situation.

T.J. said...

Goodie...Swint/Work Jerry feud...

zman said...

I don't know enough about global warming to meaningfully opine on the topic. But I do know enough to meaningfully assert that whether global warming is real has nothing to do with evolution's legitimate existence. I'd move to Canada but I don't like cold weather or hockey.

Greg said...

Dinosaurs are now called "Jesus Horses"

jerome said...

Aside from the Red Wings the Western Conference is filled with posers, eh.

Dave said...

i haven't gotten to the global warming section yet-- and nothing is rivaling the WHO's assessment of the average Indian man's penis-- but i do like that doctors call motorcyclists who ride without helmets "donorcyclists."

also, that the price of oral sex has come WAY down since the nineteenth century.

Dave said...

i'd also like to thank "work jerry" for his analysis of the hockey trades.

it must be hard to get any writing done when "work kramer" keeps bothering you (i am assuming TJ is "work kramer.")

T.J. said...

T.C.B.

You know, takin' care o' business.

d-train said...

how did i forget about the prostitution metrics??? yeah, good stuff in there too. before long, oral will be free.

zman said...

I've never paid for one.

Greg said...

Going for big savings by buying in bulk?

d-train said...

yeah but z, i'm talking about being the oral-ee, not the oral-or

zman said...

Zing!

TR said...

New thread please.

Can we go back to my poop joke?

zman said...

I've never paid for that either.

d-train said...

didn't hear/read the poop joke. do tell. i'm intrigued.

Michael said...

incorrect, jerome. red wings are not even playing that well this year. Top teams in Eastern are Caps, Pitt, Ottawa, and NJ. maybe Buff b/c of goaltending. after that, serious drop-off. Only team that would scare me in Stanley Cup is Caps with home ice. In West, top teams are Sharks, Blackhawks, Vancouver, Nashville, Phoenix, LA, Colorado, and then Detroit and Calgary. More talented teams in West. don't fight it, jerome.

rob said...

i enjoy the stylings of unfrozen caveman hockey analyst.

T.J. said...

Swint claiming to be an expert in any sport is like me claiming to be a fitness guru.

T.J. said...

TR, the teej loves poop jokes...keep 'em coming. or plopping.

Geoff said...

You know what we need? More hockey debates involving guys who've watched more episodes of The Bachelor than they have actual hockey games this year.

T.J. said...

Geesh - here I thought Geoff would want to discuss twin chile rearing with Work Jerry, but apparently not.

rob said...

jerry raises chiles, too? those fuckers are hard to grow in this climate.

Geoff said...

Skins just cut Randel El, Randy Thomas and Rock Cartwright. Rumor has it Cornelius Griffin, Andres Carter and Carlos Rogers may be cut before midnight tonight as well. I, for one, welcome our new Redskins overlords.

zman said...

It always brings me back when I hear "ooh chile."

zman said...

Are they ditching plan to get younger at QB, older at RB, and shorter at WR?

Geoff said...

Yeah, but rumor has it they will hold fast to their policy of spending like drunken Arabs on free agents, as they are pursuing Karlos Dansby, Julius Peppers and are attempting to trade for Brandon Marshall. Reports say to expect them to sign Dansby or Peppers by tomorrow morning.

Geoff said...

And the Skins just dumped Betts and Smoot. Everything must go...

zman said...

Buddy Nix can't wait to sign 3/4 of those guys.

Michael said...

incorrect Geoff. I have seen more hockey games. but only because of gambling. I have seen quite a few blackhawk games this year. meanwhile, the bachelor brings much more entertainment with a mulitude of scenes with women crying over some douchenozzle they just met two weeks ago.

Geoff, it's ok if I know more about something than you. It's not your fault. It's not your fault...

Geoff said...

I agree, you know more about The Bachelor than I do.

Cornelius Griffin...no longer with the Redskins. This is awesome. I feel like Alec Baldwin from GlenGarry is in the Skins locker room right now.

T.J. said...

Yep, Dansby at the deadline...EB was quite happy about this development.

rob said...

tony shaver, caa coach of the year. david schneider second-team all-conference, quinn mcdowell third-team.

Mark said...

Shannon Brown is definitely the best dunker who has a female name ever. No contest.

rob said...

domonique wilkins is happy that mark thinks he's got a manly name.

T.J. said...

知道 voted for Dee Brown.

rob said...

dominique wilkins, too

zman said...

Antonio Cromartie, and his seven baby mamas, is a Jet. All the Jets gave up was a 3rd round pick. Revis and Cromartie make a pretty nasty pair of CB. And I can't wait for TR to get bummed out by people wearing Cromartie jerseys on opening day.

TR said...

The pick can turn into a 2nd rounder if he hits certain production stats, so it's not a total steal.

Cromartie has 7 kids by 6 women in 5 states. Impressive for a 25 year-old. Kemp-esque production.

People are suspicious of his INT totals dropping, but they forget that high INTs are a sign that CBs are more into stats than deflecting passes.

Great signing, although I would wait to sign him to a new deal until he proves he is not a thug.