Hockey Trade Rumors

You’ve gotta like Mike Milbury. He certainly adds plenty of excitement come trade deadline, draft, off season, you name it. If you are an Islander fan, you must hate him with unholy passion. He has only managed to discard the likes of Palffy, Chara Bertuzzi, Jokinen, Luongo, McCabe, Brewer among others and pass up on chances to draft guys like Spezza, Heatley and Gaborik. How he has managed to survive the several owners that have passed through the organization the last several years remains a mystery.

It has been almost a year since we have been able log on here at HTR and post about an NHL game that we saw. In the time of this lockout we have had posts which included opinions of those who Blame one side or the other for things becoming as they have and why things have not improved. It may help to prevent this situation from repeating itself by knowing the who’s and Why’s. However what really matters is that they both sides come to an agreement. If this was the movie Jerry Maguire this is not the part where Cuba Gooding Jr. screems “Show me the Money” this is where Tom Cruise says “Help Me Help You!!”.

It appears as though the league will proceed with the “weighted lottery system” in order to determine where Crosby will end up. However, in my humble opinion, this is the wrong way of going about. There are just too many problems.

You know me by now, I have been pushing this optimism regarding a CBA deal for the past couple of weeks, and I’ve been doing so for a reason.

I will continue to push and I’m going to make my claim that we will have hockey in fall.

ESPN drops contract option. My reaction is…….. (scroll down in article).

As recently as last season the Rangers read like a who’s who of superstars. There was no shortage of top notch talent in New York with names like Messier, Leetch, Jagr, Kovalev, Holik, Lindros, Bure Nedved among others.

It sure pays to lose. Lose games, lose money. That is what happened to the Washington Capitals. The result was the Caps gutting their team of most of their veteran core players and getting the top pick in the 2004 entry draft. Gone are the likes of Lang, Gonchar, Konawolchuk, Jagr, Nylander, Grier, Klee, Bondra, Simon in what was one of the biggest dumping of players and contracts that the league has ever seen.

When people talk about the New England sports scene they rave about Tom Brady and the Patriots or Curt Schilling and the power hitting World Champion Red Sox and even the troublesome Paul Pierce and the Celtics. An afterthought pretty much is the hockey team down in beantown. As fans long for the days of Orr and Espo or the Don Cherry lunch pail gang or the stars of recent times like Bourque and Neely, they miss out on what good fortunes they have now.

According to an article on TSN .. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=125609&hubName=nhl, the league may issue a drop dead date of June 15th for the 2006 season. The reason being is that this is the sponsors have given the league June 15th as the date they will pull their money from the NHL.

New draft lottery system idea could send Crosby to Manhattan. How would Crosby look in a Rangers uniform?

McKenzie and I agree many times, and I like his work during the March Trade Deadline week. Guess what, we agree again!

And, a hockey site that says a “deal is done”. Am I going to blast the site or applaud it?

When people talk about what is wrong with the game of hockey and the trap and all that stuff, many point out how coaching is the biggest evil today. Defence first is what almost all teams preach and it has gotten the NHL into the mess it is in today.

The NHLPA cancels a scheduled meeting. The NHL continues to set up meetings frequently. Forget what Jeremy Jacobs said, the guy is being ignored by other owners. Dallas Stars president Mr. Lites said a while back that “we’re on the same page”.

Does this mean the lockout is coming to an end? Show some optimism!

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=124482&hubName=nhl

NJ Devils star Patrick Ellas has a case of Hepatitis A which reportedly damages the liver and is not curable. Rest and diet can improve symptoms say doctors but it is unclear if the NJ star will ever be able to play.

Hepatitis A, according to doctors noted in the Newark Star-Ledger story, comes from oral-fecal contact and is often found in underdeveloped countries. Ellas was playing in Russia when he became sick.

Analysis:

I am no fan of the Devils team but this simply a horrible story. No player deserves to have this happen to them. It makes me personally more angry that there wasn’t a deal done this year to save hockey. Unfortunately, add Elias’ to the list of damage from this unthinkably stupid situation.

The Philadelphia Flyers management led by Bobby Clarke have been criticized and rightly so for some of their moves such as the signings of Jeremy Roenick, John Leclair and Chris Gratton that have had a direct effect in the rising costs of doing business in the NHL. Also their inability to find a quality goaltender, especially for those strong Lindros led teams has left Philly on the outside looking in, running their streak to 30 years without a cup win.