Hockey Trade Rumors

The fans have spoken and so has Jarome Iginla, making it clear two-thirds of the parties involved are at least starting to come to grips with the possibility of a trade.

We’ll hear from the club at noon Tuesday when GM Jay Feaster treads carefully around an issue that has dominated the Calgary sports scene the last week like never before.

Here, apart from the obvious tasks – such as finding a great coach and getting better players – are five things the new GM has to do:

About all that’s certain regarding the Maple Leafs’ roster is that we know it will be different in September when training camp starts.

No teams, whether they’ve won the Stanley Cup or crashed and burned and missed the playoffs, stay the same one season to the next.

“You know changes will be made, regardless of what happened,” Leafs forward Matthew Lombardi said. “It’s always tough at the end of the year, saying goodbye to guys. But most hockey guys, everyone gets along pretty well and everyone can adapt. I have got to know that over the last couple of years.”

The Avs have a real decision to make about Paul Stastny. He entered Saturday’s season finale with 21 goals and 53 points. Respectable numbers, for sure. But, fair or not, the burden of expectations that came with his five-year, $33 million contract haven’t been met.

Too many times, his performance was lacking in big games, with a pointless, minus-4 game at San Jose a couple of weeks ago part of a contest that essentially sealed his team’s fate. We all expected Stastny to meet or exceed the two 70-plus point seasons he had in three of his first four in the NHL. But the fact is, he hasn’t hit the 60-point mark in the last two seasons.

Mike Heika: They have to study the leadership core of players like Morrow, Ribeiro, Ott and Robidas. All four are under contract, so they have to make some hard evaluations.

Then, I think they wait on all of their unrestricted free agents.

My guess is they go to July 1 and make a big push for Zach Parise or Ryan Suter (or both). Then, they will evaluate if they want Sheldon Souray , Radek Dvorak et al. back, depending on if they get the big fish.

Habs’ search for new GM gets underway

Montreal Canadiens owner and president Geoff Molson’s news conference to tell Habs Nation that Pierre Gauthier, who seldom talked in French or English, had been fired as general manager — not just because he was aloof, but because he didn’t manage the iconic club well — highlighted the the team’s need for stability.

You can trace the origins of the sad demise of the Maple Leafs back to a single decision that then-CEO Richard Peddie made on Aug. 23, 2003.

A decision that, more than anything else, has been responsible for the lack of playoff games in Toronto since the season lost to lockout. A decision that cost Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., the company Peddie is so often credited with building, somewhere between $60- and $100-million in lost playoff revenue alone.

Columbus is shivering with Final Four fever, spring football practice is under way, and baseball season has officially commenced. Meanwhile, Rick Nash is playing what are, with little doubt, his last games in a Blue Jackets sweater — and it is barely causing a stir. What a sad and strange denouement for our city’s best professional athlete. Nash played in his 669th game and registered his 541st point as a Jacket last night. The team he has represented for all of his nine NHL seasons defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 before a crowd of 12,432 in Nationwide Arena. Half the patrons wore red.

One of hockey’s most prestigious jobs is open after Montreal Canadiens president Geoff Molson fired Pierre Gauthier on Thursday and announced the process of replacing him has officially commenced.

Justin Schultz, the mobile, puck-moving defenseman taken by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round of 2008, is in an interesting position. With his college season over, he’s welcome to sign with the team that drafted him, and by all accounts they’d love to get him under contract, and have him play for them in the NHL for the rest of this season.

The good people of Quebec will pay approximately $400-million for an arena to be built by 2015, in the hope that the National Hockey League will see fit to repatriate the Nordiques after all these years. And the Phoenix Coyotes, a franchise that has bled away in limbo for nearly three years, is the best bet.

Habs Scott Gomez reportedly aiming to return to Devils after this season; tells friends he’ll be bought out after season, says P Brisebois

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