The NHL Thread

[the max 0]

Chris:

 

The Bruins had a 2-0 lead early in the second, when they decided that it would be a great time to stop trying to score more goals. So, they were outshot 17-4 the remainder of the second, with Razor only allowing one goal in the period despite leaving rebounds on attacking players' sticks many times. Going into the third, they started with a bit of a spark, but Hal Gill pinched up when he shouldn't have, leading to a 2-on-1 break. Pandolfo fired a shot, Raycroft kicked out a rebound that Marshall slid in to tie it. This seemed to wake the Bruins up, but with thirty seconds left, Madden won a draw and Mogilny won the game.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Rejean Houle musrt have secretly taken GM duties overagain for the Habs.

 

It's a busy day on the NHL waiver wire.

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets claimed defenceman Ron Hainsey from the Montreal Canadiens on re-entry waivers, plucking away their first-round pick from the 2000 Entry Draft.

 

The Canadiens recalled Hainsey from the minors, but he had to clear re-entry waivers by noon et Tuesday in order to play for Montreal.

 

Because he's on a contract that pays him $550,000, and he's a young player with potential, it was very possible Hainsey could be picked up by another team. The Habs are on the hook for half of his salary and it will count against Montreal's cap.

 

To make room for Hainsey, the Blue Jackets placed Adam Foote on the IR retroactive to November 23 due to a strained groin.

 

Cote, 23, of Charlesbourg, Que., has played for the Bulldogs since the autumn of 2003. He had no points and 34 penalty minutes in 14 games this season.

 

In other moves, the St. Louis Blues claimed forward Simon Gamache from the Nashville Predators, while the New York Rangers claimed forward Colton Orr from the Boston Bruins.

 

Boston’s Shawn McEachern has cleared waivers.

 

The Pittsburgh Penguins have put netminder Jocelyn Thibault on waivers as have the Florida Panthers with Kristian Huselius and the Chicago Blackhawks with Mikhail Yakubov.

 

Thibault, expected to be the Pittsburgh's starter when the season began, is 1-7-2 with a 4.38 goals-against average and an .880 save percentage in 12 games.

 

The Penguins made the move one day after calling up goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury from their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton club. Fleury was the top pick in the 2003 NHL draft.

 

Thibault signed a $3-million US, two-year contract after being traded to Pittsburgh by Chicago in August.

 

While I'm no GM, it seems to me that if your top 1, 2 and 4 defenceman are out, should you really be giving away a promising defenceman?

 

Some pretty good names up for grabs too, actually, in MacEachern, Huselius, Yakubov and Thibault.

[Guest]

The Kings should probably look at MacEachern or Huselius.

[the max 0]

In name-value only. If you want to pay a guy a million a year to do nothing, sign Shawn McEachern. If you want a soft but gifted player, get Kristian Huselius.

 

Thibault is sporting a gaa in the mid 4's and a sv% of 88. His only claim to fame is that he was traded with other players for Patrick Roy.

[Guest]

I just want someone else to score. Huselius can do that if they put him on a line with Roenick. Conroy, Frolov and Demitra can't carry the team forever. I want Huselius much more than MacEachern though.

[the max 0]

Huselius is a good player, no doubt. Just a little soft. The Kings could certainly use him. McEachern is as good as done.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Huselius is a good player, no doubt. Just a little soft.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thats a criterium to play on the Habs.

 

Thibault, to be fair, isn't usually this bad.

[Guest]

Thibault's probably going to get one shot with Atlanta and if he doesn't show up, he's done.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Max, did you see Gill actually flinch and AVOID the shot by Mogilny at the end? He did a fine job of screening Razor, only to move and avoid actually blocking the shot that ended up beating the B's. Just a wonderful player to watch ... I can't wait to tell my grandkids that I got to see Hal Gill in his prime.

 

And while I agree with you that MOC is just sitting there doing nothing ... there's really nothing he can do. He can't make chicken soup out of chicken shit. The team has next to no one that they can trade: they're pretty much entirely overpaid and underachieving, or 4th liners/AHL-caliber players. What GM - other than MOC - would be dumb enough to make a move for any of them?!?

[Brush with Greatness 0]

Well, bit of a blockbuster here, as it looks like Joe Thornton is off to San Jose. Going to Boston are Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart.

 

As an aside, San Jose has now both the 1st and 2nd overall picks from the 1997 draft in Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

 

I guess now you Bruins fans can have something else to bitch about, instead of the lack of activity by O'Connell and your shitty defence (improved now with the acquisition of Stuart).

[LaParkaMarka 0]

That's a pretty crazy trade. Do the B's have room for all these guys on their team?

[stahl 0]

Boston are retards. Way to ship off your franchise player. No playoffs for a few years it seems.

[bob_barron 0]

Are the Bruins fucking stupid?

[CanadianChris 0]

I think we might need protection for MOC...I have a feeling Max and niskie put a contract out on his head.

[DerangedHermit 0]

Are the Bruins fucking stupid?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is the Pope Catholic?

[bob_barron 0]

At least he's out of the Leafs division

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

At least he's out of the Leafs division

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Here, here!

 

And also, so nice of the Leafs to give up back-to-back goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods after scoring a quick one to open the game to lose 2-1 to the Lightning. But hey, they did the same thing to me in NHL 2006 so I guess I can't complain or say I'm surprised that much.

[iliketurtles 0]

What the FUCK at this trade.

[KGB 0]

Indeed.

 

I bet Glen Murray is more pissed than anyone.

[CanadianChris 0]

At least he's out of the Leafs division

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You wouldn't care so much if you'd been at the Sens-Bruins game Saturday, where someone behind me actually said these words late in the second period:

 

"Oh yeah, there's Joe Thornton. I almost forgot he played for Boston."

[Boon 0]

Damn. Crazy.

[Cartman 0]

[Cartman 0]

[CanadianChris 0]

A rare appropriate double post.

[Guest]

Now I have to deal with fucking Joe Thornton in my division. Fucking great, we can't beat the Sharks to begin with and they get fucking better. By better, I mean a lot better.

[KingPK 0]

What the FUCK at this trade.

 

It's a panic move coupled with the fact that MOC probably couldn't wait to ship him out of there anyway.

 

Its like they DON'T want fans to root for them anymore.

[Failed Bridge 0]

I bet Dale Arnold calls this a great trade and praises the Bruins front office tommorow. Pete Sheppard however will laugh at him and then call Bruins fans suckers for most of the Big Show.

[Fartsauce 0]

While I would not have traded my franchise player...Boston got a decent package back. Obviously individually they do not equal up to Thorton, they get a bit of depth back. Stuart is not a bad defensemen.

[the max 0]

Funny, I just made a simular trade in my NHL06 dynasty that consisted of Joe going to the Sharks for a few players, including a defenseman. Unfortunately for myself and Bruins fans my trade was not exactly like this. As it turns out, they got the wrong centerman in the trade, the wrong Primeau and the defenseman that San Jose had that I didn't want. In other words, it's my game and I don't like getting raped.

 

Basically, if you're going to make this move, you need to at least come close to replacing who you are trading. If you're trading a borderline franchise player, you at least expect to get something back that might resemble anything. I made numerous trade suggestions in the NHL off-season thread to San Jose, but taking their second line players in exchange for the biggest offensive gun was not what I had in mind. If MOC had given this at least some thought, he would have at least gotten Marleau. Marleau, Sturm and Stuart is fine. At least you're at least making an effort to replace Joe's on-again/off-again offensive responsibilities with essentially the same enigmatic player who scores goals in bunches. But what they got here was a very streaky player in Sturm, a checking line player (don't have enough of those apparently) in Primeau and a very good defenseman in Stuart (although if Hannan was on the block as rumored, I'd have rather had him.)

 

Does this change the makeup of the team? Duh. Gamewise, they instantly lose Murray's setup man and size and depth at the center position. Who centers the top line now? Boyes? Bergeron? Zhamnov? Sturm helps a bit and might play well with Samsonov (especially on the PP unit with Bergeron), Primeau just gets cluttered in with PJ, Green, Fitzgerald and Isbister as more checking line talent that they don't need. Stuart brings instant credibility to a blueline that needs it so bad that I was wondering why Jurcina wasn't playing last night. He instantly makes Dallman expendable. Either move him to the wing as he is perfect for size-wise or send him to Providence. Stuart and Tanabe might make a good pairing.

 

In closing, I've been waiting for Joe to get dealt, but I'm sad to see him go. Especially for the players that he was dealt for. There was potential there to get a few players that might actually help the Bruins pull their heads out of their asses and start playing good hockey again, but MOC seemed to get talked into this one. Sharks fans get an extremely gifted player (when he wants to be) and the Bruins get two decent forwards and the defenseman that they've sorely needed. Too bad it had to come at this price.

[Guest]

Sturm's young and has time to improve, Stuart's a great defenseman and Primeau's a grinder. I hate this trade a lot, because although the Bruins improved their defense, they didn't get much else.