Deal or No Deal

Though the title may be misleading, we won't have Howie Mandel here. He was doublebooked with Carrot Top. In any case, the NHL's trade deadline has come and gone. There were 25 trades for 40 players, which is in no way connected to The Nails cult hit "88 Lines About 44 Women." This year with the new Capped NHL, we didn't see a really big blockbusters like the days of yore, but we did see a lot of players making moves that they actually needed to make in order to look ahead to the playoffs. Many of them were rent-a-players, but it's better to see if you can get someone in order to help out rather than not trying at all.

What I'm going to do here is just cut to the quik and give you those who won, those who lost, and those who "pushed"....because there are no winners there.

WINNERS

1. Vancouver Canucks: Not only did they get three very sturdy defensemen in Eric Weinrich, Keith Carney, and Sean Brown, but they also got a experienced back-up in Mika Noronen. Some will think that GM Dave Nonis was under the gun from the fans and submitted to the pressure, but these moves were much needed for a team that has been very banged up, especially on the blue line.

2. Edmonton Oilers: First, they solved their goaltending dilemna by getting Dwayne Roloson out of Minnesota, then they went out and got another scorer in Sergei Samsonov to compliment the rest of the offense in Alberta's capital. Now, is Roloson the answer for the Oilers?? It will have to be since Mike Morrison was picked up by the Senators off the waiver wire and Ty Conklin sent to the AHL-- it's Rolo's show now in Edmonton.

3. Montreal Canadiens: The Habs won for those who they gave away. Dropping Jose Theodore from their roster for David Aebischer relieved the Habs of $3M in Cap room. Plus, with Cristobal Huet doing as well as he has been doing and Aebischer going on a hot streak, the Habs are looking pretty good as they hang onto the 8th spot in the East.

4. Carolina Hurricanes: The Canes only made one move, but it's was an impressive one. Mark Recchi was dealt to the Canes after waiving his no trade clause. The presense of Recchi will fill the void left by Erik Cole's injury. Though he doesn't have the most desireable plus/minus rating, his experience and hot hand will come in handy for the Canes.

5. New Jersey Devils: Though they only got Ken Klee, Brad Lukowich, and Jason Wiemer; the Devils sured up their defense ten-fold in this instance. Not only will this help out Marty Brodeur with some more stay-at-home defensemen, but it'll give workhorses like Brian Rafalski and Paul Martin some time to rest themselves.

LOSERS


1. Colorado Avalanche: Not only did they take the albatross that is Jose Theodore, but because they didn't have much cap room, the Avs could only acquire Jim Dowd as a depth move at the deadline. However, you need to give it up to GM Pierre Lacroix, he somehow finds a way to get a big name player onto the team at the deadline; whether it's a popular decision or not.

2. Phoenix Coyotes: The Coyotes dumped a lot of salary in this deadline. The Yotes mostly got rid of their blue line, like Denis Gauthier and Sean O'Donnell, while getting only Oleg Kvasha and Jamie Rivers in return for their efforts. It'll be interesting to see how the Coyotes rebuild this time around with Wayne Gretzky at the helm.

3. Anaheim Mighty Ducks: The Ducks are a team in contention and though they did get Sean O'Donnell and Jeff Friesen, they got rid of Keith Carney and Sandis Ozolinsh, two pretty big cogs in the Ducks defensive scheme. It's a good thing they have a lot of great future prospects, because the Ducks coming up on their own identity change both in logo and jersey combination, as well as roster combination.

PUSH

1. Ottawa Sentaors: They didn't make a lot of noise like many thought, but the Sens got Mike Morrison off waivers, as well as Tyler Arnason from Chicago. Of course, they had to give up Brandon Bochenski in the process, so it almost seems like an even deal for the Sens.

2. Florida Panthers: The Panthers were rumored to be big players in this deadline day, but the Beach Cats were relatively silence, with the exception of re-signing Olli Jokinen; which broke many GM's hearts who had their eyes set on someone like Jokinen to bolster their team. Now, if they could get Roberto Luongo signed long-term, they should be good to go.

3. Calgary Flames: GM Darryl Sutter said he wasn't going to make any big trades and he was right. He made a deal to get Jamie Lundmark to Calgary from Phoenix, plus he dealt Jason Wiemer to New Jersey. However, the main concern was with a center to help Jarome Iginla get on track-- but Sutter thought otherwise. It's either the best decision he made or the worst he made-- we'll find out.

Even though it was a record day for trades, it wasn't interesting until the last 30 minutes and then it got off some pretty good trades. In the end, we can expect something like this for the years to come when it comes to the new capped NHL. Is it a drag?? Yes. Does it handcuff some teams that could have made bigger moves?? Sure, but what it also does is give every team a chance to be competitive and play the role of the spoiler if need be. In the end, this will be good for the game financially and personnel-wise as well. However, if you can set a record every year, more power to ya.

This has been ScottyWazz. Take care of yourself and someone else. PEACE!!