All's Quiet In Toronto. But Everywhere Else In The NHL...Complete Craziness (updated)

(This is a frequently updated post that had stuff added and subtracted from it all day.  Live blogging is hard. Updates from the original were all in Red.)

Today is the day, kiddies.  It's the NHL Trade Deadline and all the hockey world is a buzz over what has already transpired pre-deadline and what will happen today.  So far, nothing has transpired in the wee hours of the morning but the bulk of the action generally doesn't start until 10 AM-ish.

The biggest question marks are still out there. One of the biggest is what will happen with Martin Brodeur?  

Brodeur's legend is already set.  His impact on hockey will be heard by generations to come and his legacy is almost assuredly set for the Hall of Fame.  So why, then, would the Devils unload him?  Because Marty isn't Marty anymore.  He is actually one of the worst goalies statistically this year.  He is toward the bottom in most categories and even though he is still squeezing out wins, that has more to do with the offense than his play making ability.  He says he wants a shot at another Cup but the likelihood of him getting significant ice-time with any of the contenders out there is slim.  There are actually rumors that Pittsburgh would be interested at the right price, ensuring Fleury had an able backup in case of another playoff meltdown.  I don't see it but we are talking about Ray Shero here.  He never ceases to amaze.

So what has happened thus far?  

Yesterday Vancouver unloaded Roberto Luongo back home to Florida in exchange for Jacob Markstrom and Shawn Matthias.  Roberto was in shock as his interviews have shown, Vancouver fans were in shock as their team seems to be imploding, and I think even Florida was in shock they were able to pull this off.  Even though the Canucks were interested in dealing Lu last year, I don't think anyone ever thought it would happen.  Florida is trying to build a winning team and now they have a top tier goaltender to backstop them into a playoff position (Tim Thomas was hardly that piece).  They have tons of young talent and a budding defensive corp that could surprise people very shortly.

On February 28th, the blockbuster trade exploded the NHL world when the Buffalo Sabres unloaded their franchise goalie, Ryan Miller and team captain Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues for a bag of rusty nails and a couple draft picks.  I kid but almost.  The Sabres get Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, William Carrier, and a 1st rounder next year and a 3rd rounder in 2016.  There have been serious criticizm on both sides regarding this trade.  St. Louis gave up a lot to get Miller and some question whether it was worth it.  I say yes.  The Blues need a little extra between the pipes.  Halak was not that guy.  In fact, he isn't even the guy in Buffalo apparently since he is still on the trading block after moving to the Sabres less than a week ago.  It will be interesting to see if the Blues found that piece they are going to need to boost themselves deep into the playoffs.

We've also seen Martin Erat and John Mitchell join Phoenix from Washington in exchange for Rostislav Klesla and Chris Brown.  The Coyotes also unloaded David Rundblad and Mathieu Brisebois to Chicago for a draft pick.  Viktor Fasth moved from the Ducks to the Oilers in exchange for a draft pick.  This was a move done to replace the enigma, Ilya Bryzgalov who was sent to the Wild.  The Ducks also unloaded Dustin Penner to the Capitals and picked up Stephane Robidas from Dallas.  The Blackhawks, in addition to adding the guys already mentioned, also unloaded Brandon Pirri to Florida and picked up Brian Connelly from the Wild in exchange for Brad Winchester.

Who's Next?

The biggest guys on the board all have the potential to make an impact if they get dealt today.  Let's see who's left.

Thomas Vanek - LW - NY Islanders
Vanek goes to Montreal!  Wow!!  That's big for the Habs.  No one was even talking about the Canadiens as a potential team.  The Habs gave up a 2nd round pick and prospect Sebastien Collberg.

Matt Moulson - LW - Buffalo
Moulson and Cody McCormick are both heading to Minnesota in exchange for Torrey Mitchell and an undisclosed draft pick.

Ryan Kesler - C/RW - Vancouver

Ryan Callahan - RW - NY Rangers
Callahan was sent packing to the Lightning in exchange for Martin St. Louis, in addition to giving up a 1st in 2015, and a 2nd in 2016.  If the Rangers get to the finals, the 2nd round becomes a 1st.  If Callahan resigns with Tampa, the Rangers will get a compensatory draft pick.

Mike Cammalerri - LW/C - Calgary
NOT BEING TRADED???

Ales Hemsky - RW - Edmonton
Hemsky is heading to Ottawa for a couple of draft picks.  Reports early are a 1st round pick and a 3rd rounder.  The Oilers are retaining half of Hemsky's salary for the season.

Martin Brodeur - G - New Jersey
NOT BEING TRADED

Marian Gaborik - LW/RW - Columbus
Go west young (or not so young) man.  Gaborik gets a boost by being traded to the LA Kings in exchange for Matt Fratin, a 2nd rounder and a 3rd rounder.

Alex Edler - D - Vancouver

Christian Ehrhoff - D - Sabres

Nick Schultz - D - Edmonton
Nick is going to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  This frees up some money in Edmonton and moves along a player that arguably lost a couple steps.  This also helps Columbus fill a few injury holes.

Ray Whitney - LW - Dallas

David Legwand - C - Nashville

He played his entire career in Nashville but being a UFA did him in.  He waived his "no-trade-clause" and Detroit picks him up to help fill in the injury spaces in the Motor City.  They give up Patrick Eaves, a "prospect", and a 3rd rounder.

Evander Kane - LW - Winnipeg

Tim Thomas - G - Florida
Thomas is packing his bags for Dallas.  So much for a Luongo/Thomas goaltending duo.  Not sure what Dallas is thinking here other than just getting some experience.  Or maybe Mark Recchi is trying to create Boston South.

Dan Boyle - D - San Jose

Dustin Brown - LW - Los Angeles

Andrej Meszaros - D - Philadelphia
Meszaros is shipping up to Boston.  They gave up a 3rd rounder in 2014 to get him.  This should help with Seidenberg out for the season.

Jordan Eberle - RW - Edmonton

Tomas Fleischmann - RW/LW - Florida

Lee Stempniak - F - Calgary
The Penguins picked up Lee Stempniak in exchange for a 3rd rounder in this years' draft.  Lee brings more scoring ability to the bottom lines and gives the Pens a boost coming down the stretch. 

Jaromir Jagr - RW - New Jersey

Dmitry Kulikov - D - Florida

Martin St. Louis - RW - Tampa Bay
St. Louis was sent packing to the Rangers in exchange for Ryan Callahan, a 1st in 2015, and a 2nd in 2016.  If the Rangers get to the finals, the 2nd round becomes a 1st.  If Callahan resigns, the Rangers will get a compensatory draft pick.

Kyle Palmieri - RW - Anaheim

Andrew Ladd - LW - Winnipeg

Brad Boyes - F - Florida
Boyes agreed to terms with the Panthers to stay another two seasons.  He's officially off the board.

PA Parenteau - RW - Colorado

Marcel Goc - C - Florida
The Penguins made their first move by acquiring Marcel Goc from the Panthers.  They give up a 3rd and a 5th rounder to get Goc.  With a solid top 6, it makes me wonder what the plan is here.  Is this just solidifying the bottom two lines...is this a smoke screen for something bigger??

Drew Stafford - LW - Buffalo

Chris Phillips - D - Ottawa

Chris signs a two-year extension to stay with Ottawa.

Jason Spezza - C - Ottawa

Paul Stastny - C - Colorado

Tuomo Ruutu - F - Carolina

The New Jersey Devils pick up Tuomo Ruutu from Carolina to compliment a group of aging NHLers.  Andrei Loktionov goes to Carolina along with a conditional 3rd rounder in the 2017 draft.

Cam Ward - G - Carolina

Nail Yakupov - RW - Edmonton 

And many, many more.  Of these 36 guys I listed, I would not at all be surprised to see 20 of them moved before the deadline hits. Morning skates are going to be an interesting thing to watch this morning.

In Other Moves

**Raphael Diaz heads to the Rangers to help boost a defense that needs some depth.  They only gave up a 5th rounder to get him.  

**Corey Potter is heading from Edmonton to Boston.  Their defensive woes are getting patched up quickly in Boston.  They picked up Potter from waivers.

**Jaroslav Halak moves for the second time in a week as Buffalo continues to clean house and sends him to the Washington Capitals along with a 3rd rounder in 2015.  The Caps apparently have given up Michel Neuvirth and d-man Rotislav Klesla.

**Colorado picked up goalie Reto Berra from Calgary for a draft pick

**Cory Conacher goes to Buffalo off the waiver wire.

**YOUNG PROSPECT TRADE:  Brayden McNabb and Jonathan Parker go from Buffalo to Los Angeles along with two 2nd round picks in exchange for Hudson Fasching and Nicholas Deslaurier.

**Devan Dubnyk goes to Montreal in exchange for future considerations.  I guess Carey Price is more hurt then we thought.

Stadium Series, Chicago Style

The Penguins continue their march to the playoffs tonight in Chicago against the Blackhawks.  This game is different though.  It's part of the NHL Stadium Series and will be held in Soldier Field.  But don't mistake this for the pomp and circumstance of some ceremonial type game.  This is a regular season battle that has little potential playoff implication at this point but is important for both teams nonetheless. 

These two are probably the best two teams to date in the 2013-14 season to face-off on the outdoor ice.  The Penguins lead the Metro division by a mile and a half and lead the East by 5 points.  The Hawks sit tied with St. Louis for the lead in the Central and are tied for 3rd in the West.  Both teams also have 84 total points.  Both teams lead their conferences in goals-for.  But the biggest nod to this being a huge game, both teams have won 3 of the last 5 Stanley Cups and both teams are top considerations for winning it this year. 

The Hawks need a win.  Over the last 10, they are 3-4-3.  This game could give them the momentum to push them toward a strong finish.  The Pens, on the other hand, have gone 6-2-2 in their last 10, losing the other night in a SO to Montreal.  This is a Nationally televised game on NBC, which have traditionally not boded well for the Pens.  In addition, they are dealing with injuries to Letang and Martin and there is a mystery looming as to what Shero is going to do before the trade deadline.


Regardless, this is a big game.  The media has been hyping it up in Chicago for months.  It was front page news in most area papers.  Ticket sales have slowed but secondary market prices have launched into the stratosphere.  There will be fireworks, explosions, rock music, a fly-over, NHL legends looking on, and with any luck there will some inclement weather to make it an interesting event inside a giant snow globe (there's snow in the forecast...).

Exclusive Once Again

So with the new year rolling around just a few short months ago, it seemed that the hockey card market was going to have one of it's strongest years to date with another Double Rookie class and all sorts of innovative and new products for collector's to get their hands on.  The releases up to this point looked good (with a few exceptions) and the calendar was chocked full of exciting stuff.

Fast forward to today when the NHL and NHLPA announced that each organization has agreed to terms with Upper Deck on a multi-year agreement to be the EXCLUSIVE licensed manufacturer of NHL trading cards, starting with the upcoming 2014-15 season.  Notice how I capitalized exclusive there.  Yes, folks, it's now 2004 once again when Upper Deck held the monopoly on licensed hockey cards.  Panini is out.  They are soooo 2013.  Upper Deck is the future, I tells ya.  But a future that scare the {bleep} out of me as a hockey collector.

I have always been on Team Upper Deck.  I'm not going to lie.  They have always made what I considered, the more superior product when it came to what I collect.  Their flagship set is untouchable by any other brand, period.  The Young Gun rookie subset has been, and probably always will be, a staple of the hockey card industry.  I also enjoy the value of products like Artifacts, the SP releases, and of course, the set collector's wet dream, O-Pee-Chee. 

Team Panini was always the "oh, yeah those guys" kind of product to me.  I supported the cause and bought new product.  I collected the Score set every year.  The first year Panini hit the market with products I over indulged on Donruss and Pinnacle, overspent on Contenders, and even dabbled a bit in Dominion.  My favorite single release of Panini was their Crown Royale set.  The die-cut design of old was always a beauty to do a box rip of.  But my favorite overall release was the Rookie Anthology sets.  These cards, while small in the base set, had almost every high-series release of Panini products each year and the boxes were jammed with autos and game-used cards.  They were a great value, especially as the market cooled.  One of my favorite set-within-a-set were the Rookie Treasures with their dual swatches and autos.  Very nice looking design.

But for whatever reason, despite the popularity of the product, the spirited competition between brands was obviously not a concern for the NHL and the Player's Association.  This now leaves us, once again, with only one manufacturer in a card market full of thirsty collectors.  While this paves the way for Upper Deck to reach back into their bag-o-tricks and pull products like MVP, Ice, and maybe even Victory back out into their own products, it bothers me a bit that we could see a resurgence of the "recycled" product.  There were quite a few years throughout the mid-late 00s where the products all began to look alike.  Photography was reused, card designs were duplicated, and it started to feel like some of the products were just being phoned in.

Competition is good for any market.  Whether you have brand loyalty or not, having alternatives pushes creativity and design.  When there is a market of hockey collector's looking for the next big thing, having multiple brand options at various price points makes for a much more enjoyable collecting experience.  Whether it's Panini, Topps, Leaf, In The Game, Press Pass, etc., exclusive licenses have the potential to hurt the overall collecting experience of a sport.  I'm not going to go as far to say that UD vs. Panini was like a Coke vs. Pepsi thing (which makes ITG...RC Cola?).  I think there is plenty of room in this market for more than one brand.

I just hope Upper Deck uses this opportunity to the fullest, doesn't lose their momentum on product releases, designs some innovative products, and forces the doubters (including myself) to change their minds.  With great power comes great responsibility and Upper Deck has a duty from this point forward to bring-it with each and every release.  I know they are going to start with the return of MVP to their own brand in August.  I'm not sure that is going to be their best move but we'll see how this whole thing impact the hobby going forward. 

One Of My Favorite Pens D-Men, Out Six Weeks With...A STROKE!!??

Two posts in one day!  I know. Crazy for me....

But you heard that right in the title...or maybe you heard on hockey news somewhere already.  Kris Letang, a finalist for last years Norris Trophy, suffered what doctors say was a stroke. They don't think it will threaten his career but one can't help but wonder if it could effect his game going forward.  I guess a better question is, should there be a game going forward?

Letang suffers from a small hole in the wall of his heart, a birth defect that occurs in all babies but usually repairs itself.  Doctor's think it may have led to the stroke.  The Pens GM Ray Shero, said he had only one episode of dizziness last week.  As a result, he sat for a few games while they did further tests.  Not until he returned to Pittsburgh did they find the issue.  Right now, he is on the shelf for at least six weeks before they evaluate him again.

He was quoted in the press conference as saying...

"I hope that by making my condition public at this time I can help other people by encouraging them to seek medical help if they experience some of the symptoms associated with a stroke, regardless of their age or general health. It obviously was a shock to get the news but I'm optimistic that I can overcome this and get back on the ice."

Kris is only 26 years old.  26!

Baseball Lost A True Great - - RIP Ralph Kiner

This is probably old news for many of you but it was new to me when I heard about it this morning while watching Olympic coverage.

Kiner doesn't get mentioned all too often in the circle of great power hitters.  Sure you hear about the Babe, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and others but Kiner did what none of them could.  From 1946-1952, he hit 100 more home runs than any other player in baseball.  He averaged 44 homers and 115 RBIs in each of those seasons.  In 10 MLB seasons, he led the league in home runs his first seven (six of those leading all of baseball).  If it wasn't for some difficult back problems and a lingering injury, who knows what kind of career Ralph would have had.  His 369 career home runs could have been double that or more.

After his playing career, he took a job with the upstart New York Mets organization in their announcing booth and stayed there till the end.

His personality, wit, and charm will be missed by Mets and Pirates fans alike.  But just like with the passing of other legends, his legacy and impact on baseball should be shared with future generations to come.

I thought I would share a few of my favorite Kiner cards in my collection.  RIP, HOFer Ralph Kiner.