Eastern Conference: Biggest Trade Impacts and Playoff Picture

So people asked me a couple of questions recently, given the amount of hockey knowledge I have acquired over my lifetime. They wanted to know 2 things, first and foremost…what were the most important trades of the deadline, for this season and beyond that. And secondly what teams are destined to make the playoffs. Now I think I will start with the Eastern Conference contenders.

Major trades:

The biggest trade of the deadline was clearly the trade by the Montreal Canadiens, who traded the face of their franchise, Jose Theodore, the most marketable Canadien, and a former Hart and Vezina trophy winning goaltender. What they got in return was more than just a Swiss goaltender, David Aebischer, who is having a better season between the pipes, it was much more than that. There are three major reasons why this makes this was the right deal regardless of how well Theodore ends up playing in Colorado.

1) The Canadiens get insurance for their playoff drive should Huet falter or if he is unable to match his brilliance next season.
2) The team can go either way with their goaltending next season, they could keep either Cristobal Huet or Aebischer or trade one of the two. Montreal also has two young goalies in the pipeline who are NHL starter material (Carey Price more so than Yann Danis).
3) Cap room- most simply said the Canadiens are a good team that is maybe a few pieces away from being a major player in the NHL. They have two glaring deficiencies scoring up and down the lineup and depth on defense…The cap room freed up makes it possible to bring in a scorer during free agency and another puck moving defenseman to complement the young core of Souray, Markov, and Komisarek.

Another big trade for Eastern Conference teams, a team that is clearly going in the opposite direction of Montreal, the Boston Bruins trading away Sergei Samsonov. This trade is a clear trigger of rebuilding mode. GM Mike O’Connell better realize his gamble on letting Mike Knuble, Joe Thornton, and Samsonov go have set this team back in its development and they need to plan so that in 2-3 years they can return to Conference champion form they were in before the lockout.

The biggest trade in my opinion is the acquisition of Tyler Arnason, a solid offensive center, who makes the Ottawa Senators lineup even more potent. Should players like Chara, Redden and company make the commitment to keep the core together and make less money than they would elsewhere, then these Senators could be the next dynasty in the NHL…provided they find a replacement for Hasek of course.

Now about the teams fighting it out for the final 3 playoff spots, here are my contenders (No Leafs, Islanders and Bruins fans you are not in this race):
(ranked in order of who will win get the most points the rest of the way)

Montreal Canadiens: they simply have the most favourable schedule down the stretch, including their next 10 games, 7 of which are at home where they play extremely well. All of their next 10 are winnable games and I would not be surprised to see them take 8 or 9 of those. The Habs face only teams ranked 10-15 in their conference including a facing the bottom three teams 6 times. They also play Jersey twice in their last 7 game stretch, at that time it should be a battle for 6th overall.
Projected record for their last 17 games – 11-5-1 (23 pts) 7th place on head to head tiebreaker

New Jersey Devils: The Devils schedule is considerably harder than the Canadiens is over the next 10 games, playing half at home and half away. New Jersey is another good home team and should do well but they are only playing games against teams that are out of the playoffs, two with the Penguins and 1 each against Toronto and Boston. Outside of those the face Philadelphia, Ottawa, and Atlanta and Buffalo one time as well. Jersey has a 5 point cushion on the Canadiens so they should still be in 6th by the time their next 10 are up but expect that cushion to shrink considerably. As mentioned above come the last game of the season it could be the decisive game on who finishes 6th overall.
Projected record for last 16 games – 8-6-2 (18 pts) 6th place on head to head tiebreaker

Atlanta Thrashers: Their schedule is considerably more difficult than either of the others above. They are playing 7 of next 10 against playoff teams, including Ottawa, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Carolina, New Jersey, and Tampa Bay twice. In addition only 4 of the next 10 are at home. However, this is one of the hottest teams in hockey right now, and also control their destiny with two games against Tampa. They currently sit only 1 point behind Montreal but have played one more game.
Projected record for next 16 games – 9-6-1 (19 pts) 8th place overall

Tampa Bay Lightning: Tampa finishes off the season with a relatively easy stretch in the next ten only half the teams they face are playoff contenders right now and 7 out of the next ten are at home. However this is a team that has had confidence and goaltending problems all year. They did nothing to fix this at the deadline and subsequently will unceremoniously drop out of the playoff picture. They will lose all of their remaining games against Atlanta ultimately costing them their current 3 point lead against them and will finsh the season just out of the playoffs. Why this team did not take a run at Curtis Joseph or another goalie at the deadline is beyond me.
Projected record for last 16 games – 7-9-1 (15 pts) 9th overall

M.O.M.S. of March

*Posted on behalf of Adam. Cause he’s too good to post on Thursdays*

Why is it called March Madness?  Well there are a few reasons why we call it madness….think of names like T.J. Sorrentine, Julius Hodge, Sean May and Bryce Drew.
March is a time of year when players become more than just Big Men on Campus…but the Big Men of March or as I like to call them the BIG M.O.M.!


Indelibly burned into my memory are the memories of the last second miracle threes that Sorrentine and Drew served up in the past.  The miracle runs served up by Julius Hodge of NC State, who brought a mid ranked team all the way to the elite eight.  Or the monster performance of Sean May throughout last year’s tournament. Yes these M.O.M.s brought major game in March.  So more importantly than this…who’s gonna be the M.O.M.s of this year?


Preliminary bets on who will come up big in March.


The player who engineers a three to spur an upset:


Well this one isn’t too hard to break down as one of my upset picks is good old Montana….yes in that classic, storied Montana-Nevada rivalry.  And the man I think will knock down that historic three, yes the Big M.O.M.….Kevin Criswell.

Team MVP for a team not expected to make the Sweet Sixteen but does… and then falls just short of the Elite Eight:


I’m going to go relatively safe here and give you 2 options….for my picks to have 2nd round “upsets”. Calling them upsets based solely on seeding…

West Virginia University – remember a phrase from the 2005 NCAAs…to be Pittsnogled…well he’ll be at again Pittsnogling his way past Southern Illinois and then Iowa. Yes Mr. Kevin Pittsnogle…might turn into American’s less impressive imitation of Dirk Nowitzki in the pros, but he’ll always be known as a MONSTER OF MARCH.  This M.O.M. will make his baby’s Momma happy.

Pittsburgh – Guard play is key…and Carl Krauser is a gem expect him to lead the Panthers past the Jayhawks and throw a vicious scare into the Memphis Tigers…this man can do it all and he will to get the Panthers into the Sweet Sixteen.

Player on sleeper contender who performs big to help his team come close to winning it all:

A lot of people would go with North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, LSU’s Glen “big baby” Davis  or UCLA’s  Jordan Farmar.

But I think the player most likely to take his sleeper contender to the final and win is neither of those superb talents but rather a player who is maybe the third or fourth best on his team.  I think its going to be Boston College’s  guard Louis Hinannt. He will not need to lead his team in points but this smart decision maker will make timely baskets and crisp passes inside to the monster inside combination of Craig Smith and Jared Dudley.  Boston College is a dangerous opponent for any team and will use tough first and second round matchups to bolster its confidence.  I expect the Eagles to fly high in this Madness.

Player who takes his team’s favourite status and cements it with Monster performances:

Its all to easy to go with Redick or Morrison here…but I think these teams will falter in the tourney…neither of them will make the final four.

The man with the master plan here is UConn’s Rudy Gay, a sublimely talented individual that seems to be ambivalent about his talent.  Expect him to rise up and hit his stride in gunning for that big paycheck in the Draft.  This man will take UConn and carry them to the Final Four. Yes this M.O.M. will have players on opposing teams crying for Mommy.

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These are my M.O.M.s yes they will make the hardwood shake with their collective efforts and lead their teams in the tourney.  Its going to be fun to watch and I will likely be wrong…but at least I tried.

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My pick to win it all : Boston College
Biggest 1 or 2 seed Disappointment: Tennessee
Upset Engineers: Montana, Alabama, West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Seton Hall.
Best 1 seed: UConn

Best 2 seed: UCLA
Best 3 seed: North Carolina
Tournament MVP: Craig Smith

The Beginning of SportsBlogSquad.com.

There once were 3 intrepid youngsters with an affinity for sports and a love for sharing their thoughts with those around them.  The three were each born with different gifts.



There was the noble and knowledgeable Fernando, who has a prowess for things technological that few can comprehend.  However, his knowledge of sports is limited to that which can be found on his wireless devices and tattoed to the inside of his eyelids from past life mal-experiences.  Nonetheless, his penchant for irreverence keeps his opinions relevant. That and his knowledge of throwing curveballs, darts and playing ball (both with and without actual balls), means he can quasi-tell you about hoops, the sandlot and things that make dudes cheer and chicks yak.



While Fernando is an impressive creature, half man half amazing.  There is a menace to his superiority, yes another beauty of creation, a man simply known as Phil.  He is unmatched in his affinity for sporting events, and is blessed with insights that borders on clairvoyant.  He will hold down the fort on anything on the hardwood, ‘tween the endzones, and on the slippy-slippy (ehem… hockey), and will drop his pants and get what he can get. And he will outdrink your entire mother’s side of the family in one sitting.



Yes, Phil and Fernando are unmatched in their skills, but they are not alone in their journey.  They are accompanied by their fellow member of the triumvirate who makes up for his lack of superhuman gifts with heart and gives 110% both on and off the diamond, hardwood, pitch and pond.  A knowledgeable fellow on hockey, he is virtually unmatched in that regard but is a lover of all thing sports.  Expect truly readable excerpts about hockey, hoops, soccer, and football from his part.



Now separate, they are unique; but together this mighty gang of sportslovers will bring a unique perspective to sports on a regular basis.  So check it out early and often.

The Madness that is March

Can't think of a better time to write up my first internet column. The first signs of spring are right around the corner; the weather's starting to warm up, the snow's melting, all the garbage and dog poop that's been piling up all winter are finally visible ( at first disgusting, but can't help but smile cuz you know it ain't gonna be cold anymore) and ..... the sports year is reaching it's absolute apex. Every year around this time millions of grown men are treated to what is arguably the greatest month of sporting events (women secretely loathe this month, but hey, I don't trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn't die - that line will never go away).

Aside from the usual NBA/NHL playoff race, NFL hot stove league, MLB spring training and NCAA bball tourney, we've had the added bonus of the World Baseball Classic this year. What a pleasant surprise this event has turned out to be. The games have been very competitive with a playoff type feel to them. The biggest surprise is the performance of the Japanese and Koreans. That's right, the land of small noodles and the hairy beaver has brought it's A game to this tournament and Korea is now the only undefeated team and look like they could take it all (Baseball really needs this tournament to succeed especially after the SI article detailing Barry Bonds' steroid use. Must read article btw).

Baseball talk aside, this month really is about the NCAA basketball tournament. It's the best sports tournament in existence with good reason. There's a simple formula at work here : (64 teams) + (18-23 yrs olds playing their hearts out) + (4 consecutives weekends of basketball) + ($3billion worth of bets) + (5 hairs left on Dick Vitale head) = March Madness. The main attraction of the tournament is always to see which "cinderella" teams will make it far and which teams they'll upset. Now picking upsets is not rocket science, but it still ain't as easy as finding REAL topless pics of Paris Hilton on the internet. So for all those who are scrambling to fill out their brackets, I will offer 3 pieces of advice for this year's March Madness tournament upsets.

1- Momentum: Forget a team's conference record, shooting % or RPI rating. Teams that do well in the tournament usually have good momentum heading in. There's a reason why coaches get worried when their teams are undefeated till near the end of the season. Their scared that losing a game near the end of the season will just keep the team on a downer going into the tournament. Teams that did really well in their conference tourneys or who played really tough/close games against good teams perform well in the main tournament. (This year, I am totally going against this thoery with a certain team from the state of New York whose main player is a senior with initials GM and whose school rhymes with the word "syrup booze").

2- Match-ups: The first 2 rounds always offer intriguing match-ups. Examine the match-ups and see what factors a lower seeded team can exploit. Factors to look at with regards to possible upset teams: Which team has the most seniors? What type of defense does the team play (think 40 mins of hell defense like UAB) ? Which team has a deeper rotation or does the higher seed mainly rely on 1-2 players? Which team has the best player on the floor (think Luis Flores from Manhattan a few yrs back)?

3- When in doubt, who shoots the 3-point shot more accurately? The 3-pointer is the most important shot in college basketball. Sometimes it seems like half the shots taken are 3-pointers. Upset teams are almost always good 3-point shooting teams ( Gonzaga back in the day, Charlotte, Valparaiso, Bucknell, Vermont). If a good 3 point shooting low seed is playing a poor 3 point defense high seed, then an upset is almost always a sure bet.

Now with this info in mind it's time for me to remove my tampons, MAN up and make some upset picks... here they are: Seton Hall, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, San Diego State, Bucknell, Winthrop, UNC Wilmington, Texas A&M.

Pls send 10% of your NCAA tournament winnings to my paypal account. Contact: ipickwinners@hotmail.com

NHL Trade Deadline Review and Interesting Thoughts

So I can only imagine what life must be like to be a professional sports player…where you essentially have little say where you play once you sign a contract… I mean imagine you are hired to work for a company and then one day towards the end of the 3rd quarter they come up to you and are like, “Sorry, Johnson but your family and you are going to have to make your roots in a new city, we’ve traded you for future considerations to ABC company.”…I mean imagine if you work for Ford or something, your contract is up in a year and you’re thinking about going to work elsewhere…Then you get traded to Toyota they sign you to a big contract and you go on to win a promotion (equivalent to a championship) I guess. I personally work for Export Development Canada and imagine if one day they came up to me and said, “Well son we appreciate your work here, but we’re in rebuilding phase and we’ve decided to trade you for to Bank of Development Canada for two university recruits and a rookie analyst.” I think the world of business could be more interesting if things like that went down every day.

Well onto my thoughts on the trades:

Phoenix Coyotes trade forward Jamie Lundmark to the Calgary Flames for a fourth-round draft pick in 2006.
Phoenix Coyotes acquire defenceman Jamie Rivers from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in 2006.

- Not really what Calgary was looking for but he could possibly develop into a strong player over the long term. Perhaps playing with some other young players like Kobasew and Lombardi will get him started.

Vancouver Canucks acquire defenceman Eric Weinrich from the St. Louis Blues for defenceman Tomas Mojzis and a third-round pick in 2006. Vancouver Canucks acquire defenceman Keith Carney and the rights to defenceman Juha Alen from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in exchange for defenceman Brett Skinner and a second-round pick (originally NY Islanders) in 2006. Vancouver Canucks acquire goaltender Mika Noronen from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a second-round pick in 2006. Vancouver Canucks acquire defenceman Sean Brown from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2006.

- Vancouver is talented team with a lot of the pieces in place…The multitude of injuries to their defensemen and the loss of Brent Sopel and Marek Malik during free agency made them need more D. They filled that requirement with 3 older but very good defensemen, all of which should fit in pretty seamlessly on this team. They also added a good goaltending prospect in Noronen, someone who could become a star in the NHL.

New York Islanders acquire a third-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2007 from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for forward Oleg Kvasha and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2006.

-Interesting trade I really feel Kvasha is an underrated player and I don’t really understand what the Islanders feel they accomplished here. It is interesting to remember that he was part of Milbury’s trade that sent Luongo and Jokinen to Florida.

Dallas Stars acquire defenceman Willie Mitchell and a second-round pick in 2007 from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for defencemen Martin Skoula and Shawn Belle.

-More defenceman for Western contenders. I think this is a pretty even trade for both teams. A lot of it depends on the future development of the 2nd rounder.

Philadelphia Flyers acquire forward Niko Dimitrakos from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a third-round draft pick in 2006.
Philadelphia Flyers acquire defenceman Denis Gauthier from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for forward Josh Gratton and two second-round picks (Tampa Bay's and Florida's, previously acquired) in 2006.


-Interesting trades for Philadelphia…Dimitrakos will add depth to a forward corps, not much different to Patrick Sharp and Jon Sim who were traded away earlier this season. Gauthier will be a boon to a depleted defense corp, he is a little better skater than some of the Flyers defenseman and will be a load for opposition forwards. Do these trades make them a threat to the Rangers, Ottawa, or Carolina..no but it does pull them a little closer.

Colorado Avalanche acquire forward Jim Dowd from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2006.

- Good faceoff man and penalty killer should play few minutes but help the Avalanche defensively.

Ottawa Senators acquire forward Tyler Arnason from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forward Brandon Bochenski and a second-round pick in 2006.

-Some people think Arnason does not work hard enough given his offensive gifts…I feel he’ll be able to bring a viable second line to the Ottawa formation. But with hard nosed Murray as the coach and a group of forwards that care don’t expect him to coast.

Edmonton Oilers acquire forward Sergei Samsonov from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forward Marty Reasoner, forward Yan Stastny and a second-round pick in 2006. Edmonton Oilers acquired goaltender Dwayne Roloson from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a first round pick and a conditional 3rd round draft pick.

-Another dynamic forward to and underrated group of forwards, Samsonov is the lesser known of Boston’s big 3 they had at the start of the season. However he is a slick stickhandler and great skater that will work perfectly on Rexall Centre’s big ice with Edmonton’s speedy forwards. The addition of Roloson is an improvement on their current group of goalies…but I felt there were better options out there. Also given what they gave up on both these trades, Edmonton had better hope this gives them a strong push to the playoffs.

Atlanta Thrashers acquire defenceman Steve McCarthy from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a conditional pick in 2007.

-Vancouver had a surplus of defensemen so they got rid of McCarthy who is a favourite of mine on NHL 2006 because he fits into my speedy style of play. However despite those gifts and a strong start to the season he is yet able to step up his game in the NHL to a level of a top 4 defenseman, he will make a good addition thought to a weak defense in Atlanta.

Detroit Red Wings acquire defenceman Cory Cross from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2007.

- A move to get a good defenseman to replace the less experienced but similar Jamie Rivers, Cross has been a solid defenseman on any of the teams he has been on…Doesn’t really change much for the Wings.

Nashville Predators acquire defenceman Brendan Witt from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a first-round draft pick in 2006 and forward Kris Beech.

-Nashville has offensively skilled defensemen but lacks a gritty d-man like Witt, he makes them into a better playoff team. Nashville paid a pretty big price for a defenseman that is above average but not a star.

New York Rangers acquire defenceman Sandis Ozolinsh from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in exchange for a third-round draft pick (originally San Jose) in 2006.

- People were wondering if the Rangers would pick up a veteran d-man to solidify their team. It seems every trade deadline Ozolinsh gets traded to a playoff contender, but he has rarely put anyone over the top. The Rangers didn’t give anything up so it makes them a little better.

Carolina Hurricanes acquire forward Mark Recchi from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Niklas Nordgren, forward Krys Kolanos and a second-round pick in 2007.

-The loss of Erik Cole and the doldrums of Doug Weight are the two reasons behind this move. Recchi is a solid veteran that will contribute with his speed and quick shot and could play a big role in the offense of Carolina in the playoffs.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim acquire forward Jeff Friesen from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a second-round pick in 2006. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim acquire defenceman Sean O'Donnell from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for forward Joel Perrault.

-These trades make Anaheim a little better but both of those players might not be enough to get them into the playoffs. It all depends on what teams are hot down the stretch and everyone knows the goaltenders for Anaheim can get very hot. I still think they will be on outside looking in.

New Jersey Devils acquire defenceman Brad Lukowich from the New York Islanders in exchange for a third-round pick in 2006. New Jersey Devils acquire defenceman Ken Klee from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for winger Alexander Suglobov.

- New Jersey improves its defense a little bit, they are still suffering from the loss of Niedermayer and Stevens. Klee and Lukowich give them two good defensemen and should help them in the playoffs. Neither are fantastic but they are not prone to brain cramps.

Montreal Canadiens acquire defenceman Todd Simpson from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2006. Colorado Avalanche acquire goaltender Jose Theodore from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for goaltender David Aebischer

-Simpson is strictly a move for some toughness and defensive depth to help them come the playoffs. The big trade is the goalie swap…For me I think Theodore is a shell of what he’s been in the past and given his celebrity status in Montreal he is a huge distraction to the team when he does not play well. Huet has earned the opportunity to be an NHL goalie. Aebischer is good second option to protect them should Huet falter. I'm not sure about Colorado's decision, they must feel very comfortable resting their playoff hopes on two young unknowns, and if the young players play well will Theodore get to start when he is healthy come playoff time?

Los Angeles Kings acquire forward Mark Parrish and defenceman Brent Sopel from the New York Islanders in exchange for defenceman Denis Grebeshkov, forward Jeff Tambellini and a conditional third round pick.

- Good move by the Kings it should help their below average power play, I expect these players to make a fairly large difference on this Kings team. This is in my opinion one of the best trades of the deadline. The Islanders however are clearly in rebuilding mode and need to find an very good NHL GM to fix all the mistakes that Milbury has made over the years.

San Jose Sharks acquire forward Ville Nieminen from the New York Rangers in exchange for a third round draft pick in 2006.

-Some grit to San Jose and a better player than Dimitrakos that should be a good player for the Sharks until the end of the year.

Toronto Maple Leafs acquire defenceman Luke Richardson from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a conditional draft pick.

-Leafs gave up and old defenseman to New Jersey and picked up and older one. Perhaps a puzzling move but when you realize that they picked up a prospect from Jersey and have kept their defense corps basically status quo it makes sense.

Overall it is a more interesting trade deadline for the deals that weren't done as much as for the deals that were. Also the Theodore-Aebischer trade was very unexpected and will certainly be scrutinized for some time. I think only time will tell if Theodore can rebound, but if you look at his career historically he seems to alternate good years and bad ones. Stay tuned up until 2006-07 season!