Monday, March 2, 2015

Forman Faceoff NHL Trade Deadline Blog

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM:
-Up at 7:55 AM for my favourite day of the year, NHL Trade Deadline 2015.
-Chose tea over hot chocolate this year, got the old bath robe in to keep the tradition going.
-Lester McLean is back singing his awesome original Trade Centre songs.
-Main TSN Panel consists of James Duthie, Aaron Ward, Ray Ferraro, Jeff O'Neill and Pierre McGuire. TSN still knows how to bring it even without much live NHL games these days.
-Ron Wilson on the Trade Centre show today, and he really dislikes the Toronto Maple Leafs. Watch his segment here: http://www2.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?Ron%2bWilson%2bjoins%2b%2523TradeCentre%2band%2b%27hates%27%2bthe%2bMaple%2bLeafs&id=514179
-Jeff Petry is traded to Montreal in the first deal of the day, a very early trade this year. Last few years the first trade hasn't come until 3 or so hours in.
-Trade #1: Montreal Canadiens acquire D Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers for a 2015 2nd Round Pick and a 2015 Conditional 5th Round Pick
-Overall typical first hour, few rumours here and there nothing significant. However early trade this year caps off the 1st hour.
-Here's a throw back to Trade Centre 2012 with the hilarious antics from Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo42XVfMAN8

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM:
-Made a nice egg and bacon breakfast sandwich.
-Caught the end of Lester McLean's song on Jeff Petry being traded.
-Cabbie is on Trade Centre!
-Much talk about what the Leafs are going to do and who is going to be traded. Seems that pretty much anyone on the current roster (minus Morgan Rielly) is available.
-Aaron Ward keeps getting up and walking over to the Trade Breakers table (featuring Bob McKenzie, Gord Miller, Pierre Lebrun and Darren Dreger).
-Nearing the end of hour #2, still just the 1 trade on the day.
-Here's a great shot of Cabbie and Musical Guest Lester McLean:

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM:
-Hour 3 starts with an interview with Flames FM Brad Treliving. He talked about the difficulty of moving a veteran guy like Curtis Glencross and how the Flames are willing to make a move but don't want to part with any young pieces.
-Stars GM Jim Nill on the phone with James Duthie addressing his team's needs.
-Rumblings from the Trade Breakers of Dion Phaneuf possibly heading to the Detroit Red Wings. Up to 3 teams interested in Phaneuf. Rumors that the Blues are interested in Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek.
-Pierre McGuire really wants Shane Doan to be traded out of Arizona to win a Stanley Cup.
-For some reason they have Llamas on set at TSN.
-Trade #2: Montreal Canadiens acquire F Brian Flynn from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2016 5th Round Pick.
-Montreal has now been involved in the first 2 trades of the day.
-Wild GM Chuck Fletcher on the phone now talking about the significance of adding Devan Dubnyk earlier in the season.
-Zbynek Michalek traded to the St. Louis Blues pending trade call as hour #3 comes to a close.
-Here's another throwback to the Trade Centre 2012 with Jay Onrait's t-shirts of choice for the day

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM:
-Panel discussing the many problems with the Edmonton Oilers.
-James Duthie apologizes to CNN for mocking their Llama story.
-TSN showing Gino Reda chasing Llama's in the TSN parking lot. Classic.
-This picture of Gino Reda is gold.
-Hour #4 with lots of speculation and filler stories but lack of trades.
-Waiting for the shocking unexpected trade that usually happens at the Trade Deadline.
-3 trades before 12:00 PM, expecting it to pick up in the next hour.

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM:
-Coyotes continue to be active claiming Tye McGinn (San Jose) and Craig Cunningham (Boston) off waivers.
-Trade #3: St. Louis Blues acquire D Zbynek Michalek from the Arizona Coyotes for F Maxim Letunov and a 2015 Conditional 3rd Round Pick.
-Jermaine Franklin reporting from Flames practice showing Dennis Wideman possibly being traded out of Calgary.
-Pierre McGuire thinks its a conspiracy by Brian Burke to trick the Trade Centre guys to think that Wideman has been traded.
-Joffrey Lupul takes a stab at TSN on twitter, "TSN just a poor mans TMZ. Embarrassing." After further research it was determined that a tweet from a Leafs fan that appeared on TV in the Trade Center twitter feed is what pissed him off. Check it out:
-What person at TSN was fired for allowing this tweet on National Television? Lupul has every right to be pissed, don't blame him at all. Either way shots fired!
-Sharks and Hawks swap depth forwards as hour #5 comes to a close, Ben Smith going to San Jose and Andrew Desjardins going to Chicago.

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM:
-Panel discusses how the Sharks could change the Trade Deadline by making Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau available.
-Trade #4: San Jose Sharks acquire F Ben Smith from the Chicago Blackhawks for F Andrew Desjardins.
-Trade #5: Detroit Red Wings acquire D Marek Zidlicky from the New Jersey Devils for a 2016 3rd Round Pick.
-"We're getting to the hour where the pot starts to boil" - Gord Miller
-Dennis Wideman on the phone now explaining the practical joke he played on Trade Centre to act like he was being traded.
-Trade #6: New York Islanders acquire F Tyler Kennedy from the San Jose Sharks for a 2015 Conditional 3rd Round Pick.
-Jeff "O-Dog" O'Neill keeps calling James Duthie "Jimmy"
-Trade #7: Pittsburgh Penguins acquire D Ian Cole from the St. Louis Blues for D Robert Bortuzzo and a 2016 7th Round Pick
-Trade #8: Colorado Avalanche acquire F Freddie Hamilton from the San Jose Sharks for D Karl Stollery
-Looks like the Islanders and Sabres are swapping goalies.
-Trade #9: New York Islanders acquire G Michal Neuvirth from the Buffalo Sabres for G Chad Johnson and a Conditional 2016 3rd Round Pick.
-Jeff O'Neill suggests the Sabres use Artus Irbe in net for the remainder of the season to lock up 1st pick and get Connor McDavid. Here's a picture from back in November when the 48-year old Irbe (Sabres goalie coach) dressed as their emergency back up.
-Duthie assures us that the majority of trades happen in the last hour until the deadline.
-Hour #6 was the busiest hour so far, one hour left until the deadline.

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM:
-Last hour until the deadline, waiting for something big to happen!
-Trade #10: Vancouver Canucks acquire F Cory Conacher from the New York Islanders for F Dustin Jeffery.
-Trade #11: Minnesota Wild acquire D Jordin Leopold from the Columbus Blue Jackets for D Justin Falk and a 2015 5th Round Pick
-Trade #12: Arizona Coyotes acquire G David Leggio from the New York Islanders for F Mark Louis
-"That was from High School, where in your brain do you keep that" - O Dog, "I dunno...I just study"- Pierre McGuire
-"I have some breaking news James...the pizza has arrived!" - Jennifer Hedger
-Olli Jokinen traded from the Leafs, lasted under 3 weeks in Toronto. Wonder if he will get any Big Mac Meals in St. Louis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjQLeEtPH5E
-Trade #13: St. Louis Blues acquire F Olli Jokinen from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a F Joakim Lindstrom and 2016 Conditional 6th Round Pick
-Lester with an awesome Jaromir Jagr song, "he's still got the fire, he may never retire": http://www.tsn.ca/video/tradecentre-jagr-trade-song-1.220269
-Easily the coolest story from the 2015 Trade Deadline, this picture popped up on twitter about Jordan Leopold's daughter Jordyn. It is a letter from Jordyn to the Minnesota Wild asking them to trade for his Dad to bring him to Minnesota (where the family is from). The letter was written in January weeks before Jordan was traded to the Wild today, here it is:
-Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen tweeted the picture of the letter from Jordyn with the quote, "It isn't always just about business," Sometimes things are more important than hockey, and this was definitely the feel-good story of the day.
-Darren Dutchysen can't stop laughing on the panel.
-Blue Jackets re-sign F Cam Atkinson to a 3-year, $10.5 million deal ($3.5 million cap hit).
-Trade #14: Montreal Canadiens acquire F Torrey Mitchell from the Buffalo Sabres for F Jack Nevins and a 2016 7th Round Pick.

3:00 PM and On:
-Chris Stewart traded to the Minnesota Wild. TSN calls him, he had no idea he had been traded, "No I haven't heard anything guys, what's the word?" He went on to add, "It's a special day...I'm excited to join a team making a playoff push"
-Trade #15: Pittsburgh Penguins acquire D Ben Lovejoy from the Anaheim Ducks for D Simon Despres.
-Trade #16: Minnesota Wild acquire F Chris Stewart from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2017 2nd Round Pick.
-Ben Lovejoy returns to the team he started his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Reverend Lovejoy is back!
-Trade #17: Vancouver Canucks acquire F Sven Baertschi from the Calgary Flames for a 2017 2nd Round Pick.
-Torrey Mitchell phones in to talk about being traded to his hometown Montreal Canadiens, "When you have an opportunity like this its just exciting."
-Trade #18: Anaheim Ducks acquire D James Wisniewski and a 2015 3rd Round Pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets for F Rene Bourque, F William Karlsson and a 2015 2nd Round Pick.
-Trade #19: Boston Bruins acquire F Max Talbot and F Paul Carey from the Colorado Avalanche for F Jordan Caron and 2016 6th Round Pick.
-Trade #20: Anaheim Ducks acquire F Michael Sgarbossa from the Colorado Avalance for D Mat Clark.
-Trade #21: Anaheim Ducks acquire D Korbinian Holzer from the Toronto Maple Leafs for D Eric Brewer and a 2016 5th Round Pick.
-Trade #22: Boston Bruins acquire F Zach Phillips from the Minnesota Wild for F Jared Knight
-Flyers re-sign F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to a 2-year extension.
-Word on the street is the Leafs were targeting Anthony Mantha + Brendan Smith from the Red Wings trying to work out a Phaeuf deal, no trade could be made.
-Rangers re-sign F Mats Zuccarello to a 4-year, $18 million deal with a $4.5 million cap hit.
-Flames GM Brad Treliving announces Captain Mark Giordano is out indefinitely with a torn biceps tendon. Giordano will require surgery and will be out for the rest of the season, with "4-5 months of rehab" as Treliving put it. Such a tough blow to the Flames, this is easily the biggest news of the day its a shame it had to be bad news.
-Cabbie really loves the Llamas...
Night before Trade Deadline thoughts:
-Love the Kimmo Timonen trade for the Blackhawks, he will provide a nice offensive boost to their defense as long as he can stay healthy. Antoine Vermette is a nice trade as well, he will fit well into Joel Quenneville's system as a smart, reliable two-way Center.
-Jaromir Jagr will enjoy playing for the Florida Panthers, he will bring a great veteran presence to a young and upcoming team. Jagr clearly wasnt happy in New Jersey and goes to a much better Panthers team that not only has a bright future but is pushing for a playoff spot this year.
-The Rangers/Coyotes trade might have been the biggest trade of the deadline and it happened the night before. The Rangers now have one of the best defensive units in the NHL with Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Dan Boyle, Kevin Klein and now add Keith Yandle to the mix. However, I love this trade for the Coyotes because they got a top prospect in Anthony Duclair and a 1st round pick. I'm a huge Duclair fan, I think he showed great promise at the World Juniors and hes going to be a star in the NHL in a few years. He will join World Junior teammate Max Domi in Arizona.
-The Clarkson/Horton trade was baffling, I (along with everyone else) thought Clarkson was untradeable with that awful contract. Horton might never play a game in the NHL again but the Leafs still won this trade by unloading that Clarkson contract.
-The Devan Dubnyk trade might have been the biggest bargain of the season, the Wild traded a 3rd round pick for him and have completely turned their season around since. He is having easily his best year in the NHL and is leading the Wild to the playoffs.
-The Jiri Sekac/Devante Smith-Pelly trade was an interesting one. Seems like a trade between two young prospects who would benefit from a change of scenery. Smith-Pelly will be a good depth guy for the Canadiens but I feel Sekac will have a big opportunity to play top 6 minutes in Anaheim (which he wasn't getting in Montreal).
-Andrej Sekera will be a good boost to the Kings lineup, they are missing their best offensive defenseman in Slava Voynov so Sekera should help.
-Curtis Glencross will fit in well in Washington, a strong two-way guy will benefit from Barry Trotz coaching. Good return for the Flames too (2nd and 3rd pick) because he was going to be a free agent in the summer.
-Erik Cole will get a chance to crack the top 6 in Detroit, he could fit in well with Datsyuk and co.
-The Brett Connolly trade was also an interesting one for several reasons. First being that Connolly once upon a time was a top prospect, at age 22 he hasn't progressed as well as we thought he would but he still shows some promise. The second reason is that the Bruins paid a hefty price for someone as unproven as Connolly, good on Steve Yzerman to get 2 2nd round draft picks (especially with their depth at forward).
-The Evander Kane/Tyler Myers trade was easily the biggest trade of the season, I don't expect a bigger deal today.
-Here's a look at Jaromir Jagr and Keith Yandle with their new teams:

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff

No comments:

Post a Comment