Canon Fodder – Sports Blog

They can’t all be jokes and humor.  Occasionally I’m expected to actually talk about sports on my sports blog.

I wanted to write an article about the pending NHL deadline but ESPN and Sports Illustrated both published similar articles this week.  Well, similar in that they dealt with the pending NHL trade deadline but I think “experts” are still missing the mark.  The “new” NHL is a completely different beast than in the past.  GMs are still getting a feel for the game and how it will change come playoff time.  Factor in the salary cap and you’ve got thirty teams looking for a new blueprint to success.

A lot of names are being connected to contenders.  Bill Guerin.  Keith Tkachuk.  Todd “Look Behind You” Bertuzzi.  Gary “I’m Still in the NHL?” Roberts.  And each of these guys comes with a significant price tag.  My question is why?  They’re all stars of a bygone era.  I’m not of the opinion these guys should hang up the skates (well, except for Roberts), but none of them deserve to command a significant contract the next time a GM is writing a check.  And it’s not just their age working against them.  At best, the speed of these players should be classified as “lumbering”.  High-priced slow skaters?  That’s so 2004.  (Pre-salary cap/new NHL for you non-hockey sophisticates.)

Moves will be made, but I anticipate a rather sedate trade deadline.  The Forsberg-to-Nashville trade was a panic move by management to stir up some attention for a surprisingly struggling franchise.  (A crime considering the wonderful product the Predators have built over time with solid management decisions.)  Unfortunately that desperate move precipitated many trade discussions.  Sellers suddenly feel they can ask for the sun, moon and the stars.  But the buyers aren’t buying… yet.

There’s no guarantee sanity will continue to reign supreme.  GMs across all sports are known for bouts of collective pocketbook spilling.  We could see a slew of short-sighted trades but in light of the NHL’s new economic climate, there’s just no reason for many of the contending teams to take the deadweight off the bottom dwellers.

Ignore the talk of an intense NHL trade deadline.  There’s no smoke.  There’s no fire.

 

Keeping passing Canon Fodder around.  There’s no reason to keep our humble little website a secret.

Have questions or comments?  Reach me at jeff@canon-fodder.com.

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 10:12 am and is filed under Canon Fodder, Jeffrey Petts, NHL, Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.