Trade DUD-Line Day

I have no idea why anyone makes a big day out of Trade Deadline Day any longer. Everyone was making a big deal about how the Nazem Kadri trade from Calgary to Colorado was a "blockbuster", yet all I did was shrug my shoulders because Colorado added a third-line centerman. Yes, Kadri likely could play higher up in the lineup, but Colorado's lineup doesn't need him in the top-six forward group. For as much as TSN, Sportsnet, and the NHL Network make Trade Deadline Day a thing, it's not. And it shouldn't be moving forward.

As we've seen in past years, the best or most intriguing trades were made in the days leading up to the deadline. In the salary cap era, seeing star players switch teams at the deadline rarely happens now, and this year's new set of rules made it even harder for teams tight against the salary cap ceiling to find any sort of wiggle room. Even in the years before the salary cap, some of the biggest trades weren't made on deadline day. How did Trade Deadline Day become notable?

You can argue that 1994 may have been the year when the "excitement" started. That was the year that the New York Rangers loaded up for their Stanley Cup run by trading away Mike Gartner, Tony Amonte, and Todd Marchant to bring in Glenn Anderson, Brian Noonan, Stephane Matteau, and Craig MacTavish in three deals. 1994 also saw Al Iafrate join the Boston Bruins in exchange for Joe Juneau who went to Washington, and St. Louis acquired Craig Janney from Vancouver for Jeff Brown, Bret Hedican, and Nathan Lafayette.

The 1999 trade deadline saw a few more big names on the move as the Detroit Red Wings acquired Chris Chelios, Bill Ranford, Wendel Clark, and Ulf Samuelsson in four deals that saw Anders Eriksson, Kevin Hodson, and six draft picks shipped to three different teams. Vincent Damphousse was traded to San Jose by Montreal for three picks, and a trade that sent Peter Zezel from Vancouver to Anaheim was nullified days later after Zezel refused to join the Ducks.

The 2002 NHL Trade Deadline saw the New Jersey Devils acquire Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner from Dallas for Jason Arnott, Randy McKay and a first-round pick. The Devils also acquired Stephane Richer from the Penguins for a seventh-round pick, and then Pittsburgh traded Darius Kasparaitis to Colorado for Rick Berry and Ville Niemenen. However, the number of "big names" being moved was starting to dwindle as star players were dealt earlier.

2008 saw a few known stars dealt on the deadline as the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis from the Atlanta Thrashers for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christiansen, Angelo Esposito, and a first-round pick. Shortly thereafter, the Dallas Stars acquired Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist from Tampa Bay for Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen, Mike Smith, and a fourth-round pick. Buffalo traded Brian Campbell and a seventh-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for Steve Bernier and a first-round pick. Aside from a few big-name players who were past their primes when they got moved later in the day, 2008 had some NHL stars that changed addresses.

2013 had a few big trades happen on deadline day as the New York Rangers sent Marian Gaborik, Blake Parlett, and Steven Delisle to Columbus for Derek Dorsett, Derick Brassard, John Moore, and a fourth-round pick. Tampa Bay sent Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick to Ottawa for Ben Bishop. Washington dealt Filip Forsberg to Nashville for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. In the days leading up to the deadline, all of Jaromir Jagr, Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr, and Jarome Iginla were traded, but why worry about those details?

As stated above, most of the stars were dealt to their new teams prior to the final day of swaps in the NHL over the past thirty years. Don't tell network television producers that, though, because they're already blocking off eight hours and booking three dozen analysts to sit in their studios and break down the deal that sent the fourth-line center to a new team for a mid-round pick for an hour. They can review the bigger trades that happened earlier in the week, but it's not thrilling TV if those analysts aren't breaking blockbuster deals.

It might be time to retire "Trade Deadline Day" when it comes to network television. A one-hour recap with a couple of analysts would be more than enough based on how few "blockbuster" trades there are on the actual deadline day, but we know that won't happen because anyone who doesn't break the biggest trade of the day will lose status as an insider. And none of the personalities want that.

I stopped watching years ago. There aren't the big deals that everyone hopes there will be, and the TV just isn't that good. Maybe next year's deadline will be different, but I wouldn't count on it.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 649

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns to full-strength tonight as our two hosts are back in the studio and ready to talk some hockey! Of course, the 4 Nations Face-Off ended, players have returned to their respective clubs, the NHL season has resumed, and teams are hunting for playoff spots. There are still other things happening in and around hockey as we approach the trade deadline, there's a big game on Saturday that UMFM will be covering, and there's some news from Europe that may be discussed. In short, it's an episode with a lot of chatter tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight on the program, Jason will weigh in with his thoughts on the Flames prep hockey situation after missing last week's discussion, and our two hosts will discuss this weekend's final game in program history. Beyond that, the Winnipeg Jets are on an 11-game win streak after dispatching the Ottawa Senators last night, there are chances for tweaks, the Carolina Hurricanes have a star potentially back on the trading block, there's a Champions League champion, and the IIHF launches a new mentorship program that seems valuable yet redundant. Teebz and Jason will squeeze all of that and anything else that gets brought up into the hour tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about broken dreams, winning big, adding and subtracting, winning often, coaching role models, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: February 27, 2025: Episode 649

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 601

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back on the air with all systems at optimum levels as our two normal hosts dig into hockey news. Jason's trip to Toronto to do some book signings for his fantastic tome, Bounty, will be discussed as it's always good to hear things going well for someone, so we'll get caught up on Jason's adventure to the Centre of the Universe. From there, our hosts will dig into the hockey matters this week, so get yourself settled in for some puck talk tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

If today's episode feels like a lot of people are giving up and walking away, you may have caught the theme. Teebz and Jason will jump into discussing two ECHL teams that may fold prior to the season ended and how they got to that point, the Washington Capitals and their failed arena bid in Virginia, and Bob Murdoch's CTE diagnosis and Bill Daly's baffling statement last week. Some of the smaller stories will include ECHL teams loading up on U SPORTS players, the EIHL seeing its biggest increase in viewership, another Capitals player heading to Player Assistance, a quick note about a local coach going international, and anything else we can squeeze into the hour! We're going to move quickly on a very busy show tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. If you use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about contracting teams, contracting players, arena deals, head trauma, liability vs. responsibility, more fans watching, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: March 28, 2024: Episode 601

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Players On The Move

With the U SPORTS season officially in the books, there will be a number of players who are seeking new homes at the professional level. We've seen some move already like when Connor Blake jumped at the chance to sign with the Idaho Steelheads, but there certainly will be others as teams look to add dynamic playes prior to the Kelly Cup Playoffs starting. With Kermit the Frog playing the role of ECHL general managers across North America, phone bills would be growing in some cities as those teams get set for deep playoffs runs. Who went where? Let's find out.

You may recall me mentioning a trade involving former Laurier Golden Hawks forward Jimmy Soper that had the winger moving from Rapid City to Florida in a deal for former Bisons forward Brett Davis. Well, it seems that Soper barely had time to get settled in Estero, Florida because the Everblades dealt Soper along with former Carleton Ravens forward Kieran Craig and Luke Santerno to Cincinnati for Cyclones' leading goal scorer Zack Andrusiak and the rights to defensemen Zach Berzolla five days ago. Craig had played all of eight games with Florida before being traded after spending the last two seasons at Carleton where he scored 22 goals and added 27 assists in 49 OUA games. Let's hope he gets a shot in Cincinnati because it appeared that Florida had found a gem in Craig after signing him to a deal.

We're not done with Soper, though, because it was announced today by Cincinnati that they had suspended Soper and removed him from the roster. There was no details given for the suspension, but I suspect that Soper likely wasn't all that excited to be in Cincinnati for the remainder of the season considering this would be his third home in the month of March. Soper did play in three games for the Cyclones, recording one goal and one assist, but it seems he won't be skating for them for the rest of the campaign.

The March 21 trade deadline also saw a former Manitoba Bisons defender moved in the deals five days ago as Reece Harsch was dealt from the Jacksonville Icemen to the Idaho Steelheads in exchange for Lincoln Erne. Harsch played just 15 games in Manitoba brown-and-gold, but he was effeecive with two goals and ten assists on a Bisons team that didn't have much offence. Harsch has been all over the map over the last few seasons, playing with the EIHL's Fife Flyers, the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL's Toledo Walleye, and the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks, but it seems he'll be skating in Boise for the rest of this season after the Steelheads dealt for him. He's another solid defensive player with big offensive upside on an Idaho blue line that's already stacked!

The Iowa Heartlanders added another former Canadian university player at the deadline when they picked up former UPEI Panthers defenceman Matt Brassard from the Newfoundland Growlers. The former OHL defender spent three seasons with the Panthers, picking most of his points in his final season in Charlottetown where he finished his AUS career with ten goals and 35 assists in 57 games. This is his fourth stop in the ECHL since leaving school, having played with the Savannah Ghost Pirates, Allen Americans, Newfoundland Growlers, and, now, the Iowa Heartlanders. His 104 games in the ECHL has seen him total nine goals and 24 assists thus far, but he has played physical in his four stops as he has 128 PIMs total. Iowa likely wanted that physical presence for a playoff run, and Brassard likely will deliver.

Rapid City opted to upgrade their goaltending on March 21 when they went out and inked Laurier Golden Hawks netminder Christian Propp to a deal. Propp's time in the OHL didn't attract any NHL teams to draft him, but the Golden Hawks were quite happy with his work. In three seasons, Propp posted a 33-39 record in 73 appearances while posting a 2.79 GAA and a .919 save percentage on a team that struggled against some of the better OUA teams. Laurier only finished above .500 once in Propp's time with the program, and that was in the shortened 2021-22 season when they went 8-7-1. Based on his save percentage, though, it seems pretty clear he can make saves to keep his team in games. The Rush liked what they saw, and he'll spend the rest of the season stopping pucks in South Dakota!

The Toledo Walleye decided to get in on the free agent fun as they inked former Guelph Gryphons and TMU Bold defender Cole Cameron to a deal on March 21. Known for being more of a defensive defender through his time in the OHL and with Guelph, Cameron helped TMU reach the U SPORTS National Championship this year, finishing his four seasons in the OUA with eight goals and 18 assists in 89 contests. Cameron was enrolled for his Masters Degree in Business Administration so we'll have to see if he goes back to TMU, but he did receive his Bachelor's Degree in Food and Agricultural Business from Guelph. For the rest of this season, he'll be tasked with stopping opposing forwards in the playoffs as the Walleye seek a Kelly Cup!

On March 22, the Norfolk Admirals made a splash by inking free agent and former Calgary Dinos defender Dakota Krebs to a deal. Krebs is the older brother of Buffalo Sabres forward Payton Krebs, but don't let that fool you in thinking Krebs is an offensive defender. While he does score, Dakota is very responsible in his own end, and has shown a knack for moving the puck without spending a lot of time in the box at both the WHL level and the Canada West level. In 71 games with the Dinos, Krebs recorded five goals and 21 assists, but only had 56 penalty minutes over three seasons. He doesn't get flashy with the puck, but Admirals fans will like Dakota Krebs on their blue line as they hunt for a Kelly Cup due to his responsible play and his reliability in his own zone.

The last move comes with a bit of head scratching because the Jacksonville Icemen released former Manitoba Bisons defender Mackenzie Dwyer from his contract today. Dwyer had played 13 games with the Maine Mariners and six games with the Fort Wayne Komets this season before landing back in Jacksonville where played 32 games in 2022-23. It seemed like the perfect for the 27 year-old Dwyer, but no reason was given for his release. It may be due to numbers, though, as the acquisition of Erne that I mentioned above gave Jacksonville 11 defencemen, including Dwyer, on their roster. Given that he was playing so little, that may have contributed.

In any case, there are a pile of U SPORTS transactions that will have a number of ECHL teams and fans happier after the trade deadline has come and gone. With more U SPORTS players in the ECHL, the chances of seeing one of them raise the Kelly Cup only increases, so it will be interesting to see who stands atop the mountain when the final horn sounds. All of the players who joined new teams, though, can be difference-makers for those teams, so here's hoping these players light it up in the ECHL!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 598

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight with news from across a number of leagues as several North American leagues begin to prepare for playoffs while one other is just gearing up for another season of incredible hockey. With U SPORTS one week away from its annual tournaments to determine the best men's and women's team from Canadian universities, we have an update on that event as eight men's and eight women's teams get set to battle for supremacy! We get into it tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight on the program, Teebz and Jason get to chatting about the PWHL's playoff format and why it's good, the corporate shenanigans seen recently with the PWHL jerseys, the NHL trade deadline deals already happening, an NHL team signing a former NHL player playing in the AHL, two Canada West players on the move in the ECHL, the 2024 AIHL season beginning shortly, and we'll make sure you have the info you need for the U SPORTS National Men's and Women's Hockey Championships. In short, we have a jam-packed show from all corners of the globe tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT, so get yourself tuned in on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. If you use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason talk playoff formats, names on jerseys, player moves, a new season down under, a university season coming to a close, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: March 7, 2024: Episode 598

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Friday's Headline

Sometimes, it's hard to watch good players answer questions after bad losses. One has to feel for these players as they sit in front of the media asking about another lacklustre effort on the ice when it was fairly clear that most of the guys speaking to the media had fairly decent games. Since the All-Star Break, Sidney Crosby has been answering the media's questions on why the Penguins simply can't find consistency on the ice, and he continually tells everyone they'll work harder next game than the one he just played. It's never been a question of effort from Crosby, so I went ahead and drafted Friday morning's headline for Pittsburgh scribes.

Technically, the Penguins still have a shot at making the playoffs as they trail the New York Islanders by one point in the standings, and both teams have one game remaining. Pittsburgh, however, had a glorious opportunity to put all the pressure on the Islanders as they faced the lowly Chicago Blackhawks tonight. Chicago, for what it's worth, has been embracing the role of spoiler for the last month, but the Penguins just needed sixty minutes of solid hockey to give them a better-than-good shot as a 17th-straight playoff appearance.

Chicago won the game 5-2 in a game that reflected the Penguins' season: inconsistent plus poor management and coaching decisions.

"It's tough. It's like, no words," Evgeni Malkin said after tonight's game. "We should win here at home. We understand how important this game was for us tonight… it's huge. But we did not play bad. They played smart. They waited for mistakes and scored like three goals off three mistakes. But it's all about us.

"We play at home, they play back-to-back. We should win. It's like, no words, for sure. Tough loss, but now we just hope. I hope tomorrow, something magic happens, and we have a chance to play against Columbus and make the playoffs."

Malkin, of course, was referring to the Islanders hosting the Montreal Canadiens in their final game of the season on Wednesday, and the Penguins need the Canadiens to win in regulation over the Islanders. If the Islanders pick up a single point, the Penguins' season is over.

One can point to the fact that the Penguins were simply mediocre away from PPG Paints Arena this season, going 17-18-5 on the road. This is a team that started the season 4-0-1 before going 0-6-1. This is a team that goes 8-1-1 in December prior to Christmas, but goes 0-4-1 in their first five games after the holiday break. This is a team that has six 20-goal scorers in its lineup, but four of them are minus-players. This is a team that had injury problems all season long, yet they refused to call up some of their better players from the AHL for long stretches.

This is a team that needed to get younger and faster both in their forward units and on their blue line, and GM Ron Hextall went out and acquired Mikael Granlund, Nick Bonino, and Dmitri Kulikov. This is a coach in Mike Sullivan who continued to dress what-have-you-done-this-season veterans like Jeff Carter, Josh Archibald, and the aforementioned Kulikov while players like Drew O'Connor, Alex Nylander, and Mark Friedman watched from the pressbox. It's hard to explain if this team was rebuilding, retooling, or simply reeling when the trade deadline was over.

Watching this team tonight struggle to defend, continually be frustrated by a Chicago defence that's aiming for a first-overall pick, and unable to score on a goaltender in Petr Mrazek who has struggled all season was a test of patience in this fan tonight. Personally, this team shouldn't go to the playoffs in their current iteration, and there's no reason to believe they'll be there following Thursday night's final game against Columbus.

"I think if you look at the first 40, we missed so many chances," Kris Letang offered to reporters about the team's inconsistent play. "We had the opportunity to get up in the scoring, we didn't. I think in the third we kind of got frustrated and kind of imploded giving up chances and stuff. So, it's a tough one to swallow."

How do you fix this mess? It starts with removing Ron Hextall from the GM's chair. His decisions all season long should have him removed from most fantasy leagues, but this is an NHL team that he continually has failed to improve. It's time to find someone who is willing to restock the AHL Penguins with solid players from the NCAA and overseas while developing draft picks, and it will require some patience for the NHL Penguins to either buy out or trade out some of the inexplicable contracts Hextall had players sign over the last couple of seasons.

Penguins fans can be unhappy with Mike Sullivan and the job the coaches did this season, but cap problems really hampered some of their decisions and underwhelming play from veterans compounded the salary cap problems because no one could be brought up to replace an underperforming player. Sullivan doesn't get a free pass here as there were still inexplicable roster decisions made, but getting a general manager in who can undo some of the bumbling performed by Hextall will benefit everyone. If the new GM still wants Sullivan gone, so be it.

Make no mistake that the one thing that will be gone come Friday morning are Stanley Cup hopes in the city of Pittsburgh. Unless the Canadiens decide to bring an actual NHL team to UBS Arena on Long Island, all the Penguins can do is watch and hope that one of this season's worst teams gives one of this season's most inconsistent teams one last chance to keep their playoff appearance streak alive.

"We just gotta worry about ourselves, and hopefully we get a chance," Sidney Crosby said to reporters. "That's out of our hands now."

As much as we're told that it's the hope that kills, we can squarely put this season's potential debacle for the Penguins on a defence that employed the "EVERYBODY PANIC!" system along with apatheic management when it came to actually trying to make this team better. Because of those two things that plagued this Penguins squad all season long, that playoff streak is in serious jeopardy.

Speaking of Jeopardy!, I'll take "Blow It Up And Start Over" for $500, Alex, because this team simply isn't good enough.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

What's The Condition?

I post this picture as I scratch my head. This trade that happened in the WHL is all sorts of bonkers due to the number of pieces involved. While I get that Olen Zellweger and Ryan Hofer are good players, are they really worth four players - three rostered players plus a prospect - four WHL first-round bantam draft selections, and six more picks over the next three years? Is Kamloops happy knowing that not only did they mortgage their future, but they likely won't have much to trade in coming years if they ever want to make a run at the WHL championship either?

The most curious part to me, though, was the conditional 2026 second-round draft pick. We usually see conditions on picks if a team or player does something in the coming year, but this is a condition on a pick that won't happen for another four summers. In this case, it's a 2026 conditional second-round pick, so what exactly is the condition that would affect a pick three years from now?

I would assume it may have something to do with Kamloops winning the Memorial Cup, but, when you deal four players and ten picks including all four first-round selections through to 2027, does it really matter if you keep the second-rounder from 2026? What does Kamloops know about that draft?

All jokes aside, I am still baffled by this deal. I know we see massive deals at the trade deadline in junior hockey every year with players who played at the World Junior Championship fetching high prices, but this is ludicrous. Best of luck to the Kamloops Blazers this season as they host the Memorial Cup because things might be a little lean in the coming years for that WHL franchise.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 495

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is gearing up for the biggest tournaments of the year as the U SPORTS National Hockey Championships in Charlottetown, PEI and Halifax, Nova Scotia aren't far off! There's still some positioning and playoff victories needed by teams to secure their berths in those tournaments, but we're nearing the end of a rather exciting hockey season seen across Canada. Who will move on? Who goes home to regroup for next season? Who will play for the ultimate glory of a national championship? We're getting close to knowing all those answers!

Teebz and Jenna have all the details as to who will go to Charlottetown for next weekend's U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship as there were games played this week that had immediate consequences on who would be invited from the six teams to the left to fill in the final three berths in PEI. Our hosts discuss those games tonight as well as ripping on Canadian sports media for ignoring U SPORTS in general, express their general dissatisfaction in the NHL's Gender Equality Month effort, talk KHL changes for next season, praise a member of Canada's para ice hockey team, opine on the emergence of a professional women's hockey league, update everyone on some great news from in and around Canada West, chat trade deadline deals, and get set for this weekend's hockey action across the OUA, AUS, and RSEQ as championship banners will be awarded in all three conferences! Get settled in for another hour of hockey chatter from across the globe at 5:30pm CT on 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

Where's the best place can you hear tonight's show if you're outside Winnipeg or not near a radio, you ask? The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. If you're using an Apple device, the player doesn't seem to like Safari yet, so if you want to stream the show I'd recommend Radio Garden to do that as it works nicely with Safari. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. If you do use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jenna call out networks, shame leagues, celebrate growth of the game, cheer on award-winners, check scores and results, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: March 17, 2022: Episode 495

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Curious Addition

With the NHL Trade Deadline approaching, there are all sorts of NHL teams already in on the action as they're making deals long before the 16-hour TV telethons on both TSN and Sportsnet kick off on Monday morning. In helpting to ruin "Trade Deadline Telethon 2022," we saw Josh Manson moved from Anaheim to Colorado and the Avalanche dealt Tyson Jost to Minnesota for Nico Sturm, but one name keeps coming up as there are as many as six teams interested in the player above known as Ben Chiarot. His name can be struck from the list of available players, though, as the Montreal Canadiens moved him to a contender in a rather odd move for that welcoming team.

The deal saw the Florida Panthers send prospect Tyler Smilanic, currently playing at Quinnipiac in the NCAA, and two picks - a 2023 first-rounder and 2022 fourth-rounder - to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Ben Chiarot's services on their blue line. The fact that Ben Chiarot was moved by Montreal shouldn't shock anyone, but it's where he's going that's a bit of a shock considering how the Panthers are built. There are no "do-overs" in the NHL, though, so let's look at this deal a little more.

From Florida's perspective, it's hard to understand why they're bringing in a guy who can legitimately eat minutes, but doesn't really upgrade the talent on the blue line that Florida currently boasts. Aaron Ekblad and Mackenzie Weegar have turned in some great efforts this season as the top pairing in Sunrise while Brandon Montour and Radko Gudas were serviceable as depth pieces on the blue line. Adding Chiarot is basically like adding Radko Gudas-lite in terms of physicality, but he's nowhere near as defensively responsible as Gudas is.

To say Chiarot has been anything beyond terrible while in Montreal colours is giving him credit that's undue. His analytics have been dreadful, he provides little to no offensive punch when he's on the ice, and he's literally been skating as a sheltered player his entire NHL career under both Dustin Byfuglien and Shea Weber. When those players left his pairing, his statistical hits were noticeable in a big way. Again, I see nothing here that makes Florida better, but I'm not the guy making this deal.

"Ben is a solid veteran defenceman that will bring both experience and size to our blue line," Panthers general manager Bill Zito said after swinging the deal. "Having reached the Stanley Cup final with Montreal last season, he is a player that knows what it takes to make a deep playoff run, which is what our organization is striving for in these next few months."

Yes, Ben Chiarot did play with Montreal who went to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but he was victimized at least twice in the Stanley Cup Final by the Tampa Bay Lightning who simply skated circles around Chiarot while scoring goals. That would be the same divisional opponent that Florida may play in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so one has to wonder why Bill Zito would add a guy to his team that did little to neutralize the very team his team needs to beat.

What they gave up to acquire Ben Chiarot might be even more of a head-scratcher when you look at the bigger picture.

As stated above, Florida sent Montreal Tyler Smilanic, a 2023 first-round pick, and 2022 fourth-round pick to obtain Chiarot's rather mediocre skill set which leaves one wondering why they were willing to pay that steep of a price for what amounts to 56 games of playoff experience. Their 2022 first-round pick is owned by Buffalo after that was swapped in the Sam Reinhart deal back in July, and now Florida has dealt their 2023 first-round pick in an effort to be all-in for the Stanley Cup this season. They won't pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft until the third round, so they better hope the scouting department is working overtime.

For Montreal, they acquired that pick and the fourth-round pick, but got Florida to add Tyler Smilanic to the deal as they coveted the 20 year-old centerman. While his statistics in the NCAA won't jump off the page immediately at you, it would seem that Smilanic is simply getting better as he matures at all of the other aspects he needs to be successful: face-offs, play without the puck, and physically getting stronger to win puck battles.

"The No. 1 thing is he's a goal-scorer," coach Rand Pecknold told Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. "He puts himself in good positions to get scoring chances and then he's got that knack to finish those chances. It's hard to find goal-scorers of his ability."

He also added, "He's getting better with his details, whether it's faceoffs or defensive assignments. And a big thing he has improved on this year is his battles. He's gotten physically stronger and what I've always said to him is that when you win those 50-50 battles, we have the puck and we can go play offense. He's had a very nice natural progression in maturing and becoming more of a 200-foot player."

Smilanic likely isn't going to be in the Montreal lineup over the next season or two, but, if reality catches up with the potential given to him, Smilanic could be that prototypical centerman that all teams covet so much. If he develops that 200-foot game as Coach Pecknold is working on, the Canadiens may have stolen a gem from the Panthers. The old adage of "defence wins championships" may be true, but defensive stances are a team effort in the NHL and having a guy down the middle who is good in all three zones will benefit Montreal greatly.

Of course, those picks might also be a blessing in disguise as the Canadiens will now have 13 picks in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, and have four picks in the first-round over the next two drafts. As we know, the NHL is a more youthful league today than ever before, so we'll see Les Habitants stock the cupboards nicely with all sorts of good players either by drafting or by spending picks on acquiring players.

Based on these returns for Chiarot, it would appear that the Canadiens are very well-positioned to make a charge up the standings two or three seasons from now. For his first NHL Trade Deadline, it would seem that Montreal GM Kent Hughes has done well. And perhaps there are more moves to make as we near the final deadline hours.

What's clear is that while no one will point to one player as the reason for success or failure, the devil may be in the details when it comes to the futures of these two franchises. For the Panthers, they may end up being the top team in the Eastern Conference, but it seems to be Stanley-Cup-or-bust in Sunrise as they mortgaged their future for immediate returns. Montreal, on the other hand, is content with acquiring future assets and players as they rebuild, and they seem to doing things right when one looks at their collective haul.

Nothing is written in terms of the future for either franchise, but the steep price paid by the Florida Panthers for Ben Chiarot will undoubtedly have an effect on both clubs in this season and beyond. One has to wonder why Florida made it a priority to acquire a guy who, arguably, doesn't make them better while giving Montreal all the tools it needs to climb out of the Eastern Conference basement.

The NHL Trade Deadline: where the fear of missing out is very real.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

There's The Rub

When you hear NHL teams talk about their depth, it's usually because they have NHL-ready players sitting in the pressbox who can step in at a moment's notice. Usually, those players have shown that they can play at the NHL level through the games they are afforded, and occasionally there's reason to believe that a player is ready is one is the best at the AHL level for a franchise. If you were an NHL team that's tight against the salary cap and you had a former AHL Defenceman of the Year and a defender that has been lauded as the best player in the North Division, you'd think they'd be playing, right?

The reality is that the Jets have these players available to them, and neither Sami Niku, he who was the 2017-18 Eddie Shore Award winner as the AHL's outstanding defenceman, nor Ville Heinola, he who is getting rave reviews in the AHL as per Elliotte Friedman, are getting that opportunity as the Jets scour the depth charts of the other thirty NHL teams looking for an upgrade. And it leaves me dumbfounded.

As Friedman wrote in his 31 Thoughts article on Sportsnet above, "[m]ore than one exec's called him the best player north of the border" and Nashville kicked tires on Heinola in what would likely be a Mattias Ekholm trade. The Jets have two of the best defenders not playing in the NHL at their disposal in Niku and Heinola, and they refuse to play them for some reason. If the Jets aren't going to play them, why did they waste the draft picks on them?

It's a known fact that the Jets have struggled to generate offence from their blue line consistently, so hiding two of the best puck-moving defencemen in the pressbox does nothing to improve the fortunes of the Jets. If you need an example of where playing the kids has not only helped a team but actually made the team better, I point to the Colorado Avalanche where their oldest defender, Greg Pateryn, is 30 and doesn't even play a regular shift. If Colorado can use six players aged 26 or younger and turn in the results they have, what is stopping the Jets from playing their kids?

Maybe that's the rub, though. Colorado, it seems, doesn't care about how many hits they throw or how much grit is in the lineup or needing "big bodies" for their game because they throw their best at the opposition and dare them to stop the Avalanche. What happens normally is that the hits and grit and all those intangibles that coaches seem to love present themselves as they always do in games, and the Avalanche have adapted to not only play more physical, but play physical and score a ton of goals. That seems like a pretty good combination, no?

With the likes of Samuel Girard, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Bowen Byram, the Avalanche have four players aged 22, 22, 26, and 19 who constantly push the puck up the ice, jump into lanes for scoring chances, and look to drive offence while they learned to play defence at the NHL level. How did that happen? Head coach Jared Bednar is playing them. A lot. And the results speak for themselves as the Avalanche sit with 56 points and first-overall in the NHL with two games in-hand on Florida who also has 56 points. Not too shabby, Avalanche!

If the Jets are looking for a puck-moving defenceman who can step in and help the offence, they should be looking internally rather than at other depth charts. They have two players who have all the skill in the world to be able to do that, and both players would benefit from playing in NHL contests rather than watching from the pressbox. One can drop names like Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Josh Manson, and David Savard all day, but the Jets really should be looking to add from within with the talent they have at their disposal.

I'm not Kevin Cheveldayoff and I'm certainly not Paul Maurice, but this love affair with second- and third-pairing veteran defencemen that the Jets have needs to end immediately. It's time to drop this mantra about grit and physicality because I haven't seen one team come in and Broad Street Bully the Jets this season. Open the door to the kids, let them cut their teeth in the NHL by making a few mistakes, and get them ready for a playoff push because you're going to need them for the future.

Right now, they aren't even ready to be the seventh defender thanks to their lack of playing time and exposure to NHL situations on the ice. And that's really the rub here for the Jets: the trade deadline could be far less costly if the Jets would simply play the two best defenders the AHL's North Division has seen in some time.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Don't Book The Day Off

Every year, there's a couple of people that I know who decide to book the day off for the NHL trade deadline extravaganzas on the networks that cover sports. Despite me telling them that there are no blockbusters to be had outside of the last hour when general managers get itchy trigger fingers on last-minute deals, they use a vacation day from work to watch the pundits on the panels discuss each team's needs over eight hours with very little trade movement between those teams. Based on the prices paid for the players acquired in the last week, I suspect this year's respective trade deadline shows will be worse than in previous years.

The acquisition of Jason Zucker by the Penguins will likely take them out of any trade scenarios they may have been in previously. Unless it's a money-for-money deal that comes out of the blue, I'm pretty certain the Penguins are happy with their roster at this time. Being tight against the salary cap ceiling will prevent the Penguins from taking on salary, so we can cross one team off the trade board.

Tampa Bay added a good piece in Blake Coleman, and it's likely that they aren't going to tinker much with the remainder of their roster. They may add a depth piece or two, but I suspect all the usual suspects will remain with an 813 area code phone number.

Toronto is still looking to shore up their blue line, but I doubt anyone is going to throw them a life preserver without some sort of significant return. Tyson Barrie may still get moved, but I imagine he'd have to be part of a package that includes picks and prospects with his impending free agency. With Toronto already having upgraded their goaltending, I expect they'll have to get creative if they want to bring in a Matt Dumba or a defender of his ability.

Finally, with their acquisition of Tyler Toffoli from the Los Angeles Kings today, Vancouver doesn't have a first-round or second-round pick in this summer's draft, so they're now trading players for players. The addition of Tyler Madden in the trade to the Kings takes one of their better prospects off the board as well, so Vancouver might very well be done this year if they hope to make a run in the playoffs.

Over the next week, expect another half-dozen teams to make their intention as either buyer or seller clear based on the results of their games. Teams like Winnipeg, Florida, and Nashville may go from buyers to sellers while teams such as the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, and the Buffalo Sabres will either be all-in on a playoff push or will look to add some picks and future assets by dealing their talent away.

As we've seen in the returns for players headed to playoff teams, it's a seller's market right now as the returns have been very good for those willing to move proven talent. Perhaps that alone will influence a handful of teams in foregoing a wild card position this year for what may be a better playoff spot next season depending on what they can move out and get back. There are teams looking to add for the right price, and there are certainly teams who have talent that can be had for the right price. Whether or not those prices align will be seen, but with some of the bigger trade pieces already off the board it might be a quiet Monday for most of the day.

Take the day off if you like. No one can tell you that taking the Monday off following a weekend is a bad idea. Just don't spend it all day in front of the television holding out hope for a blockbuster deal. You're better off spending the day at work than trading a vacation day for eight hours of inactivity by NHL GMs.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 336

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, has a ton of work to do tonight as there have been trades made, championships won, championships to be awarded, and we'll likely dive into a topic that once again needs addressing despite our many discussions about fan behaviour. It's like we, as humans, never learn that in this day and age there are cameras everywhere thanks to smartphones, and likely someone will be capturing whatever you're doing if it even remotely close to being out of the ordinary. Sometimes, I really wonder how people who were captured in this video can look themselves in the mirror and be happy with what they see.

The man to the left is Jonathan Diaby, and he was the Marquis de Jonquière player who endured the racist comments in a game against Saint-Jérôme. There is no way that this should be happening in 2019, and Beans, Jason Pchajek, and myself will discuss how this happens as it's not the first time that we've seen this kind of treatment of African-American players. We'll also break down the trade deadline deals, we'll talk about who won the Winnipeg High School Hockey League championship, we'll set you up for the epic Canada West Championship battle between Manitoba and Alberta, and we'll talk about who else may be joining these two teams in Charlottetown. It should be another busy show, so make sure you're tuned in at 5:30pm!

The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome. If you're using an Apple device, the player doesn't seem to like Safari yet, but we highly recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or perhaps another browser. If you do use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

Having lost faith in Facebook, I spend far less time on that site for good reasons. In saying that, you can still email all show questions and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! We're here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz, Beans, and Jason Pchajek discuss some very ugly incidents that have happened in Canada regarding racism and how we may go about stopping it from happening again, the trade deadline with winners and losers from our perspectives, high school hockey, university hockey, and much more only on The Hockey Show found exclusively on 101.5 UMFM, on the UMFM app, on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: February 28, 2019: Episode 336

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Heady D-Hayes Ahead?

Trade deadline day is usually a day where big names are moved, surprise trades happen, and teams mark their territories as either buyers or sellers. Last season's deadline saw the Winnipeg Jets raise eyebrows in their acquisition of Paul Stastny, so there was hope that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could land another big fish without sacrificing the future. How did the Jets fare on Trade Deadline 2019? Would they make a splash and go get one of the big piece still on most sports networks' trade boards?

I'm not here to say that Cheveldayoff may be recognizing that the window of opportunity for the Jets to win the Stanley Cup may be closing. There are going to be some difficult decisions that the team will have to make this summer regarding a handful of young players, and I don't think another spring with nothing to show for their work in the playoffs will be good enough for the players or the fans. In saying that, the Jets shored up a couple of key areas where they needed some help.

In his first move of the day, Cheveldayoff called up the Rangers and acquired Kevin Hayes in exchange for Winnipeg's 2019 first-round pick, forward Brendan Lemieux, and a 2022 conditional fourth-round pick should the Jets win the Stanley Cup. In getting Hayes, the Jets get the big centerman who can pass as well as he shoots while playing a solid 200-foot game. In giving up a fourth-line player and the Jets' first-round pick - likely a late-round pick - Cheveldayoff didn't alter the makeup of his team aside from reducing the number of dumb penalties his team may take.

A second trade that seemed to polarize fans on social media, Cheveldayoff picked up centerman Matt Hendricks from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2020 seventh-round pick. I have to admit that this move took me by surprise as well, but it's fairly clear that this move is less about Hendricks playing on the ice and more about what Hendricks brings to the team off it. The guys loved having him as part of the Black Aces last season for his presence around the locker room, and it seems that will be his role once again this season.

In a move that can be only described as merciful, the Jets finally traded Nic Petan so that he no longer finds himself in the Winnipeg press box. The only problem, it seems, is that he could find himself in a new press box as the Jets swapped him to Toronto for forward Par Lindholm whose best work is done as a defensive forward. Lindholm's acquisition appears to be a depth move as it's unlikely he'll supplant anyone off Winnipeg's fourth line at the moment, but NHL-experienced bodies who play a solid defensive game in the playoffs are players all teams covet.

With the likelihood of Josh Morrissey missing significant time after leaving the game against Arizona with a visible shoulder injury, the Jets went and acquired a couple of left-shooting defencemen to fill the void. Cheveldayoff gave Jason Botterill a call, and when he hung up the phone the Jets had acquired little-used defenceman Nathan Beaulieu for a 2019 sixth-round pick. Beaulieu played well in Montreal before he ran into some poor play and injury trouble in Buffalo, and the Jets are hoping that he can find the game he showed in La Belle Province as he'll likely slot into the lineup immediately.

In getting some left-shooting defensive depth, the Jets went out and picked up Bogdan Kiselevich from the Florida Panthers for a 2021 seventh-round pick. Kiselevich is seen more as a defensive defender who has shown some solid play in his own zone with the Panthers. The Jets had pursued the Russian defencemen this past summer when he made it known he was looking for an NHL job, and it seems Chevy finally got his man after this trade.

And in a final move, the Jets made a minor-league move in acquiring Alex Broadhurst from Columbus - a tram that was rapidly approaching the maximum NHL contract limit with all their deals - for future considerations. If Columbus sees a number of their unrestricted free agents walk, there's a strong possibility that Broadhurst could be the future considerations for which he was dealt.

So how did it go, you're asking? Well, if Dustin Byfuglien and Josh Morrissey return in March, the Jets suddenly have a pile of options and a ton of depth on the blue line as they prepare for a long playoff run. While Sami Niku and Tucker Poolman haven't been forgotten, there are sorts of options with Ben Chiarot, Dmitry Kulikov, Joe Morrow, Beaulieu, and Kiselevich all able to play on the left side. Injuries shouldn't hamper this team's blue line if they get into a war with the likes of Nashville, Vegas, or San Jose.

The depth that Winnipeg added up front to support the twelve men that Paul Maurice rolls out there every night certainly won't wow anyone, but both Lindholm and Hendricks will give Maurice a solid effort every night while being great guys at practice. They won't make highlight reels, but they will bring their lunch pails every day to help make this team better.

However, let's not forget the centerpiece that Cheveldayoff brought in as Kevin Hayes should make his linemates better. He is an excellent passer, a skill he developed on a line with Hobey Baker Award-winner Johnny Gaudreau at Boston College. Since arriving in the NHL, he's been refining his game as an exceptional two-way centerman who will put in the work in the defensive zone as much as he will in offensive zone. Hayes won't be on many highlight reels nightly, but his skill set should fit nicely in Winnipeg's system.

If I'm handing out a grade for Kevin Cheveldayoff's work today, I believe it earns him a B+ depending on how the defence pans out. There's no denying that getting Hayes without dismantling his current roster was a savvy move while his depth moves cost him very little with the chances of being rewarded being higher. Seeing those chances come to fruition will be the challenge now for the both the coaching staff and the players, but if the Jets get a push from Beaulieu and Kiselevich on the blue line, you can turn that B+ into an A for Chevy.

It was a good day for the Jets on Monday. Now the work begins.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 285

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back with a full slate of stuff to go over as Teebz and Beans pull apart the last two weeks of hockey stories and examine the details. There's obviously a lot to report on with the Bisons, UMFM was involved at the Female World Sport School Challenge, the Jets and Moose continue to push through their schedules, there was this little "trade deadline" thing, and about a hundred other things we'll pull apart tonight if we have the time. Needless to say, it's going to busy on the UMFM frequencies tonight at 5:30pm CT!

I'm not sure if you heard, but the Bisons did a thing last weekend. In a big way, they went and did a thing, so we'll talk about that accomplishment on International Women's Day! We'll also toss in the Mission: Three Wins that the Bisons are on once they touch down in London, Ontario at the U SPORTS National Championship and how you can catch all the action. We'll run down the winners at the Female World Sport School Challenge that took place over the weekend, we'll discuss a brutal Manitoba High School Hockey League game, the Jets downed the Rangers, Laine keeps scoring, they're in Newark tonight for a dance with Devils, they added Stastny and Morrow, and the Moose are trying to cobble together a strong finish in the AHL. All of this and more will be debated tonight on The Hockey Show only on 101.5 UMFM!

If you prefer social media, we try to remain up-to-speed there as well! Email all show questions and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter. You can also post some stuff to Facebook if you use the "Like" feature, and I always have crazy stuff posted there that doesn't make it to the blog or show.

Tonight, Teebz and Beans will discuss the Bisons, the Flames, the Galaxy, the Blazers, the Jets, the Moose, the Crusaders, the Huskies, and many more teams on The Hockey Show found only on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM app!

PODCAST: March 8, 2018: Episode 285

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

From AHL Goalies To MMA Wrestlers

The image to the left was put together by the St. Louis Blues in February 2016 when they owned the rights of both of the men in question. Those men are Pheonix Copley and Jordan Binnington, and only one of them still toils for the Blues. Copley was traded at last year's trade deadline with Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals, and his rights are still owned by the Capitals for this current season. Not to make it too confusing, but Binnington is still a member of the Blues while Copley is still a member of the Capitals. Clear? Moving on.

Well, in reality, neither are in the NHL currently as they're both with AHL clubs. Pheonix Copley is with Washington's affiliate in the Hershey Bears. The Blues, though, don't have an official AHL affiliate for the 2017-18 season, so they've been placing players with AHL teams who have a need for players at specific positions with an emphasis on Chicago, their former affiliate who is now affiliated with the Vegas Golden Knights. With the Knights having their netminding injuries clearing up over the past couple of weeks, Jordan Binnington was instead assigned to the Providence Bruins recently as they had a need for a netminder. Clear? Ok, let's continue.

Tonight, the Providence Bruins visited the Hershey Bears, and these two former goaltending teammates got to square off against one another as the starters for their respective teams. The Bruins jumped out to a dominating lead, and early in the second period Hershey's Garrett Mitchell hammered scorer Kenny Agostino into the boards, setting off the fireworks between these two teams. Instead of standing 200-feet apart, Copley and Binnington decided to renew acquaintances at center ice!

I'm pretty sure that the AHL officials should have just handed out two minutes each for hugging, but a goalie fight is something we just don't see enough! As the announcer stated, Copley probably needed to take some frustration out after allowing four goals in 27 minutes of play, but I'm not sure Binnington was the guy he should be blaming.

Off-setting penalties to both netminders was the result as each goalie got a minor, a major, and a misconduct for their parts in the fight at the Providence blue line. Both men would see their nights end at that point as well as Providence put Zach McIntyre in for the remainder of the game in place of Binnington while Hershey replaced Copley with Vitek Vanacek. Perhaps the weirdest part of this game is that after the second period in which there were 77 minutes in penalties handed out, there were no penalties given in the third period.

The final score was 6-2 in favour of Providence, so Binnington still earned the win and Copley still received the loss. If Copley was looking for a win on the night by picking the fight with his former Blues teammate, I'm not sure I'd award him a win in the scrap either. At best, it was a draw, but at least we got to see the goalies go toe-to-toe in what looked like a rather pedestrian AHL blowout.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 232

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced hockey radio show, is back on the airwaves tonight to fill your audio ether with the sounds of laughter, crazy hockey talk, and a few sound effects. There was a flurry of activity in the NHL world this week if you haven't been paying attention. Apparently, there was a trade made or something, so I'm sure we should touch on that. Outside of the NHL, there was some other hockey played which will be mentioned, so tonight's show will touch all the corners of the globe when it comes to updates. This could be a good show, but you already knew that from previous listening experiences!

Tonight, we bravely look at some of the trades made yesterday as the NHL Trade Deadline came and went with some names being exchanged like hockey cards between GMs, and we'll look back on the trades made earlier in the week when the major sports networks should have held their shows. Beans, TJ, and I will rate the trades with completely uninformed winners and losers of each trade as we look at what the future may hold for these teams going forward. In the second half of the show, we talk the Las Vegas rules introduced by the NHL, Danish hockey, Russian hockey, Canada West hockey, and we'll pump some tires for a big day happening in a community just down the road from our fair city.

If you're gonna be out and about tonight, but still want to hear the show, you really should download the UMFM app. Like now. I'll wait while you go do that because it's the easiest and most convenient way to listen to any of UMFM's great shows any time of the day, so get to it! Just follow this link on your iDevice or this link for your Android device and get the UMFM app! It's never been easier to tune into The Hockey Show or UMFM! Download the UMFM app today!

If you're all over social media, we try to be as well! Email all show questions and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter. You can also post some stuff to Facebook if you use the "Like" feature, and I always have crazy stuff posted there that doesn't make it to the blog or show.

Tonight, we talk trades made, teams that got better, teams that got worse, international hockey, and we shout-out to another Manitoba city on The Hockey Show only on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM app!

PODCAST: March 2, 2017: Episode 232

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Only Move That Mattered

Once again, another NHL Trade Deadline day came and went with a flurry of activity happening after lunch, thereby rendering the first four hours of coverage on Canada's two major sports networks as useless television. The one major piece of news that broke this morning, however, was the announcement that Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole would be returning to TSN once more after their contracts with Fox Sports One in the US were not renewed!

Jay and Dan found their way on TSN as the two guys on SportsCentre who had way too much fun reading the news and covering highlights of the day's action, but they became household icons due to the humour and fun they brought to the show. But perhaps the one thing that Canadian television was sorely missing for the time they were influencing children in the US was our Sergei Bobrovsky updates. You know, maybe we're just missing the professionalism they brought to the show on a nightly basis.

With Jay and Dan returning to TSN, I can honestly say that all is starting to become right in the world again. They're starting their new show on TSN in September where they'll cover highlights and resume their shtick where they take as many liberties as they can. Honestly, this was the best move today, and it might be the best trade deadline deal made in the last few years. Well done, TSN. This is big.

I watched zero minutes of the deadline shows today. I hope it was entertaining because the majority of deals that happened were of the minor-league variety. If I were planning to have one of these shows on next year, I might go to air at noon and save everyone the hassle of getting up early.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Pieces Off The Board

The annual circus on the two major sports networks in Canada will happen on Wednesday. The NHL Trade Deadline used to be the day where most NHL GMs woke up, looked at their rosters, and decided to tinker and tweak until the deadline arrived. It appears, however, that early birds are starting to get the worms even earlier in the week in recent years as the key names who could be moved seem to avoid the deadline insanity by being traded prior to the Trade Deadline day. This year has been no exception as a couple of big names were moved today as we inch towards NHL Trade Deadline day on Wednesday.

With respect to TSN whose graphics I am pilfering for these deals, here are my unabashed thoughts on the big names who have moved deals as of this article's writing.

Dean Lombardi has never been afraid to make a splashy move when it comes to improving his team, and he may have the best American netminding duo since the 2014 Sochi Olympics with Bishop and Quick in the fold. With Quick having missed the majority of the season with an injury, it was Peter Budaj who has kept Los Angeles in the running for a playoff spot. The thanks he got from Lombardi was to be sent to the Lightning as part of this deal. Going forward, Bishop and Quick will share duties, but one of these two men will not be a part of this team once the playoffs are over. The question for Lombardi is who do you keep?

Let's be honest in saying that Lightning GM Steve Yzerman was going to make this move whether the team needed it or not. It didn't matter if the Lightning were going into the playoffs or not as Yzerman has a number of key players and restricted free agents he has to sign and Bishop's salary was just too much. Secondly, the expansion draft likely would have seen Bishop plucked from the Lightning roster anyway, so getting something in return for Bishop was at the top of Yzerman's to-do list.

Peter Budaj is a very serviceable goaltender who has shown he can play big minutes this season, and he'll solidify the goaltending position as the Lightning enter the playoffs. Erik Cernak is a serviceable defenceman, but he's not going to blow the doors off anyone with his play in the coming seasons. The real key here is that the Lightning got something for a guy who they would have almost assuredly lost in the expansion draft while opening up $5.75 million of cap room for next season. That's a heckuva play by Yzerman, and he still has the option to re-sign the affordable Peter Budaj if he so desires.

I'm going to give the nod in this trade to Yzerman simply because he's keeping the young core of this team together by dealing his high-priced goaltender. That takes some chutzpah, but Yzerman's looking longer term than just this year's playoffs.

The Martin Hanzal sweepstakes came to a close with two trades. The major portion of the trade is seen above, but the Wild also flipped Teemu Pulkkinen to the Coyotes for future considerations minutes later, so let's include that as a portion of this deal as well. It will make things a little more even if you're a Coyotes fan.

The Wild have an outstanding team this season. Devan Dubnyk is providing exceptional goaltending, the defencemen are mobile and skilled, and they are getting key contributions up front from the likes of Granlund, Staal, Koivu, and Coyle. I haven't even mentioned Zach Parise or Jason Pominville, so you know they possess a deep and talented roster. By adding Hanzal and White from Arizona, they get stronger down the middle by having an excellent face-off man and another big body in Hanzal join the club while adding some grit and scoring in Ryan White. This team is really looking like they'll be a contender in the Western Conference with these additions, and the fans in Minnesota should be excited with what the Wild did yesterday.

The Coyotes are still adding youth, but they're adding some smart pieces. The picks alone will be worth something if GM John Chayka can unearth some gems with them. Grayson Downing is a big kid who has shown some nice progress in Iowa this season, and he could be a smart bottom-six guy for the Coyotes as his game develops. By adding Pulkkinen in a later deal, the Coyotes get a guy who has shown that he can score at the NHL level if given a shot, but he still needs to work on skating and positioning if he wants to be full-time top-six player. In what might be becoming a broken record for Coyotes fans, the future is bright in Glendale. Unfortunately, this team is still trying to reach that sun on the horizon that always seems to just out of reach.

There's no doubt the Wild will have won this trade if they go deep in the playoffs. However, if they're upset in the opening round, they will have overpaid for Hanzal who may not stay when it was thought he could help them to the promised land. The jury's still out on this trade.

In perhaps the biggest deal of the last couple of days, the Washington Capitals added arguably the biggest piece on everyone's trade list when they dealt for Kevin Shattenkirk. While it should surprise no one that the best team in the NHL was looking to solidify that status a little more, the price they paid seemed less than what was expected considering what they got back in the deal.

Adding Shattenkirk was a heckuva move for the Capitals who can now boast arguably the best defensive corps in the league. Carlson, Alzner, Niskanen, and Shattenkirk are going to be dangerous for the remainder of the season, and Shattenkirk's addition should almost guarantee the Capitals the President's Trophy. On the other hand, the piece that really impressed me was the addition of Pheonix Copley as he's been a solid performer at the AHL level this year. Copley gives the Capitals all sorts of flexibility at the goaltending position now, and his addition to the AHL's Hershey Bears could push the Bears back into a playoff spot as they chase down the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

St. Louis gets a good young player in Zach Sanford who should make the Chicago Wolves even tougher to beat in the AHL. He sees the ice well, and he has excellent vision when it comes to setting up teammates. Brad Malone will also make the Wolves better as his gritty style of play would have been right at home in the games against Iowa this past weekend. Obviously, the draft picks will strengthen the Blues for the future, but that's where the key to this trade lies.

Like Yzerman and the Lightning, GM Doug Armstrong was not going to be able to re-sign Shattenkirk this summer, so this was about opening up a roster spot and some salary for the kids who are moving forward. Players such as Vince Dunn and Brad Hunt are going to push for roster spots next season, and the money that it would have cost to keep Shattenkirk in the fold in St. Louis meant that Armstrong would have to deal other pieces. Personally, they got some decent return for Shattenkirk, but I would have thought other teams may have offered more.

Similarly to the Wild, the results of this trade will depend entirely on what Washington does in the playoffs. Another early exit will have fans howling once again as Shattenkirk will most definitely leave in the summer without having a parade through town and without a first-round pick to use. The jury will remain out on this trade, but just retaining Pheonix Copley in a deal like this won't make fans happy if there's no Stanley Cup.

Teams are already making big moves, so maybe don't book off work on Wednesday, ok?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!