OT - NHL trade shenanigans (Iginla to Boston...JK he's a Penguin)
If some of you didn't catch the ridiculousness the past couple days, Pittsburgh just stacked their team that was already doing really well.
First they got the Dallas captain in Brendan Morrow, and then they aquired Douglas Murray out of San Jose, now the biggest surprise was they aquired Jerome Iginla after multiple outlets claimed he was Boston bound.
Although it was hilarious reading all these Boston fans dream up their new forward lines with Iginla only to have them scream when the actual announcement came, the Penguins didn't even give up any of their top 3 prospects for all this talent they just aquired.
Yikes, I hope the Wings sign Dekeyser and possibly pick up a depth winger. Pitt just about won the cup in March.
Apparently Boston's offer was better, but Iggy wanted to go to Pitt so Calgary obliged. Pitt's GM Shero must have a room full of hookers and blackjack for all these other GMs to hang out at....
March 28th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ^
was that Boston's 1st was conditional on Iginla re-signing and PITT gave it to them unconditionally.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:50 PM ^
Please don't let Craig James know about this.
Three different drafts is all at once?
And don't forget about the other moves Shero made. Got Dupuis as an add on in the Hossa trade, got Neal and Niskanen for Goligoski, Kunitz from Anaheim for Ryan Whitney, and for their last Cup run acquired Eaton, Guerin, Gill, drafted Staal.
The Pens have one of the best GMs in the NHl.
Crazy moves by the Penguins. Let's hope the Wings don't see them in the Stanley Cup Final.
You haven't seen the Chicago Blawkhawks play ice hockey this year. I wouldn't worry about the Wings having to face anyone in the Stanley Cup final.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:36 AM ^
Have you seen the Blackhawks play against the Wings this year?
Jan 27. Blackhawks win 2-1 in overtime.
Mar 3. Blackhawks win 2-1 in a shoot-out.
I guess we really do have no hope against Chicago this year, as they clearly dominated us in both games...
March 28th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^
I know most on here are wings fans, but the idea that the wings will make the finals this year is pretty outrageous. I mean, at this point they are as likely to miss the playoofs entirely as win the cup. They are 5th in their conference and only 5 points up on the 9th place team. I think it is Pitt and the Hawks in the finals, no question.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:53 AM ^
It's a short season, so teams are very close in points. The Wings are currently closer to having home-ice to start the playoffs than they are to missing the playoffs. Your "5 points up" stat is a little skewed.
Also, I've NEVER seen a lower seed like an 8 win the Stanly Cup...
I'm not trying to take anything away from what LA did last year at all, it was a great run, but when making a comment like that you have to take everything into account to maintain the proper context.
The big thing most casual fans miss when they make the statement "LA was an 8 seed and won the cup" in an effort to give hope to all 8 seeds is that following the trade that sent Johson to Columbus and Carter to LA, the kings were the one of the best teams in the league going 12-4-3. They didn't go limping into the playoffs and make a miraculous turnaround, they had been playing better hockey than anyone for a good month and a half leading into the playoffs. That's a little different than a team who struggled to maintain an 8th seed to crawl into the playoffs.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
I wouldn't forget the Ducks in the West, have been playing very well this year and could easily give Chicago a run for their money over 7 games. There's also Montreal and Boston out east who still have stronger goaltending than the Pens, which is the great equalizer in the playoffs.
You are probably right with respect to Boston, but being a habs fan and watching Price this year I have to see he has been a little disappointing in my opinion. I mean, they have been getting the wins, but his save percentage has been dropping like a rock since the start of the season and his GAA has been steadily climbing. I hear the talking heads all saying how great he is playing and things of that nature, but I have to shake my head and wonder if they know there is more to distinguishing whether a goaltender is playing well than just W's and L's. Fluery has at worst been on par with Price and at best is out performing him.Again though, I agree with your Boston comment...Rask is playing extremely well.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:17 AM ^
Have you watched the NHL playoffs before? When's the last time the top team in each conference met in the finals? The playoffs are a brand new season. Pittsburgh and Chicago are absolutely stacked, but all it takes is a goalie to get hot, a couple players to get injured, etc and suddenly things look a lot different.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^
Seriously. Last year the Kings won it all, and they were what, an overtime goal from not even making the playoffs, if I remember right? Playoff hockey is madness.
When is the last time there were two teams that have seperated themselves from the pack the way these two have? Honestly...look at the start the hawks had and the streak the pens are on now (without Malkin mind you). I'm not saying it is a sure thing, but anyone who would bet against those two meeting in the finals at this stage needs their head examined.
I get it, you are all wings fans and don't want to give up hope (as I said, I'm a habs fans so I know what that feels like all too well), but if people here think the wings have a realistic chance of getting to the finals which means they would likely have to get through the Hawks and the ducks) are just being silly.It's ok to be realistic, I already accepted that the chances my habs get to the finals decreased 10 fold when the pens picked up Iginla.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:47 PM ^
Both have had impressive winning streaks, but I don't know that saying that they have separated themselves from the pack is accurate. Pittsburgh is only up by 7 and Chicago is only up by 5. When Pittsburgh played Montreal just a couple of nights ago the game was for first in the East.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^
Yeah, I went to the game when the Wings were in Chicago. Of course, the Hawks have looked unreal this year. That said, the Wings are still a very solid team with a chance to go far in the playoffs.
But then again, you are probably right. The President's Trophy is always a good indication of who is going to win the Stanley Cup...just ask the Canucks, who would be going for a 3-peat this year if that were the case (or the Caps and Sharks before that).
Dude, I didn't say it was impossible ofr the wings to do something in the playoffs. I also didn't say it was an absolute certainty that the pens or hawks would win (I said I wouldn't bet against them and my view is it would be one of them). We all know there are surprises in the playoffs and crazy things happen. My point was people thinking the wings have a realistic chance of winning it all are a little crazy. Don't freakout because someone here actually doesn't cheer for the same team you do or get upset because some like to keep their hopes in check and realistic. My point was simple and not meant to offend; I think the hawks, pens and ducks are a class above the restof the NHL right now...that's all.
I know the standings are pretty close, I just don't see other teams that have the depth to take on those three teams ina seven game series and win. Believe me, that hurts me to say that too, because I had high hopes for Montreal this year until the pens went nuts on the trade market.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^
They were one of the best (if not the best) teams in hockey prior to any of the trades. They gave up no one from their roster and just added three veterans. There is no way the addition of those three players is going to do anything but improve them, and believe me, as a Habs fan I hate saying that...
March 28th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^
March 28th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ^
I was going to run the "you cannot be serious gif" here.
Maybe I fail here with your sarcasm.
Kudos to Pens GM I guess. But I still don't know how these trades happened.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:06 AM ^
The Iginla deal was a good trade for the Pens, but he got killed on the Joe Morrow- Brendan Morrow trade. Trading your best prospect for a broken down 3rd liner who has like 11 points in 30 games. Douglas Murray had been terrible for the Sharks all year. He's looked bad and the advanced stats agree with that assessment.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
Joe, even though he was a first rounder in 2011, hasn't produced much in the minors. Doesn't seem to be that big of a loss to me. Trading those draft picks, though...that always makes me cringe.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:50 PM ^
Kudos to Pens GM I guess. But I still don't know how these trades happened.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:23 AM ^
Give it more than a minute to sit in before you give up.
Meanwhile, In Detroit...crickets. Don't worry though, we got Tootoo during our mad free agent spree. For crying out loud, Ken Holland, do SOMETHING. Dammit, I hate Pittsburgh.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:13 AM ^
Welcome to the Maple Leafs fans world.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
I didn't like the Tootoo signing at the time, but he has actually made a positive impact on the team. I think the Wings have already almost matched their fight totals from all 82 games last year.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^
The reason Shero is (and should be) going after deadline trades now is that his Pens are in their relative prime. The reason Holland isn’t (and should not be) going after deadline trades now is that Detroit is not in their relative prime.
Getting or not getting Iginla wouldn’t change the Wings likely outcome this year.
Yes, it’s fun to acquire a new player and then rock back and forth gleefully while one dreams of what might be. It’s also really, really stupid to do if it doesn’t make sense… and right now it doesn’t make sense.
If Detroit’s two best players were 25 and 26 and their best dman was 25 and they had a 25 year old power forward in the making then sure… moving picks and prospects isn’t that big of a deal. That team is young, and most importantly young in the critical positions, already.
Detroit’s best two players are 34 and a high-milage 32. Their best dman is 32. They don’t have a single player under the age of 30 on their roster I’d describe as a bona-fide top line/pairing player. Given that, it is the absolute pinnacle of stupidity to suggest for even a moment that the Wings ought to move any of their legitimate prospects or future picks to goose their team in the short term.
That is reality.
Yes, it sucks that after 10-15 years of being fairly constant deadline-shoppers that Detroit is in position where they explicitly should not be, and that the league is in a state where it actively punishes those who are.
Oh well. Welcome to a capped league and legislated parity.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ^
The Wings are in absolutely no position to trade anything of value for a rental player. They simply aren't cup contenders at this point as the last three play-offs have confirmed. I'd rather them be sellers than buyers at this point. White, Carlo, Sammy, Bert, Cleary, Franzen, Filpula,and Miller should all be on the trading block to get as many picks or prospects as we can get. Even though they are all not likely worth much, any long term assets are better than what those guys provide in the short term.
Of course someone will bring up the Kings last year, rabble rabble, but anyone who knows and watches hockey will get that this team is not lst years Kings and not capable of getting past the 2nd round.
Kenny needs to put this team in the best position possible for a quick rebuild, otherwise we are looking forward to a Pistons-like decade of decline.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:16 AM ^
...he can't skate like he use to and I believe he is at -7 for the year, but getting Morrow will help them out a lot
March 28th, 2013 at 12:09 PM ^
I grew up in the UP playing hockey since I was 5 years old...he is much slower, a good leader which may or may not become a good fit in the crybaby land known Pittsburgh where none of the pretty-boy forwards go into the boards to get loose pucks...so how about before you run your mouth on a message board, you actually know who the hell you are talking to...because I highly doubt you ever played a shift after drinking a 6 pack or have ever played on the Straits of Mackinac in -20 below temps
March 28th, 2013 at 10:52 PM ^
Riiiiight....
March 28th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^
Went to bed thinking Iginla was on a plane for Boston. Woke up and found out he's in Pittsburgh. Not cool.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:20 PM ^
Why do Red Wings fans - more than any others it seems to me - hate the Penguins?
March 28th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ^
Pittsburgh has NHL cover boy Sidney Crosby. Also, we faced them in back-back stanley cup finals. We beat them 4-2, and then they beat us in Game 7 after we took an early series lead.
That right there is enough to fuel a rivalry. But the fact that NBC and seemingly every media outlet was pulling for Pittsburgh, and some iffy officiating (I know....), is just more fuel to the fire.
Also throw in that we beat them when they had Hossa, and then they beat us when we get Hossa from them is just another story line.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:45 PM ^
I always figured it was because of Crosby, and none of my friends/coworkers were willing to admit it. It's rather annoying to get argued with simply because you're a Pens fan...
March 28th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
Crosby is definitely a factor. He said some things during the '08 - '09 Stanley Cup Finals that were very un-Yzerman-like and rubbed Detroit fans the wrong way. It didn't help when he attacked Z from behind after that one regular season game for no apparent reason. Throw in the league retracting Malkin's automatic suspension in Game whatever for attacking Z at the end of the game, some iffy officiating, and the fact the Wings lost in '09, and you have the perfect recipe to dislike another team.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
What did he say, exactly?
March 28th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^
Nothing to see.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^
Most people didn't like him because he was the talented young star that wasn't on our team. Then he decided to not shake hands with Lidstrom in the Finals and went on to continue his douchey behavior shown here.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^