A special edition of the turkeys this week…as the players really moved this deadline or well…similar to the last two. There were 25 trades involving 45 players. It didn’t seem like this deadline would match the previous two but with a flurry of trades late…it just squeaked in there. That and Brian Burke was too busy eating to get his trades in or was it the fact that he talking it up on TSN? You decide. Seriously, these are the three GM’s that seriously looked like turkeys on one of the grandest stages.
Bob Gainey — Montreal Canadiens
If you are a Habs fan, you had to go into the day fully hoping Hossa would be in a Montreal sweater by day’s end. Montreal was the runaway favorite to land him and even Yahoo Sports had an article all but saying Hossa was a Hab but not so fast my friend. Gainey was trying to free up space by trading Cristobal Huet to the Caps for an 09 2nd round pick. Then close to 3pm ET, when the Pens announced they had traded for Hossa…the shockwaves that rippled must have caused the Bell Centre to collapse or nearly collapse. So no sniper and now basically no insurance policy for Huet though Gainey will insist that Price and Halak are more than capable. It will be interesting to see how the season goes on and if many in Montreal wonder what could have been.
Dean Lombardi — Los Angeles Kings
Yes he did make a couple trades but this team needed to shed some of the parts that were not working and really they could have taken a shot to get Huet. I mean, for that price, it would not hurt to start to getting rid of that logjam of a goalie rut in LA. But other than trading Aubin and Stuart, there was little to speak of. I really thought Lombardi would try and unload a couple more players. Maybe he is waiting for the Free Agent Frenzy to nab a goalie. Going down with the ship is noble but not trying to rebuild the right way may be worse of a crime honestly.
Peter Chiarelli — Boston Bruins
You could have been a contender but you ended up nothing but a total bum. The Bruins had a deal all but signed, sealed, and delivered for Hossa late Saturday night but the deal fell into the toilet. Why? The same reason the deal to Montreal probably did….contract extension issues. Reports out of Boston suggested that the length of the contract was one year too many to stomach for Chiarelli. I mean come on…you go that far…and then back away because of one lousy year. So in the meantime not only do you not make a significant move to help your team’s offense but you watch Pittsburgh come in and snatch Hossa….that had to hurt. Boston is now stuck with what it was dealt…a crappy hand. That means more of the same out of Boston….it makes you wonder sometimes if Harry Sinden is still running the show.
Next week we will be back with our normal three turkeys….may the players rest this week knowing they will not feel shame.
