Hot or Not: Trades

As always, my timing couldnt be better. Yes, that is indeed sarcasm. I had to go on the road before the trade deadline and at an important stretch of the season. Nice.

That said, lets look at the trades that have happened so far and rate them (based on our hot or not scale, sanctioned by the NHL. Maybe).
Note: Hockey DB is down, I am sure due to all the traffic, so be ready for some fun facts based on my googling skills.

Sergei Fedorov to the Caps for Theo Ruth: I have never heard of Theo Ruth, but on the other hand, I have barely heard anything from Federov for the past couple seasons.
Ruth stats:

played in 39 games for the Under-18 team in 2006-07 with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points ... had 64 minutes in penalties ... three of his five goals came on the power play and one was a game winner ... served as alternate captain for the U.S. Under-18 team ... was the highest ranked Notre Dame player by Central Scouting prior to the 2007 NHL Entry Draft ... was ranked 32nd among 210 North American skaters and the 11th-best North American defenseman ... was chosen in the second round, 46th overall by the Washington Capitals

Fedorov stats: 50 games with 9 goals this season. We all know that Sergei has been injured a quite a bit, but its also fair to say that he has been on the downswing for some time. Just like another (former) professional athlete he knows. That said, Fed still serves at one of the all time leaders in goals at number 51. Not too shabby.

Key question: Does Fed still have anything in the tank that makes it worth it for the Caps to trade away a solid D-prospect? I dont know. I do know that if anyone can squeeze the last drop of talent out of you, Bruce Boudreau can. Not to discount the ever stern Ken Hitchcock, who couldnt really do the same for Fed in Columbus. The Caps are hoping that Fed still has some juice left, and he will expend it working on a team with the best player (who happens to be Russian) in the NHL. Not to mention that Alex Semin fella. Fed's chance at redemption, and going out on a high note? Lets hope so.

Not to forget: Fedorov has one 3 Stanley Cups with the Wings, so his post-season experience will certainly be valuable for a relatively green Caps team. Lets also hope he is a positive force in the locker room. All in all, a hot trade if Fed capitalizes on this opportunity.

Cristobel Huet to the Caps for a second round pick in 2009: Ouch. At least, thats what Brent Johnson and Olie Kolzig are thinking. Actually, it might be more like %#$&!

Second round pick stats/advice for him: Good luck in Montreal. Really. You'll need it. Btw, make sure you flay yourself once a week to toughen up for the Montreal media. That should get you at least 50% ready.

Huet stats: I dont like Huet. Its not a virulent dislike, but I'm not a fan. He has Euro-trash hair. Again, not quite solid, hard hitting reasons. Huet has been up and down this season, and I am sure having Jesus reincarnated in the eyes of Habs organization/up yours Patrick Roy/prodigy goal tender Carey Price breathing down his neck hasnt done Huet any good. He has played well against the Caps, and there is no doubt that the is one of the better netminders in the NHL.

In 39 games this season, Huet is 21-12-6 with a 2.55 GAA. For comparison, Kolzig has a 3.03 GAA in 47 games this season. Considering that Kolzig has played more, has a younger defense, and a risky offensive style to contend with, they are about even. Kind of.

Key question: Three goal tenders, one goal. Getting awfully crowded, no? Johnson was signed to a two year extension for about 1.6 mil that will keep him in red, white and blue till 09. Kolzig is in the last year of his contract, and has been the glue for the Caps for almost two decades. Huet is a free agent at the end of this season. So, whats next for the three goalies? Unless Olie asks for a trade, sending him away would be a horrible way for the Caps to end a great relationship with an immensely popular player. Kolzig is no spring chicken at almost 38, and his game has been off for months. Johnson has played well at times, but consistency has always been his issue. What do the Caps do? Ride Huet into the playoffs, then platoon him with Olie if Kolzig is amenable (and depending on how that scenario fares, re-sign Huet and try to ride that double netminding team into next season)? They would have to dump Johnson's contract, but I dont see Johnson having much of a future with the Caps now that Huet is here...for now.

Not to forget: Kolzig is a free agent after this year and the Caps have not started new contact talks with him yet. Could be a hot trade depending on how the Kolzig/Huet dynamics work out.

PS: And Sasha number three is back!

Is it wrong that we laugh?

Actually, we dont care cause its funny:

TAMPA, Fla. -- Two Montreal Canadiens players arrested Monday morning outside a Tampa nightclub will not face disciplinary action from the hockey club.

Rookie defenceman Ryan O'Byrne and veteran winger Tom Kostopoulos were arrested at about 3 a.m. outside Whiskey Park, a Tampa nightclub.

Police said that O'Byrne, 23, stole a woman's purse while Kostopoulos resisted an officer. O'Byrne told police it was his girlfriend's purse, but police said it belonged to another woman.

O'Byrne was invited to take a seat in a police cruiser. At the same time, a group of club-goers, including several hockey players, surrounded the car. On a number of occasions, police say they ordered the group to disperse.

Kostopoulos, 29, was charged with resisting an officer without violence while O'Byrne was charged with grand theft. Both players were released on bail, accompanied by teammates Christopher Higgins and Cristobal Huet.

Hmmm...it was his girlfriend's purse? Weird that his girlfriend would follow him to Tampa Bay for a game and be at the rookie dinner, which is where he got arrested.

Big hit to Dan over at Junior's Eyes, for cracking us up after a long Monday in the office.

In honor of playing the Habs...

...and my little contest with CapsChick and the guys at Four Habs Fans, lets discuss some Habs legends. Perhaps Guy Lafleur? I wonder what he has been up to lately...

Montreal police have issued an arrest warrant for former hockey star Guy Lafleur, accused of giving contradictory evidence as a witness at his son's bail hearing.

Lafleur's lawyer, Jean-Pierre Rancourt, says the former Montreal Canadiens great will turn himself over to police Friday morning.

Mark Lafleur, 23, faces more than 20 criminal charges, including sexually assaulting a minor, armed assault, uttering threats and forcible confinement between 2004 and 2007.

A Quebec judge said the elder Lafleur testified before a court in November that his son was abiding by a court-ordered curfew while he was staying with his parents. But Lafleur later admitted he drove his son to hotels to spend nights with his teenage girlfriend.

A tie (at trash talking, the Caps still lost)

Well, CapsChick and I won some of our wager against the guys at Four Habs Fans, though we would have preferred to lose this part of it:

Winner of Tuesday night game: Habs

But it was also a night of triumph for trash talking. I've got some of the highlights below:

Habsfan10 said...
I don't think any Caps fan should be throwing stones over hairstyles. That's a pretty big glass house your superstar lives in.
Shmee: His haircut costs $14. Never a good sign. It also looks like his "hairstylist" plunked a bowl on his head and cut around it.

HabsFan33 said...
Speaking of horrible hair, Al Iafrate used to look like a serial killer from the movie Fargo.
Shmee: We dont deny the truth. Well, except when we lie. Which is a lot.

panger76 said...
Oh, and we have 24 more Stanelty Cups than you.
Shmee:Ouch again.

HabsFan29 said...modern technology! i can trash talk via my Palm while im at my crappy lawyers meeting
Shmee: We love technology.

Shmee said...
And I'm sorry, where is Huet or Halak's Vezina? Oh thats right, neither of them have one. But Olie does.
Shmee: Good, right? Or so I thought.

Habsfan10 said...
I will concede that you have the overwhelming lead in fluke Vezinas ... hey, how is Jim Carrey these days?
Shmee: I believe the term is, "Laying the smack down"

CapsChick said...
I hear he's fine...how's Jose Theodore? Geez, at least our fluke Vezina winner had the courtesy to disappear off the face of the earth. Yours is doing better for another team!
Shmee: We can always count on CapsChick.

DC Sports Chick said...
Wow, I never knew Montreal fans were so bitter just b/c Ovechkin spurned them. I'd say that they sound like a bunch of dumped girlfriends, but that would imply that Ovie had some sort of connection with Montreal in the first place. ("But he said he loved playing in Montreal!") So sad.

Then again, you have to wonder about a team that would force Patrick Roy out...too bad about that Curse of St. Patrick.
Shmee: Nice.

Shmee said...
The Habs PP is officially strong enough to inseminate every woman within a 50 mile radius of the Bell Center.

Habsfan10 said...
That's gonna result in a whole lot of pregnant strippers.
Shmee: These guys are good.

CapsChick said...
And the Caps are on a streak of not losing back to back in regulation, so we'll see what happens on Thursday ;)
Shmee: And CC finds the silver lining for us!

We are having a ton of fun with our threeway (contest), so thanks to CapsChick and Four Habs Fans for showing us a good time. On the internet we mean. And thanks to everyone who has commented. We expect to win this thing on Thursday, which just means that the Caps have to score...six goals. So free wings for everyone.

Predictions for Habs/Caps

Sorry for how late I am, I was stuck in a meeting!

Here are my predictions:

total # of goals scored by the Habs over the 2 games: 6

total # of goals scored by the Caps over the 2 games: 6

total # of goals scored by Ovie over the 2 games: 3

total # of goals scored by Kovy over the 2 games: 2

Winner of Tuesday night game: Habs

Winner of Thursday night game: Caps

pick one person from the Habs who will get into a fight: No one, because they are all little bitches.

pick one person from the Caps who will get into a fight: Bradley will try to get something started, but no one on the Habs will step up.

Forgot to add: let the trash talkin' begin. The guys gets us started:

When do we get to start the trash talking? I want it on record that our Russian star is an enigmatic, airplane flyin, blonde-haired Adonis type renaissance man, while theirs is a gap-toothed, yellow-skate lace and tinted visor wearin, hair-by-hillbilly-barber goofball. Or something.

Interesting, because our Russian scored 46 goals and had 92 points last season, while your Adonis type Russian had 18 goals and 47 points. On a separate note, I distinctly remember that statue...lacking....in a certain department.

Friendly competition (and Guillaume Latendresse has syphilis face)

I dont have any internet boyfriends (I havent been reduced to that yet, but if the guys in DC dont step up to the plate, it might happen soon), but if I did, the guys over at Four Habs Fans would be my first choice. They enjoy distasteful sex jokes, hockey, beer, and making fun of the Habs in order to show the Habs that they love them. My kind of guys.

That said, they have issued a challenge to Capital Addiction and its one that we will not and cannot ignore. From the guys:

Hey kids! You know who the Habs play this week? Yes, it's the Washington Capitals and their Unfrozen Caveman Millionaire Hockey Player (tm myfo)! On Tuesday. And on Thursday. With an event like this, we turned to our friend Shmee over at Capital Addiction for some ideas.

The result? A bet! Well, not a "bet" per se. Shmee, fearing the IRS, the FBI, and /or mob reprisals, has deemed it a "predictions contest." We predict the Habs will win. Shmee predicts the Caps will win. Whoever is wrong will be forced to write an epic poem on why the other team has a better player than the other team's best player. Or something like that, we're still working on some details. We're lawyers, so the negotiations are going badly.

Its on. Our lawyers are still hammering out the final agreement, but I fully expect to kick their asses.

Open note to the Capitals: If you are reading this, it is crucially important that you win against the Habs. Not just for your playoff chances, but so that I dont have to write a post about how terrific that syphilis face Latendresse is (we dont actually know if syphilis can grow on your face, but the facts have never stopped us before!). Or how Alex Kovalev is the best Russian playing the game. It hurts just to type that.

PS: To our friends at Four Habs Fans - we are so confident that the Caps will hit whatever benchmarks we set, that we already have some thoughts for your post on the Capitals vs. the Habs. Some things to mention:

-Mike Komisarek should remove the "Sean Avery wuz here!" sign from Elisha Cuthbert's girly bits before entering.
-Mathieu Dandenault is a little bitch
- Please produce a picture of Michael Ryder where he doesnt look like he just got stoned

Ok, many of these arent actually suggestions on how the Caps are better then the Habs, but some glaring issues we just wanted to point out.

Update 1: Yes, this is becoming the longest post in the history of Cap Addiction.

Here is what we will be predicting upon:

total # of goals scored by the Habs over the 2 games

total # of goals scored by the Caps over the 2 games

total # of goals scored by Ovie over the 2 games

total # of goals scored by Kovy over the 2 games

Winner of Tuesday night game

Winner of Thursday night game

pick one person from the Habs who will get into a fight

pick one person from the Caps who will get into a fight

One point for each winner, blogger with the most point wins. The guys and I will be simultaneously posting our answers on our blogs tomorrow at 2:30pm EST. Leave any suggestions you have in the comments!

Update #2: CapsChick is joining our little contest, even though she is a secret Habs lover. In the words of Habsfan29, its a three way (get your mind out of the gutter!).

A busy Gainey and the return of Milbury?

The hockey world has been very busy and very productive this weekend. First, Bob Gainey managed to pull off another coup ( a la Jose Theodore) and dump Sergei Samsonov. Samsonov has been dealt to the Blackhawks, who I guess are desperate enough for some help that they are willing to take a whiny and under-achieving winger.

"We feel he has a lot left in the tank and playing under Denis Savard will bring out the offensive creativity that he has shown in the past," Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon said Saturday.

Translation: Our owner sucks and wont let us spend any money on bringing in talent while he has simultaneously ruined a once awesome hockey town. Nobody will sign with us because of aforementioned owner. We are desperate.

On paper, Gainey might not have gotten a whole lot in return but peace in the locker room is not to be under-rated. Do svidaniya Sergei.

Bob Gainey concluded his weekend by re-signing two players who have been an important part of the foundation in Habs-land, F Christopher Higgins and D Mike Komisarek. These guys are solid players who show up every night. And its pretty cool that both are American players.

Higgins, a former Yale star from Smithtown, N.Y., recently completed his second NHL season. He had 22 goals and 38 points in 61 games, missing significant time with an ankle injury.
Komisarek, who is from Islip Terrace, N.Y., is coming off his fourth year in the league. He had personal bests in games (82), goals (four), assists (15) and points (19).

Their signing is also an early test of what players will be commanding on the market come July 1st. Both were signed to 3.4 million dollar deals -- 1.5 mil the first season and 1.9 the next. So the question is this: what will free agents (Gomez, Drury, Briere, Giguere) be asking for? Enough to buy Long Island, most likely.

Its safe to say Dave Lewis had a craptastic weekend. After just one season as bench boss for the Bruins, he was sacked on Friday. I didnt follow the Bruins enough to comment on Lewis, but Heather does. Lewis is getting "reassigned" to another post in the organization. Lewis sounds just a wee bit pissed:

"As a coach, you go into a new organization not really sure what you have and not sure what you need. By the end of the year, I knew what we had and I knew what we needed and then you just don't get a chance to start on with the next season," Lewis said Friday in an interview with Boston's WHDH-TV.

But Boston has got bigger problems -- Mike Milbury is apparently being considered for the coaching job.