Blues 6 Canucks 4

- What a night for Martin St. Louis tonight.
- Steve Mason for the Calder!
- Michal Rosival eats the door leading to the bench and spits chicklets.
- Apeman Zach Stortini gets injured during a fight...yay!

Am I avoiding the topic? Why yes I am!
Sundin's debut at GM Place was forgettable. He not only made a lousy line change to lead to the Blues' 1 goal, but he took a slashing penalty to lead to a Blues' PP goal to salt this one away. Oh, I can hear the Sundin haters coming out of the woodwork already.
I don't get why this team underestimates lousy opponents, but they do. Sundin wasn't the only lousy player on the ice tonight. This looked like Leafs hockey circa the last 5 years at LEAST.
A lousy loss to a lousy team....again. End of story.
If the Canucks can muster any humility or pride and give the Sharks a run for their money on the grand stage called Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night I'll be impressed.
Oh, and I hear Sundin will be the guest on After Hours post game. This could get interesting.
In the meantime, Vancouver blows 2 points at home to a shitty road team that out-waited and out-hustled them when it mattered. The Canucks were outshot 26-12 after the first period. Ass. And again I say.....ASS.

BOXCORE AND CRAPLIGHTS

Banged up but well rested Blues stumble into GM Place tonight

No Paul Kariya.
No Andy McDonald.
No Erik Johnson.
No TJ Oshie.
No Eric Brewer.
No DJ King.
No Jay McKee.

And you thought the Canucks had injury issues!

I see some people are annoyed that Mats Sundin is still getting massive coverage at NHL sites, including TSN. Well I think the annoyance comes from bitterness and idiocy to be blunt with you. TSN = Toronto Sports Network. Guess what, buttheads? We have a superstar player in our lineup now who used to be a Leaf. Get used to it. The Canucks are finally getting the recognition that they deserve from eastern-based major sports sites (TSN, Sportsnet, etc.) even if it took a Mats Sundin signing to do it.
Sundin will go up against 2 former teammates tonight in Alex Steen and Carlo Colaicovo who were traded to the Blues in the Lee Stempniak deal.

This is the first time the Canucks will play the Blues this season, and not the last.
The Blues have won 2 of their last 5, as has Vancouver. But the St. Louis has a 3-7 record in their last 10 and last in the Western Conference where Vancouver is 4-4-2, and 2 points behind 4th place Chicago.

The Blues have not played for 5 days. Holy hell, who makes their schedule?

Check out the Blues' last game, a 5-2 win, over the Jackets. 4 of their goals were scored on the power play and the other a shorthanded goal. Special teams at it's finest.

Remember when Mike Gillis tried to pry restricted free agent David Backes from the Blues this summer (which the Blues matched)? Well Backes is 5th in team scoring with 12 goals and 19 points in 39 games. Keith Tkachuk is slowing a bit but is still effective. Patrick Berglund is coming of age.

The Blues are not to be underestimated. But we really should be demolishing a team that is last in our Conference. But we also said that about Atlanta and then lost to them. I expect a different result tonight.
Mats Sundin may not put up any points again tonight, but his presence is welcomed. It's a pleasant distraction to the opposing teams. Last game, Vancouver's 3rd line became beneficiaries of that and combined for 8 points.
I heard some fools on CBC radio whining that Sundin isn't worth his price tag. To you I say: watch hockey a little more before you run your mouth. For one, it's too early to judge. Secondly, Vancouver is even more of an exciting team to watch now with the presence of a superstar forward. These are good times in Canucks Land. Stop being so negative.

Jason Jaffray was put on waivers this morning because he had to be in order to be sent back down to Manitoba. This was done to make way for Ryan Johnson. Jannik Hansen's demotion and then recall was obviously to send a message to the Dane to get his game in order. Alain Vigneault had nothing but good things to say about Jaffray today.

“He’s played well, he’s done everything that we expect, that I expect from him," said Vigneault of the gritty forward yesterday after practice. "I know Jaff from back [in Manitoba], he’s dependable at both of the ends of the ice, he plays with an edge, he can help out on the power play, so he’s played well for us. With Ryan [Johnson] coming back we have some decisions to make with our personnel.”

I doubt anyone (and hope no one) will claim him off the waiver wire...but you never know.

I had a funny thought today about the Tomas Kaberle situation in Toronto. Kaberle has stated that he will waive his no trade clause if management wants to move him. The first thing that comes to my mind is that Brian Burke is at the helm in T.O. Would he want to swing a deal with Mike Gillis, trading Kaberle for Ohlund? You know Ohlund is Burke's kind of player.
Would you work that deal if you were Gillis?
After spnding some time picking my nose and shovelling snow today I thought to myself: "No way." Kaberle can put up the points and run a power play better than most. But he is a defensive liability and has no physical presence. I'd rather keep Ohlund for a potential playoff run and risk letting him go for nothing in the summer.

Interesting column from Darren Dreger yesterday stating that the Lightning had offered Lecavalier and Paul Ranger to the Canucks for Roberto Luongo a couple years back. Check out that column here. Personally I think Nonis did the right thing.

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST
TV: Sportsnet

Canucks.com Live Blog

T Tags: Canucks Blues game+preview Sundin injuries Johnson+returns Jaffray+on+waivers

Dan Hinote and Amy McCarthy wed on Saturday

The wedding pic is from the Rocky Mountain News, as is the following:

The wedding party of 10 groomsmen and 10 bridesmaids wore traditional garb for the ceremony, but the guests were asked to show up in their favorite '50s costumes, which would explain the dead celebs who attended the wedding.

Castro, in full military garb and a fake beard, was among the last guests to arrive, which seemed a bit odd because he had a reserved front-row seat on the bride's side. After the nuptials, Mr. On the Town spotted Castro walking arm-in-arm with the bride's sister, actress Jenny McCarthy, out to the parking lot.

Was it? Could it have been? Yup, superstar Jim Carrey, Jenny's beau, slipped in and out of the ceremony almost undetected except when Jenny's 5-year-old son, Evan, started getting spooked by the get-up. "It's me, Jimmy," I was told that Carrey said while pulling down his beard to soothe the troubled young 'un.

During the dinner, the groom addressed his friends, family and fans. "It's been a wonderful day for my beautiful bride and me," he said. "You must be a bunch of screwed up people to dress up like the '50s, right? I have a teammate dressed as a woman."

Befitting the occasion, St. Louis defenseman Jay McKee donned a blond wig, Seven Year Itch white dress and heels. Scary sight. Post cake-cutting, Hinote and McCarthy changed into Danny Zucko and Sandy Olsen costumes.

Peter Forsberg was a groomsman and apparently walked up the aisle with bridesmaid Jenny McCarthy. He managed to stay healthy for the entire wedding.
No pictures of the 50's style reception yet.
The only reason why this story is big news is that

1. There really wasn't much else going on in the NHL this weekend.
2. Amy McCarthy was a Playboy Playmate I believe in 2005 and is the sister of Jenny McCarthy.
3. The 50's style thingy is cool and must have been a blast.
4. Blah blah blah don't really care. I just hate slow news days. It's just that now you are "in the know": A super-celebrity franchise-hockey player married a frisky blonde who has a great personality.

The picture below is from Popsugar.com:




T Tags: Dan+Hinote+Amy+McCarthy+wedding+picture pic

Nonis talks with the Leafs will continue / Canucks hire Scott Mellanby as GM Consultant

From TSN:

Nonis spent much of Tuesday and part of Wednesday afternoon in discussions with the Toronto Maple Leafs about their management restructuring with further talks over the next few days expected.
Sources tell TSN Nonis hasn't been offered the position of general manager and the belief is Toronto's interest in bringing him on board seems to be directed more towards helping interim GM Cliff Fletcher with the day-to-day business of managing the Maple Leafs, with growing speculation suggesting Fletcher will hold the post through next season.

I keep thinking of these stories as a slap to Nonis' face. Is he not good enough to be a GM on his own? The TSN article also reports that Dallas and St. Louis are interested, yet even those are as co-GM's or other positions.
Would you agree that Nonis is not fit to be a sole GM of a team? I think he is, even though he hasn't won a Cup yet. He's still fairly green, but I think he proved a lot in his tenure in Vancouver, given the Canucks' cap limitations at the time.

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Just seen on the TSN scroll that the Canucks have hired former NHL grinder Scott Mellanby as a consultant to GM Mike Gillis.
From the National Post:

"We are pleased that Scott has agreed to join our hockey operations department," Mike Gillis said. "His experiences in our League over two decades as a player will be a great asset to me and our entire department.
Scott displayed strong leadership skills and character throughout his NHL career; these are the same qualities we are looking for as we build our team."

I guess if worst comes to worst, Mellanby could always put the skates on and play on a scoring line! Maybe teach the Sedins how to play with heart.....

T Tags: Dave+Nonis Leafs Negotiations Blues Stars
Canucks+hire+Scott+Mellanby General+Manager+consultant

Canucks-Blues Preview: Injury news keeps getting better

Worst-case scenario's turned into good ones today as the Canucks' injury situation is looking pretty positive.
-Mattias Ohlund's knee won't get any worse if he continues playing, even if there are bone chips in it.

"The only thing that can happen is that I'm too sore to play but there's no danger - I'm not going to hurt myself any more," said Ohlund following the skate. "I'm optimistic, I'm feeling pretty good out there and I'm hoping to play".

Sounds good to me.
-Kevin Bieksa's wrist is fine and he will play tonight. Hopefully his game continues to excel.
-Ryan Kesler should play tonight after taking a shot off the ankle last game.

"It's pretty sore still, I took a shot right off the skin but nothing I can't play through," said Kesler.

-Aaron Miller did not practice today, but is expected to return to the lineup in 7-10 days. That's pretty positive indeed.
-Brendan Morrison is close to playing but his exact return date is not known.
-Sick Sami Salo will still play even though he has the flu.

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The Canucks look to get another great start tonight as they did against the Preds. We just need Luongo to be a little more consistent, as he was shakey in the first period last game. The Blues have only won 1 in their last 5 and are struggling. Vancouver needs to get the lead and play their game the Vigneault way. I am not counting on a 6 goal outburst by the Canucks tonight or even any time soon, so they have to stay defensively tight. I'm not saying I wouldn't mind a 6-goal outburst! It would be great to see the Sedins hit the scoresheet and the Shannon-Raymond-Pettinger line continue their success.
A loss tonight is not acceptable. We are better than the Blues. We are 2 points out of a playoff spot and this game tonight is one of the 2 games we have in hand over 8th place Nashville.

I say the Canucks take this one 4-2.

DID YOU KNOW

The Canucks, by my calculation, have endured 12 shootouts this seasson. They lost 7 of those shootouts. Isn't it amazing how valuable that extra point is??? That's 7 missed points!! That can be a huge difference in making the playoffs or not. Shooting for a win in regulation is and should be the Canucks' main focus.

T Tags: Canucks Blues Preview Injury+update shootout

Canucks get much-needed 2 points

Forget how hard the Canucks made it for themselves to beat the Blues in a shootout tonight. The bottom line is that we got the 2 points before the All Star break and pulled ourselves within a point of the Northwest Division lead and 3 points up on the 9th place Predators.
It could have gone completely wrong. Luongo made me look stupid for defending him by letting in a weak DJ King goal early in the game, and looked somewhat shakey throughout the first 2 periods. But he really proved his worth in the 3rd period and especially the shootout, where he didn't allow any goals and was stellar. There you go Vigneault, Luongo made key saves at key times.



Thank you Danny Sedin for scoring a beauty shootout goal to give us the win. You can see Vigneault's smirk after Dank scored that goal (pictured). An undressing.
I had several thoughts in the shootout:
- Kesler needs to change his approach in shootouts. Same move every time: foot-kick-fake left-go right blah blah. One-trick pony. Try something else.
- no body went blocker side on Legace except Sedin, who deked him out of his jock strap. Legace is a small goalie and looks weak high blocker side.
- Luongo was supreme in the shootout. What a performance.

Jason Jaffray did the opposite of what I thought he'd do. He showed a lot of hussle, but took 2 stupid penalties...one of them ending up in the Blues taking a 2-1 lead. That pretty much ended his night as he didn't see much icetime after that.

So...the record of the Canucks losing every game when trailing after 2 is over. Good.

Krajicek looks fucked. Could be a separated shoulder. Bring on Bourdon I guess.

Quite an entertaining game. I would like to give mad props (as Temujin would say) to the Sedins and Edler. Those 3 looked possessed in OT. They really wanted to win it. Edler is poised to become a steady star in the NHL. Great game by him.
Same applies to Ohlund. He pinched in at key times and was great tonight, scoring twice. It was common knowledge tonight that the Canucks needed more points from their defencemen. Ohlund delivered.

By the way..the Canucks' inability to capitalize on opportune chances remains evident. Why do Cooke and Burrows have such hands of stone??? God dammit. Our checking line shows great hussle but not enough finish.

HIGHLIGHTS

T Tags: Canucks Blues Review Edler Luongo

Canucks nearly get a case of the Blues

The Canucks came out with a solid effort tonight in St. Louis, but it was 2 gaffs that nearly costed them the game. Consecutive long and bad line changes gave Keith Tkachuk 2 breakaway chances, the first chance he scored, making it 3-2. The second chance he was stopped by Luongo.
In the 3rd, Rick Rypien was careless with his stick and took a high sticking penalty. Brad Boyes scored on the ensuing powerplay to not only tie it up, but also to end a 2-for-43 drought on the powerplay for the Blues.
But it was "Automatic" Alex Edler who scored the shootout-winning goal to squash the Blues' comeback in front of their fans. Nice to see Luongod stop all 3 shots he faced in the shootout, preserving the win.
A tight game for the most part. Both teams battled hard. Are those Blues turning into a good team or WHAT?
We needed that win, as the Wild and Avalanche won as well tonight, making the Northwest Division that much more tight. Nice to see the Flames lose to the Oilers.
The Canucks still remain flawless when leading after 2 periods. I also liked our chances when the Sedins combined for 5 points. Apparently the Canucks have not won a single game this year when the Twins were held off the scoresheet completely.
So there you go, opponents. Be like San Jose and Phoenix , who gave the Sedins a rough ride and won their games against us.
Speaking of the Twins...was that a pretty 3-way play on Naslund's goal or what? Holy crap. I could watch that goal 1000 times and never get sick of it.

BOX SCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

T Tags: Canucks Blues Review Highlights Boxscore

Ducks trade McDonald to Blues for Weight

The Ducks also receive Czech prospect Michal Birner and a 7th-round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry draft.
I was expecting Brian Burke to trade a defenceman, as he was proclaiming that every defenceman was up for grabs except Pronger.
The 2 teams acquire struggling centers and hope for better results. McDonald only has 4 goals and 12 assists in 33 games. He is not the same without Selanne and had not clicked with any other Duck.
The aging Weight only has 4 goals and 7 assists in 29 games.
McDonald has already played with Kariya a few years back with the Quacks. He is earning $3.33 million per season and has another year left in his contract.
Weight, who makes $3.5 million this season will become a UFA this summer, and will probably be used to jumpstart Todd Bertuzzi. Bert the Floating Futile only has 8 points in 19 games with the Ducks.
I like this deal for both teams. But I don't like to see the Ducks keeping Schneider. That is one wicked blueline group. Too good.
So who is this Michal Birner kid? He was drafted 116th overall by the Blues in 2004. The 21 year-old Czech put up great offensive number in the OHL, but has that has not translated with the Blues' AHL affiliate Peoria.
Hockey's Future has this to say about Birner:

Birner is a good skater, and has the ability to stickhandle in traffic. He is sometimes guilty of playing too much on the perimeter, but his quickness enables him get to the net or open scoring areas in a hurry. His shooting skills are adequate, and he is considered a smart passer. Birner must continue to elevate his awareness when he doesn’t have the puck.

T Tags: Doug+Weight+to+Ducks Andy+McDonald+to+Blues trade

New Blues, Stars, and Hawks jerseys

Now here is a team that doesn't f**k with a good thing. There isn't much difference in the Hawks new jerseys. Bless their damned hearts.
View the jersey launch gallery here.








The yellow stripe looks better on the blue home jerseys than it does on the white away jerseys, in my opinion. View the Blues sweater gallery here.

















Now, speaking of f**king with a good thing...the Stars went psychotic for their home jerseys, joining the Rangers as the only 2 teams to have just the name as a logo. The home jerseys makes me appreciate the Canucks' new duds a little more. I like the black though. That's cool. It's a return to the color they wore in the 90's since their inception. The away jersey looks sweet, but I don't think a lot of Stars fans are going to like the home jersey.
Actually, the Stars fans at the Stars forum are more in favor of the dark home jersey, once you get past them arguing whether it's a dark green or black. Yeesh.
View the new Dallas jersey gallery here.


What are your opinions on any or all of these new duds?


T Tags: new+Hawks+jersey new+Blues+jersey new+Stars+jersey

Back from the Woods

We just got back from a 4 day campout up in Manning Park. As you can see from the picture, the wildlife there has been in a lot of contact with humans. The pic is of a marmot that lived on top of one of the mountains. We drove by his den and he ran out to great us at the car, looking for food. My wife and I fed him about a half container of sour cream n' onion Pringles and took about 20 pics of the ordeal. Hopefully the poor bugger didn't get sick. He actually bit my thumb knuckle at one point.
The deer in the park were overly tame as well. The doe's would hang out with their fawns and show hardly any fear at all. Closest I've ever been to a deer (within 4 feet).
Sheeit. I haven't showered since last Friday night and I still smell Zestfully clean!
So what the heck is going on in the hockey world? I had no cell range at the park and refused to listen to the radio or buy a newspaper.

I see the Devils are busy trying to assemble a team. They signed JL Grand-Pierre, Ian Moran to increase their defensive depth and also signed Noah Clarke. I wonder how competitive these Devils will be next season. A lot of that will depend on how well Zach Parise replaces Scott Gomez.

I wonder how much more Locomotiv of the Russian Super League will be paying Alexei Yashin than anyone in the NHL would. They sought after Yashin pretty hard apparently.
Oh well, adiose Yashin. Let the door hit your ass on the way out of North America.

The Bruins finally relieved their log jam in goal by trading Hannu Toivenen to the Blues in exchange for 22-year-old Swedish center Carl Soderberg. Soderberg has no NHL experience and was drafted by the Blues 49th overall in 2004. Is it just me or do his stats look completely inconsistent?

I really like the Emery signing at 3 years, $9.5 million. That is affordable and fair. But that does make Carolina's signing of Cam Ward at $2.66 million per season after winning the Cup look like a complete bargain doesn't it?

Well, this country boy is heading to the big city in the next few days. If I see Jan Bulis I'll kick him in the nuts for you guys!

Later.

T Tags: Bruins+trade+Toivenen Manning+Park Devils+sign+three

Canucks re-sign Kevin Bieksa / Wings acquire Drake / Updates

The Canucks have re-signed Bieksa to a 3-year $11.25 million deal. That means he will be around just long enough to win a Stanley Cup with Vancouver. This also avoids a major headache next summer for Dave Nonis. Bieksa was looking like a steal last season at $525,000 per season. He has earned his raise no doubt about it.
Last season he played 81 games, had 12 goals and 42 points. He had 6 goals and 13 assists on the power play. He averaged 24:16 of icetime per game. I'd say that's well worth $3.75 per season. That's actually a bargain.

Pay no attention to new rumors of the Canucks being interested in Brian Gionta. One week it's Elias, next it's Gionta. It's all speculation and/or lies. Can you really see Nonis pulling off a blockbuster at this point? That will depend on how talks are going with Mattias Ohlund for an extension. Ohlund hits the free agent market next summer.
Nonis is probably going to bargain hunt a replacement for the departed Smolinski.

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The Red Wings have announced that they have signed Dallas Drake to a 1-year deal. More details to follow. The Trail, B.C. native is an excellent gritty depth player who can chip in once in a while. The 38 year-old averaged 12:53 ice time last season with the Blues.
Drake career stats.
Here's another guy that would have made a decent Canuck.

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The Coyotes have signed Mike York to a 1-year $1 million contract.

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Oh boy. Daniel Briere's agent has said today that he never even received a call during this past season from Sabres' management to iron out a deal, according to the Fourth Period. These kinds of reports are only going to makes Sabres' brass look that much more stupid for not keeping one or both of the departed Briere and Drury. You can add the Oilers' stab at Vanek potentially to the above scenario. GM's need to secure their core guys early, or else possibly face the consequences.

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I see Bill Guerin has already been named the Captain of the Islanders squad. Below is a picture of the Islanders press conference announcing the new guys, Sim, Comrie, Guerin, and Fedotenko. Look at Comrie, he looks like an 18 year-old choirboy!
















John Davidson looks pretty smug having lured Paul Kariya to St. Louis.












Kariya throws the first pitch at a Cardinals/Diamondbacks game on July 3.




More images found here at Yahoo Sports.



T Tags: Canucks+sign+Bieksa NHL Signings
Islanders+press+conference+pictures Blues+Kariya+press+conference+pictures Kariya+pitch+Cardinals+game+picture

Canucks/Blues Preview: Time to Rock!

Well hopefully this game does not resemble the last time these 2 teams played on February 27, where the Blues won 3-1. Just like the Canucks' loss in their last game against the Wild, the Canucks lacked intesity in their loss to the Blues, who played superb despite losing Tkachuk and Guerin to trades. Tommi Santala played on the Sedin line because Pyatt was injured, and looked terrible out there. Doug Weight scored 2 third period goals to bury a lifeless Canucks team.
The Blues are not to be taken lightly. They are 22-12-7 since Andy Murray took over on December 11. They gave the Flames a run for their money in their last game, coming back from 2 goals down in the 3rd, but lost in a shootout 5-4. And Lee Stempniak... 23 goals and 22 assists in 69 games this season, is red hot right now.
Time for the Canucks to rock. I want to see 60 minutes of intensity, boys. Because if you don't, odds are the Wild are going to beat the Oilers tonight, and you will relinquish your top spot in the Northwest.

My call:
5-3 Canucks. Anyone else got a prediction?

Blues 3 Canucks 1: Where is the intensity?

"It's tough," Weight said. "Two of my great friends and a big part of our success we had are those guys. (Guerin and Tkachuk) It was important to get back on the winning record, especially against this team which had been playing so well."

Tonight, the Blues played with desire. The Canucks once again did not skate hard and match the opposing team's intensity, losing 3-1 to the Blues. You could say that this game should have been an easy one, but that isn't the case, as the Blues are 17-8-2 in their last 26 games. They played a pretty good game despite the fact that they had just lost Tkachuk and Guerin.
Once again the Canucks got into penalty trouble at the end of this game, as Burrows and Dan Sedin took tripping penalties nearing the end of the 3rd period. Doug Weight scored his second goal of the game on the PP, (the Blues' 3rd goal) with only 2:14 left in the 3rd period. But the problem with the Canucks originated with them not skating hard enough. Sure, they outshot the Blues 18-9 after 2 periods with the game tied at one. But they did not get enough quality scoring chances on Curtis Sanford, who is now 5-0 against the Canucks. Most of Vancouver's shots were from the perimeter, trying for a tap-in.
How did Smolinski and Sopel play? Smolinski looked lost out there, but he needs some time. Sopel needs time as well. It seemed to me that he was playing that old Canucks style from previous years. Yeah, that 'out of position' style. He will adjust in time.
How did Tommi Santala play? Like shite. He looks nervous out there sometimes, and cannot capitalize when the Sedins set him up. Why is Santala any better than Brad Moran or Brandon Reid? Hopefully Pyatt comes back soon.
There is no need to panic at this point. The Canucks' lack of intensity is a concern, but will only be temporary I'm sure. They have only lost 3 times since December 22, and were on a 6-0-1 streak. I say it's time for a little adversity. In fact, it would be good for them to slump a little, and then get their shit together in the last 5-10 games before the playoffs. Right now it seems like they are playing like spoiled brats..like they are almost 'tired' of winning and taking things for granted.
I bet Montreal, Edmonton and Toronto wish they had the same problem!

My 3 Stars:

1. Doug Weight. 2 goals and a spirited effort.
2. Curtis Sanford. 28 saves on 29 shots. He didn't have to be great though.
3. Dan Sedin. 1 goal and 5 shots.

BOX SCORE

Sunday's Trades

The acquisition of Keith Tkachuk by the Thrashers was a ballsy move by Atlanta. They gave up alot of their future for Tkachuk: a 1st and a 3rd round pick in 2007, a 2nd round pick in 2008, and Glen Metropolit. If Tkachuk signs with the Thrashers in the summer, the Blues also get a 1st round pick in 2008.
This is a steep price to pay for Tkachuk. He is a good player no doubt, but I wouldn't piss away my futures on that guy. Not that much anyway. Blues GM John Davidson has just done a helluva job securing the Blues' future, getting more back for the potential rental of Tkachuk than most people thought possible. Tkachuk has only 43 points in 61 games this season. If anything, he's on a downturn.
But the Thrashers think otherwise I'm sure, and need some goal scoring and grit up front quick to stop the slide they are on. Tkachuk may help. But acquiring him, a left-winger, does not help their problem at center for chrissakes! Yeah yeah, sounds like a broken record.
-------------------------
The Shark's acquisition of Craig Rivet from the Canadiens today is a good one. He has a bit of offensive upside (16 points in 54 games this season) and will top off a decent Shark's blueline. He will become a free agent in the summer.
The Sharks gave up Josh Gorges and a 1st round pick in 2007. (I should say that a 5th rounder in 2008 came to SJ as well) I don't blame the Habs for dropping Rivet, making him the Shark's problem in the offseason.

''We were looking for a Mike Grier-type player to play on a our back end,'' Sharks GM Doug Wilson said. ''Mike Grier has had a big impact up front and we look to get that from Craig on defence. He's obviously been well-coached coming from the Canadiens' organization.''