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Still committed to winning the SE Division? |
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With the recent events of the trade deadline day, I had to sleep before blogging. I woke up feeling the same way about the day before, just with few less cuss words mixed in. So let me get this out of the way, the Hossa trade was a good deal for us. Don Waddell came through and got a high price for Hossa. With Pittsburgh throwing Esposito in, we got back the 1st rounder we gave up last season to the Blues. We definitely got the better end of the stick.
Let’s face it, we won that battle, but lost the war in my opinion. Don Waddell was on 680 the Fan and made two things very clear. The first is there were offers for other players like Bobby Holik and Johan Hedberg. Second, we are committed to winning our division this year. Hold up on that car wash boys. The reason why we didn’t trade other free agents was because we felt it wouldn’t be fair to the guys who have been working toward the division title all season, but yet we trade Hossa? If we are so committed to winning our division, how does trading someone who is arguably one of the best players in the league help you? Waddell got burned on Savard, plain and simple. We didn’t resign him or trade him and came up 2 points short of the playoffs in 05-06. This had to be in his head. It explains the reasoning, but does not excuse it.
Remember what I said in my earlier blog about indecision? Here it is. Are we rebuilding? Kind of. Are pushing for the playoffs? Kind of.
“Walk left side of road ok. Walk right side of road ok. Walk middle, squish just like grape.”
- Mr Miyagi
Here was an opportunity to get something for nothing. An opportunity to get something for players that would not have any impact on your team once the season ends, but yet we are pushing for the playoffs. The question was posed to Waddell, if you were pushing for the playoffs why didn’t we see more additions? The answer: There were no other impact players available at the trade deadline. I don’t know about you, but I would have thought guys like Brian Campbell could make an impact. I forgot we have a stellar blue line. This team has no direction from the top down. I know rebuilding doesn’t get a lot of new season ticket holders, but you had an opportunity to go one way or another, and you do neither. You don’t do enough for a playoff push, and you don’t do enough to rebuild Before you say who would want a Holik, guys like Jan Hlavac & Chris Simon got traded for a 6th and 7th round pick. It wouldn’t be the first time we traded a UFA captain. Moves like this make you fill your spots with guys from the AHL that you need to let play. It gives them 15 games to really see who belongs and who doesn’t. You could use this time to get a coach and get a system set up with the players that will be here for a while. But wait I forgot. We are in the thick of a playoff push. I could hardly recognize it.
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