And there it goes...the first huge Blockbuster trade of the new NHL. The Boston Bruins have traded Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm, and Wayne Primeau. This deal is huge, and right now I'm struggling to pick a winner. I want to say Boston, because they get the defensive help they need, and they get two forwards that can put the puck in the net. San Jose, however, gets one of the leagues best players, and a guy that can really help them in the dressing room. Both of these teams needed to shake things up, but are both better now? Time will tell...
On to some action on the ice. The Flyers slid past the Devils, winning 2-1 tonight. Knuble and Sharp scored for the Flyers, while Pihlman scored for the Devils. Esche gets the win in goal, as he stopped 30 of 31 shots.
The Leafs scored less than two minutes in, but thats all they could score, as Tampa beat Toronto 2-1. St.Louis and Kubina had the Tampa Bay goals, while Antropov got Toronto's goal. Lecavalier had two assists.
With eight minutes left in the third period, Columbus leads Minnesota 2-1. Letowski and Westcott have the goals for Columbus, while Koivu has Minnesota's goal. LeClaire is in net for Columbus, while Fernandez is between the pipes for Minnesota.
After two periods, Chicago leads LA 3-0. Calder has two goals, while Ellison has the other. Mark Bell has two assists, while Khabibulin takes a shutout into the final period. Garon is in goal for LA.
After two periods, Dallas leads San Jose 2-1. Miettinen and Svoboda have the Dallas goals, while McCauley has responded for the Sharks. Nabokov and Turco are the goalies, while Joe Thornton is obviously not in the lineup for the Sharks...
Later tonight, Colorado visits Vancouver, and Phoenix visits Anaheim...
What I like most about the Thornton trade is that nobody saw it coming. I think it's the first of many surprise deals we'll see in the next few months. Big names like Luongo, Richards and Palffy could be traded at any time, without any warning. In the new NHL, teams can't afford to make financial mistakes, and if things are not working out with a player that they signed for big bucks, they have to try and move them. Remember, Joe Thornton signed a nice and big new contract with Boston in the summer...San Jose was willing to pick that up, but then again, what team wouldn't, this is Joe Thornton. Add Todd Bertuzzi to the list of players that could be move without warning...
Thibault and Huselius both cleared waivers today, and neither is expected to be sent down to the minors. Petr Sykora could be traded very soon, as Brian Burke is trying very hard to get rid of him. He has sent a memo to all 30 NHL teams alerting them that Sykora is available, and will return from injury this Saturday. The Rangers are interested, as are the Panthers.
Randy Robataille has just tied the Columbus game, so go watch it! I'd love to get your opinions on the San Jose / Boston trade! Please email me at cjohnson202@hockeyleaks.com and I'll post some of your opinions on the blog tomorrow! Have a good night.
