So the NHL trading deadline came and went today. Think the Caps did anything noteworthy?
Well, they didn’t trade away Kolzig.
Instead, they sorta replaced him. Somehow, McPhee snookered the Canadiens and swiped their best goalie – Cristobal Huet – from them, giving the Habs a very large gamble in net….and in a very tight playoff race, to boot.
Oh, that’s not all the robbery your Caps got away with. I’m nearly ready to call the cops, they practically got away with murder by hockey stick!
Fans of Pettinger, say good bye. He’s packing his stuff for Vancouver. In the air, he’ll pass your new enforcer, Matt Cooke. Not a bad deal.
By far and away the most interesting and possibly the most troublesome trade (to me, a Penguins fan) is the acquisition of Sergei Fedorov from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Might want to frisk McPhee, he may have taken Ken Hitchcock’s wallet while he was stealing the venerable Russian forward.
Some may say it’s not the greatest grab – Fedorov’s on the back end of his career, no doubt. And he’s likely to end up again in Motor City next year (he’s an Unrestricted Free Agent come July 1). But I think this was a steal, honestly. And a scary, scary move. Pair up this Russian with That One? Yeah, an Ovie-Sergei pairing is about as scary as Crosby-Malkin two states over. (Shameless plug – did you hear what magic Ray Shero did up there? NICE!)
After today’s to-the-wire excitement, I’m fairly sure now the Caps are serious about a playoff run. Only five points behind the Hurricanes (and sitting in the 11th slot), McPhee’s putting the screws to the team. These moves – if they land the suddenly-more-than-lukewarm Caps into the playoffs – might go down as one of the more brilliant deadline con jobs of the century, or I forsee a lynch mob outside the Verizon Center come mid-April.
Who knows? I’ll say this, if the Caps vault into the playoffs, I may actually buy playoff tickets from them this year.
Naaah.
It’s still the Caps. Now if they faced down Pittsburgh in the Conference Finals….
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
Having lived in the DC area for ten years, Ben still loves to wander the city with his wife, shooting lots of photos and exploring all the latest exhibits and galleries. A certified hockey fanatic, he spends some time debating the Washington Capitals club with friends – but everyone knows of his three decade love affair with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
A professional writer, gamer, photographer, and Lego enthusiast, Ben remains captivated by DC and doesn’t plan on leaving any time soon.
