Polemic Hockey

So, they're going to blame the coach for the problems in Ottawa? Did Paddock shoot a puck at Scott Niedermayer during the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Did Paddock fail to land Marian Hossa? Did Paddock screw up the Eastern Conference Champion's chemistry with new random players? Did Paddock put a puck in his own net?

No--that's on Brian Murray. The press loves him, giving him credit for both the Ducks 2003 finals run, and never failed to mention that last year's run had a lot to do with his draft picks, Getlaf and Perry.

Let's get one thing straight. 2003 was all about Giguere, who came to the Ducks in June, 2001, during the otherwise terrible reign of Pierre Gauthier. 2007 was surely made in part by Murray's two stars Getzlaf and Perry, but it was Burke's acquisition of Chris Pronger, and, above all, his acquisition of Scott Niedermayer (both made possible by dumping Murray's big contracts) that brought the Cup to Anaheim.

And now his spurious trades and decision to hire this no-name Paddock are crushing the hopes of the Senators, who have been on the verge of a Cup for 10 years.

Here are the biggest winners and losers at the deadline:

Winners:
New Jersey
Rangers
Islanders
Ottawa
Montreal
Boston
Buffalo
Toronto
Carolina
Florida
Atlanta
Tampa Bay
Detroit
Nashville
Columbus
St. Louis
Chicago
Calgary
Minnesota
Vancouver
Edmonton
Anaheim
Phoenix
Los Angeles

Losers:
Washington
Pittsburgh
Dallas
San Jose
Philadelphia
Colorado

That is more or less upside down of what everyone else says. But the truth is, none of the teams who gave up big assets at the deadline for rental player are going to win a Stanley Cup, or probably even generate enough revenue from the (possible) extra playoff round home games to justify the salary increase. Didn't San Jose figure that out last year? Sheesh.

We're entering that time of year where people go "wow that team is good" in the regular season and think that means they are going to win the Cup. Washington is setting itself up to lose 6-5, Pittsburgh might have enough ESPN magic to win a round or two, but the Conklin is going to turn back into a pumpkin any day now, Philly is barely a legitimate playoff team, and Dallas can't score.

Suckers.

Oh, and the funniest: Colorado. So, is Patrick Roy coming out of retirement? The Boys Are Back In Town, but they aren't boys, they're fucking broken gray beards. Good luck with the reunion.

The sum of the Devils' parts is always greater than the talents of the parts themselves. Witness how much John Madden's play has improved with the return of "Super" Jay Pandolfo.

The one piece that is missing its supporting parts most is Brian Gionta. Brian Refalski's perfectly tipable blue line floaters are in Detroit and Meathead Gomez's rushes are being spent in Manhattan.

Gionta isn't scoring like he did the past two years (he was well on his way to potting 30+ last year before he got injured for 20 games), but he is clearly still skating hard, creating chances, and finishing his checks. He brings a champion's pedigree and trading him would create additional cap space. I would like to see some sort of Gionta-Havlat deal. Havlat is a classic Devils project: exponential talent and underachieving. There is a good chance he could lift Elias out of his Richerian Melencholy Sniper role and back to the almost superstar days of 1999-2004.

That said, for a defensive team like the Devils to win they need a superstar defensemen. Oduya has risen above the level of play that drew my early criticism, Mottua is a pleasant surprise and White is a warrior, but the Devils do not have the sort of shut down pair necessary to contain the Alfreddson line throughout a series.

Broduer gives the Devils a punchers chance in any series, but he would need to be the run away Smythe winner for the Devils to be champs this year.