You know, the old saying rings true, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. Unfortunately, some people's opinions are ridiculously stupid and should be kept to themselves like the old, senile, moronic
Don Cherry of
CBC in Canada. This fool actually ripped
Washington Capitals forward
Alexander Ovechkin for his post goal celebrations. This fool actually said "it wasn't Canadian." What kind of ridiculous statement is that? Don Cherry has a major issue and that is unless you are Canadian, you have no value to hockey. Wake up and smell the coffee you senile imbecile, in the year 2009, the 2 best players on the planet are Russian, deal with it. Your little bromance with
Sidney "I'd much rather cry and complain than actually play hockey" Crosby isn't even the best player on his own team and he isn't even at the same level as AO. Alex is a goal scoring machine that celebrates almost every goal he scores, and celebrates even more when his teammates score. Alex enjoys hockey and shows it. There is nothing wrong with that by any stretch of the imagination. Sid on the other hand, he is a media made drone. He is very robotic in his play. He is very robotic in his interviews. He no longer looks like he enjoys the game at all. Sid, while being a damn good player, fails to do the thing that is the reason the C is on his chest, and that is lead, as well as make the players around him better. Simply put, the Pens are a better team when Sid isn't on the ice, like for the last 3 games. Without Cherry's not so secret lover boy on the ice, the Pens, lead by
Evgeni "Geno" Malkin are once again in a playoff spot. Geno is just like AO, he has fun playing the game, constantly has a smile on his face, and most definitely makes the players around him better. Geno doesn't lead the league in points and assists for no reason. He is the consummate team player and does whatever he can to make the players around him succeed. Geno is the true captain of the Pens, Geno should have the C on his chest, and Sid needs to be dealt away from Pittsburgh for the benefit of the Penguins. It's my opinion that getting Sid out of
Pittsburgh would help him and the Penguins immensely. He could be his own player if he got away from owner
Mario Lemiuex and from Geno. The
Phoenix Coyotes are bleeding money and have a tiny fan base. In order to grow that franchise, and to make Pittsburgh a legit Cup contender, a deal like Sidney Crosby and
Mark Eaton to the Coyotes for
Shane Doan,
Olli Jokinen, and
Derek Morris would benefit both teams.
btw..here's a link to the wind bag, Don Cherry's comments. Watch the Feb 28th
Coach's Corner.
On to the trade deadline. The deadline in the NHL is a little less than 38 hours away. The last 3 years there was an average of 24 deadline moves. So far this year there has been 4 trades already.
What will our incompetent GM do?
Doug Risebrough has driven this franchise in the ground with his inability to actually plan for the future, draft well, make trades to subsidize current and future talent, and sign any significant free agents. The Wild have 6 pending free agents, 3 guys on the NHL roster that will be restricted free agents, and castaway
Benoit Pouliot in the minors who is also a restricted free agent that can all be traded away, plus aging vets in
Owen Nolan and
Andrew Brunette, and 3 guys with contracts that could get some value back that serve no real purpose here:
Marek Zidlicky,
Kim Johnsson, and
Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
At the bare minimum, the Wild can not afford to just let
Marian Gaborik or
Niklas Backstrom walk. A team like the
Montreal Canadians would be a great fit for Gaborik and Johnsson. The Wild would very likely be able to get "The Mafia Brothers"
Andrei and
Sergei Kostitsyn in return for that pair, which would be a tremendous boost for the Wild long term, and a great help getting to, and winning in the playoffs for the Canadians. Niklas Backstrom would also be a tremendous fit with the
Philadelphia Flyers who are a solid goaltender away from being serious Stanley Cup contender. Wild should expect young forwards
Joffrey Lupul and
Claude Giroux plus a pick or 2 in return for Nik. Another trade that would make perfect sense for both teams so it will never happen is: Pierre-Marc Bouchard going to the Pittsburgh Penguins for young center
Jordan Staal. Bouchard would give the great whiner Crosby another wing to play with along with recently acquired
Chris Kunitz from the Anaheim Ducks, while the Wild would get a much needed center they have needed forever. This would also allow
James Sheppard to mature at his own pace instead of being rushed by the Wild. Another potential trading partner for the Wild is the
Detroit Red Wings. They need a goalie in the worse way and some toughness. Backstrom and Owen Nolan would be tremendous fits there and the Wild could expect pending free agents
Johan Franzen or
Jiri Hudler in return as part of the deal.
The bottom line is, the 2 best players on the Wild are going to be free agents...Marian Gaborik and Niklas Backstrom. The Wild are completely void of prospects and have no picks due to throwing them away to acquire Marek Zidlicky and
Marc-Andre Bergeron this past off season. Doug needs to unload everyone he can, other than
Mikko Koivu,
Brent Burns, and
Cal Clutterbuck, to replenish the franchise with actual top end talent that can make a difference going forward. There is nothing possibly worse than letting Gaborik and Backstrom walk this summer and get nothing for them. It would be the end of this franchise for a half decade. The Wild would be just like the pitiful
Toronto Maple Leafs. Nobody in Minnesota wants that.
GO WILD !!!
