SADOWSKI: Trade front may be quieter

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 15, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Mark Avery / Associated Press/2007

NHL teams hope they can add an impact player before the trade deadline, much like Anaheim did when it acquired Scott Niedermayer, a key part to the Ducks' run to the Stanley Cup.

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Trade talk promises to heat up when NHL general managers begin meeting Monday in that hockey hotbed of Naples, Fla., where the weather should be considerably warmer than, say, in Edmonton, and the golf courses are in excellent condition.

No doubt the GMs already are deciding whether to be buyers or sellers by the Feb. 26 trading deadline, their strategy to be determined by playoff positioning (or lack thereof), salary-cap space and players' contract status.

But because so many teams remain in the hunt for the playoffs, there may not be as many major moves as in the past.

"I don't know that you can be aggressive every year," Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland said this week in a conference call with league reporters.

Of course, Holland doesn't need to do a whole lot of tinkering heading into the postseason. Detroit is solid at every position and easily is going to win the Presidents' Trophy as the league's regular-season champion.

That doesn't guarantee a Stanley Cup - only six of the previous 21 Presidents' Trophy winners have gone on to win the bigger prize - but the Red Wings appear ready to make a serious postseason run.

Holland was joined on the call by three other GMs - Anaheim's Brian Burke, Atlanta's Don Waddell and Philadelphia's Paul Holmgren.

The Red Wings and Ducks, who look strikingly similar to last year's championship team with the additions of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne, are locks to make the playoffs.

But the Flyers were sixth in the Eastern Conference after Thursday's loss to the Lightning and only two points ahead of the ninth-place Boston Bruins, while the Thrashers probably would need to finish first in the Southeast Division to earn a playoff berth.

"Now we're in a spot where teams are creeping up from below and we seem to be sinking," said Holmgren, who last season, when the Flyers had the worst record in the league, sent Peter Forsberg to Nashville in exchange for two players and two draft picks.

"We need to get our own ship in order here and just go from there."

The Predators thought Forsberg would put them over the top in the playoffs, but they were knocked out by San Jose in the first round, proving that even acquiring a great talent can be risky business.

Burke, who doesn't view himself as much of a deadline-day trader, said he would attend next week's meetings "groping around like a sightless person."

He explained: "I'm not sure what I have yet, and I'm not sure what I'm looking for."

The Ducks own an extra first-round pick, having acquired it from Edmonton for losing restricted free-agent forward Dustin Penner to an offer sheet last summer. Burke said he would prefer to keep the pick if it looks like it would be a high one.

Waddell is still trying to re-sign forward Marian Hossa, who is making $7 million in the last year of his contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1. But any team willing to take Hossa would risk losing him over the summer and get nothing in return. That's what happened to the New York Islanders, who last year sent two prospects and a No. 1 pick to the Oilers in exchange for Ryan Smyth, who left to sign with the Avalanche as a free agent.

"We have one of our stars that's up in the air," Waddell said of Hossa.

"If we don't sign the player, then we've got to make a decision whether we're going to trade that player or ride him out for the rest of the year and try to keep our team as strong as we can."

Those are the kind of decisions every team will face before Feb. 26.

Shootout etiquette

Chicago Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon is expected to discuss the strategy players are permitted to employ in shootouts in the wake of a controversial loss to Vancouver.

Canucks forward Ryan Shannon used a spinning move to score against goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who was bumped on the play. Tallon and Blackhawks coach Denis Savard also felt Shannon lost possession of the puck before he backhanded it into the net.

Tallon was upset enough to yell at the referees from the press box, and he immediately called league officials in Toronto.

"It's the referee's call, that's what they told me," Tallon told Chicago reporters. "And it can't be reviewed."

Savard said Shannon should have been called for interference and that the goal shouldn't have counted.

"The goalie shouldn't be able to get bumped," Savard said. "What's the difference if the guy just goes straight ahead with the puck and just runs the goalie right out? That's what you're going to see if they don't fix it."

Chelios ponders 2010

A veteran of 24 NHL seasons and numerous international competitions, Chris Chelios hasn't given up hope of playing for the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The Detroit Red Wings defenseman will be 48 then.

"I would love to play in those Olympics," Chelios said Thursday during a conference call set up by USA Hockey, which this weekend is celebrating the growth of hockey in the country with Hockey Weekend Across America.

Chelios, who played in the 1984, 1998, 2002 and 2006 Olympics, realizes he's a long-shot candidate to suit up in Vancouver. But he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to play in an Olympics staged in Canada. NHL officials haven't committed to participating in the Olympics beyond 2010, so this could be the last one involving league players.

"Physically, I feel great," said Chelios, who averages 17:06 in ice time with the Red Wings and has eight points in 54 games and a plus-10 rating.

"I don't want to hold any young kid from getting a spot on the team, but, by the same token, I'm not ready to give it up either."

Chelios said he'd be interested in helping out as a coach if he can't take part as a player.

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com

NUMBERS GAME

12 consecutive 30-win seasons for New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.

CHICKEN AND A SAVE

Atlanta Thrashers goalie Johan Hedberg is pretty effective when it comes to stopping pucks, and he was better while turning aside rubber chickens, food items that exploded on contact and a stuffed moose, which happens to be his nickname.

The items were thrown by children during filming by the Cartoon Network for its Fried Dynamite show, a series of cartoons that airs Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.

"I shut them out," Hedberg said. "I kept my focus. The rubber chicken was like some of the shots I've seen this year."

FORSBERG SUES TRACK

Peter Forsberg is in the news again, but this time, it doesn't concern his attempt to return to the NHL.

Forsberg's firm, Forspro AB, is suing a Swedish company and the owners of a racetrack for 12 million kronor (about $1.8 million U.S.) regarding an accident that led to his horse Tsar d'Inverne being euthanized.

The horse suffered leg injuries during a workout in 2004 after a tarp being replaced by workers fell on the track.

Tsar d'Inverne was frightened, collided with another horse and was put down two years later after the leg problems became chronic.

The lawsuit charges that security and safety rules were violated.

HE SAID IT

" 'Greener' is my Hulk because the more he plays, the stronger he gets."

Bruce Boudreau, Washington Capitals coach, comparing defenseman Mike Green with the Incredible Hulk.

Show me the money

You have to wonder what Ryan O'Byrne was thinking when he allegedly stole a woman's purse at a nightclub in Tampa, Fla., last weekend. O'Byrne, a rookie defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens, was charged with felony grand theft.

According to the police report, O'Byrne was seen outside the club holding the purse in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

The police report said $20 was missing from the purse. O'Byrne makes $590,000.

"I regret what happened there, and I hope it's resolved quickly," O'Byrne told The (Montreal) Gazette. "Unfortunately, it's a legal issue and I can't tell you more than that."

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