The trade deadline looms in what may be the Mats Sundin derby, if he’d only lighten up and help his doomed organization out. My guess is that he doesn’t trust the Maple Leafs to pull a Mark Recchi or Doug Weight move. I wouldn’t blame him. This franchise hasn’t won a Cup since the 1967 expansion thanks to blunder after blunder.
Doubtful he’ll come Philly’s way as the Broad Street Bullies have now brought their losing skid to 10 games in a row. They’ve plummeted from first to last in the Atlantic Division. Sure there are 20 games remaining in the season for them but they’re not going to the playoffs with such lifeless play. Most would blame the injury situation as the primary cause: Gagne is gone until next season, they just lost Richards last night and most of the decent defensemen are out. I won’t criticize Briere unlike the hacks at ESPN. Danny is the number two guy in points and the most accurate shooter despite being -23. Briere’s rating is one of the few exceptions when this odd hockey stat is misleading. I haven’t seen any Flyers games lately so I can’t assess what’s their problem other than the January slump getting postponed to February and it may carry over to March. The silver lining is this, if GM Paul Holmgren completely ignores Peter Forsberg’s desire to return the NHL, I will be thrilled even if the Flyers miss the playoffs for the second year in a row.
It was a shame to be torn between the Sharks and Flyers. I prefer the Flyers yet I was willing to let their skid continue since the Sharks are a real Cup contender in an equally fierce division: I don’t want to see another championship in Anaheim or Dallas, they’re not hockey towns. The Flyers awarding JR a gift for his 500-goal accomplishment was awesome. He may have only played three seasons but you can tell he was a fan favorite.
Not much else other than trying to calculate the magic number for Austin to make the CHL’s playoffs. This league definitely has a serious imbalance of talent because the Icebats are vying for the fifth spot that somehow a team under .500 occupies. Sad. I used to think such a pity spot was exclusive to the NBA with the Western Conference in the Eighties, now the Eastern Conference needs it.