The Best Oiler Trade Ever...

As everyone goes on about the Dustin Penner trade to LA I would like to comment on how Steve Tambellini may have made the best Oiler trade ever, okay maybe not ever, and maybe it was not a trade at all. It was in fact not trading at all and in this case not trading Ales Hemsky. Don't get me wrong the bigger news of the day is definitely Penner and what we got in return, but not trading Hemsky is pretty huge. For all the talk about Taylor Hall and the kids, Hemsky is still the man on this team and will be for a few more years. I see him filling the Marian Hossa role on the this up and coming team, providing veteran offense and leadership when needed.

Also I think the return we would have gotten for Hemsky would not have been sufficient considering what it would take to replace him in a few more years. As I had posted earlier the likely return would have been similar to what the Oilers received for Penner; a prospect, a pick and a young roster player. Obviously thats not quite what Penner returned. Nonetheless two years from now it would be pretty hard to get a near point per game player like Hemsky and let alone sign him.

I'm hoping that we will see a contract extension this summer for Hemsky and that we will sign him long term with a lower cap hit, similar to Hossa's deal in Chicago.

One note on the Penner deal, I think this is a step in the right direction, it would have been nice to get a roster player in return but I think Tambellini did a good job in not taking a salary back which means this should free up some cap space to sign a much needed defenseman in the summer.

Trade Deadline Edition

I'm starting a series called The Good, The Bad and The Ugly where I will be reviewing some of the bigger trades during the trade deadline. I'm going to start the series with a look at the most recent trade which is the deal between the Dallas Stars and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dallas sent forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen to Pittsburgh for defenseman Alex Goligoski.

The Good

Pittsburgh gets some scoring depth. With both Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin out with injuries the Pens have been hurting for some offense up front. This definitely something James Neal can provide, over the past 3 seasons Neal has managed to average 20+ goals a season for Dallas. This season Neal has already scored 21 and was third in scoring on the Stars behind Morrow and Richards. The former 2nd round pick also adds a nice bit of size up front for the Pittsburgh as he comes in at 6-2 and 208 pounds. He will fit in well alongside either Crosby or Malkin. Another solid deal by Shero

The Bad

Fairly steep price for Dallas to acquire a puck moving defenseman for their backend. Giving up a young goal scorer like Neal can hurt most teams but Dallas has some strong depth on the wings so moving him isn't the end of the world. What seems odd is the Goligoski was the best they could get with an offer like this though after the Kaberle deal the price may have already been set pretty steep for puck-moving defensemen. I would think Neal straight up would have gotten the deal done so it most have been Dallas who came a-calling. You could point to the fact that Niskanen hasn't been playing his best hockey the past season and a half but he is still a fairly young defensemen at 25 years old and former first round pick so Dallas should be hoping that he doesn't turn things around. I think Pittsburgh walked away from this laughing as they filled a need and potentially backfilled what they gave up in Goligoski.

The Ugly

Joe Nieuwendyk managing of the Dallas Stars. I don't want to knock on Niewendyk too much as he is fairly new to the general managing role and really only has been in Dallas for a season and a half but I think experience is the problem. It seems more and more former players are thrown in to the managing roles in NHL with very little experience. Don't get me wrong I think Niewendyk will eventually become a good GM maybe even a great GM but couldn't they let this guy apprentice as the assistant for few years before giving him a team right away. Hey Joe is a smart guy, he did graduate from Cornell after all but there is big difference between playing the game and managing an organization like a hockey team. I think Niewendyk is going to get burnt a few more times like any newbie will so maybe its time to bring in a special advisor for Niewendyk. How about former Dallas GM Bob Gainey in a "Bowman"-esque type role to help Joe along?

Back to collecting

So I have been going to Ebay pretty frequently the last few weeks, more or less browsing, seeing whats out there and what I want to start collecting. At first I was kind of just looking at getting back to collecting early 80s rookie cards, focusing on the stars of my youth, Gartner, Kurri, Messier, etc. My thoughts were that these would be great to pass on to my son (just found out my wife and I will be having a boy) and also that I might have them professionally graded at some point.

Somewhere along the line my mindset started changing and as of late I have started bidding more and more on Oiler rookie cards of the past decade. Mostly gunning for autographed rookies like SP Authentic Future Watch. I do have some limitations on my budget that are self imposed so that limits how much I'm willing to spend. I had a Hemsky 02-03 Future Watch lined up but was outbid the last few minutes. Now I'm pretty fixed on trying to get one so I have been checking pretty daily for one to be listed. Other rookies that I have been looking at trying to get have been Gagner, Eberle, and Hall though I'm not opposed to others.

Haven't decided if I will just stick to players that are currently on the roster or whether I pursue cards of players like Schremp, Pouliot so forth. So far my only criteria is that they be autographed. I'll post some photos of what I get once they are available.

Take your picks...

I've read here and there on the Oil Blogshpere about trading some roster players for drafting picks at the upcoming trade deadline. The name that I hear most often that surprises me is Ryan Jones. I recall back when we lost Curtis Glencross to free agency (Calgary Flames signed him) how easy it would be to replace him and how we dodged a bullet contract wise. Then as time went by, everyone was clamouring on about how we lost Glencross and how we needed to replace him. I believe guys like Glencross and Jones are not quite as easily replaced as some people believe and that loosing them one way or another is not the way to build successful hockey clubs.

What really troubles me more is not the idea of getting rid of Jones, I can see if we moved him to fill a need such as faceoff specialist or shutdown defenseman being beneficial. But to simply trade him off to acquire picks seems fairly foolish and impractical. I know the sentiment is that you can trade him for picks and the player selected would develop in to potentially a better player but the key word is potentially. Don't get me wrong if we could swap Jones for a first rounder I would be all for that. More than likely you would be getting a better talent who would only need a couple of years to develop but as you move further into the later rounds which is where I imagine you find the pick you would get, the odds of that pick developing into an NHL player let alone one who is equal to the player you gave up goes down rather quickly. Further more if you did manage to draft a player that would eventually have the same talent level you probably wouldn't see them on the active roster for at least 5 years or more.

The follow up argument always seems to be that we can simply sign a similar player via free agency and more or less get a pick and similar player by trading a player like Jones away. This may be true but I think that constant turn over proves to have a very negative effect on most organizations and especially on organizations so dependant on teamwork such as a professional hockey team. Also if players like Jones were so readily available I find it hard to believe teams wouldn't be needing to trade for them as they would have plethora of there own. Plus you know what a player like Jones brings, he is familiar with the team and its systems and he assumedly has a good relationship with the other players on the team. Why rock the boat all for potential.

Don't get me wrong there are times when dealing players away make a lot of sense, such as when you have player going to free agency that you know you can't sign or when you trying to relieve some financial obligations and you want to move contracts without taking any back. But I think if you are not in these situations there is little advantage in making a trade that involves a quality player for the potential of a quality player. Keep the devil you know especially if he is as hard a worker as Jones is.

What deals may come...

Only a couple more weeks to another fun filled trade deadline and as always it makes you wonder your team will do to help it move in the direction you want it to go. Fans of the Oilers may find themselves torn as we continue on through the next couple on what organizational changes may need to take place. Do we continue down the road of rebuilding by tearing out what already exist for more hope or does the foundation already exist and is now the time build upward.

Couple of my own thoughts in regards to the deadline and the possible moves the Oilers could make. Obviously the teams biggest assets moving into the deadline are Penner and Hemsky. And even more obvious is how important they are to the team. Yes, Hall, Eberle and Gagner may be the future stars that will outshine these two but there is no denying that Penner and Hemsky are the impact players on this roster and with that are two most likely to draw the largest return at the deadline.

Over the past couple of years we have seen what value players like these tend to draw, though the are not A list players I believe they hold the equivalent value of say a former Oiler who was trade in recent years. When Ryan Smyth was traded he brought back the return of one first round pick, one highly touted prospect and another let say not as nearly highly touted prospect. I could see both these players bring in that kind of value, but are there teams out there willing to give that up. And is more bullets for the draft what this team really needs moving forward. Will that be sufficient return for the kind of calibre of player Hemsky and Penner are?

With that in mind I think there is only one team that would fit the bill in being able to provide the return that we want and be in demand for either player. That team would be the LA Kings. They were in the hunt for Kovalchuk last year and could use a top six winger to pair up with Kopitar and I believe they probably an eye on Hemsky for two reasons. One is he is fairly young and would easily fit the core of their team and the other is he would bring to the table a skill set that is lacking which is a high end playmaking forward to play beside Kopitar.

What return could they provide for Hemsky? We often hear Brayden Schenn's name kicked around which I believe matches fairly to Hemsky's value, but I would imagine the Oilers would be seeking more than just one asset. I could potentially see them matching the Smyth deal from a few years back or even what Atlanta got for both Hossa and Kovalchuk. This would look Schenn, plus another prospect, I would suspect one of Teubert or Hickey and a pick, which I would think would conditional based on playoff performance.

Does this make sense for the Oilers? Maybe, I would think the real question is whether Hemsky is wanting to stay in Edmonton and if that is the case then they need to keep him. I don't think the team will be able to develop the management hopes if they don't have strong veteran talent to build around to provide guidance for the budding stars. Plus a near point per game player is not easily replaced and in deals like these the team trading away the star generally loses in the pure value sense.

My ideal would be using an asset like Hemsky or Penner would be to shore up an area of weakness such as the defense. I had read in the Metro that Brent Seabrooke could potentially be on the market which may be a far better fit for the Oilers that a package of prospects and picks. Seabrooke would provide us with a 1-2 punch on the backend along with Whitney and give the defence some added grit. It would save Chicago some cap hit and provide them with another top six forward.

This is all just how I see it as of now and most likely we won't see any of the above. My only hope is if we move Hemsky and/or Penner that Tambellini fills the gaps that are in the roster rather than creating new gaps. Its time to start solidifying this foundation rather than continually resurfacing it.

Nonetheless I expect it will be another interesting trade deadline.

To collect or not to collect....

This afternoon I cracked open my card collection for the first time in since two years ago. Its always fun to do this with so much time in between collecting for more reasons then one. First I love looking at the rookie cards I have to see who has established themselves as bone fide NHLers and who became wanna-be-never-has-beens. More often then not there are more in the latter column then in the former but there were a few exceptions.

First exception was a Tim Thomas rookie card. Though I had already had it in a protective sleeve I find it interesting that at the time Thomas was not a known quantity and now he is a Vezina winning goaltender for one of the better teams in the league.

Another card was a Henrik Sedin rookie card from the Be A Player Memrobilia 2000-01 set. Again another player who in this case was highly touted but was not really hitting his potential at the time who has gone on to win an Art Ross Trophy. (After some research it turns out this is not a rookie card, stupid research)

I also came across a Sean Avery Young Guns Upper Deck rookie card from 02-03. Now I'm not saying Avery is star and to be honest I can't stand him, but the guy has had a pretty solid NHL career.

I also enjoy seeing how rosters have changed over the years, how stars fade and are pushed aside for other stars. For example the Avery card I mentioned, I totally forgot he started with Wings and moved from there on to the Rangers. Also as a big Oilers fan its interesting to see all the names that have come and gone. Mike York, Tommy Salo, Anson Carter, Mike Comrie, at one time these guys were pretty big names for the Oil and now the only one I could tell you where they ended up is Mike Comrie.

As for me continuing to collect I hum and I ha about this alot. First is the financial commitment, do I really want to start spending money on collecting hockey cards? Is this a priority for me right now? And second, with another mouth to feed coming soon do I have the time for collecting. I guess what sways me to towards getting back into it is that I really enjoy collecting and it would be nice to have a hobby to share with my kids.

Somethings for me to ponder I guess.

NHL Trade Deadline Day 2010

As every good hockey fan knows the hockey calendar year gives us lovers of this great sport two Christmases; Draft day and Trade Deadline day. For both these days we sit by our tv or more and more these days, we are clicking the refresh button on our favourite hockey sites anxiously awaiting news of who went where and for whom. We cheer when our team lands the guy we want and we moan and groan when we feel like our team has traded the family jewels for magic beans. None the less its a day full of hope and excitement, not unlike Christmas.

For Hockey card collectors the trade deadline can change our feeling for a card instantly and you may never truly appreciate those cards same again after today. I had that feeling awhile ago when the Oilers had moved Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders in 2007, for a little Swede, a mid first rounder and a kid who became a should have been that never was. I had purchased a few years earlier a lot of Ryan Smyth cards, it was a good deal, I liked Smytty and obviously the Oilers. All of a sudden, these cards just didn’t look right , they seemed almost wrong, who was this guy in an Oilers jersery, he doesn’t play for them! Then that summer he signed with Colorado, and then he was off to LA and now when I look at those cards, I wonder what happened, did he ever play with the Oilers and now I have a whack cards that have no use or love for.

But, with everything there is two sides to a coin. For every loss there is gain, I can imagine the excitement for New Jersey fans whose team went out and got a real super star in Kovalchuk. These Devil fans can look forward to when they rip open a new pack next season and find a crisp piece of cardboard featuring Kovalchuk in Devil silks… pending his rights not getting trade on Draft day in June.

Perseverance and Small Promises

I made a small promise to myself that with this little project I would be faithful and post consistently and more important; relevantly. It appears I have broken that promise right out the gate. I am hoping in the future, i.e. tomorrow, I can get back on this diet of writing about what I have intended to write about.

I find like everything in life the key to success is habit. If there is something you want to be good at, the key is to simply do it regularly and consistently with the aim of getting better. Soon enough it will become habit and you won’t need to think about it and you will start to see the results you intended to see. Whether it learning to play an instruement, exercising or writing a blog. Simply taking the time no matter how small and doing that act will result in at least your continued journey on your path and it will ease the initial pains that come with any new venture.

What does this have to do with Hockey or Hockey cards….absolutely nothing.

The First of Many…

I thought I would start off my first post talking about the first hockey cards I can remember collecting. My family was living in Metcalfe Ontario at the time, which is a bedroom community just outside of Ottawa. I came from a fairly large family of 6 kids; I had 3 older brothers and two older sisters which, believe it or not, made me the youngest. Hand-me-downs were not uncommon in such a large family, but that never seemed to matter; we always had what we needed and more often then not, what we wanted.

Just outside of our little town on the main highway to Ottawa there was an Esso station. I recall typically filling up the big green station wagon with its fake side wood paneling there on our way out of town, either headed to the big city, or off to visit relatives in Renfrew or Sundridge. This would have been the late ’80s and at that time Esso was offering a hockey legends series with cards that you could stick to the pages. I had been filling sticker books before this, but these were more like hockey cards then stickers. Probably someone here can fill me in on whether they had adhesives on the back or whether you had to lick them to stick. I seem to recall licking them.

This Esso Hockey card set was first glimpse into the world of Hockey Card collecting. A pass-time that has seemed to touch my life at many defining moments. The cards may have changed over the years, grown larger and more complex, just as  I have.  I seem to always be drawn to this simple and adolescent hobby. Maybe it is due to its simplicity, or maybe its the sense of nostalgia it brings about, but for one reason or another the desire to collect these simple pieces of cardboard has stayed with me through the years.

This blog is a new frontier for me. Though it is about collecting Hockey cards, its less about the cards themselves and more of a reflection on the subtle impact they have had on my life.  But more likely this will be a look back at the nostalgia that collecting creates.

From time to time, I will post about certain cards and their significance, and will probably post the odd hockey related story and collecting tidbits. As with all things in life I imagine this too will evolve and grow over time to encompass more than what I have in tended it to do, or at least that is my hope. I hope you enjoy this as much as I will enjoy sharing it. I encourage you to share your own experiences and insights along the way.

Moving Day...

I originally started this on Wordpress but lo and behold life distracted me away from blogging and I had forgotten my password to not only my Wordpress but also the email account I had it linked to. Therefor I have had to start a new so here we are on Blogger. The first couple of posts are going to be straight cut and paste from my original blog but I will begin posting new stuff shortly.

Also a big part of this whole blog was to go through my collection and post about certain cards and the story behind them for me and for hockey in general. When I began to write last year I did not have my collection so it limited what I could write about but now I have it so I can press on with the original premise of this blog.