MONDAY COMMENTARY – CHANGE IS GOOD
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)
It’s certainly very fascinating trying to stay on top of the innovations in the hockey world.
And by that I don’t mean graphite sticks and fibreglass goalie masks.
No, I mean the way business is being done ahead of Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline.
Used to be we’d park ourselves in front of the television for a full day of coverage on TSN and Sportsnet and the NHL would never disappoint. 50-60 players and picks would change hands in one day and then we’d spend days analyzing it.
Not so anymore.
This NHL Trade Deadline coverage might become a major dud as the biggest moves are being made well in advance. The Leafs pulled the trigger on perhaps the biggest one, acquiring Stanley Cup champ Ryan O’Reilly from the Blues over a week ago and somehow getting Minnesota to pick up a good chunk of his salary (?).
Then just last night the #1 trade acquisition – San Jose’s Timo Meier – was shipped to New Jersey.
The Nashville Predators proved again they’re headed into rebuild mode, dealing Oxbow, SK’s Tanner Jeannot to Tampa Bay on Sunday, 24 hours after shipping Nino Neiderreiter to Winnipeg.
Oh, and about those Jets. They’ve lost five of their last six games which is their worst stretch of the season, and that includes Sunday’s 4-0 home loss to Bo Horvat and the New York Islanders.
(By the way Horvat is another key trade figure who was moved well in advance of the Trade Deadline, and he’s also proof how much a change of scenery can rejuvenate your career).
They’re panicking in Winnipeg as fans and media are wont to do but it says here a season is full of peaks and valleys and Coach of the Year candidate Rick Bowness will get them back on track. But if not, what a time to tank it!
The Flames are flickering and the Oilers are no great shakes either. So that makes this week still very interesting to watch.
The NHL drama hasn’t gone away, it’s just changed. And change is good.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, YouTube Live and WQEE Radio)
Photo: NY Islanders
Feels like the Jets are firmly back on their historical trajectory of being mediocre, but seldom bad enough to really trigger a top to bottom housecleaning augmented with a top draft pick.
They’re basically back to where they were last season, except they will get a brief 5 game playoff run this time.