Thursday Commentary: Believe It Or Not

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I’d say “Gentlemen, start your engines!” but in truth, the engines have been running for awhile.

Forget basketball. The NHL Trade Deadline is hockey’s version of March Madness whatwith the Oilers, Stars, Mammoth and Wild making big deals this week and plenty more expected to come before Friday’s 3 pm ET deadline.

Oilers GM Stan Bowman came to Edmonton from Chicago and made two deals this week with the Blackhawks, acquiring Jason Dickinson, Colton Dach and Connor Murphy.

Some of this will help, while some smacks of making trades just to make trades and appease the fanbase.

But if it helps keep the puck out of their net – their #1 problem – then it’ll all be worth it.

The Dallas Stars have won a club record 10 games in a row but GM Jim Nill wants more, and added 6-foot-8 defenseman Tyler Myers from Vancouver on Wednesday. That could end up being a bigger move than you think.

Same goes for Utah, who landed defenceman McKenzie Weegar from Calgary as the Mammoth make a playoff push, currently holding onto the first Western Conference wildcard spot. They’re lining up with Vegas in Round 1, and that’s a rivalry Golden Knights owner Bill Foley told me he’d love to see flourish.

Now with a day to go before the deadline, all eyes are on the East and specifically here in Florida where, believe it or not, the whole town is on pins and needles waiting to see if the Panthers ship franchise icon Sergei Bobrovsky out of town.

Talkshows, newspapers, podcasts and coffee row are rife with Panthers talk, and everyone guessing what GM Bill Zito will do with his 37-year old netminder.

I never thought I’d see the day.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.

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