And away we go…in a pre-deadline day deal, Brad Boyes went from St. Louis to Buffalo, bringing questions about his productivity and penchant for quickly wearing out his welcome. (Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

6:05 p.m. — All told, there were just 16 trades this year, the fewest number of deals since 2000 when there were 12 trades. By comparison, last year there was a record number of trades, 31. This year, 35 players (the lowest since 2004) and12 draft picks changed teams . Last year saw 55 players change teams, also a record. But, while this day was slower, between Feb. 9 and 22, there were 18 deals involving 35 players and 14 draft choices, so there was a lot of movement this month.  And the real impact day was Feb. 18 (and 19) when some big deals were made. Anyway, that’s it for deadline day, and thanks for hanging with us. We had 10s of thousands of page views, so we hope you all like what we did today. See you tomorrow.

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Brad Richards, who has reportedly drawn interest from teams such as the Kings and Rangers, will be tricky to move with a no-trade clause and a concussion. (Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Trades that make the biggest news usually involve the biggest names. For example, Alex Kovalev – who hardly burned up the league during his two seasons with Ottawa — grabbed lots of headlines when the Senators dealt him on Thursday back to the M*A*S*H* unit also known as the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kovy is still a premier name in the NHL, but largely because of talent he doesn’t use. He’s thought of as a potential impact player although he hasn’t really had an impact since 2007-08 when he skated for the Montreal Canadiens.

With the trade deadline looming on Monday — we’ll be live blogging here at Red Light starting sometime around 10 a.m. Eastern time – one big name seems to be hovering over the proceedings as the impact player most often mentioned as likely to change sweaters. Whether he gets traded or not, he will also provide the biggest drama. That would be Dallas Stars center Brad Richards.
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Augie Cardinale proved that sometimes the worst player on the team can also have the biggest heart. (Photo by Miron Vislocky)

By Stu Hackel

This is a post I knew was coming and I’ve dreaded writing it. It’s about my friend Augie Cardinale, with whom I played hockey for around 20 years until he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last September. As you may know, that diagnosis is pretty much a death sentence and Augie passed away on Tuesday. I got the call as we were getting ready to go on the ice for our usual Tuesday night game. After I relayed the news, the room went silent for about two full minutes, and if you’ve ever been in a recreational hockey dressing room pre-game, you know that never happens. But Augie was loved by everyone who ever laced ‘em up with us.

The thing was, Augie was the worst player out there.

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Devin Setoguchi started slow, but is rolling now just like the Sharks. (Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Not only does San Jose’s Devin Setoguchi have one of the best names in hockey, it’s one that frequently comes up in trade rumors. But the way he’s playing lately, with five goals in two games, including a pair on Tuesday night in the Sharks’ 4-3 win in Detroit, not trading Setoguchi might be the best move GM Doug Wilson makes by Monday’s deadline.
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Sabres great Gilbert Perreault (left) greeted new owner Terry Pegula, who has spent much of his life rooting for the team he promises to build into a Stanley Cup-winner. (AP Photo)

By Stu Hackel

The NHL Board of Governors today approved the sale of the Sabres to Terry Pegula, and besides it being good news for the fans of that club, it also might be good news for all hockey fans. Why? Because Terry Pegula is a such a big hockey fan that he sniffed back tears of joy at his introductory press conference as he recalled his roots as a Sabres fan in 1975 and saw members of that team in attendance, especially the one he called, “my hero”: Gilbert Perreault.

Perhaps this notion is just a pipe dream, but as a hockey dad who attended Sabres games for 18 years, listened to the audio of their televised games over long distance phone lines in the days before the Center Ice package, and isn’t embarrassed to cry in public over his love of the game, maybe, just maybe, Pegula will speak at NHL owners meetings as a fan as much as a businessman.

In a letter to Sabres fans on the start page of the team’s website, Pegula writes, “From 1980-1998, I was sitting next to you in your seat at both the Memorial Auditorium and the HSBC Arena as a season ticket holder. As a longtime Sabres fan, I have followed all the great players who represented our city. Along with each player and fan, we have all shared a vision…to have the Buffalo Sabres name inscribed on the Stanley Cup.”

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Among the most notable trades so far, Chris Stewart was surprised to end up in St. Louis after believing that he would be part of Colorado’s future. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Last Friday, 11 days before the NHL trade deadline, when GMs seemed to be suddenly swapping players like kids trading hockey cards, TSN’s James Duthie, who hosts the annually excellent trade deadline show on that network tweeted, “Wow, quite a day. Well, thanks for watching Tradecentre 2011. We’ll see you nex…wait…what? Oh. Right. Crap.”

Earlier, Duthie had tweeted, “TSN commentators secretly rehearsing dance numbers so that if no trades are left, Tradecentre will become most disturbing Glee episode ever.”

For years, teams waited until the last moment and the countdown was suspense-filled. This year, instead of a one- or two-day drama leading up to the Feb. 28 deadline, we’ve gotten a trading season that started just after the All-Star break. Since Feb. 9 (as the SI.com NHL Trade Tracker reveals), there have been 18 deals involving 36 players and 14 draft choices. On Friday (and early Saturday morning) alone, there were seven deals involving 16 players and six picks. No wonder Duthie was muttering. Monday might prove  to be anticlimactic.
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The weather may be harsh and Mother Nature may not be too nice with the ice, but it’s hard to beat the atmosphere of an outdoor NHL game, no matter how often they’re played. (Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

If there was ever a compelling case for the NHL outdoor format to be expanded, it was made by yesterday’s Heritage Classic game in Calgary. Once again, as in Edmonton for the league’s inaugural non-roofed game eight years ago and in soggy Pittsburgh last month, fans braved harsh weather to celebrate the game they love. If you think that sort of response wouldn’t be repeated in many other NHL markets, you don’t know hockey fans.
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Former Flyer John LeClair was the very – but not so pretty — picture of a hockey player’s legendary ability to take a licking and keep on playing in the relentless pursuit of victory. (Lou Capozzola/Sports Illustrated)

By Stu Hackel

Hockey without toughness? Fahgeddaboudit. It’s a central component of the sport, as integral as sticks and pucks, and it’s ingrained in the game’s culture. Players are almost required to display courage when facing adversity. Playing hurt is considered a sign of one’s character, willingness to compete, and desire to give everything in the pursuit of victory. It’s still a man’s game and if you’re too hurt to play — like the Canadiens’ James Wisniewski, who took a shot in the face in Edmonton last night — you ought to look something like he did. (More photos of the toll taken on players can be seen in this SI.com gallery entitled The Faces of Battle.)

Toughness is a huge part of what makes hockey players special, and the culture around the game permits us even to make light of injuries. The photo of Wisniewski linked above has a comment underneath that reads, “Nice hockey scratch Wiz.” Injuries inevitably invite jokes, and minimizing danger with humor reflects the fearlessness that hockey players display, perhaps better than any other athletes. Playing with broken bones is not unheard of. A few stitches, a busted nose, a stick in the teeth? Nothing to it. Patch ‘em up, get ‘em back out there quickly.

But when it comes to concussions, that essential aspect of the game’s make-up is now being reconsidered.
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Many inquiring media minds want to know how Steve Yzerman feels about facing the Red Wings for the first time since he took over as GM of the Lightning. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

It’s not exactly a homecoming. It will be more like a visit from the folks when Steve Yzerman’s Tampa Bay Lightning hosts his old Red Wings family tonight in the first encounter between the clubs since Stevie Y moved south last spring.
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There may be nothing about the Thrashers’ attendance woes that a little winning (in the postseason) wouldn’t fix, but then again, Atlanta’s fans are notoriously fickle. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Hockey traditionalists — and I am one — frequently criticize the NHL for locating teams in the Sun Belt and claim their problems are simply a matter of their location. But the easy explanation isn’t always the right explanation, and in the case of the Atlanta Thrashers, ownership’s legal entanglements and team’s competitive futility during the course of its existence have easily contributed as much, if not more, to the franchise’s failings.

Chris Vivlamore in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that if the current owners, Atlanta Spirit, don’t find additional partners or a buyer for the whole franchise that are willing to keep the Thrashers in town, the team may go the way of its predecessor, the Flames, and move.
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