Big and tall, yet a graceful skater, the legendary Jean Beliveau was the personification of a classy player. (Denis Brodeur/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

In this darkest of seasons for Canadiens fans, the bad news continues to pile up. Their loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night dropped them three points behind the Islanders and Hurricanes for last place in the East. They were unable to peddle anyone other than the disappointing Andrei Kostitsyn on Monday’s trade deadline day, prompting The Montreal Gazette’s Red Fisher to write, “Once, teams would line up looking for help from this franchise. The view was that if a player was good enough to wear the CH, he surely had something to offer. Now, the franchise is in disarray from the top down. Now, it’s an embarrassment unworthy of attention. Where has the talent gone? Where has the pride gone?”

And then the news came that Jean Beliveau, the man who personifies talent and pride — not just for the Canadiens, but all of hockey — had suffered a stroke, the latest of his many health setbacks. The living symbol of everything this franchise has wanted to stand for — excellence, achievement, dignity, class, respect — had been laid so low that Fisher concluded his Wednesday Gazette article on Beliveau with the three words he often reserves for those whose health is at grave risk: “Pray for him.”

Those of you born well after Beliveau’s playing career ended in 1971 may well wonder, “Who is this man I’m asked to pray for?” and it’s a legitimate question.

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Players on at least one other NHL team are wondering why Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson treated Rick Nash as he did by revealing the star’s trade request and possibly damaging his reputation as a team leader. ( Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Amidst all the deals that were made leading up to the NHL deadline (including the 16 trades and two waiver claims on Monday), the ones that didn’t happen prompted the biggest reaction, causing some to declare the day boring — which it was by some standards.

But it wasn’t boring in Columbus, even though Rick Nash remains a Blue Jacket. The fallout from that will probably put more focus on that franchise than it has ever had, and not for a good reason.

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Rick Nash, at the center of this year’s deadline intrigue, will not be going anywhere until the summer. (Kathy Willens/AP)

By Stu Hackel

5 PM: Well, let’s try to wrap this up. Not many trades. The biggest news might be who didn’t get moved and not just Nash. Also lots of guys rumored to be moving stayed up, which speaks to our general thinking about rumors. (Cue Marvin Gaye singing “People say believe half of what you see, son, and none of what you hear” From “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.”) But the Vancouver-Buffalo deal, Hodgson for Kassian was a big one, and because the players are so young, it may have reverberations for seasons to come.

We’ll let the dust settle here and take a look at this whole thing tomorrow here on Red Light and see what has changed, what hasn’t and what it might mean. Thanks for hanging with us, and lots of you did. It was fun.

4:46 PM: New NYR defenseman/forward/pugalist John Scott says (per Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune tweet). “I thought I’d be the last person to get traded. I’m excited to go to New York but also sad to leave Chicago. I just had a baby a couple of months ago. It will be tough to pack up and leave everything.”

4:44 PM: NHLN’s E.J. Hradek tweets, “Howson comment likely spurred by the Saturday remarks by Nash agent Joe Resnick, which was an effort 2 squeeze the team into making deal now”

4:42 PM: SI’s Sarah Kwak tweets, “Howson admitting Nash asked for trade opens up more options for trade later. Nash won’t nix very much to get outta there now.”

4:32 PM: Quite a statement by Scott Howson that Rick Nash asked to be traded. Never heard that before, in fact, the thinking was Nash would never make that request. Now Nash has to be captain of a team that he wanted to leave? Jeez, that’s not a good situation.

4:29 PM: For Red Wings fans, George Malik of Kukla’s Korner linked to GM Ken Holland interview http://dlvr.it/1FlmRy

4:25 PM: Howson won’t say how many teams made offers for Nash, only that he had “substantial” discussions today. “The price was high. I don’t apologize for that. It had to be high.”

4:21 PM: Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson addressing media says they made big steps this week. Regarding Nash, he had approached the CBJ to consider trading him. Howson said what was offered was not in team’s best interest. “We will continue to keep all our options open to improve our hockey club in the coming months.”

4:19 PM: Pittsburgh GM Shero: “We were not active today. Nobody going, nobody coming. Our roster is our roster going forward”

4:15 PM: Chicago GM Stan Bowman on Oduya: “His style really fits in with what we do here.”

4:14 PM: From Mike Farber: “The Winnipeg Jets took a piece off their roster in D-man Johnny Oduya, but he is able to walk as a UFA after the season. Great pick-up of a pair of draft choices. Winnipeg is in a unique position. The Jets are playing with house money. Maybe they make the playoffs. Maybe not. But in either case, they gave added nicely to their inventory. “

4:10 PM You can’t discount the fact that the deals that have been made earlier this month have had an impact. Nor can you dismiss the ongoing importance of the salary cap in keeping some teams from making deals, and the financial restrictions other teams have.

4:08 PM: Plus, some teams did make some very interesting moves that change their team going forward. And more will be done around the draft.

4:04 PM:  There are 14 trades confirmed so far today, certainly less than some of the crazier days in the last few years. Lots of talk that the day is overhyped (Jay Feaster just said that in his press conf. and Brian Burke has implied it as well), that there are too many teams asking for unrealisitic prices, over valuing players, which is why the deals don’t get made. But it’s also about parity in the league, GMs not wanting to break up the chemistry on their teams.

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Jeff Carter scored 15 goals with 10 assists in 39 games for the Blue Jackets. (Matt Pearce/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

There have been few trades consummated as the NHL approaches the trade deadline and none involving players who could be considered top-end talent. But the Thursday evening swap between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Los Angeles Kings — in which the Kings gave up defenseman Jack Johnson, a former third overall draft pick, and a future first-round pick in exchange for another former first-round pick, Jeff Carter — marked a deal involving big names that could kick start more movement as the Monday deadline approaches.

“This isn’t a rental. This isn’t your classic trade deadline deal,” Kings GM Dean Lombardi said Thursday night. “This is a good young player for a good young player. This is a hockey deal.”

It’s a deal that theoretically helps both teams. The Kings, who have won once in their last seven games and twice in their last 10, are fighting for their playoff lives after many believed they’d be a Stanley Cup contender this year. They are the worst scoring team in the NHL, averaging only 2.05 goals a game, which is low by historic proportions. They’ve been shut out three times this month and held to one goal four other times. In Carter, they get a forward who has three times topped the 30-goal mark when he played for the Flyers and in 2008-09 hit for 46.

He’s got good size, is an excellent skater with a hard shot and has the ability to play either wing or center and kill penalties. The Blue Jackets acquired him to be the center they’ve never had for Rick Nash, their excellent winger, who has been the subject of the most trade speculation the last few weeks. But the chemistry wasn’t right. Carter is not a distributor of the puck as much as he’s a sniper himself. If he produces, he’ll be a big asset for the Kings.

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Only 21, Erik Karlsson has blossomed into the NHL’s best offensive defenseman. (JC Salas/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

It’s a bit too early to say whether Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson will be one of the NHL’s three Stars of the Week next Monday — and because it will be trade deadline day, who is even going to notice? — but he’s got a great head start with seven points in his last six periods of play.  With his goal and two assists in Ottawa’s 5-2 win over Washington on Wednesday night, Karlsson leads all NHL defenseman in scoring with 60 points — 20 more than his closest pursuer, Florida’s Brian Campbell.

Karlsson’s 47th assist on Wednesday set a new Sens franchise record, breaking Norm Maciver’s mark of 46 set during the team’s inaugural campaign of 1992-93. He’s now only three points shy of Maciver’s team mark of 63 points by a d-man in a season.

Playing in a small market is part of the reason Karlsson hasn’t gotten the acclaim he should. It doesn’t help matters when NBC’s Mike Milbury touts him for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year, as Milbury did last night, either not realizing that Karlsson has already played two full seasons or perhaps confusing him with Devils rookie Adam Larsson.

Karlsson is just 21, and obviously doesn’t have the name recognition nor resume of Shea Weber, Nick Lidstrom or Zdeno Chara. But he has zoomed to the top ranks of blueliners this season. Last season (yes, Karlsson indeed played last season), he was a minus-30 on a poor, directionless team. Today, he’s plus-15 on an excellently coached club that is one of the NHL’s surprises — and he’s a big reason why they are.

So the inescapable question is, should Karlsson be the favorite for the Norris Trophy as top NHL defenseman?

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Not many deadline deals work out as well as the Islanders’ acquisition of forward Butch Goring in 1980. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

It wasn’t always this way, this craziness around the NHL trade deadline, when all the talk turns to who might be headed where and the actual games — yes, the regular season is still going on — seem to take a back seat to all manner of rumors and speculation. Once upon a time, the trade deadline came and went with little fanfare. All that changed on March 13, 1980, thanks to Islanders GM Bill Torrey when he acquired Butch Goring, the final piece in what became a great dynasty.

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Not all hockey fights are the same and this complex issue deserves more than a “yes” or “no” answer. (Terry Lee/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

There’s lots to chew on in the annual NHLPA/CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Players’ Poll, the results of which were made public over the weekend. Pavel Datsyuk was pretty much acclaimed as the NHL’s best player, Zdeno Chara the best defenseman, and Henrik Lundqvist the best goalie. The players say they think the Canucks are overrated, the Blues are underrated, that they’d love to play for the Blackhawks, they love playing at Montreal’s Bell Centre, and  the Penguins Dan Bylsma is the coach they’d most like to play for.

There’s lots more, of course, but let’s stop to consider the issues-oriented questions in the poll, namely those on fighting and the instigator rule. There are some serious problems here, and they start with the questions themselves.

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Joe Louis Arena in Hockeytown is just one of the sites across the U.S. that will host games and events. (Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

It’s “Hockey Weekend across America,” a celebration of the game that also includes the NHL and NBC’s “Hockey Day in America” on Sunday. This nationwide initiative, which USA Hockey inaugurated five years ago, actually began today with “Wear Your Jersey Day” — and if you didn’t pull one on to go to work or school, consider wearing one tonight. I’m sitting at the computer wearing a circa 1962-63 Baltimore Clippers sweater with one of my favorite logos — and, yes, it’s really a sweater although, alas, a replica. I used to listen to the Clippers’ AHL games long distance over WBAL in the early ’60s. It’s a good, warm sweater and in pretty good shape, even though the sleeves are big to fit elbow pads under them. Makes it a bit difficult to type.

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Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby have been the NHL’s marquee stars for six years, but only Ovechkin has been hit with the charge that his fame has negatively affected the level of his play. (Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

I know very little about what goes on in the NBA — as a hockey guy, some of that is by necessity and some by choice — but it’s impossible to avoid Jeremy Lin. This young basketball player has come out of nowhere to emerge as an instant worldwide breakout celebrity on the basis of two weeks’ worth of  performances for the New York Knicks and his name and his image are seemingly everywhere. You can’t miss him if you try, even if you have no clue (as I did until a few days ago) about what he’s done to deserve all the attention and acclaim.

The question here is: why doesn’t something like this happen more often with hockey players? What follows isn’t meant to supply any answers as much as probe the question itself.

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The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens of Ken Dryden rattled off an NHL record 34-game home unbeaten streak, but most importantly also grabbed the Stanley Cup. (Photo by Melchior DiGiacomo/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Detroit’s mark of 21 consecutive victories at home has stirred up the beehive of naysayers who, not without at least some justification, believe an asterisk should accompany the Red Wings’ new entry into the NHL Record Book. But no one should lose sight of the bigger picture here and confuse what the Wings have done as an indication that they are so formidable that winning the Stanley Cup is their inevitable fate. Far from it.

The Red Wings certainly know this and that while their home record is pretty amazing, their road mark is rather mediocre at 15-15-1. They’re hardly invincible. And when you look at all the teams that have put together record streaks of one sort or another during the regular season, almost none of them won the Cup.

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