A Word on the Habs' Inactivity Today

When talking about the Habs' deadline day strategy most people, fans and hockey experts alike, dichotomize it into two opposite directions: 'buyer' and 'seller'. If the Canadiens are buyers, the pundits say, they should make a splash for a big-name impact player such as Bill Guerin or Todd Bertuzzi. If they are sellers, however, then the Canadiens should trade away their assets, most notably Sheldon Souray, for a large return. Today, Bob Gainey decided not to go either way.

I tend to disagree with the notion that a trade is necessary on deadline day. It has to fit the team's needs at the time of the deal, and making a trade for the sake of it is not necessarily the best thing to do. If you look at Bob Gainey's moves, you see that he always thinks them out very carefully, and never pulls the trigger on a deal that is doubtful to help the team in some way. Trading for a Bill Guerin would have cost the Canadiens a roster player, a prospect, and a draft pick, which they could have afforded but are probably better off not having done. Trading Souray would have done more bad to the team short-term than the good it would have done long-term. In fact, the only player I think the Canadiens should have traded for was Peter Forsberg, but the return for him was phenomenal, his health is questionable, and there's a good chance he'll re-sign with Philadelphia in the summer.

That being said, I think the one area that Gainey has been consistently lacking is in looking out for the surrounding teams that matter. The Canadiens are in a fight for the eighth and final playoff spot with the Islanders and Maple Leafs, and both made significant trades today that make them better teams. The Canadiens' Northeast division rival Sabres made a big move today in acquiring former Hab Dainus Zubrus; the Senators and Bruins also made trades, albeit minor ones. The point here, though, is that Gainey ought to be extremely confident that his team is still on the right track compared to the Isles and Leafs if he decides not to pull a move in reaction to theirs.

I know I'm going to sound contradictory here, but Gainey is an incredibly intelligent hockey man and if he thinks that the offers being made to him would not improve his club, then there was no sense in him making a move. With Craig Rivet gone, Sheldon Souray is more a backbone of this team than ever, and we all know how fans react when you trade a pivotal player for picks and prospects (are you listening, Kevin Lowe?). And while the Leafs and Isles are certainly better teams than they were yesterday, the Canadiens are gaining momentum again and another trade might have thrown them off course. Sometimes, no news is good news after all.

Shameful conduct

Sorry that this is a bit of a late post, but I wanted to take a moment to comment on the atrocious conduct by the referees in Sunday's Pittsburgh-Canadiens rematch. After the Thursday game, Guy Carbonneau and his players complained about the one-sided call which saw Sheldon Souray get a 2-minute instigator penalty, a 5-minute fighting major, a 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct for jumping Colby Armstrong after his questionable hit on captain Saku Koivu. Despite dropping his gloves and throwing punches, Armstrong received no penalties, and Souray's penalties resulted in a 7-minute Penguins power play, during which they scored two goals.

In the Sunday game, the referees awarded the Penguins six power plays in the first two periods, many of which were questionable calls against the Habs. The Penguins, meanwhile, were not assessed any penalties, and it was clear from the way the game was being called that this was in direct retaliation for the way the Canadiens organization reacted to the reffing last Thursday. Even the CBC commentators, not usually known for their allegiance to the Habs, were hinting that the six power plays were not a coincidence and were not all fair calls. This was a less subtle example of the refs not being on the Canadiens' side, and most of those who scoff at the notion of a conspiracy against the Habs were in agreement that the one-sided bombardment of penalties was deliberate.

Conduct such as this by the NHL's referees is absolutely unacceptable. It is a disgrace that clubs should not be allowed to comment when they feel they were treated unfairly in a game, and that the NHL should allow its officials to retaliate in such an unscrupulous manner. Pete Rose was banned from baseball because gambling is seen as motivation to fix the outcome of a game, and I believe that retaliation by referees such as that which took place on Sunday is no different. It is immature, unprofessional, and borderline illegal. The NHL would be smart to denounce its officials' actions and to establish a proper system for making complaints about calls, but, unfortunately, 'intelligence' is not an adjective that has been associated with the league's head offices very much in recent years.

Pittsburgh: A great hockey town

At first, all the talk about the Penguins' potential move out of Pittsburgh didn't really phase me at all. Being Canadian, I really didn't care about the prospect of an American team moving from one city to another, especially since, earlier on, it seemed like the Pens moving to Hamilton was a distinct possibility. However, that was before I realized what a great fan base the Penguins have, and what a shame it would be for Pittsburgh to be without a hockey team next fall.

It's one thing for a team like the Florida Panthers to move, or even fold. Their attendance numbers are mediocre, and hockey in the Miami region almost always takes a backseat to football, baseball, basketball, and football again. On the other hand, the Penguins average a 93.2% operating capacity at Mellon Arena, an impressive number considering that the Pens haven't made the playoffs since 2001 and that Mellon is the NHL's oldest arena.

Evidently, the reasons for the Penguins' successes at the gate this year have a lot to do with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, two of the league's youngest and most explosive stars. Another factor is the Pittsburgh faithful's attachment to former superstar Mario Lemieux, who is part-owner of the team. In general, though, Pittsburgh is just a strong hockey market, and it would be a huge mistake to allow the Penguins to leave for Kansas City or wherever else the dollar signs may lead them.

Last night's Habs-Pens game was one of the most entertaining I've seen in awhile. The best aspects of the game were in full display in Pennsylvania: passion, speed, and skill. As Pierre McGuire mentioned on TSN, the NHL should "bottle this game up and show it to people around the world." The Penguins put on quite a show last night, and for that, they are my new second-favourite team. And the best part of it all is that they did it in front of a screaming, raucous, sell-out crowd of 17,132.

The atmosphere was unreal, and you could feel it emanating from the TV. If only all American NHL teams were the same way.