The Cherry on the Puck Bag...

I hope you all enjoyed my 6 hour live online coverage, I sure had fun and I hope you enjoyed reading.

Now here's what I have to say about certain things:

Ryan Smyth an Islander: This hit me from Planet Mars, wow, boy was I surprised; Smyth is a great guy and in this situation, I disagree with Pierre McGuire, Lowe should have pushed harder to sign Smyth. They dealt Pronger at the beginning of the season and you'd think with the cap space they freed up that they'd be able to re-sign their key player. Guess not!
The Oilers got some nice young talent back in Nilsson and O'Marra to go along with a first-round pick, but none of that compensates for this costly loss of "the Oiler".
This is huge, it seemed like there would be no surprises this year and we got one 32 minutes after the 3 PM Trade Deadline.
It remains however to be seen if the Islanders can re-sign him and if this move is the end of Jason Blake in Garth Snow's camp?

Sharks look meaner with Guerin:
Bill Guerin's name was officially off the trade market
around noon today with the San Jose Sharks winning out on the jewel of this trade deadline, Bill Guerin.

He came cheaper to San Jose than Tkachuk to Atlanta, the Blues got a 1st round pick, checker Ville Niemienen and a minor-league prospect.

That's all! And Guerin has more points than Tkachuk. Tkachuk went for a 1st, 3rd, 2nd and a much better player in Glen Metropolit than Ville Niemienen.

The Sharks seem set for the playoffs now, they got Craig Rivet from the Canadiens, he should be a great pickup;

Billy Guerin will probably play with Patrick Marleau and with Vesa Toskala nursing a groing injury, the Sharks still have an excellent goalie in Evgeni Nabokov.

Bertuzzi looks to make impact in Detroit...for Panthers' sake:
Todd Bertuzzi played only 7 games as a Panther and was traded today to the Detroit Red Wings who beat out the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks for his services.
Holland acquires the controversial winger in hope he excels on a Cup hungry Red Wing team.
Bertuzzi says his back is not yet at 100 % but nonetheless, he should still end up playing for them.
It may take some time for him to adgust but, all and all, he'll probably make an impact down the stretch and during the playoffs.
Now, the Red Wings sent a conditional pick to Jacques Martins' Panthers; if Bertuzzi excels with his new team, the Panthers could get a second round pick; if he takes them to the Cup Final, Florida gets a 1st round pick.
Ingenious move by Kenny Holland, who structured this move perfectly, so his team doesn't suffer if Bertuzzi stumbles. And if he does, the Panthers, at best, will get a 4th or 3rd round pick.
And this is,

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge