At five o'clock this morning, i awoke from the worst night's sleep i have had in years. I dressed in my Bruins jersey, still stained with a few tears from last night. I drove to the local mart for a coffee and a paper, and it started right away.

The man in front of me with the look of shame, and the head shake as he walked away.

I picked up a copy of the Boston Herald, expecting the title that followed....

"Collapse that will live in infamy",...

Alex Primakoff

As I was browsing through my selections of NHL games to watch last night, i quickly checked off my options. No Bruins or Flames game to take in, so i went with the game i thought would prove to be the most entertaining. Not knowing that i would miss an epic game between the rangers and devils, i chose to watch the lightning and capitals instead. The biggest factor in making that choice would be the opportunity to once again watch Alexander Ovechkin, who in my opinion is the most exciting player...

Alex Primakoff

When Mason Raymond was drafted in the second round, 51st overall in 2005, many wondered if he would even become a starter in the NHL. Raymond has come a long way after the day he was drafted by the Canucks. What is his potential? A career third liner with limited offensive upside? Or could he become a top 6 forward that could round out Vancouver’s offensive group quite nicely? Well before we get to that, let’s take a look at how Raymond made his way to the NHL level.

After having...

ssingh

[I]AUTHOR’S NOTE - Keep in mind that this is a fantasy post, and the likelihood of Sidney Crosby actually leaving Pittsburgh is slim to none. Also keep in mind that this is the author’s opinion. If you have your own opinion on this topic, please express it in the comment box. Thank you.[/I]


Sidney Crosby is one of the greatest players in the game today. Companies such as Reebok revolve around him, and he is the most recognizable face in the game of hockey (save, Wayne Gretzky). Yesterday, I was thinking about something to write about, when it hit me: What if Sid the Kid was traded? How would fans react? How would the media react? How would other NHL teams, coaches and his fellow players react? Needless to say, I had quite the headache afterwards.


This is what we are about to discuss for this Wednesday.


[B]1. Where would he go?[/B]
Obviously, in order to start this article, we would need to find out where Mr. Crosby would go. What team would be in need of a player like number 87? Crosby is a type of player that gets loads of assists. Somebody who likes to not only score, but also to set people up. What kind of a team has a star player, with no one to play with? That’s right.


The Atlanta Thrashers have their star forward Ilya Kovalchuk who is also one of the best players in the game. Before last season, the only players Kovy had to apparently pay with, were Todd White and Bryan Little. However, with the arrivals of a rejuvenated Nik Antropov, and resident hot-shot, Max Afinogenov, the team is starting to come along.


Somebody such as Crosby could finish the Jenga tower. Think about it. He could also bring hockey alive in the Atlanta area, just like Ovie has done to Washington, and Gretzky did to LA. The only concern with this deal, is Atlanta’s cap could come off the hook if they re-sign Kovalchuk.


Another team that could quite possibly take Pittsburgh up on their offer if they would be willing to trade Crosby, is the New Jersey Devils. Their go-to Centreman at this point are Danius Zubrus and Travis Zajac. While I do believe Zajac and Zubrus are very capable players, Zubrus is currently injured, and the Devils badly need a Centre.


Just think about it, Alex Rodriguez, Sidney Crosby and Brett Favre all in the same town!! Wait…. Forget that last guy.


They would probably have to give up a lot of their players to get this deal done, so it may be a long shot for the Devils. Either way, they would benefit from this trade in at least one department. Hey, maybe they’ll get their GF ahead of the Flyers.


[B]2. Who would he go for?[/B]
Okay, so we’ve got two very worthy candidates for Sid, in Atlanta and New Jersey, but before I decide which team gets the gold, let’s see what they both have to offer!! Since Crosby, himself, is a Center, the Pens would probably want one back.


The Centers currently on the New Jersey Devils roster are, Danius Zubrus, Travis Zajac, Rob Neidermayer, Dean McAmmond and Rod Pelley. Do any of these measure up to Crosby? No, however this obviously isn’t going to be a two-man trade. Since Crosby is 22, they would obviously want a player with longevity back, and the only two Centreman on the Devils under the age of 30 are, Rod Pelley and Travis Zajac. Zajac finished last season with 62 points in 82 games, and already has 28 points in 31 games this campaign. He is a very promising hockey player.


Pelley, on the other hand, played all of last season in the AHL with Lowell, and currently has 2 points in 28 games this year with the Devils in the NHL. While his numbers may not be too impressive at the moment, he could definitely turn into a star. I’m going to throw both players into this deal., so that the Pens get promise for one of their best players.


I am also going to add two other players into this. Gritty defenseman, Bryce Salvador is one. The Pens need to get tough, and Brooks Orpik seasoned with Eric Godard isn’t going to cut it. The second player I’m adding, is prospect, Nick Palmieri. So let’s take a look at the trade I’ve mustered up for the Devils. Criticism is welcome.


To NJD: C Sidney Crosby
To PIT: C Travis Zajac, C Rod Pelley, D Bryce Salvador, RW Nick Palmieri.


So that is what I could get from the Devils. Onto Atlanta. While looking at the Thrashers roster, I noticed that the majority of their players were either acquired this, or last season. This team has gone through a major makeover, and it is definitely showing on the ice. Would adding Sid to the mix help, or destroy this magic in the making?


Nevertheless, I’ll take a crack at it. There are only three full-time Centremen on the Thrash, Jim Slater, Marty Reasoner and Todd White. I have the pleasure of knowing some die-hard Thrasher fans, and they say that the only thing Jim Slater is good for on the ice is skating.


One look at his statistics can back that up quite nicely. Seriously, why is this guy not in the KHL yet? He has only scored 20 points once in his 4 year NHL career. However, then you come across Marty Reasoner who seems to have stepped up his game lately, and comes in nicely in clutch situations. The Pens could find use for him.


In the proposed Devils trade, there were two prospects in the deal (Pelley and Palmieri), and the Pens would definitely want more than just Reasoner. I’m not sure if the Thrash would do this, but what if you threw in Evander Kane? Here is what I’ve got from Hot-lanta.


To ATL: C Sidney Crosby
To PIT: C Marty Reasoner, LW Evander Kane


So what do you think? Please, if you don’t like it, let me know.


I’ve put together two deals. One from the Devils, and one from the ATL. It seems like both these teams are sitting quite nicely near the top of their conferences, but who wouldn’t pass up an offer on Mr. Hockey Jr.? Looking at the Thrashers, they are in re-building mode, and Don Wadell, wouldn’t want anything drastic done to his team, however, it seems that moving two players isn’t too bad, and getting a player like Crosby isn’t too bad either.


I’d say, the Thrashers would be sold on this deal more than the Devils on their offer.


[B]3. How would the Media/Fans react?[/B]
Most regular hockey fans would be something around the lines of, “ZOMG CROSBY 1Z TR4D3D?!?/!11!/?1!” , then you’ve got your types of fans who live, sleep, eat and breathe hockey. They would demand an explanation. Especially since this is the middle of the hockey season, and the Penguins are near the top of the conference. “Who needs to trade him at this point?” However, this is just an author’s opinion on how it would go, and this trade would likely never happen.


As far as the media goes, I’m will cover how I think the American media will react followed by the Canadian media.

The Americans: SportCenter Anchor, John Anderson, will probably mention a little smidge about it, then show a small clip of the interview of Crosby saying that he is happy to be in Atlanta. ESPN will then go back to airing highlights from every single College Football game that happened. Anywhere. Ever.
With the Atlanta media….well, nothing will happen.


The Canadians: TSN’s SportCentre, would likely have a 30 minute montage of reports; interviews with players, coaches and fans; Crosby goal highlights with Gord Miller screaming in the background, and Pierre McGuire ranting about him. How would you react?


Ladies and gents, thank you for taking some time to read this addition of Wrenching Wednesdays here on HFZ.
[url]http://bleacherreport.com/users/151303-michael-the-amazing[/url]...

Welcome to the first ever, Wrenching Wednesday. Once a week, I will sum up what I think about certain topics, just like I would in any other regular post, but here I’ll be posting it in a different format. So instead of just talking about it for a third of the post, I’ll make an entire post about it. It may be a rant, or it may be a Top 10. Without further ado, let’s get started.


My favourite hockey team is the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I live in Canada, and I am not a subscriber to Centre Ice. So how do I get to watch my team play? I would have to pay 20 bucks a month to get Gamecenter Live. In my opinion, that is a very hefty price for an online service that isn’t 100 percent reliable.


When GCL first came out last season, and they had a free preview for the month of October, I planned on trying it out to see if it was worth the amount of money that it was. I found the reception wasn‘t good at all, it lagged constantly. Needless to say, the price tag was way too high.


However, many people just like you and me, broadcast games over the internet for free on live streaming websites such as Ustream, and Justin.tv. I would either watch that, or listen to the games over XM Radio. However, the streams were my first choice. It’s nice to be able to see your favorite team play, over just listening to the action.


I will admit, the lagging was worse than GCL on U and JTV, but it was better than paying $240 a year just to watch hockey. What I would usually do, is go on to a hockey message board like HFBoards, look for a thread on the game I would like to watch, and then skim through the posts to look for a link to a stream.


It would usually work, until just recently, where I was looking through a GDT for the game between my Pens and the Carolina Hurricanes. Every single time a link would pop up, I would click on it, and it would work for about 2 minutes, and then shut down.


I think it was pretty clear to me, and the disgruntled posters, that the NHL was patrolling HFBoards and shutting down every link that came up. I have been boiling up inside about this for the past couple of days. Why would the NHL want to stop their own fans from watching their games? Yes, it does violate copyright laws, but has anybody ever heard of fair use?


If the NHL wants us to stop streaming their games, maybe they should consider drastically lowering the prices of GCL, which are outrageous. Another thing that they could and should be doing, is actually broadcasting live games over their own channel, the NHL Network. The NFL does it, why can’t they?


All we get are the recordings of the games that happened the night before and they are in the middle of the afternoon, when all of their viewers are in school or at work, so how are we supposed to watch them? In the end, it all comes down to is money, and I realize that. However the NHL is going one way in that category, down. Maybe it would help if they stopped moving their teams “down”.


If the NHL wants any fans, they should let them watch their games. Thank you for reading. If you’re feeling lucky, add your opinion in the comments. Link to B/R Profile: [url]http://bleacherreport.com/users/151303-michael-the-amazing[/url]...