Fantasy Hockey News

The Edmonton Oilers have moved a significant contract today in shifting Lubomir Visnovsky over to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ryan Whitney.

The deal unpacks some space from the Oilers roster and enables them to get a skilled defenceman in return. Both players in this deal were Olympians, too, and it stands at this point as the biggest trade of trade deadline day.

Whitney was selected as a replacement to the injured Mike Komisarek to play on the American men’s Olympic team, while Visnovsky suited up for the Slovaks and has quite a history of international play.

It’s a trade that gives the Ducks a puck-moving offensively-minded defenceman to work with their talent and it allows the Oilers to move in a nice direction with a skilled defenceman of their own.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Washington Capitals have acquired defenceman Joe Corvo from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Brian Pothier and prospect Oskar Osala.

In Corvo, the Caps get a puck-moving defenceman who can team up with Mike Green on the power play to generate some seriously dangerous offensive chances. Corvo is a solid player and has good defensive sense, too, so he’s far from a liability.

Pothier was also a pretty slick defenceman for Washington, but concussion problems kept him from realizing his full potential and he should appreciate a fresh start in Carolina.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded Lee Stempniak to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for a pair of draft picks (fourth round and seventh round).

Stempniak never really quite fit in Toronto, so it’s not really surprising to see this deal come through for the Leafs.

If Phoenix can put Stempniak on the right line and give him the space to play around offensively, they could end up having a really talented player in the mix. If they can’t provide that for him, however, the Stempniak situation is bound to repeat itself.

At the very least, the Coyotes didn’t really give up much to get him.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded forward Raffi Torres to the Buffalo Sabres. In Torres, the Sabres get a gritty personality forward who’ll help boost their momentum.

Elliote Friedman is reporting that Nathan Paetsch and a second round pick went over to Columbus in exchange for Torres, so the deal does indeed look to benefit the Sabres more.

Considering Torres’ contributions in the past with the Oilers and on Columbus, he gives the Sabres a nice physical angle that they can use to hammer out space for their forwards.

It’s not a blockbuster deal by any extent, but it doesn’t look like many big names will be moving on this particular trade deadline day.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Anaheim Ducks have traded goalie Vesa Toskala to the Calgary Flames in exchange for goalie Curtis McElhinney.

With the recent moves made by Darryl Sutter in Calgary, the team is certainly starting to look like the Toronto of the Western Conference. This deal, together with a contract extension offered to Matt Stajan, may make the Red Mile look an awful lot like Yonge Street.

The Ducks were probably never all that serious about Toskala, what with Hiller doing well in goal, and this is a pretty routine move for the club.

In any event, this deal doesn’t really boost Calgary’s profile at all. Toskala will have to sit on the bench behind Kiprusoff an awful lot and it doesn’t seem like a smart move in regards to salary, but maybe Sutter has something up his sleeve here before the day is out.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Phoenix Coyotes have traded forward Peter Mueller to the Colorado Avalanche for Wojtek Wolski.

In Wolski, the Coyotes get a slight upgrade from Mueller. Much has been made about Mueller’s lack of heart in Phoenix, so the move may be what is necessary to get something out of the forward. Wolski is a quicker version of Mueller who can play in the high traffic areas, too, so that should help the Coyotes out considerably.

At one time, Mueller was considered to be one of the top prospects to watch. Unfortunately, he’s needed an awful lot of time and space in the NHL to generate offensive chances and he’s been unable to provide his own opportunities. Mueller’s an interesting fit on the Avs, that’s for sure, but maybe Colorado can make something work with him.

According to Elliote Freidman out of the CBC, Colorado wanted to move Wolski because they didn’t want to go to arbitration with the player. They felt he’d wind up being a more expensive player and wanted to cut him loose before the money got too large on him.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It may be the calm before the storm, but things have been pretty quiet thus far on trade deadline day.

We do have a trade regarding the Washington Capitals to report, however, as Scott Walker has been moved from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Capitals in exchange for what looks to be a 7th round draft pick.

The Capitals get grit in Walker and will have a nice hard-working forward to line up against their tough playoff opponents. The Capitals are looking to go deep into the post-season this year and a guy like Walker helps them do that.

The deal likely means that the rumours about Whitney moving out of Carolina are probably not going to work out to be true. There’s little chance that the Canes will move Whitney now unless an absolutely perfect deal comes around. Of course, anything can happen on trade deadline day but a Whitney move looks unlikely.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Pepsi®, Lay’s® and Gatorade® are ready to rock with another contest and our readers also have a chance to win a $75 gift card to the NHL Store, courtesy of the fine folks putting on the Bring Home the Cup contest.

UPDATE: Due to the great response thus far in this contest, the fine AND generous folks from “Team Up & Bring Home the Cup” have provided 2 additional gift cards for us to give away! We will now be giving away $75 gift cards to 3 different people! So spread the word to your friends and one or both of you may take home an NHL gift card… and just maybe… the Stanley Cup as well!

Amateur teams at any level can enter for a chance to bring the Stanley Cup™ to their hometown, accompanied by Mark Messier. To enter the Bring Home the Cup contest online, click here!

Adrian and I will be giving away one three $75 gift cards to the NHL Store to the winner of our own little contest we’ll be putting on here. We’re looking for the best hockey haiku you guys and gals can come up, so give it your best shot and deliver us some lines in the comments section!

For those of you who aren’t sure about a haiku, this should help out a little. Adrian and I will be closing this contest up on March 12 and picking the winners of the $75 gift card to the NHL Store, so get your entries in!

Good luck to all our entrants!

Veteran defenceman Chris Chelios has been snapped up by the Atlanta Thrashers.

The 48-year-old has spent 25 seasons in the National Hockey League and was released by the Detroit Red Wings after last season. He went on to spend time with the Thrasher’s affiliate Chicago Wolves in the AHL and posted 21 points in 44 games.

Chelios has appeared in 266 playoff games, an NHL record, and has won three Stanley Cups in his career.

With the Thrashers just two points out of a playoff spot, they’re clearly looking for a boost in the locker room from Chelios. Having traded away Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils in the beginning of February, the move appears to be one geared towards arming Zach Bogosian and Tobias Enstrom with a mentor with playoff experience.

It’s clear that the Thrashers haven’t given up on their post-season hopes, but whether Chelios is the type of player that can help them actually get to the playoffs remains to be seen.

Terms of the Chelios signing were not disclosed.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

We wouldn’t expect anything less, of course, but Sunday’s gold medal game at the 2010 Olympics snagged an enormous television audience.

CTV is reporting that around 80% of Canadians watched at least part of the game. They are also reporting an average viewing audience of 16.6 million people, with the game broadcast on nine different television networks in a total of eight languages across the country. 26.5 million Canadians watched Canada in gold over the United States in overtime.

14.3 million Canadians watched the closing ceremonies, with about 24.5 million people tuning in for at least part of the proceedings.

On NBC ratings for the gold medal game were also huge. They said that the Canada vs. U.S.A. hockey final was the most watched hockey game in the United States in 30 years. It drew a viewership of 27.6 million people. The Lake Placid U.S.A. vs. Finland game drew 32.8 million in 1980.

In America, the ratings for the 2010 Olympic gold medal game was up some 61% from the 2002 match-up.

The gold medal game capped off what was a very exciting and compelling Olympics in Vancouver. Being in this celebratory environment and seeing my little corner of the world come alive with such excitement and joy has been a pleasure and watching the events, all of them, has been a thrill.

And to have the Olympics end on such a tremendous note, with the gold medal men’s hockey win seen by almost 80% of my fellow Canadians, has been a once-in-a-lifetime treat.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.