First off, I must admit I was wrong in my opinion Simon Gagne wouldn’t accept a trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s still a surprising move but I’m guessing part of the reason he agreed to join the Lightning was former Team Canada teammate Steve Yzerman is now their general manager. Gagne has lots of respect for Yzerman and that could’ve been a factor in his decision.

So, out of 26 columns for Hockey Independent breaking down and usually dismissing wild trade rumors, I got one wong. Oh, well, nobody’s perfect, but that’s still a damn good average.

Now, on to today’s fun.

The Bleacher Report recently published a list of 25 players who could still be dealt this off-season.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/420233-26-nhlers-who-could-still-be-dealt-this-off-season#page/1

The list contained the names of some familiar trade bait, like Boston’s Marc Savard, Tim Thomas, Michael Ryder, Chicago’s Patrick Sharp and Brian Campbell, Buffalo’s Tim Connolly, Columbus’ Nikita Filatov, St. Louis’ Eric Brewer, Toronto’s Tomas Kaberle, Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa, Edmonton’s Sheldon Souray, and of course the aforementioned Gagne.

While I could offer up some disagreements over the possibility of some of those players being dealt nevertheless their names have reportedly been brought up in rumored trade talks, so I certainly won’t dismiss them.

The article also mentioned the names of Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, Florida’s Tomas Vokoun, Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan, Washington’s Michael Nylander, correctly claiming there was no likelihood they would be dealt.

It also suggested the prospects of a trade were low for Florida’s Stephen Weiss, the NY Rangers Wade Redden, Toronto’s Jeff Finger, Carolina’s Sergei Samsonov, whilst Chicago’s Cristobal Huet and Minnesota’s Josh Harding were considered “medium-low”.

I do however disagree with the suggestion LA Kings’ winger Wayne Simmonds has a high likelihood of being dealt. If the Kings weren’t willing to include Simmonds as part of the package for Ilya Kovalchuk last season, I don’t see them using him as bait for a lesser player.

The report also suggested Minnesota’s Brent Burns’ likelihood for a trade as “medium”. While correctly acknowledging their signing of Mark Cullen alleviates some of their need for offensive depth it’s well known Wild GM Chuck Fletcher doesn’t want to part with Burns. Given the number of affordable scoring forwards available in this summer’s UFA market Fletcher could further bolster his offense without parting with Burns.

Finally, they consider Ottawa’s Jason Spezza’s trade prospects as “medium-low”.  Given GM Bryan Murray’s comments following July 1^st that he wasn’t moving Spezza, hadn’t found any interest in the trade market for the center plus Spezza’s “no-trade” clause having now kicked in, the possibility of a Spezza trade is non-existent this summer.

Lyle Richardson
SpectorsHockey.net
twitter.com/spectorshockey

It is futile to attempt to grasp the exact amount of additional salary cap space which has to be created to re-sign Niklas Hjalmarsson, Andrew Ladd and Antti Niemi.

If the reported $4 million in bonuses, which kicked in after Lord Stanley landed in Chicago is true, it appears all three won’t be back unless another significant trade occurs.

Patrick Sharp was on my untouchable list and it would take a really big offer to get the Hawks to move him.

The three others which weren’t on the list that are paid a large salary include Brian Campbell, Cristobal Huet and Kris Versteeg. 

The Hawks would be a much different team without Campbell. Maybe there is a more affordable version of Campbell which is available but Tomas Kaberle wouldn’t be my choice. Although from a cap standpoint the Hawks would save about $3 million and Kaberle’s contract expires after the upcoming season. 

The United Center will be sold out for every game next year so maybe the Hawks will take a chance and deal Campbell. Brian Burke has to be anxious to swing a big trade, maybe even more so than Bowman. 

From a hockey standpoint a trade which could make more sense, if trading Campbell is a priority, would be to acquire defenseman Brent Burns from the Wild. The Hawks would save approximately $3.5 million is cap space and Burns is signed through the 2011-2012 season and has been mentioned in trade rumors. 

Burns is only 25 years old and was a former 1st round draft pick but is coming off two sub-par campaigns. He did score 15 goals with 28 assists in 2007-2008. In the past two seasons Burns has missed time due to injury. 

Campbell has a no movement clause but maybe Minnesota or Toronto would be destinations he would find acceptable. By trading Campbell the Hawks would receive the most salary cap relief except for dealing Cristobal Huet. 

For this discussion and until proven otherwise Huet can’t be traded.  

Sharp is exactly the kind of player Burke needs to bolster his offense and at this point nothing can be ruled out. 

That leaves Kris Versteeg, who is probably a smaller forward than Burke would like but he can’t be too choosy. Versteeg could bolster the Leaf offense and play with Phil Kessel. 

It’s an either or situation with Versteeg. 

Either Versteeg is on the cusp of becoming a legitimate scorer or he is only a good player made better because he has been on a great team.

If Joel Queeneville had a choice Versteeg would be playing in Chicago next season and so would Ladd.

Ladd is an underrated player and if he could be signed for less than $2 million the Hawks will try very hard to retain his services. But they may have no choice but to shed his salary also. 

As crazy as it sounds Hawks management may bite the bullet and let Niemi walk away. But first they will try to trade his ‘rights’ if he can’t be qualified by Monday. If the Hawks miss the qualifying offer deadline Niemi would become an unrestricted free agent. 

Niemi is arbitration eligible which probably is another reason Hjalmarsson would be their choice to re-sign, if only one had to be chosen. My view is re-signing Hammer has to be the Hawks top priority.

There is no way for me to know exactly what Bowman will need to do over this weekend. It does seem highly unlikely Hjalmarsson, Ladd and Niemi can all be re-signed without another major trade occurring. 

Al’s Shot 

This year I haven’t spent the necessary time to analyze the upcoming NHL draft. So my opinions are only guesses.

One interesting aspect is if the Hawks will tempt fate and draft a Russian born player. The Hawks have had no success drafting Russians but there are two or three which might be available when Chicago picks.

My gut says no…But this could be the year they take a chance with one of their first round selections.

The Hawks have had success in drafting players which will play first in college before turning pro.

My buddy Paul Shaheen and his partner Eric Krupka publish an amateur hockey report. The website is www.amateurhockeyreport.com, they have been around for awhile and are students of the game.

Especially this year it is impossible to know which players will be available when the Hawks select. No doubt there will be a few trades which will change the drafting order.

Paul had a few names to watch for tonight and tomorrow and here are his thoughts.

Center Brock Nelson, is the nephew of former NHL player Dave Christian’s and is a great kid. He is going to follow the same path as Jonathan Toews and will enter North Dakota in the fall.

Center Jaden Schwartz is Canadian born but played in the USHL this past year. According to Paul he possesses high end skill.

California native Beau Bennet is a very good prospect. He is a right winger going to University of Denver and had 41 goals last season.

He described defender Derek Forbort as a raw stud who played for the US under 18’s. 

Goal keeper Jack Campbell is highly rated but sometimes tenders slide down in the draft. He was outstanding while playing for the US in the WJC.

Thanks Paul.

Look for a blog tomorrow, tonight should be very interesting.

blackhawkswin@comcast.net

Five years prior the Kings had made ‘the trade’ with Edmonton to bring Gretzky to LA, turning Hollywood to Hockeywood. The Kings had their best year ever in 1990-91, posting 102 points and winning the Smythe Division. After losing to Edmonton that postseason and the year after, coach Tom Webster was fired.

Then, prior to the 1992-93 season the Kings hired Barry Melrose, a Tony Robbins following – mullet wearing coach who had never been behind the bench for an NHL game. His star player, #99, missed the first 36 games of the season with a back injury. Luc Robitaille captained the team while he was out, in route to the best season of his career with 63 goals and 125 points. The team finished in 3rd place with a record of 39-35-10, just 11th best in the 24 team league.

Fan favorite and starting goaltender, Kelly Hrudey, had gone through a horrible slump earlier in the year and still wasn’t right as the playoffs began. Down 2-1 in the series, Melrose replaced him with Robb Stauber. Hrudey says “Robb played in game four and we won 2-1 to even the series. Barry stuck with him in games five and six…He won the series.”

Melrose kept Stauber between the pipes to open the second round against Vancouver. After the Kings lost the first game Hrudey recalls “Immediately following the game Barry called me into his office and told me I was going to start game two.” The Kings went on to win the series 4-2, setting the stage for what came next…

THE SERIES

The Campbell Conference Finals in 1993 would determine who would play the Montreal Canadians for the Stanley Cup. Hockey know-it-alls would tell you the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to send Melrose, Gretzky and the rest of the LA Kings packing.

Even though the Leafs had gone 2-1-1 against the Kings during the regular season, team leader Doug Gilmour didn’t take the Kings lightly, saying “We don’t want to get into a scoring match up with the Kings. We want to play them strong defensively and go from there.” Rookie goalie Felix Potvin agreed, adding “It’s going to be a tough series…they’ve got a wide-open offense…and we’re going to try to have to shut them out. We don’t want to get into a shootout with the Kings.”

There were also plenty of odd associations on both sides as well. Leafs winger Mike Krushelnyski had played two seasons for the Kings before being traded to Toronto a few years earlier. Glenn Anderson of the Leafs had played with Gretzky and Kurri back in Edmonton and felt the Kings were “very determined not only to get by this series against us but to win the Stanley Cup.”

Toronto’s captain, Wendel Clark, just so happened to be the first cousin of Melrose. Clark, who played a key role in most of the games, has since said “That series was probably the most excitement I saw around here,” referring to Maple Leaf Gardens.

Melrose didn’t let family ties stand in the way of what he says “was one of the best series the NHL has had in the last 30 years,” adding “both buildings were electric, and both cities were unbelievable.”

Game 1 – while the Maple Leafs defeated the Kings 4-1 to take the early series lead, the real story of the game centered on a hit LA defenseman Marty McSorley put on Gilmour. Clark took exception to the hit and went after McSorley, in what became a series long theme (www.MayorsManor.com has video of the whole incident). The hit also enraged Burns, who tried going after Melrose on the bench, convinced he ordered the hit on Gilmour.

McSorley’s bruised face was on the cover of the Toronto sports page with a quote from Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher “All I’m saying is (McSorley) may try (going after Gilmour), but it won’t happen again”.

The coaches were beginning their own war too. Burns began to take aim at Melrose through the media – feeling the Kings coach didn’t respect him or his team. After Melrose made a comment about the Leafs being good at protecting a lead because they have “10 guys 30 years old. They plug up the middle pretty well.” Burns retorted with “We had 99 points this year, his team had 88. I guess our 30-year-olds did a pretty good job clogging up the middle. We beat Detroit and St. Louis, and I firmly believe we’ll beat the Los Angeles Kings, too.” The war of words later escalated to Melrose commenting on Burns’ weight – even telling him to have another donut – while Burns would call him Billy Ray Cyrus.

Looking back now Melrose says “Pat and I are both competitive guys. We’re both outgoing guys,” Melrose said. “We both talk a lot, and when you get both of those things combined…a lot of stuff is going to happen.”

Game 2 – the Kings tie the series with a 3-2 win in Toronto

Game 3 – with the series now in LA for games three and four, the Kings win 4-2, taking the series lead

Game 4 – the Leafs tie the series with a 4-2 victory at the Forum

Game 5 – in the first of back to back overtime games, the Leafs win 3-2 when Anderson whacks a puck out of the air with 40 seconds left in the extra period…the Leafs now lead the series 3-2 and the series heads back to LA.

Game 6 – prior to the game a Toronto columnist noted that Gretzky was playing like he had a piano on his back throughout the series..the Great One then went out and proved you don’t call out a legend like that…

Urban myth has it that Wayne addressed the team before the game and asked them to give it their all to tie the series and send things back to Toronto, where he promised he would take care of things in game seven.

It almost never came to be. The Kings dominated the first two periods and were up 4-1 early in the third. However, Clark scored three goals for the Leafs to even the game 4-4 and send things to overtime. Early in the fourth period Gretzky high-sticked Gilmour for what Leaf fans will forever claim should have been a penalty. Referee Kerry Fraser disagreed and play continued.

From behind the net Robitaille set up Gretzky to win the game. Kings 5, Leafs 4. Board the plane. We’re going back to Toronto for game seven and a possible trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Game 7 – in what will forever be known as ‘the series’ among Kings fans and players, this is ‘the game’

Gretzky opened the scoring on a shorthanded give-and-go with McSorley to provide the Kings an early 1-0 lead. He then set up Tomas Sandstrom for a goal to put the Kings up 2-0 at the end of the first period.

Toronto tied things up early in the second on goals from Clark and then Anderson. Melrose called a time out to settle things down. At the half way point of the second period Gretzky was alone in the slot and put a slap shot past Potvin to give the Kings the lead again at 3-2. Like the intermission before, the Kings were leading at the break.

Clark scored his second goal of the game just minutes into the third period to tie things up once again. Both teams rushed up and down the ice repeatedly for over 10 minutes, neither scoring. With just under four minutes remaining in the third, Kings forward Mike Donnelly scored on a rebound of a shot originally taken by Alex Zhitnik – giving the Kings a precious one goal lead.

Just seconds later Gretzky ended up with the puck, circled behind the net and backhanded it off the skate of Leafs defenseman Dave Ellet. It went by Potvin and the Kings now had a two goal lead on #99s hat trick.

The next few minutes probably seemed like an eternity to Kings fans everywhere. Then, with about a minute to go, Ellet got a small sense of redemption, scoring to pull the the Leafs close, now trailing by just a goal.

Tick, tock…pass, shot, save…rinse, repeat…ten seconds left…three seconds left…game over. Kings win the game 5-4 and the series 4 games to 3.

Gretzky has been quoted as saying that his performance in game 7 was the best NHL game of his career. For Kings fans it will certainly was.

With a roster full of guys like Corey Millen, Gary Shuchuk and Pat Conacher the Kings beat an original six team in the playoffs for the first time since entering the league in 1967. Oh yeah, they also had guys named Granato, Carson and Blake.

In two of the iconic moments in franchise history, Gretzky skated over to the bench after the game to give Melrose a huge hug (pictured at right)…later in the locker room, Luc Robitaille kissed Dave Taylor as they celebrated around the Campbell Conference trophy (picture above).

It truly was probably the greatest seven game series ever played and the mere mention of Kings-Maple Leafs will always bring back memories of that epic playoff battle.

Ah, 1993…when mullets were cool and the Kings owned LA.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119

note: What’s your favorite moment from the seven games with Toronto? Post a comment below and share it with other readers.