From Shootout to Buyout!

Maybe it's just a cowinky dink, maybe dumb luck. Last week, when the Mavs acquire Jason Kidd, Fidel Castro steps down from power in Cuba. Today the Dallas Stars complete a blockbuster of a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida state suffers a massive blackout! Go figure.

At issue here was securing the services of a scoring machine. The Stars did exactly that with Brad Richards. For added measure they also acquired goalie Jovan Holmquist to back up and compete alongside Marty Turco. In return the Stars traded Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Halpern, Mike Smith and a 4th round draft pick.

Initially there was some trepidation about losing Jussi to Tampa Bay. He was after all the man who made the shootout so damn popular in Dallas. As my boss AJ likes to blurt out, 'There are no shootouts in the playoffs!'

With Holmquist and Richards in tow until Thursday night, Dallas was able to overcome a 1-0 deficit and get a 3-1 at St Louis on the Blues. Thursday the Black Hawks are in town and I look forward to seeing the new kids in town do their thing. Suffice to say this trade should whet the appetite of hockey fans as we get nearer to the playoffs.

There was a flurry of trades made this day in the NHL. Cristobal Huet found a new home as did Sergei Federov. In my mind the Tampa Bay-Dallas trade made the most impact for both teams. For the Lightning you can now clear up some cap room. For the Stars, can they finally get past the firsty round of the NHL playoffs? I am hoping so...We still need a healthy Sergei Zubov!

Over and out in Big D

Mr Will