Pavel Kubina

Could the answer to the Atlanta Thrashers horrible slide have to do with the lingering rumors of the team’s sale?

It is not inconceivable that rampant talk involving the team’s financial woes combined with all the stories suggesting the team may move to either Winnipeg or Quebec have resulted in a negative effect on its players.

Today, I am going to take an in depth look at the Southeast division.

Washington Capitals

Key acquisitions: DJ King (only acquisition)

Key losses: Brendan Morrison, Joe Corvo, Shaone Morrison, Jose Theodore and Scott Walker

With NHL free agency just a few days away, here are some rumors on who may be going where.

According to ESPN.com, the Blues, Capitals, and Penguins are all possible destinations for Paul Martin, however, if the Maple Leafs move Tomas Kaberle for a top six forward, Martin might draw the eye of Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke.

If you listen to the rumblings of hockey experts, you will have heard that there is a pretty thin crop of free agents this year.

I disagree. With the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrick Marleau and Paul Kariya on the list, I'm not sure I would call it a weak crop.

Let's have a quick look at five players who in my opinion who can still have an impact on a different team.

There's a line that's overused a lot in situations that it doesn't really apply to:

No one is safe.

A place where that may actually be true however, is at the NHL Trade Deadline.

There are very few names that will never get mentioned at the Deadline. In fact, we've even seen names unlikely to move at the deadline surprisingly switch teams.

Even players with "No Movement" or "No Trade" clauses aren't safe.

On Sunday night, the Thrashers hosted the St. Louis Blues in the Philips Arena.

It’s surprising just a few days ago I had written that the Thrashers needed to change up their defensive pairings, which would guide them to better defense and wins.

The last few games of losses, which included a 6-3 loss on Saturday night from the lowly yet now streaking New York Islanders, lead to Coach John Anderson to switch up his lines.

The Atlanta Thrashers played host to another up and coming team the Columbus Blue Jackets, on Thursday night.

I’ll not go into too much detail, but just bring up what’s been going on.


Con: Another Thursday Home game, another big deficit in the first period.

This has stop, change the third jerseys night, have proper defense, something please.


Pro: The Thrashers attempt a comeback, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Having an NHL entry contract means, you have to shut up, work your way up the ranks, and you will get your chance to show your stuff when it matters.

Being a fan of the Maple Leafs, I have the usual upbringing. Kid grows up in Canada, plays hockey, watches hockey, basically eats, sleeps and breathes hockey. Same goes for growing up in the Big Smoke, you bleed blue and white as soon as you're born.

I can recite every single player since I was 2 years old, and many from before I was born. From Lou Franceschetti to Mikhail Grabovski to Bill Barilko.

Since the Chicago Blackhawks re-signed restricted free agents Cam Barker and Kris Versteeg, trade rumors have swirled around the team and their need to add a gritty defenseman to play with Brian Campbell.

Similarly, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been under the same kind of focus. With the additions of Francois Beauchemin, Mike Komisarek and Garnet Exelby, the team has a surplus of defensemen. Now, the team is in need of a scoring forward.

Is it possible to think the Leafs and Hawks could solve each others problems?