Miscellanea

Yes, indeed Miscellanea is a word!

So the trade deadline has come and gone (yesterday to be exact). Of note: the Avs signed Peter Forsberg; they received Adam Foote for a conditional first-round draft pick in 2008 or 2009 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2009; and finally, traded Karlis Skrastins for Ruslan Salei of the Florida Panthers.

Admittedly, I'm not overly excited about any of these acquisitions. Peter Forsberg *could* (and that's a pretty big could) be a great asset to the Avalanche in the stretch run to the playoffs. However, $5 million for a *could* is a pretty big risk to take. I sincerely hope that in June I have to eat my words and bow down to the greatness of Forsberg, but I fear it's all just a publicity stunt to get butts in the seats at the Pepsi Center.

I think Foote is a great addition, but at 36 I think it's safe to say Foote may be past his prime and just looking to end his career with the franchise that started it all (same goes for Forsberg if his injury problems continue).

As for Salei, I'm not familiar with him at all. He looks to be a "defensive defenseman," which, lord knows, the Avalanche are in sore need of.

CC is doing disgustingly well, even though they finally lost at home to St. Cloud State earlier this month. I've heard talk of Bachman for Hobey. While he's certainly got the credentials on the ice, I think Kevin Porter from Michigan is a shoe-in for the win, followed closely by Nate Gerbe of BC. I think the sleeper candidate is Chad Rau from CC. He's quietly having a career year with 22 goals and 12 assists for 34 points, with only 3 penalties for 6 minutes!

There's a new site for Pioneer fans that is (quite conveniently) called PioneerFans.com. They have a great idea and it seems to be going well so far, so check it out!