Leafs land Flames' Phaneuf in blockbuster deal

[Forkboy]

Toronto GM Brian Burke has seen enough of his underachieving Maple Leafs.

Sunday morning, Burke remade the Maple Leafs with a bold move and a hint of more to come.

In the announced deal, he traded for defenseman Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames, who won Saturday night for the first time in 10 games to stop their freefall down the Western Conference standings.

The complete deal was Phaneuf, right wing Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie to Toronto for forwards Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers and defenseman Ian White.

Phaneuf is the big, physically-dominating defenseman that defines Burke's philosophy. Burke thought he had obtained that player in the summer, signing Montreal's Mike Komisarek to a free-agent deal. But, Komisarek's season has been derailed by a slow start and a shoulder injury.

Now, the hard-hitting Phaneuf, drafted by the Flames in the first round, No. 9, in 2003, gets his chance. Phaneuf has 10 goals and 12 assists with a plus- 3 rating in 55 games this season. Those numbers are respectable, but he has spent some time in the doghouse of first-year coach Brent Sutter. Plus, Calgary was looking to make a deal after struggling throughout the month of January.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=515662

[joeybee12]

1. Blockbuster deal? So NHL players have contracts to rent DVD's..

...so THAT'S what ice hockey is all about! I finally understand.

[Forkboy]

2. hehe

That's ok, I still don't get why in tennis when they approach the net they always shoot over it. ;)

[joeybee12]

3. They get more points if it goes THROUGH the net...

...but that's a lot harder so you don't see it too often. :P

[Forkboy]

4. And what happened to points 1 through 14?

:)

[madinmaryland]

10. Too funny! Arguing about toothless thugs against

hot looking babes skating!

Hmmmm.

[Forkboy]

13. You always say thugs, but hockey players are a million times more laid back than football players.

You watch the fucking Cowboys, dude! :shrug:

You want to know the biggest scandal in the NHL in the last 10 years? Some dude using the term "sloppy seconds". For saying it the player got kicked off his team and sent to the minor leagues. In the NFL you can torture and kill animals for fun and profit and your teammates give you a fucking award in courage.

The NFL news reports read like a rap sheet and you're claiming NHL players are thugs? Might want to get a clue on that one.

[madinmaryland]

15. I'll take the hot skating

babes!

I knew this would get you worked up!

"The biggest scandal in the NHL in the last 10 years?" Well if the NHL had any exposure to the general public...

:popcorn:

[Forkboy]

16. Poser.

I'll take the real sports over babes that wouldn't give you the time of day if your life depended on it anyday....

:popcorn:

[joeybee12]

11. Tennis scoring is weird, they only use numbers that are divisible by...

One.

[Forkboy]

14. Well that's just dumb.

:P

[joeybee12]

17. What can I say? It's a sport where people don't hit each other...

...of course it's dumb!

[Forkboy]

18. I have nothing to add to that, Joey.

:)

[Onceuponalife]

5. Too little, too late for this season

Maybe next season this will have a bigger impact. The Leafs have shown signs of improving now and again but then hit a bad streak and the cycle starts all over again.

[Forkboy]

6. I think it's an overreaction by the Flames to their 9 game losing streak.

The guy was a Norris finalist. I know he's struggled this year, but not that bad. Sutter is a hardass, and I think they're going to regret this trade.

[inthebrain]

7. Theres been tension between Phaneuf and Sutter this season

This trade was just a matter of time.

Burke is an idiot for making it though. Phaneuf doesn't have the quality lineup he had in Calgary to cover for his shortcomings. And he has a lot of them.

I'm just looking forward to the draft this season. The fans in Toronto are gonna want Burkes head on a plate if Boston gets a top five pick from them. Hall or Fowler wind up a Bruin there is going to be hell to pay in Toronto.

[Forkboy]

8. Burke and the fans had to know there was a chance the B's would get one of these guys though.

I'm not sure Burke is a fool for making it, though I wouldn't have made the trade. I don't know. It seems an overreaction on both team's part. Toronto has to know this year is a wash, so why panic? And Calgary is 7 games over .500...so why panic?

As for the fan there, I think they're going to pissed until they make they playoffs, no matter who goes where.

I agree that Phaneuf might struggle without any real support. It's one reason why Komisarek has been mostly a bust for them. Even in Montreal he had more help than he does now (and to be fair to the Leafs, he just hasn't played well in the games I've seen). But I still think Phaneuf was worth hanging onto. Calgary has no one behind to fill that gap to any real extent, and it's not like they aren't a playoff team. With the right coaching Phaneuf can be a major factor, and while I like all the Sutter Brutters, I think in this case they're being impatient.

I'm only bummed if it helps the Leafs. You know sure as shit I want to see Hall or Fowler here in Beantown! Could be a deep draft this year, so even getting a 3 through 5 pick could be good. At worst, whoever goes 1-5 will be in the NHL within 2 years.

*And updated news...J.S. Giguere is also Toronto bound after today.*

[inthebrain]

9. This years draft is a little weaker than last years

After Hall and Fowler not a lot of those guys look to be in the NHL to start next season. The next draft is looking weaker than 2006 which wasn't very good.

Burke just placed the leafs in a two year hole and is burning away his assetts on junk. I think when Burke made all those signings he started to believe his own press clippings and that's why he made that terrible deal for Kessel. Kessel is a good player but Hall is going to be ten times better. When you have a shot to draft a guy like Hall you don't pass it up.

I'm wondering who's the worse GM, Sather, Milbury or Burke.

[Forkboy]

12. Milbury.

:rofl:

The draft is weaker, but there's good players up front. The top 6 or 7 are definite NHL players down the road, though as you say, only Hall and Fowler will most likely be able to step in and make an immediate impact.

Good to see someone else agree that the Kessel deal was a plus for the B's. Even some of the B's fans are pissed because they aren't scoring at all this year, but Kessel wasn't liked by the coaches or his teammates, and he didn't want to play here. The B's got a good deal for him, no doubt about it. It just doesn't help them right away. No one has patience in sports. Sometimes you take a short term setback to get ahead long term. I think the Kessel deal was just that, and I love the trade, despite the B's scoring woes this year.

[inthebrain]

21. After the top two we are looking at another off the board draft like last years

After the top three or four. Magnus Svenson was listed by the ISS as going top five and slipped all the way down to tenth.

What I've read is that after the top two it's pretty much a crap shoot. Decent prospects but really tough to seperate them.

Then again, now I read that EJ Mguire has Seguin leap frogging Fowler. This might get really interesting for me now that the Islanders look to be falling back down to expectations after losing Jack Hillen.

[nyy1998]

19. Don't get me started on Slater

He may have done something smart and get rid of Alex Kotalik in the trade but there's some complications.:shrug:

P.S. I am a Rangers fan

[inthebrain]

20. It gets worse

Sather is about to aquire famous locker room cancer Olli Jokinen.

Milbury traded for doughnut boy once himself.

This should be interesting.

[nyy1998]

23. True, but he atleast becomes a 3 month rental

And it frees up about $3 million in cap space. So I'm all for it.

[Captain Hilts]

22. I'm in Toronto right now and all the talk is of how the Leafs are better this year, but still suck.