Hockey Notes.

I like the Bertuzzi for Luongo trade. I think Vancouver needed to shake up the lineup and getting rid of Bert was a good start. Bringing in one of the top three goalies in the league doesn't hurt either. We'll see if this trade wakes up Markus Naslund. I think going to Florida is great for Bertuzzi. He clearly needed a chnage of scenery and playing in a place without much focus on hockey like Miami will be good for him. If he was traded to Toronto or Montreal it would have been disastrous for him. I hope he responds because he was a force a few years ago.

The anti-NHL awards are very funny and appropriate. Kudos to Burnside for rippin' on Muckler for thinking depending on Hasek was a good idea.

I like the Leafs pickup of Andrew Raycroft. I think he will bounce back and have a good year for the Leafs. They made a pretty good run at the end of last year without Belfour and Raycroft is an improvement over who else the Leafs had. He is also a cheaper alternative than Jiggy from Anaheim or Nabokov from San Jose. Raycroft can keep the net warm for Justin Pogge for the next couple of years.

I don't know what to make of Chris Pronger trying to get out of Edmonton. I think his timing was good as far as trading him. His value couldn't be higher right now after the playoff he had. He will be able to fetch a couple of front line players in return. It's still got to be cruel to Oiler fans though. Just when they have some success after landing a big name guy like Pronger he wants to move back east. I'd love to see him in Toronto but I don't know that the Leafs have enough to give for him or that Ferguson Jr. is smart enough to pull it off.

A Big Thumbs Up to Alexander Ovechkin who decided after winning the Calder Trophy to attend the draft and announce Washington's first and second round picks. Then he hung around with the drafted players and signed autographs for people in the stands. That is first rate marketing. The NHL needs a lot more of that.