Monday Morning Coffee- So... what's new?

Anyone hear something about a trade?  For those of us who blog, or are deeply entrenched in social media applications like Twitter, yesterday was fascinating as we we saw the good, the bad and the ugly of how breaking news is reported in situations like this.  TSN's Darren Dreger was on top of it all, but a lot of people came under fire for tweeting his info as though it were there scoop, part of a recent trend where bloggers aren't giving sources credit due.

As someone who is still fairly new to Twitter, I was thrilled at the pace which facts and opinions burst forth on my monitor yesterday.  A lot of times, the typed word doesn't do a great job in translating the emotions behind the words. But you could feel the excitement in nearly every post, from the press and fans of the teams involved, to the rest of us who were amazed that such a deal could be pulled off in the salary cap era.

Lots are now speculating on who won the trades, and we had some excellent discussion here about the impacts on the teams involved and how it affects the Canucks.  In reality, only time will tell if these deals help the teams that make them.  Smart moves?  Perhaps, but they likely don't happen if the teams involved don't find themselves in the kind of despair that makes you trade half your team away.

The details on the trade between Calgary and the Rangers are still being sorted out, and we will likely have more discussion on the impact of those moves today.  The Canucks are still being mentioned as being players, especially in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, so we will keep an eye on any news for you as always.

Another day off for the Canucks as they prepare to take on Les Canadiens tomorrow night at the Bell Center.  Despite the victory against the Leafs Saturday, you have to think that Ryan Johnson will draw back in the lineup, likely at the expense of a guy like Steve Bernier.  If there were a way to figure out why a guy who seems to have so much upside just continually disappoints, that would be a godsend.  He with the hands of stone might not be long for this team unless he manages to turn things around, maybe a benching in his hometown will send the message that he is not performing up to the standards required of him.

You would think that the Canucks don't need to ice as strong a team toughness wise against the much smaller Montreal squad as they did against the Leafs.  It will be interesting to see how the Canadiens react to the news of Mike Cammalleri's injury (we should find out MRI results anytime) as well as who starts in goal.  Carey Price got bombed by the Canucks as they skated to an easy 7-1 victory at GM Place, you can be sure that will be on the Habs minds.  My guess is Halak starts, against Roberto Luongo who will be well rested after kindly giving Andrew Raycroft some much needed game action Saturday night.

With the kind of performance Alex Burrows had in Toronto, can you blame Canucks fans for being excited about what he in the Sedins might accomplish in front of his friends and family Tuesday night?  The Eastern media is still abuzz with the performance by the Meatballs and Poutine (love that one who ever came up with it) line, which led to a rather funny article on Puck Daddy today, poking some fun at Eastern media types.

I'll trade you my pancakes for that breakfast burrito and a juice to be named later...

It will be interesting to see if yesterday's jaw-dropping trades set off a frenzy as the Olympic trade freeze nears.  You have to give credit to the GM's involved though.  It takes a lot of guts to pull off deals like this, especially from Calgary's perspective as they continue to battle to stay above the cutoff line for post season action.  Like I said, time will tell if these moves work, but I found it funny that the talk from the Flames camp is that Ales Kotalik is being brought in to give Iginla someone to work with.  Wasn't that what they said about Jokinen?  That trade has the appearance of not improving either team, but merely transferring underachievers with each other.

Speaking of the Rangers, they did us a solid last night in handing the Avs a 3-1 loss.  Marion Gaborik had a hat trick for the Blueshirts as the Avs continue to struggle to score goals.  Phoenix toppled the Stars 4-2 with an assist from the Westboro Baptist Church.  You'd think they'd wait til New Jersey came to town.  Tough news for Phoenix, as they've lost leading scorer Scottie Upshall to a torn ACL.  He will have surgery, which will likely keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the season, which has to be heartbreaking for the former Kamloops Blazer.  He finally seemed to be showing the potential we saw back in his Blazers days.  Speaking of New Jersey, they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Kings.  LA is playing some decent hockey right now, and don't be surprised if this team makes some moves soon to gear up for a playoff run.  Good to see them getting back in the mix. 

Florida shut out the Islanders 2-0, and the Penguins needed a shootout to knock off the Wings 2-1in a Stanley Cup rematch in Detroit.  Alex Ovechkin had the winner as the Caps won their 10th straight in knocking off the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2.  Breaking news as always when we get it, and full pregame coverage tomorrow.