Sport-Blog.com

By Ed Jennett

This question, and classic song lyric, was on the minds of numerous NHL players who were dealt before the trade deadline on Thursday. Hopefully the players have had enough time to figure out where they are. Here is a breakdown of who is headed to a new locale:

Pittsburgh traded Mark Recchi to Carolina for D Niklas Nordgren, F Krys Kolanos, and a 2007 second round pick -
Despite previously saying that he would not do it, Recchi waived his no trade clause and was dealt to a contender. This is a classy move by the Penguins as Recchi returned to the club to try to help them get back to the glory days of the back to back Cup teams of 1991 and 1992. Recchi will help pick up the slack for inured F Erik Cole, who had scored a career high 60 points in 60 games. The Penguins received very good value for a player who did not want to leave. Earlier this season C Doug Weight also waived his no trade clause to allow the Central Division cellar dwelling St. Louis Blues to the Southeast Division leading Hurricanes.

Philadelphia traded W Niko Dimitrakos to San Jose for a third round pick -
The Flyers are continuing their trend of loading up with forwards for a potential long playoff run. The Sharks are continuing their trend of rebuilding on the fly.

Phoenix traded W Jamie Lundmark to Calgary for a draft pick -
Lundmark has been a bust so far, so Phoenix had to have been happy to get anything for him. Calgary has to be hoping that Lundmark will finally live up to his potential following yet another change of scenery.

Boston traded LW Sergei Samsonov to Edmonton for C Marty Reasoner, C Yan Stastny, and a second round pick -
The Bruins are clueless. They followed up the worse trade of the season (dealing C Joe Thornton to San Jose for the proverbial bag of pucks) with the second worse trade of the season, dealing Samsonov to Edmonton for another proverbial bag of pucks. The Oilers were obviously happy to rip off Boston.

Calgary traded LW Jason Wiemer to New Jersey for a fourth round pick -
Wiemer is a tough player who can protect some of the smaller Devils. Calgary is incredibly deep so the Flames could afford to give up Wiemer for a draft pick.

Florida traded C Petr Taticek to Pittsburgh for D Ric Jackman -
This trade will obviously not have an impact on the playoffs as both teams have no chance of making it to the postseason. They must have felt the need to do something so they wouldn't feel left out.

Los Angeles traded W Yannick Leboux to Phoenix for F Tim Jackson -
Although the Kings should make the playoffs, this is still a minor deal as neither player is expected to do much for his new team.

New York Islanders traded LW Oleg Kvasha to Phoenix for a third round pick -
Kvasha should change his first name to "The Enigmatic." The Coyotes must think they can straighten out Kvasha, but should have held out to give up a lower pick. If Phoenix was really patient the Isles might have just given up Kvasha for advice on renovating their building.

Vancouver traded D Tomas Mojzis and a third round pick to St. Louis for Eric Weinrich - The Canucks loaded up on defense and goaltending to make a run at the Cup. The Blues are a complete mess and will take whatever assets they can get in their attempt to rebuild.

Chicago traded C Tyler Arnason to Ottawa for W Brandon Bochenski -
The Senators wanted C Olli Jokinen but had to move on to a backup plan after he was signed to a four year $21 million contract extension by the Florida Panthers. Switching teams might actually help the talented, but underachieving, Arnason. The Wolves expected him to be one of their best players while the Senators will just want him to contribute. Chicago has to be thrilled to have received a quality prospect in return.

Vancouver traded D Steve McCarthy to Atlanta for a conditional 2007 pick -
The Canucks were desperate to improve their defense, but thought so little of McCarthy that they took whatever they could get for him. Atlanta needed another defenseman after Garnet Exelby was injured the night before.

Detroit traded a fourth round pick in 2007 to Pittsburgh for D Cory Cross -
Nothing surprising here. The Red Wings are acquiring more pieces for a Cup run while the Penguins are acquiring more assets for their no end in sight rebuilding process.

Washington traded D Brendan Witt to Nashville for a first round pick and C Kris Beech -
The rumors that the Capitals would trade Witt began during the 2003-2004 season. Witt eventually even asked to be traded from Washington as the team will clearly not be a contender for a long time. Apparently all the Capitals were waiting for was an insane team to make an unbelievable offer. Enter Nashville. Witt is a good fourth defensemen, he isn't even worth a first round pick, so he certainly isn't worth a first round pick and a formerly well regarded prospect. The Predators must think that the hard hitting defenseman can make an impact in the playoffs. Ironically Beech is one of the prospects that the Capitals sent to the Penguins in the misguided Jaromir Jagr trade a few years ago.

New York Rangers traded a third round pick to Anaheim for Sandis Ozolinsh -
The Rangers think they may be able to make a run at the Cup so they added Ozolinsh to run the power play. Anaheim is rebuilding and was lucky to receive a pick this high for a player just out of substance abuse rehab.

Detroit traded D Jamie Rivers to Phoenix for a seventh round pick in 2007 -
This trade is so unimportant that Rivers is probably the only one that cares.

Anaheim traded D Keith Carney to Vancouver for a draft pick and prospect to be named later -
Anaheim adds more assets for their rebuilding process. The Canucks add a tough playoff tested veteran for their Cup run.

Washington traded LW Jeff Friesen to Anaheim for a second round pick -
This deal is a head scratcher. The Ducks are rebuilding but give up a second round pick for a player who has three goals and seven points in 33 games. Anaheim is clearly desperate for help up front.

Buffalo traded G Mika Noronen to Vancouver for a second round pick -
The Sabres have been looking to deal one of their goaltenders for quite some time but never received a good enough offer. Noronen might be able to beat out G Alex Auld for the starting job in Vancouver.

New Jersey traded D Sean Brown to Vancouver for a fourth round pick -
Brown is mediocre but just has to help hold down the fort until injured defensemen Ed Jovanovski, Mattias Ohlund, and Sami Salo return. The Devils had no use for Brown after acquiring better defensemen in other deals.

New Jersey traded a third round pick to the New York Islanders for D Brad Lukowich -
Lukowich, who won Cups in Dallas and Tampa, will provide grit and veteran leadership. The Isles won't make the playoffs and did right by Lukowich, who was signed to help turn them into a contender this past offseason, in dealing him to a team that would.

Chicago traded D Todd Simpson to Montreal for a sixth round pick -
This trade is so minor that Simpson probably does not even care.

Toronto traded D Ken Klee to New Jersey for RW Aleksander Suglabov -
The Maple Leafs are horrible this season and have no chance of making the playoffs. They wisely have finally started to rebuild. Klee makes the defensive minded Devils deeper.

Montreal traded G Jose Theodore to Colorado for G David Aebischer -
This is by far the most controversial deadline deal. Theodore is a former Hart and Vezina trophy winner, but he lost his starting job to Cristobal Huet. Montreal now has one of the best goaltending duos in the league. Colorado has to be praying that lightning strikes twice. The Avalanche acquired Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy from Montreal and he helped them win two Stanley Cups. If Theodore does not return to his high level of play this will clearly be the worst trade that Colorado GM Pierrre Lacroix has ever made.

New York Islanders traded RW Mark Parrish and D Brent Sopel to Los Angeles for LW Jeff Tambellini and a conditional third round pick -
Parrish was going to leave this offseason as an unrestricted free agent and Sopel has been a bust on Long Island, so the Isles would have probably been happy just getting Tambellini. The gritty Parrish will definitely help the Kings in the playoffs. If Sopel does anything useful it should be considered a bonus.

Columbus traded D Luke Richardson to Toronto for a conditional draft pick -
Just when you thought things were starting to make sense in Toronto. An old team that will not make the playoffs acquiring a 37 year old player is completely ridiculous. The Maple Leafs must want to compete with the Bruins for the unofficial title of most clueless team in the league.

New York Rangers traded LW Ville Nieminen to San Jose for a third round pick -
This trade was brilliant for both teams. The Rangers immediately traded this pick for Ozolinsh. The Sharks added a gritty young player to their rebuilding club.

Minnesota traded G Dwayne Roloson to Edmonton for a conditional first round pick in 2006 -
Roloson was expendable since G Manny Fernandez is capable of being the undisputed number one goalie for the Wild. Edmonton has now made themselves a legitimate Cup contender.