entering the sutter psyche

clearly there are a helluva lotta things i could be talking about here on trade deadline day. the big deal ? ryan smyth gets dealt for a couple of kobasews (they could be good... but how long does it TAKE to live up to potential ???). the rug-stealer ? todd bertuzzi for a sack of pucks (clearly this trade, in itself, was not a rug stealer --but if you factor in the previous one, it's actually LUONGO for a sack of pucks)...

what i found the most interesting trade of the day was david hale for a sack of pucks. i know sutter is one who covets (read: kiprusoff & lundmark) and when he makes a trade for a guy that nobody's ever even heard of, i always wonder if there's something more to it. cause... um... i'm doubting that jersey was offering this guy up as tradebait around the league...

picture it:

Lou Lamoriello "i'll give you.... david hale & rich matthews for forsberg."
David Polle "uhhhhh......" [click]

***

Lou Lamoriello "how about david hale for brendan bell ?"
JFJ "he's not old enough"
Lou Lamoriello "i'll throw in jacques caron. he's old."
JFJ "can i call you back after dinner ?"

***

Darryl Sutter "i'll take brodeur off your hands for a 5th rounder..."
Lou Lamoriello "hmmmmm.... i can't do brodeur. besides, i've already got a 5th rounder !!!"
Darryl Sutter "fine. i'll take that 5th rounder AND david hale for a 3rd rounder ?"
Lou Lamoriello "done."

and that, my friends, is how calgary landed their 10th debatably capable defenseman. after (in some kind of order) hamrlik, phaneuf, regehr, stuart, warrener, giordano, zyuzin, richie regehr & (debatably) brad ference...

bring on the mug.