One Brian takes another Brian’s junk.

usually deals like that don’t happen until Draft day — pity party draft picks and what not…

“We’re tight with our guys. We’re not looking to give them away. If people are going to make meaningful offers to move this organization forward, we will act. But we won’t act for the sake of acting. We’re going to make deals if they make sense for the organization.”

–Brian Lawton, General Manager.

With the track record of OK (not really) Hockey, I can’t say I believe Mr. Lawton one iota. Especially after reading that he plans on being at the office at 6 A.M tomorrow morning.

Deals will be done, trades will be made, and the only place they make sense will be on paper. Or, the wise moves will be the small ones that don’t seem to have significance until later on when a young player grows into his role… The Lightning under Koules/Barrie/Lawton have a habit of going with the former: great on paper, lousy on ice. The latter would require a long term blue print that does not sacrifice the nucleus of the roster.

Sports columnist Gary Shelton at the St. Petersburg Times says in eloquence the point worth remembering (for Lightning fans) with the Lecavalier tradewind/storm that has swept up:

It is as simple as this. Fans trust Vinny Lecavalier a great deal, and they don’t trust the new ownership at all.

Around here, Lecavalier is not only the face of a franchise, he is the faith. In the chaos of a season, he is the reason to keep watching.

He is the reason to think things might eventually get good again.

That, in essence, is the point in fan outcry against this supposed trade talk. It’s not a foreign subject for Lightning fans to see high quality players sent packing during down years in order to try to improve the roster. Yet in those down years, it was usually a marginal fan favorite sent away for a long term investment (or a short sighted solution) in return.

And OK Hockey has been all about the short-sighted solution sus-far, or so it seems. Lets secure Dan Boyle… Wouldn’t it be cooler if we traded him though? Lets bring in Barry Melrose and jazz up management and… oh, wait, he hasn’t coached in a decade and look at the monstrosity of incapability he is displaying…

A Lecavalier trade, to me, would be comparable to sending Mario Lemieux packing from the Pittsburgh Penguins instead of Jaromir Jagr in the July 2001 trade… The face of the franchise, the figurehead… hell, the team owner for Christ sake. Mario had saved the franchise when he was drafted. He won Stanley Cups with the Pens, he literally saved hockey in Pittsburgh again by purchasing the Pens…

Some would say Lecavalier joining the Lightning (along with so many other cogs that have come and gone since 2004) accomplished the same in Tampa Bay. A perennial loser became a contender on his watch, and a champion on his watch. A derelict franchise was rebuilt and renewed with thanks to the hope and faith that Vincent brings to roster day in and day out.
Read it all..