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About Brett Friedlander

Brett Friedlander became a hockey fan in the heart of the deep south in the early 1970s. He became hooked the first time his father, a charter Atlanta Flames season-ticket holder, took him to a game at The Omni. His first job covering hockey was with the Annapolis Capital, where he covered the Washington Capitals and learned to do an uncanny imitation of coach Bryan Murray from 1984-93.

He's also covered the Carolina Hurricanes and Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League for the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. He has also been a regular contributor to Rinkside magazine and Faceoff.com. The highlight of his writing career came on June 19,2006, when the Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup. His first book, "Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams' Doc Graham" was released by John F. Blair, Publisher, in April 2009.

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Hurricanes are wheeling, dealing – and contending Print
Southeast
Written by Brett Friedlander   
Friday, March 05, 2010 15:08
Southeast Division notebook:

Some people might look at the Carolina Hurricanes’ flurry of trade deadline deals as a major housecleaning.

The man who engineered the five moves, however, prefers to think of them as a down payment on the future. In the mean time, general manager Jim Rutherford still hasn’t given up on his team’s chances of making a miracle run to the playoffs this year.

That may be one reason why he resisted trading popular forward Ray Whitney, considered by many to be the Hurricanes’ most marketable commodity going into Wednesday.

“I don’t make light of any player that we traded because in their own way they contributed to us,” Rutherford said. “(But) there really is no reason why this team can’t continue to make this race interesting.”

Carolina made it a little more interesting Thursday by beating Ottawa 4-1 for its seventh straight win – and second in a row since the Olympic break – to move within seven points of the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Although the Hurricanes’ nucleus of Whitney and Olympians Eric Staal, Tim Gleason, Toumo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen remained the same, the rest of the lineup had a new look, thanks to a rash of deals that yielded plenty of draft choices and prospects, but only one NHL ready player – defenseman Brian Pothier.

Here’s a rundown of Carolina’s trade activity (not including a pair of pre-Olympic deals that sent veterans Matt Cullen to Ottawa and Niclas Wallin to San Jose):
  • In exchange for 37-year-old defenseman Aaron Ward, the Hurricanes got promising 23-year-old goaltending prospect Justin Pogge and a fourth-round pick in either 2010 or 2011.
  • They received a seventh-round pick from Washington for forward Scott Walker, who is coming off shoulder surgery.
  • Carolina then worked another, more substantive deal with the league-leading Capitals, sending reliable 32-year-old defenseman Joe Corvo to Washington for Pothier, 22-year-old Finnish left wing Oskar Osala and a second-round pick in 2011.
  • Defenseman Andrew Alberts was sent to Vancouver for a third-round choice while veteran penalty-killing specialist Stephane Yelle and a minor leaguer were shipped out to Colorado for 21-year-old center Cedric Lalone-McNicoll and a sixth-round pick.
As a result of the deals, the Hurricanes now have 11 picks in this summer’s draft. They also still have Whitney, their second-leading scorer, though Rutherford said his team wouldn’t begin negotiating a new contract with the future free agent until the season is over. No matter what, the implication is that Carolina would like to keep Whitney around beyond the end of this season.

“Ray remains a Hurricane, which will make a lot of people happy, including myself,” Rutherford said.

ATLANTA

Maybe Chris Chelios is nothing more than an insurance policy for an already banged-up defense, but even if he never plays a game for the Thrashers, it’s newsworthy that the team has signed the 48-year-old defenseman to a two-way contract with the AHL Chicago Wolves. Chelios will be returned to the minor league club as soon as he clears waivers, but according to the terms of the deal, he will be paid $700,000 in salary by Atlanta with another $105,000 being paid by the AHL. Chelios has 21 points in 44 games with the Wolves and is second on the team with a plus-35 rating. … Atlanta got an immediate return from its two trade-deadline acquisitions on Thursday. Clarke MacArthur, who was picked up from Buffalo and former Anaheim Duck Evgeny Artyukhin both scored goals in their first game as a Thrasher to highlight a 6-3 win against the Islanders. …The Thrashers won their second straight game after the Olympic break to move into a tie for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. … Rich Peverley had a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s win against Florida to reach the 100-point mark in his NHL career.

FLORIDA

Like division-rival Carolina, the Panthers held onto their most valuable commodity in goalie Tomas Voukon, who offered to waive his no-trade clause for the right deal. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t active sellers at the trade deadline. General manager Randy Sexton made a pair of moves that sent D Jordan Leopold to Pittsburgh for a second-round draft choice; and D Dennis Seidenberg and a minor leaguer to Boston for Byron Bitz, Craig Weller and a second-round pick. … It took four months to happen, but forward David Booth finally got a measure of revenge on Philadelphia’s Mike Richards. Booth, who missed 45 games after suffering a concussion on Oct. 24 from a hit by Richards, scored a goal and added three assists to lead Florida to a 7-4 win against the Flyers on Wednesday. He also dropped his gloves and duked it out with Richards – one of three fights in the game’s opening three minutes. “I just wanted to get it off my chest,” Booth said. “It wasn't cheap or anything. I just asked him if he wanted to. He didn't have to give me my shot.”

TAMPA BAY

The sale of the Lightning to Boston businessman Jeff Vinik has been approved unanimously by the league’s Board of Governors. According to published reports, Vinik paid $110 million to buy the team, along with other properties surrounding the St. Pete Times Forum. Vinik is also a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox. … Tampa Bay traded forwards Jeff Halpern and Frederik Modin to Los Angeles for 24-year-old forward Ted Purcell and the Kings’ third-round choice in this summer’s draft. … Leading scorer Steven Stamkos netted a goal in Thursday’s 5-4 loss at Washington to extend his franchise-record scoring streak to 15 games. The setback, however, was the Lightning’s eighth straight and 14th in their last 15 meetings with their division rival.

WASHINGTON

Scott Walker wasted little time paying dividends for the Capitals. In his first game since being acquired from Carolina on Thursday, the 36-year-old scored two third-period goals – including the game-winner – in a 5-4 trumph against Tampa Bay. … Despite riding high with the NHL’s best record, Washington was aggressive in trying to improve itself for a possible Stanley Cup run. In addition to acquiring Walker, the Capitals also picked up dependable two-way defenseman Joe Corvo from the Hurricanes, along with defenseman Milan Jurcina from Columbus and center Eric Belanger from Minnesota. Jurcina returned to Washington after being dealt to the Blue Jackets on Dec. 28. … G Semyon Varlamov has allowed 10 goals in his first two starts since missing two months with knee and groin injuries.

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Last Updated on Friday, March 05, 2010 17:06