NHL Trade deadline...April Fools for Hockey fans!

[Sylvanfan]

Okay with the NHL trade deadline approaching, it's like a series of days to take advantage of any friends or co-workers who you think are real suckers. I'm talking about doing your blogger impression and selling these folks on trades that are complete BS to get a rise out of them. This does not involve posting phoney rumors on a message board, but outright lying to your closest friends and seeing how long you can keep them fooled and outraged until you let them in on it.

The trick is you can't make it too far fetched or they'll never believe it. You also have to devise your smokescreen as to where you heard it and why it's not being widely reported yet. But you have to make it so that a player they're emotionally attached to leaves town so they blow a gasket. For example I just told a co-worker of mine that a radio station in Edmonton just reported that Ryan Smyth may be on his way to New Jersey with M-A Bergeron for Paul Martin, Sergei Brylin and Niklas Bergfors. Reason being Edmonton isn't going to resign Smyth and coveted Martin, Brylin was to balance salary, and Bergfors pretty much replaces the pick that Edmonton lost for Roloson last year. It's a total fabrication and complete BS, but he's just lost it and is flipping out.

I need to come up with a couple more of these to sucker my co-workers! I have a Hab fans, and a Canuck fans to pull these stunts on. Post your doozies here. Remember it's all BS and the point is not to sucker a large contingent of hockey fans on an internet site, but to sucker your closest contacts in person.

[MarchHare]

I have a Hab fans,

To Montreal:
Bill Guerin

To St. Louis:
Alex Kovalev
2nd Round Pick

Montreal sheds themselves of the under-acheiving Kovalev and gets a rental upgrade back in the form of Guerin, giving them some much-needed grit up front.

and a Canuck fans to pull these stunts on.

To Vancouver:
Martin Gelinas
Todd Bertuzzi

To Florida:
Matt Cooke
2nd Round Picks in the 2007 and 2008 draft

"The Eliminator" returns to the Canucks for a second stint and hopefully (for Vancouver) a long playoff run. Bertuzzi, while injured now, will be re-united with his buddy Naslund next year.

[Prototype]

The key here is to make sure it's a fan favourite heading out of the fave city. Something like the Flames moving Iginla, Phaneuf, Kipper, Ference (oh wait...).

I think with Montreal it needs to be Higgins or Perezogin. Koivu isn't going anywhere, and hasn't been mentioned either. Huet would be tough to pull off too, unless it was something like to FLA for Belfour and Bertuzzi.

Vancouver, you could split up the Sedins... but I like the Cooke idea. Or maybe a Morrison to anywhere for a pick or prospect.

As Syl posted earlier, it needs to realistically be a player that could move, but is someone that the fans would kill themselves if they were moved, especially if it was for someone they didn't know coming back.

Morrison to PHI for Hatcher to shore up their D would be funny if they fell for it.

[RedHot25]

Ha good ones. The only thing with the Vancouver one I would be careful with is the salary cap (also depends if you have a smart fan or has-no-clue-about-the-CBA/Cap type of fan you are trying to kid around). Not that it has to be exact, but would Vancouver on first glance have the cap space for something like that to happen?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

To Montreal:



To Vancouver:
Martin Gelinas
Todd Bertuzzi

To Florida:
Matt Cooke
2nd Round Picks in the 2007 and 2008 draft

"The Eliminator" returns to the Canucks for a second stint and hopefully (for Vancouver) a long playoff run. Bertuzzi, while injured now, will be re-united with his buddy Naslund next year.

Only thing is that salary doesn't work here. Maybe something like Gelinas for a second round pick would fly though.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Only thing is that salary doesn't work here. Maybe something like Gelinas for a second round pick would fly though.

Yeah, the cap implications don't work, but hopefully your victim won't be savvy enough to figure that out. I think any scam faux-trade to bait Vancouver fans has to involve Bertuzzi coming back, though. The comedy potential there is too good to pass up.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Yeah, the cap implications don't work, but hopefully your victim won't be savvy enough to figure that out. I think any scam faux-trade to bait Vancouver fans has to involve Bertuzzi coming back, though. The comedy potential there is too good to pass up.

True, but there has to be a chunk of change going back the other way. Maybe Morrison and Cooke or something?

Or even better yet, what about if they gave up the "next coming of Dion" (Luc Bourdon) in the deal?

That would be gold...

[MarchHare]

Ooooo...I just thought of another way you could bait Vancouver fans, inspired by the Gelinas idea. Try to work trades that involve as many former-Flames going back the other way. Turn the Canucks into a bunch of hard-working pluggers, like their "hated" 2004 Flames.

Like these hypothetical deals:

To Vancouver:
Martin Gelinas
Steve Montador

To Florida:
Matt Cooke
3rd Round Pick

Vancouver gets some depth on the blue-line and a proven playoff performer up front.

//

To Vancouver:
Mike Commodore
4th Round Pick

To Carolina:
Brendan Morrison
Rory Fitzpatrick

Vancouver gets a solid defender with experience playing in two consecutive Stanley Cup finals.

[Slava]

On the Montreal front I think that you should include Latendresse in anything. Anyone from PQ is golden in the fans books (at least in Montreal).

[JiriHrdina]

The key is how you bring it up too. I've done this in the past...instead of saying "Oh man did you hear about the Flames trading Matt Lombardi for Bill Guerin". Bring it up in a different way:

"So who do you think Guerin will play with".

Act like you assume he already knows about the deal. And then once he asks what you mean, reveal the "trade".

[Slava]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

The key is how you bring it up too. I've done this in the past...instead of saying "Oh man did you hear about the Flames trading Matt Lombardi for Bill Guerin". Bring it up in a different way:

"So who do you think Guerin will play with".

Act like you assume he already knows about the deal. And then once he asks what you mean, reveal the "trade".

That is brilliant! I can totally see that working on some people!

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Slava

On the Montreal front I think that you should include Latendresse in anything. Anyone from PQ is golden in the fans books (at least in Montreal).

I'm thinking with the Habs, I have to take a flashy guy like Souray off their team who is a pending UFA. Something like him to San Jose for Vlassic. Canadiens dump a pending UFA for a young guy who's a native Quebeccer. But the more casual fan has no idea who Vlassic is and is in love with Souray's shot.

[RedHot25]

A good one now for Montreal might be for a goalie (who, I'm not sure off the top of my head) now that Huet is injured. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=196461&hubname=

I know that they have aebeschier (pardon the spelling), but you could spin it they are not confident in him.

Hmmm, after looking at your above post, Sylvan, why not say a Souray/something (maybe Aebeschier?) for Vlassic/Nabokov or Toskala? Or something like that?

Cheers.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I'm thinking with the Habs, I have to take a flashy guy like Souray off their team who is a pending UFA. Something like him to San Jose for Vlassic. Canadiens dump a pending UFA for a young guy who's a native Quebeccer. But the more casual fan has no idea who Vlassic is and is in love with Souray's shot.

That is true! I think that screwing with the Habs fan is funnier for some reason. It just seems so easy because once you throw a guy in there from Quebec it makes it more believeable.

[HelloHockeyFans]

Heh, since I just moved to Toronto, I think I'll try one on a Leaf fan. How about:

To Toronto:

Jeremy Roenick - 1.2M
Derek Morris - 3.9M
Fredrik Sjostrom - 0.75M

To Phoenix:

Mats Sundin - 6.84M
2nd Round Pick

NET CAP DIFFERENCE: +0.99 PHOENIX

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

Heh, since I just moved to Toronto, I think I'll try one on a Leaf fan. How about:

To Toronto:

Jeremy Roenick - 1.2M
Derek Morris - 3.9M
Fredrik Sjostrom - 0.75M

To Phoenix:

Mats Sundin - 6.84M
2nd Round Pick

NET CAP DIFFERENCE: +0.99 PHOENIX

Even Leaf fans shouldn't buy that one. That trade doesn't really fit for either team since Toronto already has a lot of expensive defenceman. Plus Toronto's just taking a lot of lesser parts for their captain. Remember these guys are trying to generate enough money to keep the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan from going broke. Bad job NOOB!

You'd need to claim something like Sundin to Anaheim for Perry, Bobby Ryan and a 3rd, maybe you have to add Rob Niedermayer for like Bates Battaglia to make up some salary differnce. Anaheim had to give Bobby Ryan because they don't have any 1st or 2nd round picks coming up in the next two years. They also plan to move Getzlaf to the wing and felt they needed a guy like Sundin to go against Forsberg and Thornton if they wanted to get out of the West.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

Heh, since I just moved to Toronto, I think I'll try one on a Leaf fan. How about:

To Toronto:

Jeremy Roenick - 1.2M
Derek Morris - 3.9M
Fredrik Sjostrom - 0.75M

To Phoenix:

Mats Sundin - 6.84M
2nd Round Pick

NET CAP DIFFERENCE: +0.99 PHOENIX

I doubt this one will fool anyone. As soon as I saw JR's name and Mat Sundin attached in relation to a trade, my brain violently rejects it.