Oilers Captain Ethan Moreau Jumps To Columbus Blue Jackets

After 11 long seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, the last two and a half as Team Captain, Ethan Moreau is leaving the team to join the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In a season that was particularly tough on the Alberta franchise, Moreau had a mere nine goals and nine assists with a minus 4 rating in 76 games in 2009-10.

He joins Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson, formerly an Edmonton Oilers assistant general manager who has lured several former Oilers such as Raffi Torres, Jason Chimera, Michael Peca, Jan Hejda and Mathieu Roy.

Moreau is on the tail end of his 4-year, $8,000,000 contract, 2 million per season. He has had a lengthy career, starting out with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1995-96 season before being traded to Edmonton after 4 seasons in Chicago.

Will some veteran leadership help Columbus climb back into the playoff race. That's the big question. The Blue Jackets have missed the Stanley Cup playoffs in 4 of the last 5 years. In the 2008-09 season, the franchise made the playoffs and had an incredible run to the Conference Quarterfinal before losing to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Oilers have a similar story, having missed the playoffs for the 4th straight year and ending the 2009-10 in dead last position in the league. Edmonton lost the 2005-06 Stanley Cup Finals to the Carolina Hurricanes and failed to reach the post season ever since. The 62 points the Oilers earned last season were unacceptable and changes had to be made. An aging player (Moreau is 34) is not scoring goals on one of the most woeful NHL franchises, and he's the captain to boot? Edmonton needed to drop Moreau's $2,000,000 salary hit this coming year. Edmonton will be using younger, less well known players in the coming season, perhaps 2-3 new players will be added to the team over the coming months, but no names of who the Oilers might be looking for. You can expect some more turnover on the edmonton Oilers before the season starts in a mere three months or so.

What What? Blackhawks Trading Byfuglien, Sopel, Eager To Thrashers

Fresh off their Stanley Cup parade through the streets of Chicago, word is that the Blackhawks are trading Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, noted tough guy Ben Eager and minor leaguer Akim Aliu to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Atlanta's 24th overall pick in this year's Draft which is just weeks away, along with their 54th pick.

Also included are 33 year old center Marty Reasoner, (4 goals, 13 assists in 80 games and no relation to Harry), and 19-year-old rookie winger Jeremy Morin who was last seen in a Kitchener Rangers uni last season for 58 games (47 goals, 36 assists so this guy is the possible prize in the trade).

What do you think this will do for the 'Hawks? Is this an improvement? Byfuglien was a standout in the Cup run, but had only 17 goals all season. He was on defence and didn't starting crackling until they moved him back up to the winger slot. Nice pickup as far as size goes to the Thrashers, but Chicago with yet another actual sniper is kinda scary.

Halak Sent To St Louis By Canadiens

After his great play in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs where he basically won the Habs-Caps series by himself, Jaroslav Halak has been shipped by the Montreal Canadiens to the in exchange for forwards Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Halak, along with Mike Cammalleri, basically powered the Habs into the 3rd round where they were stopped by eventual the Stanley Cup finalist Philadelphia Flyers.

Just about everyone expected either Halak or Carey Price to be moved during the off-season as Price had a terrible time down the stretch and pulled early in the playoffs which allowed Halak to have a display great goaltending run. The Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin and then Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins just couldn't beat him and Habs fans lauded Halak as the latest coming of Jacques Plante or Patrick Roy.

But of course, even with his absolutely terrible play (and rather childish antics) the Habs have decided to stick with Price. Obviously they still consider him "the goalie of tomorrow." He certainly didn't show the expected form last season or in the 2008-09 playoffs. One wonders how many "tomorrows" Price has left.

As far as Halak, hopefully he will use this as a building block and have great success with the Blues who are rebuilding and will be much better this year if he shows half the form he had in the Habs run.

Top 10 Plays In 2010 NHL Finals (Video)

Any surprise on what the number one highlight was? Didn't think so. Still nice to see Giroux's overtime goal in there and Byfuglien's hit on Pronger. Still can't believe it's all over for another year. Of course the burning question: will the Chicago Blackhawks be able to defend their Stanley Cup? Will the Philadelphia Flyers get back into contention next year? Will the Leafs make the playoffs? (Sorry about that one).

Dion Phaneuf Named Captain Of Toronto Maple Leafs

Surprised? No, I didn't think so. I tweeted that Phaneuf would be named Leafs team captain shortly after he was acquired by them. A definite positive move by the Leafs. Are they now Stanley Cup contenders? Ah, not yet. Sorry Leaf Nation.

The Toronto franchise remains mired at the bottom of the heap and although they are on a good track, it could easily be derailed once again. With the Stanley Cup win by the Chicago Blackhawks, the Leafs now inherit the longest Cup drought for those NHL teams that have previously won the big prize. After the Leafs, the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers are looking at the longest period of time since their respective victories. Even the New York Islanders record of four straight is strating to look like ancient history to fans.

But congrats to Phaneuf. May he have much, much more success than their last captain, Mats Sundin, who as many who have agreed to wear the "C" for the Leafs, retired without a Cup victory. Getting back into the post-season show is step one. Getting to the final four (as the surprising Habs managed to do) is the next major step.

Congrats To The Chicago Blackhawks On Winning Stanley Cup

Like most hockey fans I've been glued to the tube watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs and saw Patrick Kane score the goal that won the Cup for the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep posting here on Hockey Hightlighter as I should have been doing all through the playoffs. In retrospect, it was a great year for hockey with the Montreal Canadiens shocking both the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins before folding against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Blackhawks had a great run as well, handling the Vancouver Canucks rather easily again and dropping the San Jose Sharks. Now come the summer hockey doldrums. 4 months until the 2010-11 season kicks off.