Canucks and Lightning in Four Player Deal

When Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Barry Melrose benched defenseman Shane O'Brien for Sunday's game against the New York Rangers in Prague, Tampa Bay Online's Damian Cristodero wondered out loud whether or not the benching wasn't so much for poor play as it was to make sure O'Brien wasn't injured while the team was trying to deal him.

Just 24 hours later, Cristodero was proven right when the Lightning shipped O'Brien and and right wing Michel Ouellet to Vancouver for defenseman Lukas Krajicek and minor league winger Juraj Simek. Needless to say, the move provoked a lot of headscratching in our FanHouse email group. After all, if Tampa Bay's blue line is soft now, how in the world will the addition of Kajicek -- and the rumored interest in free agent defenseman Bryan Berard -- make things better?

I think this comment in response to today's news at Cristodero's place probably sums it up best:

Basically we got killed on this trade. No other way to describe it.

For as someone who watched Krajicek for years while living in South Florida, we've only become softer. And Krajicek is nothing special, and even worse, he is as soft as tissue paper.

Basically, Screw this hockey club! They don't have the slightest idea what they're doing. And if you think anything different, you are drinking the koolaid. If you want to worry, look at this trade. But of course, most of you guys don't know anything about hockey anyway, so i'm sure you're thrilled.

The only good thing about this is that Ouellet is gone. Other than that, COMPLETE AND UTTER STUPIDITY. Anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge of hockey will say the same thing.

Could the wheels possibly have come off this quickly in Tampa Bay? If something doesn't radically change, and at this point it's hard to see exactly how, Mike Smith and Olie Kolzig better get used to facing 40+ shots per night.