Thanksgiving is the time of year we celebrate the day Native Americans and Europeans traded genocide for corn. With that in mind, I thought it might be a fun time to look at some of the Flyers biggest trades over the past 4 decades. Over the past 40+ years that the Flyers have existed they’ve been wheeling and dealing with every team in the NHL. There’s not a current NHL franchise that the Flyers have not been involved in a trade with. And I’m not even talking about the Atlanta Flames to Calgary counting as a franchise – I’m just talking about current NHL teams. So here, without any analysis at all (well maybe a little), is a list of the Flyers most prominent (define that how you will) trades with the 29 NHL Clubs against which they’re vying for the 2010 Stanley Cup. Consider this a little something to do while you wait for your grandmother to try and make her way from the car to the front door: Anaheim Mighty Ducks : Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, 2 1st rounders, and a conditional 3rd for Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle, 2009 Atlanta Thrashers : Alexei Zhitnik for Braydon Coburn , 2007 (what were they thinking?) Boston Bruins : Mike Walton (who?) for Rick MacLeish and Danny Shock, 1971 Buffalo Sabres : Garry Galley for Petr Svoboda, 1995 (Barely beat out the Biron for a 2nd deal) Calgary Flames : Mel Bridgman for Brad Marsh, 1981 Carolina Hurricanes : Rod Brind’Amour, Jean-Marc Pelletier, and a 2nd rounder for Keith Primeau and a 5th rounder, 2000 Chicago Blackhawks : Patrick Sharp and Eric Meloche for Matt Ellison and a 3rd rounder, 2005 (in a bad way) Colorado Avalanche : Shjon Poedin for Keith Jones!, 1998 Columbus Bluejackets : R.J. Umberger and a 4th for a 1st and a 3rd, 2008 (slim pickins) Dallas Stars : Brent Fedyk for Trent Klatt, 1995 (was there a bigger trade in sports in the 90’s?) Detroit Red Wings : Cash for Terry Murray, 1977 (because it’s funny) Edmonton Oilers : Joni Pitkanen, Geoff Sanderson and a 3rd rounder for Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul, 2007 Florida Panthers : A 2nd rounder for front office Bob Clarke (again, because it’s funny) LA Kings : Serge Bernier, Jimmy Johnson, and Bill Lesuk for Bill Flett, Ed Joyal, Ross Lonsberry, and Jean Potvin, 1972 (back when players used to play both ways) Minnesota Wild : Eric Chouinard for a 5th rounder, 2003 (only trade ever) Montreal Canadiens : Mark Recchi and a 3rd rounder for Eric Desjardins, John Leclair, and Gilbert Dionne, 1995 (one of the bigger trades in Flyers history, to compliment the biggest trade in Flyers history, which is not listed here) Nashville Predators : Nashville’s own 1st rounder for the rights to Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell, 2007 New Jersey Devils : A 3rd rounder for Chico Resch, 1986 (I had no idea and holy shit that guy is goofy) New York Islanders : Jean Potvin and a player to be named later for Terry Crisp, 1973 New York Rangers : 1st rounder for coach Fred Shero?!?, 1978 Ottawa Senators : Vinny Prospal, Pat Falloon, and a 2nd rounder for Alexandre Daigle, 1998 Phoenix Coyotes : Mikael Renberg for Rick Tocchet, 2000 Pittsburgh Penguins : Rick Tocchet, Kjell Samuelsson, Ken Wregget and a 3rd for Mark Recchi, Brian Benning, and a 1st, 1992 San Jose Sharks : 1st rounder (they used to get Briere), 4th rounder, and Martin Spanhel for Pat Falloon, 1995 St. Louis Blues : Ron Sutter and Murray Baron for Rod Brind’Amour and Dan Quinn, 1991 Tampa Bay Lightning : Steve Eminger, Steve Downie, and a 4th for Matt Carle and a 3rd, 2008 Vancouver Canucks : Jan Hlavac and a 3rd rounder for Donald Brashear and 6th rounder, 2001 Washington Capitals : Bill Clement, Don McLean, and a 1st rounder for a first rounder (Flyers really wanted to move up from last pick of the first round (18) to first overall and grab Mel Bridgman, so they could trade him for Brad Marsh in 6 years. Talk about foresight) And that’s that. A lot of incest in there, eh? Just like the first inter-racial Native American/Euorpean “famlies.” There have been a lot of big trades since the Flyers entered the league in ’67. The biggest with a team that no longer exists but many believe lead that particular franchise to win the Stanley Cup. Who knows. Hope you’re enjoying your day off, and if anyone says “Turkey Day” to you don’t be afraid to drop the mitts with them and pour some gravy up their ass
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