Trades make for another busy day in NHL

Garth Snow stood down the hall from the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins locker room that buzzed after the biggest trade of NHL deadline day. The New York Islanders' general manager could only watch as another team made the big splash.

It was no surprise the Atlanta Thrashers traded all-star forward Marian Hossa, but his landing spot alongside Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh seemingly came out of nowhere.

Hossa, set for unrestricted free agency in July, went to the Penguins along with forward Pascal Dupuis just before Tuesday's deadline. It was the headline move on what has traditionally become a seismic day in the NHL.

The Penguins paid a hefty price for Hossa, a two-time 40-goal scorer, by trading top forwards Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen, 2007 first-round draft pick Angelo Esposito and a future first-round draft pick.

It was one of two big moves for Pittsburgh, which also acquired hulking defenseman Hal Gill from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A year ago, Snow and the Islanders shocked the league by prying Ryan Smyth out of Edmonton in a blockbuster deal. On Tuesday, all he had to celebrate was the fact Hossa probably wouldn't be in the lineup that night when the Penguins played the Islanders.

"Good player. I hope he misses his flight," Snow said.

In all, NHL teams made 25 trades involving 45 players in the six hours before the 2 p.m. CST deadline. The number of deals matched the league record, equaling each of the past two years, and the amount of players moved fell one short of the mark set in 2003.

The days leading up to the deadline were filled with talk of Toronto captain Mats Sundin's decision not to waive his no-trade clause even though the Maple Leafs likely won't make the Eastern Conference playoffs.

It didn't take long for the conversation to switch to those changing places. With so many teams in contention for the playoffs, there was no clear line between buyers and sellers.

"It kind of unfolded the same this year as it did last year," Snow said. "It slowly built up. You sit there with your line in the water and then all of a sudden they start biting.

"It was a little bit crazy as the day went on."