Who farted?

Well, the trade deadline came and went today without the Blackhawks making the major splash many of you probably hoped for.

Stan Bowman decided the rent was too damn high and sat on his hands for the most part instead of going out and getting the 2nd Center and shutdown defenseman that this team so desperately needed. He had plenty of cap space to make just about any deal he wanted happen – but the opportunity simply didn’t present itself.

“More teams are in the mix (to make the playoffs), so there are not as many sellers,” Bowman said. “We saw a lot of teams just pull back. We were open to anything.”

It’s a frustrating situation for Blackhawks fans , but I find it hard to blame Bowman for not pulling off a deal to help a sinking team which simply wasn’t there or would have cost the Blackhawks blue chip prospects like Mark McNeil, Brandon Saad or Dylan Olsen. It will now be up to Joel Quenneville to get the most out of the roster that he has as the Hawks make their push.

The moves the Blackhawks did make certainly aren’t ESPN mention worthy – but they will help down the stretch. Bowman acquired defenseman Johnny Oduya from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for our 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2013. Oduya certainly isn’t going to blow any socks off, but he will log good minutes and should keep guys like Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook from having to skate 28 minutes a night while allowing Q to scale back the minutes that Nick Leddy and Olsen currently see. Oduya isn’t the stay at home, crease clearing defenseman we were all hoping for but he did play on the PK in Winnipeg and is a serviceable puck mover. Like I said, this move isn’t going to cause  the city begin planning for a Stanley Cup parade in June, but it will help. The price seems high at first glance but Bowman has some time to restock those draft picks before the 2013 draft rolls around.

The biggest downside to this deal for Hawks fans is the onslaught of awful jokes you know are coming from Foley and Edzo. Oduya will wear #27 – much to Jeremy Roenick’s displeasure.

Our buddy JesusMarianHossa pointed out earlier today that it certainly seemed like Stan Bowman took a discrete shot at Q’s handling of the defenseman this year – implying Q put too much pressure on Keith,  Leddy and Olsen. Q did this partially because of his insistence on dressing John Scott many nights for reasons only known to him.  Well, Q won’t have that option anymore as Bowman shipped Scott out to the Rangers in exchange for a 2012 5th round draft pick. Why he was allowed to stick with the club as long as he was will forever be a great mystery to me, but he is finally gone and we can all celebrate. Quenneville will now decide between Sami Lepisto and Sean O’Donnell as the Hawks 6th defenseman each night.

The Hawks did make a move to get some relief on the back-end and you could argue that Scott’s departure is addition by subtraction. But make no mistake folks, the Hawks are now in a battle simply to make the post-season. Every other team that matters in the Division got better (save STL) and Bowman did not make the mission all that much easier today. It will fall to ‘the Core’ to carry the Hawks the rest of the way. Get well soon, Johnny.

Other notes from today:

♦ Nashville was all over the place today. They acquired Andrei Kostitsyn from Montreal and Paul Gaustad from Buffalo. The Predators are gearing up to make a run in the Western Conference this season and they are in much better position to do so than they were 24 hours ago. It’s clearly all in for Nashville this season.

♦ The Sharks made a shrewd move today acquiring Daniel Winnik and T.J. Galiardi from Colorado in exchange for Jamie McGinn and a few minor leaguers. Galiardi would have looked REAL good in a Hawks uniform but Bowman missed that boat.

♦ The Canucks were also very active today. They got former Blackhawk Samuel Pahlsson from Columbus and young power forward Zach Kassian from Buffalo in exchange for Cody Hodgson – once considered Vancouver’s best prospect. Pahlsson will help Vancouver at the dot and on the PK – a great compliment to Manny Malhotra. It’s unlikely Kassian will make a huge impact this season for Vancouver but he might be the big body the Sedin’s ned out front for years to come.

♦ The Oilers and Wild swapped Tom Gilbert and Nick Schultz. No idea what the hell Edmonton was doing here. I guess they have high hopes for Cam Barker.

♦ Mike Commodore was traded by Detroit to Tampa Bay for nothing. Who cares? Their move was adding quality blue-liner Kyle Quincy a few days ago.

We will have more coverage on some of this stuff later in the week. Next up: Toronto on Wednesday night at the UC.