This is the greatest sports clip EVER...

Good one. Remember that one. Roy has had his share of classic clips. Personally, aside from the great brawls of the 70s and 80s, one of the greatest hockey scenes of that era was when Ron Hextall attacked Chris Chelios in the 1989 (?) playoffs between the Flyers/Habs. I think there was a chemical power surge and everyone simply lost their marbles at the end of that game. Hextall's tongue, Bobby Smith's deformed head petruding out as Philly fans through beer at him and Chelios all round abnormal behaviour - Ah, good times. THOSE were the days. I wonder if there's a clip of that incident.

You're wrong about asking for Sakic for Roy straight up. Montreal needed to get a goalie to replace Roy. Pat Jablonski was the backup, and there was no way he would have been the top goalie of the Habs. Thibeault performed well for the Habs (23-13-3 record after the trade, and was 12-2-2 before), as did Ruckinsky, who scored 25 goals, had 35 assists for 60 points in 56 games, so it didn't look like such a bad deal until years later, when both players never continued to live up to that first season. They didn't have a top goalie in the farm system. Although they had Theodore, he didn't have his first winning season until 2001-2002 (he had one season where he was 4-12).

If Montreal did Roy for Sakic, who would have been the top goalie for the Habs?

Montreal also had Turgeon and Damphousse (who both had 90+ point seasons that year), so they didn't need another centre. And why would Colorado want to trade their top player to get a goalie when they had, at the time, one of the best young goalies in the game in Thibault? That would have left Colorado with Roy and Thibault, which didn't make sense for them.

Dontcha love notes that start "you're wrong!" Newfie, you're right on a techinical level. But that's not the point here. Roy's value - in a perfect world - was equal to Joe Sakic's. Who cares we had Damphousse and Turgeon - a reluctant player the media pushed into the captaincy thus effectively ending his career here. I digress.) In any event, Sakic eclipses both. You forgot Mark Recchi he completed that line. Go for the equal value. Instead, we got basically a bag of pucks and some hockey tape. Thibault was/is ok but if it's one thing the Habs are good at it's finding goalies. So that should not have been the over arching worry - Jablonsky notwithstanding. Rejean Houle got fleeced pure and simple. He was fleeced because Roy pushed Habs management into making a hasty decision. AND PIERRE LACROIX KNEW THIS. The age old art of wheelin' and dealin' and we weren't very good at the wheelin' part. They were pushed around. The terribly imperfect and inexperienced coach Mario Tremblay did not want Roy to be bigger than the team. THAT was my point here. Again, you're right. Those considerations probably did handicap them further.

My mistake. I forget how they used Recchi. He had just come from Philly. I think he played more often with Koivu. Koivu, Damphousse and Turgeon were all centers. I think they may have ushed Damphouuse or Turgeon to the left or may have used them together on the PP. I forget but he did play with one of them. Maybe someone remembers the exact line combos?

I agree they were equal in star status, but rarely does a star get traded for another star. Gretzky was traded to St. Louis for Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat, Craig Johnson, and draft picks. Hasek was traded for Vyacheslav Kozlov and a first round pick in 2002. Messier was traded for Bernie Nicholls, Steven Rice, and Louie Debrusk. Jagr was traded for three prospects. Jagr was also traded for Anson Carter. Marcel Dionne was traded with Bart Crashley for Terry Harper, Dan Maloney, and Los Angeles' 2nd Round Pick in 1976.

None of those trades gave equal value, and that's the way it was/will be for many trades. It's just a fact of life most big time trades don't result in equal players.

As for the lines in Montreal, I don't remember them all at the time. They tried Recchi, Damphousse and Turgeon together, but the line stank, so they had to split them up. I know Damphousse and Ruckinsky played together for sure, and I think Bure was their linemate. Kovalenko was on the top line for his half a year, probably with Turgeon. Recchi-Koivu-Savage usually played together. Then guys like Stevenson, Petrov, Brashear, etc. took spots on the fourth line and higher when guys were injured. That's the best I can remember.

Ah, yes the Gretzky to St.Louis deal. Good points on those trades. Then again, who could possibly measure up to Gretzky or Jagr right? That's why Roy for Sakic seemed so straightforward in a time when money wasn;t thta much of an issue. How about Thornton for Stuart, Primeau and Sturm? Thornton for Marleau dammit! Ah man, the under achieving Rucinsky. Thanks for bringing me down. Before Recchi-Savage-Koivu I think they shoved Damphousse in there. All three played well. In fact, I remember going to a game and being thoroughly impressed with them. For a time the big four were quite productive. Theywere the last pure goal scorers we had. Now we have Ryder and Higgins for the future - we'll see. Kovalev doesn't count. Unless he plays with thoroughbreds that guy is just another supremely talented player. He and Koivu work magic when together. Nice comment!