Booth review

Boil down the Vancouver-Florida trade any way you want, it's hard not to look at the team that lands the 26-year-old, former 30-goal man and not say it won the trade.

In a money deal between your classic NHL "have" and a model "have not," the Canucks took term, $2 million in right-now money in minor-league forward Steve Reinprecht and in return got Booth, for whom a pressure-filled, Canadian environment should re-focus his game.

We'll wait and see whether Booth can be that 30-goal man every year that the Panthers saw once, three seasons ago. But we've seen plenty of high draft picks who, after a while in one comfortable place, require new surroundings, new expectations, and in this case a fan base that won't settle for those same old moves that disappointed in Florida.

"Booth apparently broke down in tears when informed that he was traded to Vancouver," wrote veteran beat writer George Richards in the Miami Herald. Well, with one assist and a minus-6 in six games this season -- after a 40-point, minus-31 season last year (second worst plus-minus in the NHL) -- Panthers GM Dale Tallon likely wanted to cry on some nights too.

And lest we forget: There was this other, expensive player with mucho term left on his deal whom Tallon unloaded on Vancouver last season, in return for (gulp) Michael Grabner and a first-round pick. Keith Ballard never earned head coach Alain Vigneault's trust last spring, and has started this season with one point and a minus-7 in eight Canucks games.

With Booth and Ballard, GM Mike Gillis took on four seasons each (including this one) and a combined cap hit of $8.45 million on his books. Booth is a skillful guy who should thrive in this lineup. But now, when it comes to scratching that playoff itch, we still say the Canucks need more size and grit in that Top 9 forward group.

So, it crossed Edmonton coach Tom Renney's mind that it might be a good idea to take a look at his Oilers lineup without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in it. Just in case, you know, the team sends him back to junior this week.

So he mused about that possibility Friday, basically thinking out loud while chatting with the Edmonton media the morning after Renney had benched RNH's line in the third period of a tight game.

"At the end of the day, when we look at his situation, we'll look at the body of work and say, 'OK, he's here.' Or 'We have to send him back,'" Renney said.

Well, sound reasoning in this case did not induce a reasonable sound among Oiler fans, who flooded the phone lines with quotes like, "If Nugent-Hopkins doesn't play, I don't go."

The story burned through town all day, and by Friday night Renney was calling Nugent-Hopkins at home, assuring him that his spot in the lineup was safe for Saturday's game against the Rangers. RNH responded with a goal and an assist in a 2-0 Oilers win.

We get the part about resting the kid, if his game falls off. But let's face it: He's leading the team in scoring through seven games (5-2-7), and his game is ahead of where Taylor Hall's was a year ago -- and Hall did just fine. He's not going anywhere, Tom, and besides:

In a town that has become accustomed to its 18-year-old playing right away -- Sam Gagner, Hall -- it's awfully hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube now, isn't it?

We're not saying anyone could have done it -- OK, maybe we are -- but when John McDonough came over from the Cubs to run the Blackhawks in Chicago, there were mighty obvious moves to be made.

Like putting the games back on TV in Chicago, and making up with some former stars who had become estranged over the years.

"We are out of the grudge business," McDonough said early in his tenure.

On the weekend, the Blackhawks unveiled a pair of statues outside the United Center, one each of franchise greats Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita. The ceremony was heartfelt and long overdue, and now it is former players like Mikita who feel indebted to the franchise, where only a few years ago they felt abandoned.

"I said it before and I'll say it again. I thought by now I would be forgotten," Mikita said. "Instead, I keep being remembered."

We spent the first Sunday in a long while in front of the TV, and found out you need a dictionary to watch NFL games these days.

What is it with football people, who have to invent terminology to essentially make everyone sound so much smarter?

Today, certain "offside" penalties are described by referees as "neutral zone infractions." A running back doesn't find a hole to run through anymore. First he "diagnoses" the situation then picks his route, according to the analyst.

A fake isn't good enough anymore, in the new eloquent NFL. Now it's a "ghost fake." (Isn't that redundantly superfluous?)

Makes you pine for John Madden and his Batman-like "Oooofs," and "Aaarghs."

It's Sunday morning, people. Please.

Nobody wants more than one or two syllables at a time.

Mark Spector is the senior columnist on sportsnet.ca