The Final Hour

One hour to go. . .sort of.

From other years, it's become traditional that some of the trades made today won't be made public until after the 3 p.m. deadline.

Each trade has to go through a league "trade call," and if a transaction is consumated at 2:59, it can take a while for the details are made official.

If you include the Gary Roberts trade, there have been nine deals made today, low compared to 25 last year.

Only the swap that sends Bill Guerin to San Jose could be considered as a move that could have a major impact on the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Roberts waived his no-trade clause, as did Guerin, as did Keith Tkachuk, as did Peter Forsberg.

So what exactly does a no-trade clause mean? One supposes it gives players come control over where they can be traded to, but no more.

Todd Bertuzzi is still sitting out there, and with Anaheim GM Brian Burke now having acquired Brad May, a former employee for Burke with the Canucks, there's speculation Bertuzzi could yet be a Duck.

Jamal Mayers is likely going to be signed by St. Louis. Owen Nolan might find a new home, and Jason Blake's situation with the Islanders remains iffy.

All this will be known in the next hour. . .as long as you consider an NHL hour to be longer than 60 minutes.