It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... in THAT order!!!

Ok, so today was NHL trade deadline. I, unfortunately, had to work most of the day. The deadline was to end at 1pm. I receive text message updates to my cell phone about any Oilers news, and I was anxiously awaiting such a message most of the morning. At about 1:30pm I took my lunch break, and realized that I hadn't heard anything yet, which would be just fine with me, except that there were a few players I'd be reasonably content with trading, so long as we got the better end of the trade. As I'm sitting there, enjoying my Chicken McNuggets (McDonalds is the devil), I feel a little vibration from my cargo pocket on my pants. I reach in, pull out my cell phone and see "Oilers updates" on the screen. I open the message and my jaw dropped as I read "Oilers trade Ryan Smyth to Islanders for Ryan O'Marra, Robert Nilsson, 2007 pick (1st Round)." I don't mean to sound like a whiner or a sourpuss, but that's pathetic! This is Smitty we're talking about! The man who by all accounts (other than his, of course) SHOULD be the Oilers' captain! I suppose I shouldn't be to surprised, I suppose. After all, this is the team that's famous for the "train 'em and trade 'em" philosophy. I guess I just thought that in this new era of the NHL, they might be able to hold on to some of their stars, rather than seeing Smyth follow the likes of Messier (who's being honoured by the team tonight by retiring his jersey), Gretzky, Weight, Guerin, and many, many more to other teams while in the prime of their respective careers. Needless to say, I'm NOT a big Kevin Lowe fan today. I just hope there's some stipulation that hasn't been made public that would make this more of a rental situation than a full on trade. I'd sure like to see Smitty back with the Blue and Copper before too long.