A Hairy Trade

There's 8 days left before the NHL trading deadline. Rumors are running rampant, even though the vast majority of them are completely unfounded.

You can expect rumor overload this week as all of the NHL's general managers are meeting as we speak in Naples, Florida. Remind me again what the team is located in Naples?

It amazes me how many of these GMs are able and prepared to make split second decisions that will shape their particular franchise's short and medium term futures. Of course, that future will prove to be disappointing for some of these franchises.

You have to wonder how much emotion measures into these decisions. Surely many of the bad decisions and even some of the great ones will be made in rash order.

But nothing could be more rash than what Ned Harkness and the Detroit Red Wings did in 1970. Harkness, a tyrant of a coach that must have been Mike Keenan's boyhood idol, told 42 goal scorer Garry Unger to get a haircut or he would be traded. Calling the bluff, Unger refused, only to be sent packing to St. Louis.

Yes, this is a true story. The even truer story was that decisions like this made the Red Wings cellar dwellers until the late 1980s. Unger went on to become the face of the Blues in the 1970s.

The trade deadline countdown is on. In the meantime, be sure to read about the newest addition to Greatest Hockey Legends.com - Garry Unger.