NHL Trade Deadline Day: Maybe They Should Call it Disappointment Day.

Many hockey fans are more interested in trades and trade rumors than in the actual games. So the NHL trade deadline - coming up on Thursday - is the most highly anticipated event of the season. On deadline day in 2004, the Canadian website TSN.ca recorded a 41.1 million page views, easily an all-time one-day record.

There were 20 trades that day, with 29 players changing teams. It's expected that the salary cap will curtail this year's dealing - the rich can no longer troll the bottom of the standings, scooping up bodies and salaries in exchange for a few draft picks. Which is just as well. The evidence suggests that late-season trades do little for a team's championship hopes. Consider the recent evidence.

1999: The Detroit Red Wings have trade junkies frothing at the mouth as they add defensemen Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson, forward Wendel Clark and goaltender Bill Ranford to an already solid lineup. They lose in the second round of the playoffs.

2002: New Jersey upgrades the offence by picking up forwards Jamie Langenbrunner and Joe Nieuwendyk from Dallas. Philadelphia grabs one of hockey's great centermen, 39-year-old Adam Oates, which costs them three draft picks and a young goalie. The Flyers and Devils win three playoff games between them.

2003: Heaving draft picks and prospects overboard, the Toronto Maple Leafs add star power and experience, bringing in Owen Nolan (31 years old), Glen Wesley (34), Doug Gilmour (39) and Phil Housley (39). They lose in the opening round.

2004: The Leafs are at it again, trading for Brian Leetch and Ron Francis, both of whom are sure to end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The team wins one playoff round.

So be warned. If your team makes a huge media splash this week with a flurry of deals involving the biggest stars in the game, their chances of winning the Stanley Cup are swirling down the drain.