The NHL Trade Deadline usually occurs on a Tuesday in the middle of the month of March, which is near the end of the regular season for hockey. After that date every season no player trades can be made the rest of the season until the summer. Virtually every sport has a trade deadline, but for hockey fans that day is something special: it is almost a holiday.
What makes the trade deadline so exciting is the fact that it is on that day that most teams pull off their biggest and most surprising player trades. It is a crazy day for team owners and GMs as they spend most of it on their phones, wheeling and dealing with other teams trying to find out who they can get and who they can dump. It makes a lot of players on edge all day for none of them are absolutely certain of what team's jersey they'll be wearing the next. As the day rolls around fans everywhere tingle with anticipation and angst, hoping that their team gets a top notch player and that their team's GM doesn't do anything stupid.
On Trade Deadline Day trade rumors buzz around more than bees in a pollen factory. These days, whether they are at work or home, most hockey fans constantly scan sports websites, nhl.com first and foremost, trying to get up-to-the-second updates on all the deals that are being made. This fervor, this anticipation, this angst, this excitement makes this day like Christmas to fans of the ice laden sport. Finding out your team has acquired a Keith Tkachuk or a Sergei Federov can illicit cheers of joy and fists pumping in the air; finding our your team has traded away those guys for draft picks and lousy players can cause grumbling, swearing, and yells of "Noooooooooooo! (Insert GM name here)'s an idiot!!"
But getting the good players is what really makes the trade deadline day a holiday of sorts, as it can be equated to seeing all the wonderful presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Seeing your favorite player traded away, however, is like getting a lump of coal in your stocking.