I bet Foley is thrilled:Tribune
Depth:Daily Herald
Times 3:Let’s Go Hawks
Rich:PD
Bonjour:TSN
This is yet another post we’ll probably have to revisit when the summer moves are complete, because some ballast still has to dumped before anyone calls this complete. But it’s not so easy to evaluate Stan Bowman’s performance this summer because there’s a ton of emotion packed up in every move. And seeing as how I’ve been accused as driving most of the noise, it’s probably up to me to try and suss it all out.
At the top, no I don’t think this has been Stan’s best work, but it’s probably better than most think and it’s certainly not a complete failure. Let’s see why.
Shaw doing Shaw things: Blackhawks
Q on the A: ESPN Chicago
88 excited: PHT
Panarin could be special: CSN
Do the new kids have it: PD
Not listening won’t make it not so: Trib
We enter upon Convention weekend, and after a deep run like the Hawks just had it seems like they’re starting another party before the last one has even ended. But they probably want to give these guys a full six weeks out of town or whatever. But with the convention starting, that means it’s time for John McDonough to put on his full court press. And he hasn’t disappointed again this season.
There are a host of reasons that David Haugh could have turned himself into the latest columnist/patsy with his Duncan Keith… I don’t know, expose? I suppose that Keith could have called him out of the blue to explain why he won’t be there this weekend. But given Keith’s wariness of the press and with everything else, that seems highly unlikely. I suppose Haugh could have found out Keith won’t be there and went to find out why, but again that doesn’t seem all that likely.
I’m not sure why the Hawks couldn’t have just announced that Keith would not be attending this convention due to a personal matter and left it at that. While some adult autograph seekers would have stamped their feet about it, any rational person would have barely made a noise and moved on with their lives. After all, it’s not really any of our business.
Training Camp Fest: Blackhawks
Duncs opens up: Trib
Dahlstrom looks to improve: ESPN Chicago
Um no: PD
Ribeiro settles: PHT
Shades of the Hjalmarsson offer sheet: PHT
Whatever: CSN
Prospect’s perspective: Blackhawks
Last pick standing: ESPN Chicago
Duckk tales: PD
With the news just dropping that Johnny Oduya is also going to be seeing Dallas regularly from a DC-9 at night, it’s probably high time we take a look at what is now his replacement, Trevor Daley.
Before we do that, a final word on Oduya’s departure. Up until Saad’s trade, I really had no hope that Oduya would be returning. And not much of a desire for it either. The Hawks had squeezed out what has to be almost all of his plus-play the past couple years, he’s 34 and there are limits to what he gives you. While he would have been a great place-holder while Johns learned the ropes and up until Johns took his role, I didn’t think that was completely necessary.
But then Johns was dealt, and in came Daley, and as you’re about to see playing Daley in the top four has the potential to be a real, real problem. The sanctuary of the known that Oduya provides suddenly seemed very reassuring. And now we’re about to be tossed into a pretty choppy sea with no guarantee of port.
Some big names missing: Blackhawks
Look like he’s gone: Trib
Daley on the decline: PD
Schmaltzy: CSN
Gustav healing: ESPN Chicago
Hawks better?: ESPN Insider (sorry)
Doc Q&A: SN
This is a post we might have to keep coming back to as the summer develops. But I thought it would prove useful to compare the sell-offs of the summers of ’10 and this one, and to compare how poised the Hawks are for their next Cup as they were with that one. It won’t make for pleasant reading, but so much of what we do doesn’t either so you’ll be used to that. No time like the present, let’s dive on in and not care if the water is shallow or not.
What Hawks Lost After ’10: It’s a pretty long list. Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg (and it’s pretty funny that they simple CAN’T move him now), Brent Sopel, Ben Eager, John Madden, and Colin Fraser. In other terms, the Hawks lost 2/3rd of their third line (Versteeg and Ladd flanked Bolland most of that season), their 4th line center, a top six left winger (that’s where Byfuglien ended up anyway), a couple other components that rotated in on the 4th line in Eager and Burish, and their #5 d-man.
I should also add that Antti Niemi had to be left on the side of the road after his arbitration hearing.
