Everything Else

51 Phantom

By 1905

From the moment Brian Campbell arrived, there were a lot of people trying to figure out how to get him out of here. Maybe it was the uneasiness we had in seeing the Hawks hand out a contract to a prime free agent on the market. And make no mistake, in the summer of 2008 Campbell was the best blue-liner to have. It was something that never happened. The last big free agent contract the Hawks handed out was Nikolai Khabibulin, and we know how that went (who then strangely would have a really good season before he hit the market again). Over the years, it wasn’t something the Hawks did. It was always washed up stars like Gilmour or Housley that they went for back in the day.

Maybe it was the sheer amount of money. $7 million a year is actually still a lot, but back then it sounded like he was basically being given the United Center.

Maybe it was the method. The Hawks had already showed off all their picks they had developed, as the previous season all of Toews, Kane, Bolland, Brouwer, Hjalmarsson had made their NHL debuts to join Keith and Seabrook. Adding a huge free agent to it just seemed so foreign.

Everything Else

So This Is Your Roster

By 1779

Couple nuggets the past couple days that pretty much lead one to believe this is your Hawks team taking the ice in October, if you didn’t already believe that. We have this from friend of the program Scott Powers that the Hawks aren’t going to LTIR Hossa until the season begins. And then there was Mirtle’s piece yesterday in Toronto’s Athletic about how the Leafs are using summer LTIR. If you’re getting confused, you’re not alone.

Ever since the announcement that Hossa wouldn’t play this season, Stan Bowman has been strongly hinting he didn’t want to use LTIR until the season began, essentially being cap compliant with Hossa’s contract on the books when the puck drops, because he wanted “flexibility” during the season. And that’s reasonable enough. Except it doesn’t appear to be that simple.

Everything Else

Tardy Ruthlessness

By 1592

The NHL offseason has basically become pretty much every fan laughing at the stupid decisions of GMs across the league, and fans of those teams those GMs preside over trying to sell themselves on others that they weren’t THAT stupid. Some of that has reached these pastures, and maybe some of it is deserved.

It seems to me that possibly every NHL GM just hasn’t figured out how ruthless you have to be in this hard cap. Or maybe they know it, and just can’t bring themselves to do it. Or maybe mechanizations within the organization haven’t allowed them to do so. I think that’s what we’re seeing here with the Hawks and Stan Bowman.

While the Penguins will be used as the model, it’s probably important to remember their three Cups and four finals span three coaches and two GMs. So Jim Rutherford could have looked at the roster he got from Ray Shero and not feel the same attachments. And the Penguins roster from their first champion to the second and third only retains three and a half important elements in Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Fleury if you want to count him, though he wasn’t supposed to be involved at all for the last two.

Everything Else

Free Agency Opens, Hawks Try New Tactic Of Playing With No Centers

By 1517

It’s a beautiful day. Summer’s here, so I’m going to try and be as positive as I can. Patrick Sharp and Tommy Wingels don’t cost much… and that’s about that.

We’ve spent a week laying out why Patrick Sharp doesn’t make any sense here, no matter that he cost not much. Every dollar the Hawks spend counts. They don’t have flexibility. And the risks with Patrick Sharp are so glaringly obvious. First off, he just had hip surgery. He can’t even skate until at least September. I doubt he can start the season on time. Whatever Sharp has left in scoring touch is going to be hampered if he can’t actually get to the spots you remember him getting to. And it’s not like he’s had any interest in back-checking in a few years. So ask yourself, how does Sharp help a team that didn’t look fast enough last spring get faster?

Everything Else

Friday Foofaraw: Ok, You Can Have An Excerpt Of “Madison St. Station”- Perfect Flair

By 1546

In my continuing shameless self-promotion tour, enjoy a chapter from my book “Madison St. Station.” But this being a summer Friday, it’s one of the few that doesn’t have much to do with hockey. Because it’s my way. And remember, you can buy my book right here. 

 

Perfect Flair

December 19, 1991

Canadiens v. Hawks

I have never seen video of it. I have never seen any record of it. From what I can tell, the memory exists in my mind alone, which is a weird place. But it would be a few years before I would dabble in hallucinogens, and unless I absorbed the ones my brother and father had previously done through osmosis, this happened.

For those who might not know, for as long as I can remember, between the second and third periods of every Hawks home game, they would do a shoot-the-puck competition for fans. Basically, three fans would get the chance to shoot the puck at a net that had been boarded up with a mini-golf-like three openings set up in said board along the ice. If they accomplished that, they would get a chance to shoot at the other one, which had been reduced to only one opening. If they hit that, they won free flights or money or something.

Everything Else

Let’s Talk Ourselves Into Sam Gagner…If Bill Daly Will Let Us

By 1261

Before we delve into whether or not Sam Gagner would be a good pickup for the Hawks–they’re apparently batting their eyelashes at each other from across the free agency bar (that’s what people do when they’re attracted to each other, right? I really have no idea), we should let rip on Bill Daly and the NHL.

First off, let me say that I’m still somewhat surprised that Bill Daly remembers how to breathe throughout a particular day, given the powers of his mind. Today he came out and said the NHL still has not ruled on what Marian Hossa’s cap status or injury status or just status will be. I cannot, with every writing skill I’d like to think I have, express how universally stupid this is.

First off, it’s completely unfair. The Hawks need to know if they can put Hossa on LTIR in training camp or not. Otherwise they have no idea what they can sign this summer and where they have to be when camp opens.

Everything Else

Scouting Report And Possibilities

By 1896

We’ve all gotten a few days here to catch our breath before the gates open on Saturday to free agency. Even if the Hawks don’t do anything (they will), and even though the market is pretty weak compared to other years, the action will fly thick and fast.

Still, it’s probably good to look back for a second and see what the Hawks got. Reached out to Sarah Hall over at FiveForHowling.com to get what they thought of the two former Coyotes headed our way:

Everything Else

Just Another Friday Morning

By 2226

Full disclosure, I’m writing this wearing my Brandon Saad Saginaw Spirit jersey, so that’s where I am emotionally.

Ok… let’s see if we can parse this altogether. It’s not going to be easy. So here’s the facts. The Hawks first traded Niklas Hjalmarsson to Arizona for Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin. Then, presumably getting buzzed on the fumes from that, Stan Bowman turned around and traded Artemi Panarin, Tyler Motte and a pick to Columbus for Brandon Saad, Anton Forsberg, and another pick.

Well…. well… let’s get to it, shall we?

I’m not going to bury the lede here on how we feel. The Hammer trade has the potential to be a very good one. Yeah I know, you’re throwing something at the screen right now, hoping it will somehow be absorbed by the internet and then spit out through my screen and hit me in the face.

But I know what I’m saying. Put the sentiment aside. For the second half of last year, Niklas Hjalmarsson was not good. Where before he could smother the best any opponent had to offer, he couldn’t do that last year. It wasn’t just Seabrook getting torched by the Predators last year. It was Hammer too. And as we’ve said repeatedly the past couple years, the aging curve on a less-than-mobile puck bag that Hammer was can get very ugly in an awful hurry. Think Rob Scuderi. Think Robyn Regehr. Think Niklas Kronwall. Think Brooks Orpik. Not pretty, no?

Everything Else

Hossa Fallout, Schedule, And Argle Bargle

By 1656

Few things to clean up today:

-Stan and Q had their press conference today to discuss Marian Hossa and the draft. Q had the look of a man who just saw his one top six winger who can backcheck effectively ripped away from him, because he is. There’s not much Q can do at the moment, as we get the feeling he’s going to be less involved on free agency and trades and personnel decisions than he’s been.

So it came to Stan, who had to wax poetic about how complicated it’s going to be using Hossa’s cap space in LTIR. And he’s right, it isn’t as simple as most believe.