Faxes from Uncle Dale

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  • Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: The 4th Line Rotation

    Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: The 4th Line Rotation

    Marcus Kruger and Andrew Desjardins probably deserve their own posts, but to be honest and fair with you I’m pretty sick of writing these and we’ve got other fish to fry next week. So let’s wrap it all up, take the weekend, and get ready for the season next week (whatever the hell it’s gonna be).

    Marcus Kruger – Poor guy has been in a holding pattern all summer. It took until the eve of camp for Kruger even to get a contract for this year, even though he’s more than earned a multi-year deal that he’s watched pretty much all his other core teammates get. Then he had to wait for visa problems to clear before he could arrive at camp late. Good thing he’s a good soldier, huh?

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  • Roster A-Go Go

    When I opened up this post it was going to be Marcus Kruger’s season preview, but then the roster news started spurting out like… well, I’ll just let you fill in your own naughty metaphor there. It’s very cold in my apartment and hence I’m not in the mood.

    First it was the news that Marko Dano has been sent down to Rockford. Then right behind it came that Bryan Bickell is on waivers, I’m guessing with the intention of sending him down as well.

    So let’s try and parse this out as best we can.

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  • Morning Links 10/2/2015

    They will probably make a video celebrating it:STLPD

    Confident as always:NHL

    Ofcourse they don’t:TSN

    So this shouldn’t be a surprise:Sportsnet

    Regardless…Somebody missed the boat here:NBC

  • Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Patrick Kane

    Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Patrick Kane

    Oh goody, the best for last.

    While the temptation or urge to go off the deep end here exists, I’ll keep this to on the ice as much as I can. Obviously, there’s still a chance he’s going to miss some time for something, so we’ll factor that in. But don’t worry, there won’t be any preaching here. At least I hope not. And figuring out what he’ll do on the ice is a pretty big mystery in itself.

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  • Morning Links 10/1/15

    Tonight by the river: Blackhawks

    Running out of time: CSN

    Suuuuuuuure: ESPN

    #3: TCE

    Paint by numbers: PD

  • Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Bryan Bickell

    Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Bryan Bickell

    Did you forget he was on the team? I kind of forgot he was on the team. We’ve all assumed he’d be traded for so long, and the Hawks clearly have tried to trade him hard, that now that we’re here you kind of just assumed it already happened. But it hasn’t, he’s still here, and one has to assume if he’s here by now he’s probably not going anywhere. Bickell has become one of the least liked Hawks, and it’s basically because he signed a contract he was offered (whether Stan Bowman was actually the one offer him that contract has been up for debate, but it doesn’t matter now). Bickell’s been just about what he’s always been, except now he’s got even balkier knees and a brain that might slowly be turning into oatmeal.

    So what’s in store of Bicks?

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  • If You Smell What The Hawks Are Cooking…

    So our friend Greg Boysen, who works for about 45 different sites now, tweeted out this little nugget from EJ Hradek on MSG last night. Well, actually Hradek was on MSG on Monday but we got it yesterday anyway you get it shut up. It’s a quick story, but basically Hradek reported that the Hawks didn’t want Patrick Kane to attend camp and did try and actively keep him from attending.

    That’s nice… except if you think about it for more than four consecutive seconds it pretty much seems like utter bullshit.

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  • Morning Links 9/30/2015

    Morning Links 9/30/2015

    Well..don’t run your mouth in the papers:Chicago Tribune

    The roster is almost final:Daily Herald

    A leader to repeat:CBS

    Farewell Kopy:FSN

    You can’t stop the Nordiques:TSN

    Recommended Pierre Pilote Reading:TCE

    Probably really streaky:SN

  • Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Andrew Shaw

    Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Andrew Shaw

    Should I add “if he’s here?” We’ll get to that.

    We know that there are fewer, if any, more made men than Andrew Shaw when it comes to Joel Quenneville. Because the Hawks value versatility and grit pretty highly, as long as that grit comes with skill, Shaw is basically the light of their eyes. Shaw has been deployed in every forward spot on every line in his three seasons here (two full and two half-seasons), and while we scoff when he’s deployed at center up the lineup, it’s not like he’s a total embarrassment there. At least not all the time. It’s just that there’s generally been better alternatives around. And there will be when Shaw is playing third center instead of Teuvo or is on the top line left wing instead of Dano or something this season.

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  • Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Finnish Baby Jesus

    Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Finnish Baby Jesus

    If it wasn’t for all the bullshit that surrounds the Hawks right now, I would have to say the development of Teuvo Teravainen would probably be the most fascinating aspect of the Hawks this year. We have a player who took over a 3rd period in Game 1 of the Final at the age of 20 (and also the 2nd period of Game 5 of the Western Conference Final). He can play wing or center, and even the Hawks don’t seem quite sure where he should go. Once he was finally cemented on the roster, which took too long, he had one play each game where you weren’t so much blown back that he did it, but that he even thought of it in the first place. If the Hawks are intent on producing a new batch of a core to support their old one, or one to replace the one they had behind the old one (*cough*Saad*cough*), Teuvo is most likely the leading light of that.

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