Faxes from Uncle Dale

Tag: Chicago Blackhawks

  • Morning Links 7/8/14

    Morning Links 7/8/14

    Lets hope he is as good as his brother: SunTimes

    Kneel before his statistical growth: Second City Hockey

    In an all seriousness I love this dude…Keep him in your thoughts: TSN

    What once was: Sportsnet.Ca

  • What Are You?

    What Are You?

    It’s been just about a week since the Hawks signed Brad Richards, and thanks to other commitments and the holiday I haven’t really had time to get in up to the elbow on what the Hawks have taken a flier on here. We’ve got time today. So roll up the sleeves, Hondo.

    What they’ve gotten is clearly a player on the decline. Richards had 91 points with Dallas the year the Hawks won the Cup the firs time. He then went to 77, 66, a 60-point pace in the lockout year, and 51 points last year. So none of that is going to be encouraging, especially when he switched to the easier Eastern Conference and continued to put up less points.

    Are there some mitigating factors? A few but hardly nothing major. He was bounced around the lineup a lot by John Tortorella, and Torts was allergic to offense. But the introduction of Alain Vigneault didn’t help much either.

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  • Morning Links 7/3/14

    Morning Links 7/3/14

    Man-Child by the numbers by numbers I Mean Flippin FANCY STATS: NHL

    Movement on the horizon? Chicago Tribune

    Jim Nill..Heartbreaker: TSN

    More central center depth: ESPN

    Well it may be they just aren’t that good: PD

  • July 1 Post Mortem

    July 1 Post Mortem

    McClure took you through the local hockey club’s actions on the opening day of free agency, as I was too busy passing out from every Belgian attack (I passed out a lot). So I thought I’d clean up what went on around the league.

    Central Matters

    First, it’s probably best to look closer to home and that’s in the Central division. The big move was Jason Spezza going to the Stars for pretty much nothing. One aspect that didn’t get mentioned a whole lot is how this move slots The Ginger Ninja, Cody Eakin, down into the 3rd center role. That’s where he’s supposed to be and don’t be shocked if he becomes one of the better 3rd centers in the West.

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  • Morning Links 7/2/14

    Morning Links 7/2/14

    Three years ago today I was in Vegas wanting Stan to sign this guy: SunTimes

    Well they did for a perfect stopgap: Chicago Tribune

    The Dane returns! ESPN

    Big D could once again be a big problem: DMN

    My contract sucks: TSN

    No Paul, anywhere else….Sportsnet.ca

    The beats will all have columns when the Hawks play the Panthers: MH

  • Mornings Links 6/30/14

    Mornings Links 6/30/14

    We think so too! Suntimes

    Its pronounced Cal-Gary: Chicago Tribune

    So the field is narrowed: TSN

    We have seen it already: Globe and Mail

    Draft recap: Hockeenight

     

  • Draft Wrap: It Smells Better Around Here

    Pretty glorious day, no?

    Sure, we’re making too much of a deal of barely a fourth-liner (or barely an NHL-er). But at least we now know that Stan sees what all of us sees, or saw. And Stan is at least making attempts to re-jigger this team how he sees fit, with more speed and skill (thus the pumping and re-signing of Morin). And the fact that some team was dumb enough to give up not just a draft pick, but a 3rd rounder which could be somewhat valuable, I nearly plotzed! Watch what a difference actually having a 4th line could make next spring.

    As for the picks today, well, who knows if any of these guys will come up for air. But we’ll do what we can to see what the Hawks have picked up.

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  • Hawks Draft Nick Schmaltz

    Hawks Draft Nick Schmaltz

    It didn’t come with the fireworks we thought tonight. We all held out breath when it was reported that Hawks’ and Sharks’ reps were at the NHL table filing a trade, but in the end it just ended up being a swap of picks so the Hawks could move up. Which leads you to believe that Nick Schmaltz was a target of theirs and they went out of their way to get him.

    What Schmaltz sounds like is basically a slightly bigger, American version of Teuvo Teravainen, with perhaps more finish. But Schmaltz’s game is definitely pass-first, and everyone raves about his vision and hands. He doesn’t have the size you might like, but is very strong on his skates and squirts out of traffic well.

    Schmaltz has a rep for tacking a shift off or even a game off here and there, but I’m not going to dismiss a 17-year-old because his focus might waver at times. We’ll see what he does at North Dakota. He has to work on his defensive game, but who doesn’t at that age? Once again the Hawks have drafted for serious skill, which seems to be a habit of theirs. As we said, past Teuvo and Danault the Hawks looked a little short down the middle in the system. They addressed that tonight.

    Tomorrow should be more interesting, as if they’re going to dump Oduya for picks and cap space it will be then.

  • Boys For Sale – Draft Preview: The Forwards

    Just as we did last night, we’ll give you a few names that should, or could, be around when the Hawks pick at #27. Though today Stan Bowman said he’s not averse to losing that pick for something else, so this all might be moot anyway.

    Not that the Hawks tend to draft for need, they generally take the best player available, but the system is short on centers. Right now it’s only Teuvo and Danault, so I’m assuming all things being equal they’ll take a center. That said, they’ll probably just take the best player that’s on the board when it gets to them.

    Let’s get to it, then:

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  • Morning Links 6/26/14

    Morning Links 6/26/14

    Well that escalated quickly: Suntimes

    I know several great Czech places: Sportsnet.Ca

    I would like to see more friendly conversations like this: PD

    Now that’s a cap friendly deal: CBS

    I like players that frustrate the status quo…ESPN