Everything Else

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.

Everything Else

While us fans are still going to bask in the glow of Monday’s victory and Thursday’s parade (or in my case, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s Kyle Schwarber performance), this week is when the Hawks front office has to start to pivot toward next year, and namely to the point clearing out cap space to get Saad, Kruger, and whoever else they might like into the fold so we can attempt to do this all again in a year’s time.

Watching this unfold, I have to say I’ve been impressed with the local media’s reserved, optimistic tone about what the Hawks can do next year while the national — both here and north of the 49th — have been forecasting doom and gloom and it’s 2011 all over again! As it’s our job to piss on national and local narratives alike, let me poke some holes in this latter view, if you don’t mind.

Everything Else

greased lightning vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, CBC, TVA, WGN-AM 720
Piss And Vinegar: Raw Charge

Tonight on the west side the Stanley Cup Final makes the turn to the back stretch with the Hawks needing a win at home to keep the Lightning from heading back to Tampa with an opportunity to clinch. While not literally a “must win”, it’s as close as it gets for the Hawks, who are looking to even up the series and put themselves in a far more advantageous position moving forward.

Everything Else

All quiet on the chomping front:ESPN CHICAGO

TVR? Let’s Go Hawks

Yes but only for Vermette:BU

**Listen to Spiegs & Goff, for Sam’s spots & Jason Goff has the best nickname for #80**

Literally…Sweet Jesus! PD

Probably not:NBC

Well its hard to get warm in a skybox:TS

Yes if he isn’t cute:SCH

Sour Grapes…Draft Better:NJ.com

I figured this was fitting:Chicago Tribune

Dolla Dolla Bills Y’all:USA TODAY

For the foodies:NY Times

This is going to keep happening:Montreal Gazette

I heard a lot about most of it, but what I did hear, I did not hear any of that:TSN

Non-Hockey but Wow:Globe and Mail