Everything Else

Oh Stan-ny Stan-ny! Made The Calls And Brought In The Lot

By 1425

After the acquisition of Andrew Ladd, I figured the Hawks didn’t have room for much else. Shows what my math skills are. That’s why I work here and not there, right? Yeah, that’s it. Stan followed that up yesterday with the acquisition of Christian Ehrhoff which McClure already walked you through. Then last night Stan really pushed the chips into the middle  by saving Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann from the great sinking ship known as the Montreal Canadiens for the not insignificant price of Phillip Danault and a 2nd round pick in 2018 (because the Hawks aren’t going to give up any pick in 2017 when they host the draft that they don’t have to, which is a bit weird).

Essentially, Stan looked at his forward depth, and conclude he needed a whole new line. Which he did. And he got one.

Everything Else

Ladd Of The People

By 1606

In Stan Bowman’s first few seasons as GM, there was an aversion to “the big splash.” 2010’s big move was the now deceased Kim Johnsson. The following season saw Michael Frolik and Chris Campoli come aboard, and neither were anywhere near the hottest items on the board. After that Johnny Oduya was the acquisition, and again he wasn’t the big prize at the deadline (though Frolik and Oduya went on to play pretty big roles).

Even in free agency, Stan started out taking the more functional than revolutionary choices, like Montador, Brunnette, Carcillo, and other names that went on to just about nothing for the Hawks.

However, after two first-round exits there was little question Stan was facing just a bit of heat from upstairs. While it didn’t immediately result in bigger splashes, the Hawks certainly made it clear to everyone who would listen that they went after Zach Parise in free agency in the summer of 2012. That was certainly the biggest fish Stan had ever chased.

Everything Else

All Lost In The Trade Market

By 1414

With the Hawks having lost four of six (which constitutes a real streak for them), and their lack of depth in both the blue line and at forward getting exposed by the better teams in the West, the volume of calls for trades, any trades, is certainly getting to crescendo-levels. While the emotion certainly is understandable, the Hawks and their fans are going to find two problems. 1) Thanks to their cap situation, and Artemi Panarin’s 1.75m bonus for finishing among the top-10 in scoring among forwards, the Hawks aren’t going to be able to solve all their problems at the deadline and 2) There really aren’t any perfect solutions out there for even one of their problems. Let’s go through them, shall we?

Everything Else

Friday Argle Bargle

By 1385

It’s different than the Foofaraw, as it’s actually about hockey. Just a couple things to clean up today before Outdoor weekend or whatever they’re calling it.

-I’d been meaning to get to this a few days ago, but my life’s inertia at the moment prevented me. Anyway, the idea of trading Teuvo Teravainen came up earlier in the week, and our friend Jay Zawaski addressed it on Twitter:

JZ is pretty plugged in. Generally when he gets something from the inside it sticks. But the tweet after that was to enforce that the Hawks are not going to trade Teuvo unless someone blows their socks, shoes, and arch supports off with an offer. Obviously, everyone knows we agree with this.

Everything Else

Turn The TV On It Looks Just Like A Window

By 1447

As the Hawks and specifically Stan Bowman barrel into trade deadline week, we here at the lab are not only discussing names and proposals but how it fits in with the overall window of the Hawks. It becomes a more and more philosophical discussion, as well as trying to figure out what the actual length is. I’m sure it’s a discussion Bowman and assistants and scouts are having every day, just how much do you shorten the window on the back end for this chance this year?

Last year’s championship basically puts the Hawks on house money. As first-hockey-world problem as it might sound. two Cups wouldn’t have sounded like enough when we look back in 10 or 20 years (though ask Bears fans what a second championship would have felt like in the 80s). A third though puts the Hawks in rarified air, even if they don’t compare to what came before. In my lifetime, only three teams have bunched three Cups or more together, the Oilers, the Devils, and the Wings. Even the Avs in the late 90s, as stacked as they were, only managed two. So even if the Hawks didn’t win again in the Daydream Nation era, three in six basically lives forever.

Everything Else

Who Is This Magic D-Man? We’ll Try To Understand

By 1477

For the second time this season, the Trib’s Chris Kuc has let it be known that the Hawks are after another blue liner in the trade market. This continues a pattern of Stan Bowman the past few years letting everyone in the world know what he’s looking for, which was a trait he had a couple years ago. And nothing gets into the press the Hawks don’t want, so this is no accident. It’s not really that big of a deal, because any punter with a vague concept of the rules of hockey could look at the collection of players dressing as d-men for the Hawks right now, let out a hearty “EEE GADS!”, and conclude the Hawks need someone else.

However, it is strange to make it so clear what you’re after, because every other GM is pretty much going to hold you upside down and shake. And maybe that’s why, so when the Hawks can’t find anyone they can say everyone was asking for too much. But whatever. Where are the Hawks going shopping?

Everything Else

From Face To Heel And Back Again, And Other Roster Notes

By 1364 0

You’re going to have to get used to the upped quota of wrestling references, given my recent return to fandom.

I was inspired to write this after reading Mark Lazerus’s story on Michal Rozsival yesterday. It’s a pretty good read, and getting the perspective of what it’s like to break your ankle that gruesomely certainly makes it more vivid, at least to someone like me who hasn’t broken a bone (DATS CUZ YER NOT CHICAGO TOUGH, FELS-STINE!). And it got me to think about the arc of Rozsival’s stay here in Chicago, and how much of that should really play in to whether he should still be on this team or not.

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High On The Hog: A California Split

By 1851

The Chicago Blackhawks AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, opened their season on the road in a couple of unfamiliar places. The AHL now has five teams playing in California; Rockford visited two of those clubs over the weekend.

It certainly was an up and down opening trip. The Hogs scored a solid 4-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda before suffering a 7-0 defeat at the hands of the Stockton Heat. Along the way, we saw what could be some running themes with the 2015-16 IceHogs. We were also treated to an unexpected roster move Friday night.

Everything Else

God, What A Mess, On The Ladder Of Success

By 2263 0

So I was going to kick off our season preview today, but Mark Lazerus’s column today in the Sun-Times is deserving of focus. And a lot of it. There is so much to parse out from it. If you haven’t yet, read it and come back to this.

So let’s take it on in no particular order.

-In some ways, this situation is a lot simpler than it looks, and a lot more complicated in others.

For instance, if Kane is charged, it probably works out pretty easily. He’ll be suspended by the league or Hawks or both, whoever gets there first I would imagine. And he’ll almost have certainly played his last game for the Hawks, unless through the process of finding out what the evidence during hearings and a possible triel is it is glaringly clear he is not just “not guilty,” but innocent (and there is a difference, which it feels like some people don’t get).

Everything Else

Every Time I Think I See

By 1331 0

As you’re probably aware by now, we spend a lot of time, probably more than anyone else because we’re sicker in the head than just about everyone else, piercing through what the Hawks’ front office is telling us and what we think is actually going on. Some take this to mean we think the front office is full of concrete-headed giblets, but that would be pretty moronic to think when they’re currently making their third banner in six years. But we do like to put our conspiracy theory hats on (without drunkenly yelling anti-semitic feelings at cops, though we do occasionally yell at cops [we have friends in blue]) from time to time. With that in mind, I’ve been thinking about a couple things going on at the moment, and it’s probably mostly because I don’t have anything else to do. Take these with multiple grains of salt (which still isn’t really much salt if you like to try and stop your heart as much as I do with salt). Just things I think.