Everything Else

Ein Minuten Bitte… Again

By 1770 0

I suppose that with it being summer and the Hawks having already made their signings and not yet a trade to clear cap space, we have more time than we should to study the narratives they are pushing. It’s not something I consistently want to do, but they keep putting this stuff out there and some of it is just wide of the mark. And those who are supposed to stand watch and call it out are once again passively accepting and even echoing it themselves.

During yesterday’s press conference, the Hawks and the sycophants who cover them couldn’t wait to tell us that Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane took less money so that they could keep the team together (even though the team is already over the cap). Their agent told everyone that they could have asked for the maximum $13.8 million per year.

That’s nice. I’m sure they could have asked. And Stan Bowman could have laughed them out of the room.

Everything Else

The Shortest Straw

By 1762 0

With the aquisition of Brad “Religion” Richards, even at the cap friendly number of $2 million dollars for this season, the Hawks are now currently around $2.2 million dollars over the cap while carrying 22 players on the active roster by opening night.

This means that someone is going to have to be voted off of the island in short order, particularly with the Convention coming up in a couple of weeks. If there’s one thing that McDonough and Blunk are conscious of it’s optics, and they’d hate to have a player kissing hands and shaking babies all weekend at the Regency just to have someone’s favorite player launched, even if they technically don’t have to until opening night in October. Add that to the cover that the long holiday weekend will bring tomorrow, as well as the tendency for media types to try to bury bad news on a Friday afternoon, and it would not be the least bit shocking to see someone go tomorrow.

Everything Else

And Off Silently

By 1649 0

Yesterday was just about the last formal time that the Hawks’ brass meets with the media, barring a trade or something, and the players are not seen again until the Convention. I’m sure they’re heartbroken to not have to answer the same questions over and over again.

Usually at these season wrap-up things is when you find out all the injuries that players were carrying but weren’t talking about during the playoffs. There wasn’t much from the Hawks, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I’m sure there were some, Sharp especially, but I appreciate not running to that as an excuse. One of the hallmarks of Q’s teams is that they don’t run for excuses and generally take responsibility for everything that goes on (except for Q himself, of course).

Everything Else

At 6s and 7s

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If you’re somewhat new to our blog, you probably have seen a reference to an at-best odd working relationship between GM Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville. You may wonder why we think that, so it may be best to go through the years and see how we got to this point.

Stan Bowman became GM of the Hawks in July of 2010, not long after Dale Tallon was strangely allowed to run the draft and free agency but then saddled with the whole Qualifying Offer Fiasco, even though it certainly wouldn’t have been Tallon’s duty to actually stick these things in the mail. Whatever. Tallon took responsibility, the axe came down, blah blah blah.

The ’09-’10 season obviously couldn’t have been much smoother. Bowman only made the one deal, which was Cam Barker–a player Q never cared for–out for Nick Leddy and Kim Johnsson (God rest him). We make that joke about Johnsson being dead because he only played eight games with the Hawks before suffering a “concussion” that ruled him out for the rest of the season. The rumors of what actually happened have flown, and someone will fill you in in the comments if you don’t know I’m sure.

Everything Else

Atop The Sugar Pile – Regular Season Edition

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I thought I’d knock this out today, with two games to end the season and attendance at HockeeNight’s thing on Saturday making Sunday completely useless. So let’s do our full season Atop The Sugar Pile.

The Dizzying Highs

Niklas Hjalmarsson – I named him The CI’s Player Of The Season in last night’s issue. And for me, everything has basically centered around him this campaign. Yes, Duncan Keith is the main cog in the engine, or maybe even the engine himself, that drives the Hawks game. But Keith was allowed to be that this season because Hammer was so good and earning the top assignments. It allowed Keith to dominate lesser competition, and when Keith is controlling the ice everything about the Hawks’ game opens up.

While we can look at almost every other Hawks and find a portion of their season that dipped or had a slump, it’s hard for me to remember a time when Hammer’s game varied 5% either way. The only time he looked vulnerable was lately when he had to be paired with Sheldon Brookbank. But who wouldn’t? Hammer’s poise defensively and with the puck has been startling to watch when you consider where he was two years ago. He never panics, he’s always in position, and his short but assured passes to the middle simple deflate every forecheck and start the Hawks the other way.

Has he been the all around game that Keith has? No. But he’s the best defensive defenseman on the team this year. He might be the best kept secret in the NHL, but I don’t think it’ll stay that way for much longer.

Everything Else

Fine, I'll Do Your Job For You

By 1650 0

While everyone associated with the Hawks was in a tizzy over Jonathan Toews’s injury and mourning the end of this season figuratively, another somewhat important story slipped through the cracks.

We all noticed, and so did the NBCSN broadcast (you think the CSN one would have?), that on Sunday night Michal Handzus basically didn’t play the second half of the game. He was on the bench, but we didn’t know if he was hurt or simply benched.

We now know that he was benched, though we had to pry that out.

Everything Else

Fine, I’ll Do Your Job For You

By 1208 0

While everyone associated with the Hawks was in a tizzy over Jonathan Toews’s injury and mourning the end of this season figuratively, another somewhat important story slipped through the cracks.

We all noticed, and so did the NBCSN broadcast (you think the CSN one would have?), that on Sunday night Michal Handzus basically didn’t play the second half of the game. He was on the bench, but we didn’t know if he was hurt or simply benched.

We now know that he was benched, though we had to pry that out.

Everything Else

Don't Worry About It. It Happens To All Guys

By 1266 0

In the end, it turned out to be a pretty flaccid trade deadline for the Hawks. It makes sense. They’re capped out and would have had to get awfully creative to acquire another center, which is what they need. And you can understand if not agree running for the shelter of going with last year’s team that won instead of risking fucking it up by tearing off a piece to get another.

But therein lies the problem, at least for me. The Hawks are basically standing still, and the rest of the West aren’t. The Blues, Avs, Ducks, and Sharks are unquestionably better than they were last year (and it’s not Ryan Miller’s acquisition for the Blues, but the growth of Jaden Schwartz and the unholy performance of Alex Steen among others). The Kings might not be better, though Gaborik helps and they might not be as beat up this spring as they were last.

Everything Else

Don’t Worry About It. It Happens To All Guys

By 1171 0

In the end, it turned out to be a pretty flaccid trade deadline for the Hawks. It makes sense. They’re capped out and would have had to get awfully creative to acquire another center, which is what they need. And you can understand if not agree running for the shelter of going with last year’s team that won instead of risking fucking it up by tearing off a piece to get another.

But therein lies the problem, at least for me. The Hawks are basically standing still, and the rest of the West aren’t. The Blues, Avs, Ducks, and Sharks are unquestionably better than they were last year (and it’s not Ryan Miller’s acquisition for the Blues, but the growth of Jaden Schwartz and the unholy performance of Alex Steen among others). The Kings might not be better, though Gaborik helps and they might not be as beat up this spring as they were last.