State of the Blackhawks - July 17, 2009

(Associated Press July 14, 2009)


Another eventful week for the Blackhawks, but I’m starting to get tired of the offseason, let’s just drop the puck already.

Front Office Politics - Tallon out as GM, Bowman Jr. in

Straight out of some Shakespearean tragedy, it seems like the Chicago front office has had its share of politics lately. On Tuesday the Blackhawks relieved Dale Tallon of his GM duties and replaced him with Stan Bowman. Tallon still has a position in the organization, that of Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations.

It’s taken myself a while to wrap my head around all of this as I’ve long had the belief that Tallon was in over his head, but at the same time, the way this all went down just smells bad in my opinion.

As a GM, Tallon has had his good and bad moments. He’s made some very shrewd moves such as bringing in Marty Havlat, Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp for Mark Bell, Brandon Bochenski and Matt Ellison (on an aggregate basis). While having the number 1 and 3 picks is a nice luxury to have, he made the right selections with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. He’s also been a major factor in creating the strong team chemistry that the Blackhawks have. If there’s any doubt of that, the story of the Blackhawks taking a bus to attend Tallon’s father’s wake in the middle of a long road trip should alleviate any doubts. Tallon is in my opinion, a solid hockey man.

On the flip side, Tallon just was not qualified for the business aspect of being a GM. The signings of Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet were just brutal and have handcuffed the Hawks a little here going forward. Stories of faxing out a list of players to other GMs available for trade, not necessarily handling the media well and capitulating a little too easily in contract negotiations were also factors that led to his demise. The final straw might have been the whole RFA-UFA fiasco that happened right after the UFA deadline and that was outlined in my previous State of the Blackhawks entry.

The writing was on the wall for Tallon the moment that Scotty Bowman joined the Blackhawks last September. This, and the apparent meddling in hockey operations of team president John McDonough was leading to a situation where there were too many chiefs and not enough Indians in the Blackhawks front office. It’s clear that McDonough has wanted to bring in his guy, and according to some (Marty Havlat) didn’t want to see Tallon get all the credit for turning the Hawks into a legitimate upper echelon team in the NHL.

I’ve given credit to McDonough for turning the Hawks around from a business perspective, but there is absolutely no way that he should be involved in any hockey decisions. I am more qualified to make a hockey decision than he is. And if it becomes apparent that he’s sticking his fingers in that aspect of the front office too much, it’s up to Rocky to do something about it.

There have been rumors of a front office divide between Tallon and McDonough for some time now. My question is, why wait until after the UFA period, the draft, etc, if you know that you’re going to let the guy go? The way this all was handled is not how a first-class organization does things.

Bottom line, it’s obvious McDonough is a snake. While I believe that relieving Tallon of his GM duties and placing him in a Hockey Operations position (word is that his main focus will be the draft) is a good idea, the way it was done makes me a little sick to my stomach.

The other concern I have is that Tallon was very well respected and loved in the Blackhawks dressing room. It’s great that he’s still in the organization for this reason. I’m still unsure of how the players will react to this news and hopefully it’s not too much of a distraction. If the Blackhawks were a veteran team I wouldn’t be too worried, but when you have a young team, their reaction to something like this is not so cut and dry. I don’t think it’s a huge concern, but something to keep in mind.

Regarding the Blackhawks new GM, Stan Bowman, the jury is out. I would have preferred someone with a little more experience but I will give Bowman the benefit of the doubt. By all accounts, Bowman’s expertise is on the business side of things and that might be a good thing for where the Hawks are right now. Someone is going to have to figure out the cap problem and that is concern number 1 right now. There’s no doubt he’ll have his fathers input and assistance as well, and that helps appease a few of my doubts as well.

So at the end of the day, the Hawks have the business and numbers guy (albeit inexperienced) in the GM role, they have one of the greatest hockey minds of all time as the GM’s right hand man, they have a very good hockey guy who is good at drafting and finding talent as a key component of their draft and scouting operations. Makes sense right? Looking at this now, I would have to say yes, but like I said, I don’t like how it came about.

The X-factor in all of this is John McDonough. I just pray that he keeps his grubby fingers out of the hockey operations side of things because he has no clue there, and lets people do their jobs. I also pray he doesn’t let his ego get in the way of things either. So long as that happens, the Hawks should be alright.

We’ll see how this all plays out, but man, this offseason has not lacked for intrigue and excitement, that’s for sure.

Marty Havlat

A lot of us follow major sports news outlets like TSN or ESPN, etc. Nowadays, social networking mediums such as Facebook or Twitter are starting to play a bigger role in the amount of information a fan can get regarding their team.

Marty Havlat has a Twitter account and throughout his negotiations was using it to keep Hawks fans updated of how negotiations were going, and how much he really wanted to stay in Chicago. When July 1st rolled around and Havlat was not re-signed, he was pretty pissed off and his “tweets” reflected that. He promised something of “the real story of what happened in Chicago” but nothing more was really said about that.

That is until Dale Tallon was fired. Marty tweeted a few times on the subject, calling Tallon a “second father” to him and how this negotiation was not between himself and Dale, but moreso between Tallon and McDonough. He then decided to spill the beans to TSN on what the real story was, and how McDonough was a “phony”, how Tallon was a dead man walking for sometime now, and how McDonough was jealous of what Tallon had accomplished.

First off, I’m going to thank Marty for his time as a Blackhawk and he was in my opinion the Hawks best player this past season. He is extremely talented and I wish him the best in Minnesota. Also, I want to thank Marty for telling the story, because rarely as fans do we get to hear something like that about internal organizational workings. The most we usually get is rumor or innuendo. So it was fascinating to hear about this.

I do have some issue with Marty though and he’s also to blame for him not being a Blackhawk right now. My version of how events went down goes something like this:

Right after the season Tallon and Marty were negotiating a long term deal, probably something like what Hossa got in order to keep the cap hit down. Probably for less money because of Havlat’s past injury history. If Marty really wants to stay with the Hawks, they could have gotten something done then, of that I have no doubt.

But Havlat and his agent Allan Walsh get greedy and try to get even more out of Tallon. Knowing that Tallon has overpaid “his guys” in the past, Havlat thinks he can use his friendship with his “second father” to his advantage in getting more money. So they don’t sign anything and think that on July 1st, under the gun of Havlat being a UFA, Tallon would capitulate like he has in the past and they would get more money. Bit of a gamble by Havlat and Walsh, but one can see the logic in it.

What Havlat and Walsh fail to account for is that the Hawks have been working on a backup plan seeing that they were getting nowhere in their negotiations with Havlat prior to the deadline. (What would you do if you’re the Hawks? Doesn’t look like they’re going to sign Marty so you sit there with no backup plan? Good for the Hawks to have a Plan B). July 1st rolls around, and the Hawks sign Hossa meaning there’s no room for Havlat anymore.

Bottom line Marty, you got a little greedy and gambled, and you lost. Again, I appreciate your contributions to the Hawks these last 3 years and wish you the best of luck, but now it’s time to stop acting like the jilted ex-girlfriend and move on.

State of the Blackhawks - July 10, 2009

Perhaps this is why the Hawks have great chemistry?


Given the fact that the Hawks have been pretty busy here in the last week or so, it made sense to do up another State of the Blackhawks entry.

1) The RFA-UFA fiasco

There is no question that the Blackhawks on the ice have a boatload of young talent and will be one of the better teams in the league for some time (let’s hope). There is also no question that our GM has shown the ability to be a complete tool at times as well.

While the facts are not completely clear, and they probably never will be seeing as the issue didn’t go to an arbitrator, the Blackhawks management (or clerical staff) made an error in not tendering the qualifying offers to their restricted free agents on time.

Flat out, there is no excuse for this. None. Zero. I don’t want to hear that “we were busy focusing on the draft” or “we never made this mistake in the past” bullshit from Tallon or Bowman Jr. or whoever. These qualifying offers were a mere formality and should have been sent out in the middle of June.

What nearly happened is Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg and defenceman Cam Barker were deemed unrestricted free agents because of the mix-up. Also affected by this were Ben Eager, Troy Brouwer, Corey Crawford, Aaron Johnson, Brian Bickell and Colin Fraser.

Obviously, Versteeg and Barker would have garnered a lot of attention should they have been UFAs. It’s not often that a Calder Trophy nominee and a 3rd overall pick, powerplay QB type defencemen, both in their early 20s, are on the open market. It could have been a disaster if the Hawks lost them for nothing. A mistake worthy of termination if you were Tallon and Bowman Jr. in my mind.

Fortunately, the Hawks’ chemistry saved Tallon from the worst-case scenario. Despite the fact the players could have walked for nothing potentially, all stated they wanted to stay in Chicago regardless, and all ended up re-signing with the Hawks for on the whole, a decent amount of money. It’s obvious that this team wants to stay together, enjoys playing together, loves the city of Chicago and feels that the Blackhawks are on the verge of something special.

Running down the contracts the players got, Brouwer got 2 years at $1M/per which is not bad. Eager signed for less that I thought he would at $965K for one year, and Fraser re-upped at $700K for one year. Surprisingly, the Hawks also re-signed Aaron Johnson, for depth on defence. Corey Crawford and Brian Bickell also got one-year deals.

Barker and Versteeg both got similar 3 year deals for a little over $3M a year. If you look around the NHL at comparable players, this is in the ballpark. But I can’t help shake the belief that if this whole fiasco doesn’t take place, the Hawks could have saved about $1M combined between the two. Looking forward to 2010-11’s cap crunch, that extra $1M could have gone a long way.

So in summary, I’ll give Tallon credit for quickly reacting and making sure the Hawks didn’t lose any of these assets for nothing. But he’s still a tool for letting it get to this point.

2) Salary Cap Issues

Currently the Hawks are sitting at around $58M for 14 forwards, 6 defenceman and 2 goalies. The salary cap for 2009-10 is $56.7M but there is a bonus cushion this year for around $4M, so you can say the cap is around $60M.

The bonus cushion is used for players on entry level contracts who have bonuses in their contracts. If they players don’t attain these bonuses, then it won’t count towards your final cap. If they do reach them, then they do. The catch with the bonus cushion is if you use it this year, then the amount you’ve used will be taken off of 2010-11’s salary cap.

To use the bonus cushion this year when next year Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith all come up for new contracts, would be absolutely idiotic. Here’s hoping Hawks management realizes that.

That $58M number includes Brent Sopel’s $2.3 cap hit on the books, and I believe he’ll be down in Rockford to start, so that saves some money.

There will most likely be a trade as well to free up some money. I was saying Versteeg would be the one dealt a week ago, but after the whole RFA fiasco, perhaps he might be staying now.

I can see one of Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp or Versteeg being dealt here in the near future to save some money for not only this year, but 2010-11. A lot of this will tie into which Hawks prospects seem to be ready to make the jump to the NHL.

3) Prospect Camp

From various reports on the internet, it seems that Akim Aliu is turning heads at Blackhawks prospect camp and seems to be the most ready to make the jump to the NHL right now. The problem with Aliu has been his tendency to be a headcase and a loose cannon mentally. If he can keep his head on straight (big if), he could be a force as he has the physical tools to do so.

Other prospects who could make the Hawks in the near future are Kyle Beach, Billy Sweatt, Igor Makarov and Jack Skille. All four are forwards, which is already the Hawks deepest position. This further lends to the belief that the Hawks are going to trade some of their NHL forwards in the next year or so to make room for the cheaper replacements mentioned above.

To me, if Aliu is ready to go this year, he could replace Byfuglien who would fetch a decent return right now after his strong playoffs. I don’t see Jack Skille making an impact and see him getting passed on the depth chart by the other names mentioned, so I would look to deal him while he still has some value. Igor Makarov’s development could also push Versteeg out the door as well. It’s going to be a very interesting training camp with a lot of competition for a few spots.

4) Projected Lines

Now with Versteeg and Barker signed, and my belief that you can’t go trade a guy like Versteeg right after he signs a contract with you as basically a UFA, I’ll put him in the lineup. I’ll also assume that Buff isn’t traded right away, and that the Hawks are able to start the season under the cap. The other assumptions I’ll make is that another defenceman isn’t acquired, despite all the rumblings that the Hawks are looking at acquiring one, and that none of the prospects make the team off the bat. For now, I’d go (LW-C-RW):

Sharp-Toews-Kane
Versteeg-Bolland-Hossa
Ladd-Madden-Byfuglien
Eager-Kopesky-Brouwer

Burish/Fraser as extras

Keith-Seabrook
Campbell-Hjalmarsson
Barker-Hendry
Johnson

Huet
Niemi

I like the 3rd line as a line that is big and can bang on the boards, and can shut down another team’s top line. Although I can see the Q-stache switching Ladd and Versteeg in order to give all 3 lines a playmaking presence instead of having the 3rd line as a pure checking line.

The team still needs another D-man to me, but we’ll see how the offseason plays out. And goaltending is still a concern. Those two items, along with working on extensions for Toews, Kane and Keith should be the priorities for Tallon the rest of the offseason.



I figure that’s enough for one week, we’ll see what the next week brings for the Blackhawks.

Speaking of reclamation projects…

“He’s called timeout….Michigan doesn’t have a timeout, that’s a technical foul!!”

Those words, spoken by the immortal (and not in a good way) Billy Packer still ring in my ears to this day. Why you ask? Ever since I knew what college basketball was, I’ve been a Michigan Wolverine fan. I remember the team with Glen Rice and Loy Vaught cutting down the nets in the Kingdome in 1989, and I remember how a group of 5 freshmen captured the spotlight in reaching the NCAA Championship game in 1992 and then doing the same as sophomores in 1993 before Chris Webber called the timeout he didn’t have. The group I’m referring to is the Fab Five (Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King). Even though they lost those two title games, when you see baggy shorts and black socks on a basketball court today, it’s because the Fab Five were the trend-setters.

Despite the near misses in those years, the Michigan basketball program continued to excel, making NCAA Tournament appearances, winning a Big Ten Tournament title in the next 5 years. While not on the level of the UCLAs, North Carolinas and Kentuckys of the world, they were still one of the premier basketball programs in college basketball.

Today, if you ask someone about the Wolverine basketball program, they might not know what you’re talking about. “What basketball program?” might be the smart-ass response. Where did it all go wrong for Wolverine fans?

The answer to that question is complex to say the least. If you’re looking for a starting point, look no further than to February 1996. The Wolverines had a solid team led by players like Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock. They were going to the tournament. One night, while entertaining recruit Mateen Cleaves, Maurice Taylor’s SUV rolled over when Taylor fell asleep at the wheel. Read that sentence again. A college kid from inner Detroit was driving an SUV. Seems a little “Blue Chips-like” no? The NCAA sure thought so, and decided to launch an investigation.

The NCAA found a Detroit city booster by the name of Ed Martin was gifting cars and money to Wolverine players. While I and many others believe that this is a common occurrence through most NCAA programs (see USC football for instance), the NCAA decided to come down hard on the Wolverines, placing them on probation and stripping scholarships. The Final Four banners hanging in Crisler Arena from the Fab Five days? Those were brought down too as it was found that Chris Webber accepted gifts as well. Mateen Cleaves a Michigan lean at the time, ended up going to Michigan State and was a key component of the Spartans 2000 national championship. And so the nightmare of the last 10 years for Wolverine fans began.

In summary, Michigan basketball’s bright era was tainted, the program put on probation and their intra-state rival Michigan State rose to prominence instead of being second fiddle in the state of Michigan. Every Wolverine fan knows it all goes back to that SUV. I’m not advocating paying players, but if that SUV doesn’t flip, the decade of “nuclear winter” for the Wolverine basketball program probably doesn’t happen.

Coach Steve Fisher resigned under all the scrutiny and Brian Ellerbe was hired to take his place. For 4 years, the Wolverines went nowhere under Ellerbe’s guidance and he was fired in 2001. From there, former Duke assistant Tommy Amaker was hired and that was another mistake seeing as Amaker was a former Duke assistant. Amaker was able to somewhat clean up the mess left from the probation so I will credit him for that, but far too often his teams underachieved and he failed to make the NCAA Tournament in 6 seasons with the Wolverines.

So why I am writing this? To re-hash a decade of how I was loyal as a Wolverine fan despite their absolute shittiness for that time? To remind myself that if Maurice Taylor doesn’t flip that SUV the Wolverines could have had a great last 10 years basketball-wise?

I’m writing this because it’s interesting to note how my favorite basketball team is undergoing a major resurrection much like my favorite hockey team, the Chicago Blackhawks, are. There is one reason for this turnaround and he goes by the name of John Beilein, the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines.

Beilein was brought in from West Virginia in 2007 and has long had a reputation for being one of the best tacticians in the game. In his previous 3 coaching stops (Canisius, Richmond and West Virginia) he was able to get those teams to the NCAA Tournament, and nearly made the Final Four with an underdog West Virginia team in 2005.

The cupboard was left pretty bare in 2007-08 for Beilein as much of the previous year’s team had graduated or transferred. The Wolverines got off to a rocky start, as usually is the case under a new coach, but by the end of the year were playing much more sound basketball. It gave hope to this fan that in 2008-09, the Wolverines could be decent.

Turns out, I underestimated the 2008-09 Wolverines, because before you knew it, Michigan was upsetting UCLA and Duke in the non-conference schedule and positioned themselves for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years. The Wolverines were over-achieving (a hallmark of a Beilein coached team), not under-achieving like the teams under Amaker, which must be a Duke thing. Despite a few rocky patches along the way in conference, on March 15, 2009, 11 years of waiting for Wolverines fans ended as Michigan made the NCAA Tournament.

Not only did the Wolverines get in, they upset the favored Clemson Tigers in the first round, and then gave Oklahoma (led by NBA number 1 pick Blake Griffin) all they could handle in the second round.

Gone are the days when the Wolverines would play without heart or would beat themselves. This team now will get down and scrap with you, dive for lose balls, play good defence despite being under-sized and will not turn the ball over 20 times a game. We have one of the best tacticians in the game as our coach and even if unwarranted from a talent perspective at times, the players believe they can beat anyone on a given day, and that belief has spread to the fans.

There is genuine excitement about the Wolverines going into the upcoming season. Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims are 2 of the better players not only in the Big Ten, but in college basketball in general. A lot of analysts have the Wolverines in the top 20 preseason rankings at this point. Michigan adds a pretty good recruiting class to a team returning 80% of a team that made the NCAA Second Round. One of the knocks on Beilein was that he hasn’t been a great recruiter, but looking at his previous schools, none of those had the “name” of Michigan behind his recruiting efforts. This is further proven by the solid start Michigan has gotten off to with 2010 recruiting.

Throughout the college basketball season, I will touch upon everything and anything going on in the world of college basketball, but you’ll probably see more than few entries on the Wolverines. As I said, it’s been a long nuclear winter for Wolverines fans, and we’re excited to be back again. Maybe not back to the point where the team was winning national championships and making Final Fours, but without question, Michigan basketball is relevant once again.

State of the Blackhawks - July 2, 2009

Part of me wants to see the puck dropped tomorrow.

July 1st is a big day up north here. Namely, it’s Canada Day, the celebration of our nation’s birth.

For hockey fans however, July 1st is equivalent to spring training in baseball or the day of the NFL draft. It’s the day when hope springs eternal for most NHL franchises as it is the opening of free agency. Teams can go Christmas shopping and try to improve their teams via the free agent route.

The Chicago Blackhawks made a major splash for the second year in a row by signing Marian Hossa to a long term contract. We can only hope that there is no curse of losing in the Stanley Cup Finals brought by Hossa to the Hawks, but really as if 48 years hasn’t been enough anyways.

Also, the Hawks signed Tomas Kopecky to a 2 year deal. This one didn’t make much sense to me as the Hawks have pretty good 4th liners, unless he was brought in as Hossa’s buddy. But I’ll trust Scotty Bowman and Tallon’s judgement on this one for now. Later on in the night, the Hawks completed a great day by signing 3-time Stanley Cup champion John Madden to center the third line and to bolster the penalty kill.

So where do things stand right now? I’ll break this up into a couple sections: forwards, defence, goaltending and then an overall summation of where the Hawks are.

Forwards

Signed: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, David Bolland, Patrick Sharp, Andrew Ladd, John Madden, Tomas Kopecky, Dustin Byfuglien, Adam Burish

RFA: Kris Versteeg, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, Troy Brouwer

Fringe/Prospects: Jacob Dowell (signed), Jack Skille, Kyle Beach, Igor Makarov (may stay in Russia), Akim Aliu

First off, wow. This is arguably the deepest group of forwards that the Hawks have had as long as I can remember. The Q-Stache will have a lot of options at his disposal in the upcoming season. There is a nice mix of size and skill and you have to love the potential. I’d like to see a little more toughness, but how the Hawks prioritize their RFAs will have a lot to say about that.

The Hossa signing combined with Versteeg’s rumored contract demands and the simple math (about 9-10 guys for the bottom 6 spots) means someone is going to get traded, and in my opinion it’s going to be Versteeg. I love Versteeg as a player and see a bright future for him, but in a cap world, you can’t keep everyone it's just the unfortunate truth. He can bring back a pretty good return right now while his value is high. So I will assume he’s traded for this analysis.

I have the lines like this as of right now (LW-C-RW):

Sharp-Toews-Kane
Ladd-Bolland-Hossa
____(1)___-Madden-Byfuglien
____(2)___-Kopecky-Burish

That other 3rd line spot (1) is going to be interesting. I can see Jack Skille getting a shot there, or Kyle Beach possibly if he has a good camp. If the Hawks decide to keep Brouwer and give him a shot with Toews and Kane (why I don’t know, but they did at times), Sharp and Ladd could be dropped a slot each.

For the 4th line spot (2), I’d prefer Eager there. He had a good playoffs and assuming his contract demands aren’t outrageous, I’d like to see him there.

Colin Fraser might be sent back down to Rockford as he is surplus. Either him or Jacob Dowell might be the 13th forward as well, that is a possibility. But the fact remains the Hawks have too many forwards right now, which leads me to believe someone is going to get dealt here. Most likely Versteeg, potentially Brouwer or Skille as well.

Overall, I don’t really have too many complaints with the Hawks up front.

Defence

Signed: Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jordan Hendry, Brent Sopel

RFA: Cam Barker

Fringe/Prospects: Aaron Johnson (UFA)

Barker is the highest remaining priority for the Hawks this offseason. So long as he doesn’t command crazy money, the Hawks should re-sign him.

To me, this defence is still one man short, and that’s a veteran, steady, rugged, stay at home defenceman. Ideally, this defenceman would play with Brian Campbell to help minimize the damage he creates when he’s turning the puck over. I do think Campbell will have a better year next year as it’s always tough that first year in a new city with a big contract, but he’ll have to be a hell of a lot better to every justify his salary. This is still Tallon’s second biggest flub to me, and if there ever is an opportunity to trade Campbell, you have to do it, more on this later.

So let’s assume Versteeg or some other forward gets dealt for a D-man. The pairings become:

Keith-Seabrook
Campbell- __veteran D__
Barker-Hjalmarsson
Sopel/Hendry as the 7th

What is complicating matters right now is Jordan Hendry has a one way contract and can’t be sent to Rockford, and Sopel, well, is bad, especially at $2.3M a year. The Hawks would like to rid themselves of Sopel, but I doubt there’s any takers. There is a good chance that Sopel will end up in Rockford if not this year, then next when the Hawks' cap Armageddon hits.

I like the defence core right now as it is mobile and can move the puck, but there is without question the need to add a more physical, rugged force back there.

Goaltending

Signed: Cristobal Huet, Antii Niemi

RFA: Corey Crawford

The home of Dale Tallon’s biggest flub is between the pipes next year. The biggest question mark for the Hawks will be Cristobal Huet and whether he can be consistent and good enough to help the Hawks to the Cup. Personal opinion, I don’t think he is but I do hope he proves me wrong. I wish there was some way the Hawks could have kept Khabibulin, but unfortunately things couldn’t work out and I can't fault Nikolai for taking the 4 year term as opposed to the 2 year/$8M deal from the Hawks.

Antii Niemi and Corey Crawford will battle it out for the backup job in camp as things stand right now. The Hawks are high on both of these guys and Dale Tallon has recently been quoted as saying they would be comfortable with either of them as the backup. Myself? Meh…maybe.

I’d like to see the organization find a young, quality backup goaltender who can push Huet. I’m a little skeptical on whether Niemi or Crawford can do that, but it’s looking like what’s going to happen.

Names that pop to mind as good young goaltending prospects are Josh Harding of Minnesota who is stuck behind Backstrom, Cory Schneider of Vancouver who is stuck behind Luongo or Tukka Rask in Boston where the Bruins have committed long term to Tim Thomas. I’d also investigate the Atlanta situation where both Kari Lehtonen and Ondrej Pavelec are going to be competing for time. For Lehtonen you’d probably have to trade Huet, so it’s unlikely.

Overall
On paper, and titles are very rarely won on paper but nevertheless, the Hawks look like they will be one of the top teams in the NHL again next season. Chicago was able to upgrade their forwards yesterday and their penalty killing ability, but still has some work to be done on the blue line. And as mentioned above goaltending is an issue that I believe needs to be addressed as they have put their eggs in Huet’s basket between the pipes. We can only hope, despite my skepticism, that he can do the job.

I’ve been scouring some message boards after the signings yesterday and some people are anointing the Hawks as the team to beat next year. Not so fast I say and let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What we can say however is that management has put the players in a position to succeed this year, and now it’s on the players and coaches to do it on the ice. Also, it is apparent to Hawks fans that management wants to win a Stanley Cup and will do everything in their power to do so. As a Hawks fan, I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate the efforts and would want nothing more than to see Jonathan Toews be handed the Stanley Cup from the NHL Commissioner

As for what’s left this offseason, we’re probably going to see Versteeg dealt here at some point unless he’s willing to take $2M/year because of the 2010-11 cap situation (Toews, Kane and Keith coming up). After next year, Sharp or Buff could be trade bait as well, it all remains to be seen. The team still needs another experienced rugged defenceman, and I’d still be looking to improve the goaltending situation if I’m Tallon.

Regarding 2010-11, there is no question this is an issue and will be factored into all decisions the Hawks make from here on in. In a perfect world, the Hawks would trade Campbell’s outrageous contract as well as Huet. Fact is, it’s very unlikely we’ll see that happen, unless the Hawks were to give up some other major value to get a team to take on those contracts (I would not be against this either..ie giving up a 1st round pick to get rid of one of those contracts).

That said, there are still some creative ways the Hawks can survive next year’s cap mess. Having an owner like Rocky who may eat some of the contracts for players who get sent to Rockford helps. Like I said above, Sharp, Buff or other complimentary players could get dealt to create the cap room to retain the core. So long as the Hawks can keep the core together, they’re going to be in good shape for years to come.

I’m not going to say I wish it was October because summer is awesome and we don’t get enough of it up here, but I will say that I’m definitely looking forward to the 2009-10 NHL season as a Blackhawk fan.

What a difference...

We hope that many Stanley Cups are in your future young Toews



Being that it’s the middle of summer and college hoops is still a while away, I figure it would be a good time to talk about the status of my favorite hockey team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

For a decade or so, the Hawks were the laughing stock of the NHL, a lot of it having to do with owner Bill Wirtz and his complete lack of giving a shit about the Blackhawk fans. Examples of this included not showing games on TV, continually shipping popular and key team players out for next to nothing in return, and running an “old-boys club” organization with unqualified people in key positions leading this team further into the abyss. I’ll just come out and say it, the Hawks were shit for a long stretch of time.

Then things started to turn around. Bill Wirtz passed away and his son Rocky Wirtz took over control of the team. Rocky has made a commitment to winning since day 1 of his reign and there was a complete shifting of organizational culture in the Blackhawk front offices. A lot of the success off the ice is due to the tireless efforts of team president John McDonough as well, so it's only fair to mention his name. And on the ice, despite my belief that our GM, Dale Tallon is an incompetent boob at times, he does deserve some credit in building this team. A little luck to draft Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews doesn’t hurt either.

What has happened in the last 2 years is nothing short of remarkable. The Blackhawks have gone from one of the worst run franchises in all of pro sports to one of the best. The fans who were paralyzed with apathy and hatred towards management (but never lost track of the team) are in love with this team once again. They sell out every game. Players will take less to go there now. It’s like bizarro world when you look back to 5 years ago.

Driving to work this morning I was talking to my brother (both of us are die-hard Blackhawk fans and have been our entire lives) and I reminded him how a few summers ago it appeared the Hawks were about to sign Mike Modano to a free-agent contract and some media outlets had reported it as done. Instead, Modano was only using the Hawks as leverage to get more from Dallas, and he left the Hawks at the alter. Now, players are willing to take less money to play for the Hawks. Players want to play in Chicago and are down-right pissed off when things don’t allow for it (see Martin Havlat’s twitter page as an example). It’s unreal.

While the team does have some issues on the horizon such as Cristobal Huet in net, and the cap situation in 2010-11 that will no doubt strip the team of some complimentary pieces, so long as the Hawks are able to keep their core together, this will be a very good team for a long time. After enduring being fans of the laughing stock of the league for so long, it’s about time things started going right for Hawks fans.

So the Blackhawks enter next season as a Stanley Cup contender (I still can’t believe I’ve typed that). My next entry will deal with analyzing the current makeup of the squad and where things may go from here.

The Dream Team

As you can see at the top of this page, this blog is entitled Gus and Raftery in tribute to what I believe, and I’m sure many others do as well, is the basketball announcing dream team of Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery.

Unless you’re sitting there live at a basketball game, as a sports viewer who is announcing the game does have an impact on your viewing experience. It’s inevitable. Obviously you want the announcers to enhance your viewing experience instead of detracting from it.

So what makes a good announcer? I’ve compiled a list of qualities that I consider important to answering that question:

• Voice
• Knowledge
• Emotion
• Positive Attitude
• Lack of Bias
• Catchphrases

How do Gus and Raftery do in these categories?

Voice

Whether someone’s voice irritates you or not is purely subjective. To me, both Gus’ and Raftery’s voice don’t drive people nuts. They don’t speak in a monotone. They have the ability to sound the same yet different with each game they call. For this, they both get a passing grade in the Voice category.

Knowledge

Raftery coached for 12 years at Seton Hall, as well as playing at La Salle. By listening to the man speak during the games you can tell he knows what he’s talking about. He notices in game trends very well. Even though I think I know a lot about hoops, I still can learn a lot more and by listening to Raftery, I do learn something more often than not.

Gus Johnson has been working his way through the announcing ranks for more than a decade and now is employed by CBS Sports, MSG, the Big Ten Network, Showtime and the Detroit Lions Network. Don’t worry Gus, I won’t hold the fact you work for the Lions against you. Gus has worked March Madness for CBS since 1996, and does know the game of basketball well. While it is not his main job to analyze the game, he does add things in here and there when Len Elmore is half asleep. He is also very prepared to call the game, and rarely have I heard him butcher a player’s name, or not know who a player is. The man works hard at his craft.

Emotion

The first two categories are pretty much pre-reqs for any TV announcer or personality. Here’s where we start to set these two legends apart from other announcers. You have to have emotion as an announcer. If I wanted to hear “20 foot jump shot made from the wing by Wayne Ellington”, I could follow on Gamecast or something.

There is no question that both Raftery and Johnson let their emotions show when calling a game. If you needed any further convincing…

Best of Gus

Raftery at his finest

Positive Attitude

I understand that is an analyst’s job to point out mistakes by coaches, or by players, or by referees. But it can be done in a constructive criticism sort of way, not in a condesecending manner (Billy Packer anyone?). Raftery can make his points without it seeming like he’s complaining or whining about something.

Both these guys seem like they are genuinely happy to be doing what they’re doing, and it’s not like a job or a chore for either of them. They are enthusiastic to be calling the game, and that positive attitude reflects. I don’t think anyone can doubt that about either, especially Gus….

Last 20 seconds of UCLA-Gonzaga

Lack of Bias

I watch a lot of college basketball and sports in general, and I get sick of “homer” announcers, especially when they are on national networks. It’s somewhat understandable if you’re a team announcer, but when you’re on CBS or ESPN, people don’t’ want to hear the bias. For example, it’s tough to hear what Dickie V is saying when he’s fellating Duke every two seconds during a Kentucky-Florida game. Same can be said about Billy Packer, thankfully he has retired.

It’s impossible not to have some biases as an announcer, but Gus and Raftery do a great job of not seeming biased one way or the other while calling a game, which is something this fan appreciates.

Catchprases

This is where Raftery takes the cake. An effective catchphrase has a few requirements. First, it has to have sort of relation to what it’s being said about. Second, it has to be funny or cutting edge. And lastly, it has to be said with some emotion. Here’s a list of some of my favourite Raftery-isms:

• “Onions”: This is used when a basket is made. He’s referring to the mesh of an onion bag and how it is like the mesh of the basket. The ball hits the mesh on a make? Onions baby…and it’s always delivered perfectly by Raftery. Also used is “Nylon”
•“Man-da-mannn” Always used at the start of the game by Raftery. He’s made this his signature phrase, him telling the audience what defence Team X is in. Why not add a little flair to it?
• “With a kisssss” This kind of combines pool with basketball, as when you kiss the cue ball of the rail. Well, in basketball terms, you’re kissing the ball of the glass, so this refers to a bank shot. Raftery has always been a fan of using the glass.
• “Get the puppies set”. This refers to having your feet set on defence before taking a charge. First, this tells you that you have to be set to get a charge. Then you have him calling feet/shoes puppies. Priceless.
• “Nickel-dimer/Small change” This refers to a ticky-tack touch foul. Apparently Raftery believes that a good tough foul is worth a dollar, because the touch fouls are referred to as nickel-dimers or small change. I love this one.
• “Send it in!” His phrase for a dunk. Usually there is a “big fella” at the end of that one. Or “Jerome” as said in this famous call.

Jerome

• “With authority!” If he doesn’t use “Send it in!” for a dunk, he’ll usually say this. Could also be used for a blocked shot.
• “Dagger!” This meets the cutting edge requirement. Most basketball minds know what a dagger is, but it was Raftery who coined the phrase. This is used when a game is close down the stretch, and someone nails a big time shot that makes it almost next to impossible for a team to come back from. Like a dagger to the heart. Maybe my favourite Raftery-ism of all. This call also spawned the title for The Dagger, one of the better college basketball blogs out there.

Gus is no slouch either when it comes to catch-phrases. His are more random as he just says what he feels at the moment, but some that I can remember are:

• “Here comes the pain!”
• “Rise and Fire……got it!!!” This one is used more for a three point attempt…and then the shot goes in.
• “Last Chance to Dance” As shown in that UCLA-Gonzaga clip, when Derek Raivio is dribbling up for Gonzaga’s last gasp attempt, Gus comes up with that on the spot…priceless.
• “HA-HAAAAAAAAA!!” Gus is a legend for his laugh. It’s tough to type out how it sounds, but those reading this who have heard Gus laugh before know exactly what I’m talking about.




There no question in my mind that these two are the dream team when it comes to announcing. While Raftery normally works with Verne Lundqvist (no slouch) and Gus with Len Elmore (arguably in a coma most of the game), Gus and Raftery have worked together before. One can only hope that CBS puts them together more often.

They shouldn’t just focus on basketball either, can you imagine these two MC-ing your wedding? “Look at the bride and groom there…there’s a kissss” or Gus ending some joke with “HA-HAAAAAA!!!!”. The possibilities could be endless.

Pilot

Greetings and salutations. Welcome to my blog, which will be focused on the great game and spectacle of NCAA college basketball. While from time to time I may talk about other topics (such as the NFL, or NHL, namely the Chicago Blackhawks), I will focus mainly on college hoops.

I know it’s still the middle of summer, but for some us, the basketball season never ends. Despite me residing in Canada, through the magic of the internet and Bell ExpressVu’s college basketball package, I’m able to keep tabs on what is going on in the world of NCAA hoops before, during and after the season.

Hope you enjoy reading!