Official Blackhawks Thread

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

This isn't Hawks related, but i thought it'd mention it.

 

The Blues have begun their fire sale...they traded their two leading scorers...Weight to the Canes, Sillinger to the Preds

 

 

My question is when does the Hawks fire sale begin? It cant be far off now.

[The Critic]

My question is when does the Hawks fire sale begin?  It cant be far off now.

Tallon has been trading guys steadily all season, so it's not so much a fire sale as an ongoing auction.

Besides, you won't get much for your "stars" when they're all injured.

[southsider2k5]

Tallon has been trading guys steadily all season, so it's not so much a fire sale as an ongoing auction.

Besides, you won't get much for your "stars" when they're all injured.

 

The top 4 paid players on the team are all out with long term injuries and are tying up nearly 1/3rd of the payroll.

[YASNY]

Just found this in the Daily Herald:

 

•According to a Boston newspaper report, a Chicago radio station claimed the Hawks and the Bruins were discussing a trade of Mark Bell and Tyler Arnason for Sergei Samsonov and Andrew Raycroft.

 

There are two problems with the rumor.

 

First, wouldn’t the Hawks need to know for certain they could sign Samsonov, set to be an unrestricted free agent, before trading for him?

 

And second, no Chicago radio stations talk about the Hawks.

[SoxFanForever]

What did they get for them?

Trading those guys may not be that bad of an idea. The Blues are going NOWHERE this year and probably next year either, might as well get some up-and-coming players for them. If they traded them for old guys, then it makes no sense to me.

They got youngsters I believe. They are trying to trim payroll a ton so ownership can sell the team.

[The Critic]

They got youngsters I believe. They are trying to trim payroll a ton so ownership can sell the team.

Yeah, I saw the list of players they got, and they also got a #1 and I think a #4 pick.

The names didn't jump out at me, but then again I don't really research these things like I did when I was younger.

[Queen Prawn]

Canes could make a SERIOUS run this year.....

 

[DBAHO]

LMAO;

 

Bill Wirtz was unwilling to comment on the NHL's betting scandal Wednesday, but the Blackhawks' owner had a lot to say about his team's disappointing season, admitting "we made mistakes on our free-agent signings because we didn't think the game would change that much with the new rules."

 

"We signed the free agents, and then we had the rule changes," Wirtz said. "With the red line out, that has changed the game. Speed is the greatest requirement.

 

"The defensemen like Cullimore and Aucoin were great for clearing out the front of the net. Now, if you [breathe] on somebody, it's an obstruction call. You have to be very fleet of foot, and you have to hit."

 

Compounding the adjustment problems were Khabibulin's inability to play as well as he had for Tampa Bay and the injuries that have deprived the Hawks of players projected to be their top scorers, Eric Daze and Tuomo Ruutu.

 

"I thought Khabibulin was the best goaltender in the world," Wirtz said.

 

"But when you're off for a year those skills go down. That has affected his game, there's no question. You have to hone those skills back up. I think next year and the following year he will be fine.

 

"Khabibulin has been injured three times. Aucoin has been injured three times. We thought we'd have Ruutu and Daze back no later than Nov. 1 (they're sidelined for the season). These are devastating blows.

 

"Some of our younger players we had high hopes for—[Anton] Babchuk, [Mikhail Yakubov] and [Pavel] Vorobiev—have not panned out."

 

Like Tallon, Wirtz doesn't blame Yawney for the ongoing Arnason motivation problem. He believes Yawney's problem isn't in handling players but rather "the learning curve."

 

"Any coach coming from the AHL has to learn the NHL," Wirtz said.

 

"You can be a good coach, but you have to know the line changes and stuff like that. That's his biggest drawback."

 

"The league was losing $330 million, and we lost $18 million in 2003-04," he said. "We only lost $7 million by not playing. Now, with the hard cap and a cost-certain system, it'll probably take us two years to break even. Coming from $18 million, that's coming quite a way."

 

The Hawks had hoped their attendance would be up 15 to 20 percent this season. According to Wirtz, it's up 7 to 8 percent. He believes the team's poor performance is the reason and foresees the projected increase if there's significant improvement next season.

 

So let's see here. Wirtz says his coach can't handle line changes, Khabi is the best goalie in the world, and then signing the likes of Cullimore aren't their fault because of the rule changes.

[kapkomet]

The Blackhawks, hands down, are the worst team in hockey (NHL) this year. The Penguins aren't even this bad to watch.

[southsider2k5]

The Blackhawks, hands down, are the worst team in hockey (NHL) this year.  The Penguins aren't even this bad to watch.

 

I got such a laugh out of that... The Hawks didn't get the rule changes would change the game that much...

[Steve9347]

not the brightest people working for this organ-i-zation

[southsider2k5]

Cant get a Wirtz article without crying poor....

 

And it will only get worse as the Barn empties...

[Pauly8509CWS]

On a lighter not, my boy Andy was phenomenal the past two games and Vrbata is looking good as well. I'm looking at the bright spots, and then hoping we tank some more and draft Kessel.

[The Critic]

And it will only get worse as the Barn empties...

I'm not crying about it.

That franchise did this to itself.

I've been to one game this year (free tickets from someone at work, "free" parking with my wife's parking pass nearby) and only spent money for two beers.

That's the only way I'll see a Hawks game until I see them making a REAL effort to improve.

[IlliniKrush]

On a lighter not, my boy Andy was phenomenal the past two games and Vrbata is looking good as well.  I'm looking at the bright spots, and then hoping we tank some more and draft Kessel.

Blues and Pens need to win some damn games, now.

[The Critic]

:rolly  :rolly  :rolly

 

You know as well as I do, Anderson will stand on his head, Khabulin will somehow steal some games, and the Hawks will win JUST enough games to get them that 4th or 5th spot, getting them some pussy Russian winger........

They might draft that pussy Russian winger even if they got the #1 overall.

But only if he has an injury history, they seem to like that too.

[Pauly8509CWS]

They might draft that pussy Russian winger even if they got the #1 overall.

But only if he has an injury history, they seem to like that too.

 

That's an unfair statement at this point, the Mike Smith Era is over, plus, drafting injury prone players is totally incorrect, at the time of the draft, Ruutu and Dazer weren't injury plagued, those are freak things.

[The Critic]

That's an unfair statement at this point, the Mike Smith Era is over, plus, drafting injury prone players is totally incorrect, at the time of the draft, Ruutu and Dazer weren't injury plagued, those are freak things.

I coulda sworn Ruutu had some pre-draft knee issues, or at least post-draft and pre-signing.

And until they stop being stupid, I'm gonna call 'em stupid.

"We didn't know the rules were gonna change the game this much...." - gimme a break.

[Pauly8509CWS]

"We didn't know the rules were gonna change the game this much...." - gimme a break.

 

No doubt that's bulls***, however about Ruutu, he was heralded as the best player outside the NHL, would you not draft/sign him? So don't blame the Hawks on that one

Edited February 9, 2006 by Pauly8509CWS

[The Critic]

No doubt that's bulls***, however about Ruutu, he was heralded as the best player outside the NHL, would you not draft/sign him?  So don't blame the Hawks on that one

There has to be a reason nothing goes right for them, and I just can't pin it all on bad luck.

Either their scouting blows, or their minor-league development blows, or their owner is a short-sighted tightwad who chased an entire fanbase away, or all of the above with a DASH of bad luck involved.

Bad luck might be the case for Ruutu, but he's far from the only guy they've drafted in the past 5 to 10 years, and I see no impact player at all from any of those drafts. They must have set the NHL record for most third-and-fourth line guys ever. Their first and second lines have third and fourth liners on them every year. What they've lacked forever is first-line offensive threats who can change the course of a game......and a power play.

[Pauly8509CWS]

There has to be a reason nothing goes right for them, and I just can't pin it all on bad luck.

Either their scouting blows, or their minor-league development blows, or their owner is a short-sighted tightwad who chased an entire fanbase away, or all of the above with a DASH of bad luck involved.

Bad luck might be the case for Ruutu, but he's far from the only guy they've drafted in the past 5 to 10 years, and I see no impact player at all from any of those drafts. They must have set the NHL record for most third-and-fourth line guys ever. Their first and second lines have third and fourth liners on them every year. What they've lacked forever is first-line offensive threats who can change the course of a game......and a power play.

 

Whoa Whoa, I NEVER said it was all bad luck, but usually from their number one rounders they dont intentionally take injured players, I'm not taking the organization's side at all, I'm taking the side of the injured players.

[IlliniKrush]

Sorry, but IMO, after really watching Ruutu, I really dont see him being better than a 2nd line center. If he can score 30 goals a year, great, good for the Hawks, really. However, he was hyped up to be the savior of Chicago.

 

The entire franchise, starting from the top, all the way down needs to be blown up.

If this includes TommyHawk and the Ice Crew, i'm game.

[DBAHO]

I got such a laugh out of that... The Hawks didn't get the rule changes would change the game that much...

And now they're probably stuck with the contracts of Curtis Brown, Jassen Cullimore etc.

 

They deserve every misfortune and bad thing that happens to them.

[The Critic]

Whoa Whoa, I NEVER said it was all bad luck, but usually from their number one rounders they dont intentionally take injured players, I'm not taking the organization's side at all, I'm taking the side of the injured players.

I hear ya, and I agree to a point.

I guess I just remember how the Hawks owned the winter months in Chicago pre-Jordan dynasty, and it makes me sick how Bill Worthless has let the franchise crumble to the point where they're not even an afterthought. They're so sad you can't even laugh at them.

I remember standing in a packed-to-the-gills sports bar in Lyons watching home playoff games ( the few I didn't attend ) and when I lived on the North side, going to the old Goalpost Sports Bar on Irving Park to see satellite broadcasts of Hawks home games. You'd have to listen to the other team's broadcast team, but it didn't matter - the Hawks were on. Those were good times.

Now I don't really give a s*** that their home games aren't televised, and it bums me out.

[IlliniKrush]

I hear ya, and I agree to a point.

I guess I just remember how the Hawks owned the winter months in Chicago pre-Jordan dynasty, and it makes me sick how Bill Worthless has let the franchise crumble to the point where they're not even an afterthought. They're so sad you can't even laugh at them.

I remember standing in a packed-to-the-gills sports bar in Lyons watching home playoff games ( the few I didn't attend ) and when I lived on the North side, going to the old Goalpost Sports Bar on Irving Park to see satellite broadcasts of Hawks home games. You'd have to listen to the other team's broadcast team, but it didn't matter - the Hawks were on. Those were good times.

Now I don't really give a s*** that their home games aren't televised, and it bums me out.

 

I remember having 2nd balcony season tickets until they moved into the UC. Getting home at 1030 or later when i was in the first grade, and having my ears ring as i went to bed. Watching the guys bang on the back wall in the 2nd balcony to the rhythm of the drum beat on the organ. I remember it was exactly 6 flights of stairs from the entrance to the 2nd balcony - i'd count them each and every time, running up the last few so i could look at the ice sooner.

 

I remember ordering Hawk Vision with my dad so i could watch the playoff games we weren't at. Or going to Poplar Creek Bowl to watch home playoff games on satellite (and this is where i watched Hatcher tear apart Roenick's knee). I remember being at games 3 and 4 of the stanley cup finals and talking to people outside between periods - giving them score updates, and observing how disappointed they were that they weren't inside.

 

Oh, to have that time back again in this city...

Edited February 10, 2006 by IlliniKrush