Save the Hate, Remember the Past and Enjoy Today

The Blackhawks have done what many thought was highly unlikely and now the skepticism will begin. There will be much written as to how next year’s team will a have a talent level far below the current group. 

Some will say the Hawks will probably have to trade some very good players to solve their salary cap dilemma. To say the Hawks will probably have to make some trades is like saying it will probably snow in Chicago this winter. 

In my view there was little chance Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews were not going to sign long term extensions. 

Kane and Toews re-signed for a little more money and a shorter term than I thought. From their standpoint the duo signed a great deal which will allows them to ring the register again. Kane and Toews could become become unrestricted free agents at a prime time in their careers.  Maybe the NHL will be in a healthier state by then and the salary cap limit will be much higher.

Keith has paid his dues and never grumbled about being underpaid. If anyone can perform at a high level into their mid to late thirty’s Keith would be the guy. He loves Chicago and wants to be a Blackhawk  for life.  Keith achieved financial security and he could care less about possible salary escalation in the future.

As it turns out all three could wind up playing in Chicago for their entire career. We could be experiencing a time as in the past whereby players actually stayed with one team for their whole career. For now the players should be congratulated as should the  Blackhawk organization. As this situation presented itself management did the right thing and locked up their most valuable assets. 

Once Marian Hossa was signed to a long term contract it was obvious some Hawk players could not finish their current contracts in Chicago.

Most likely those in the media who opined the Hawks wouldn’t be able to re-sign the “big three” or would have to trade away high priced players before so, will sing a slightly different tune. Now they can focus on how the team has to win the Stanley Cup this season because Blackhawks management has painted itself into a corner. The same people who have been wrong so far will hope they can eventually say…I told you so.  

As with everything in life there will be trade-offs. No one knows what the future will hold but Blackhawk management was correct to re-sign their best players to long term contracts. 

The Hawk front office hasn’t been error free. They did overpay some restricted free agents because of the qualifying offer snafu this past summer. They also could have identified a couple valuable players sooner and saved a few dollars by inking them to contracts earlier. 

The Hawks are right up against the salary cap for this season and could have to shed well over $10 million dollars in salary before the start of next year. Actually if the team is able to re-sign Nicklas Hjarmalsson the needed cap space could be more in the $13 million dollar range. 

The difference in the salary cap hit for Kane, Keith and Toews will be slightly over $10 million alone. There are currently 16 players under contract for 2010-2011 which will take up slightly over $60 million in cap space. The salary cap stands at $56.8 million and is more likely to remain the same or go down. 

So what happens now? 

Stan Bowman has commented he isn’t forced to shed any salary right now. He could play with the same roster for awhile and see how things shake out. Normally many playoff contenders are separated from pretenders by the end of January. Because of the condensed schedule that should happen a little earlier this year. 

Bowman’s phone will always be on. 

Everyone knows the Hawks will have to deal some very good players for draft picks, prospects, or much cheaper replacements. That is true before next fall. Maybe soon Bowman will be able to acquire players who are only under contract for this season which can improve his current roster. 

Bowman is not operating from a position of strength but the young Hawks general manager does have players other teams will covet. There will be non-playoff clubs looking to trade away those which will become free agents at the end of this season. Bowman’s challenge will be to delicately add to this roster and if he can also shed salary all the better. 

What will next season’s Hawks team will look like ? 

It will be a collection of talented high priced performers along with many more affordable less experienced players. The Hawks could deal four players in the three to four million dollar range and replace them with those earning on average approximately $750,000. That would be the method used to create the needed cap space. Possibly a smaller combination of higher priced players will depart. 

It will become evident in the future how much on ice results will be compromised. 

Next season the experience and talent level will be different and the team most likely won’t be as strong, at least to begin with. But that is the consequence of having salary cap restrictions as well having many players who were due big raises in a short period of time. 

Hopefully, Chicago won’t be inundated with many injuries down the stretch and be handcuffed like the Calgary Flames were last season. The Flames made it through by dressing only 15 skaters for a few games as they had multiple injuries and no salary cap space left for replacements. 

If the Hawks experience the same run of bad luck maybe Gary Bettman will turn a blind eye to them as well. Bettman allowed the Flames to operate at a competitive disadvantage without imposing any sanctions.   

Maybe the commissioner could have forced the Flames to forfeit games during the playoff stretch drive. But that would have been costly to the NHL in many ways. It seems likely the same situation will occur at some point in the future. 

Maybe the NHL has set a precedent. 

If a team hasn’t any cap space left and can’t dress the usual amount of players, the league may consider it an emergency situation. Bettman and company could allow a club to dress fewer players than what is customary again. 

There is always a price to pay and the Blackhawks will face some difficult decisions in the near future. Hawk fans should enjoy the moment and remember the past. 

It wasn’t too long ago free agents avoided Chicago like the swine flu and the on ice product was bad. There has been a huge turn around and now the team is one of the best in the NHL and the United Center is filled to capacity. 

Management has done what they can to insure a winning team. Opinions as to what the future holds for the Hawks are only conjecture. Yesterday was a great day for the Blackhawk franchise and its fans….. no matter what happens down the road. 

Al’s Shots 

Those which believe the Hawks were reckless in their spending and yesterday’s signings will hurt other franchises……..Save the hate. 

For years the same teams spent millions of dollars while Hawk management sat on their hands. I never begrudged the Red Wings, Rangers and whoever else spent huge money to win. Sometimes it works out well, but big contracts don’t always guarantee winning teams. 

In the past when the Hawks were forced to sign free agents they over spent for the wrong players. It wasn’t a formula for success and only because the franchise got so bad and was able to draft so well did the on ice results improve. 

There is no better example of the confused and dysfunctional manner in which the Chicago franchise operated than in the summer of 1998 when the Doug Gilmour signing took place. 

Not only did the Hawks vastly overpay the 35 year old Gilmour but his coming to town was supposed to be accompanied by another big name free agent. 

This story has been confirmed by Gilmour and Bobby Hull. 

The Golden Jet  was putting on his sport coat to leave for the press conference because his son Brett was going to be signed by the Blackhawks that summer along with Gilmour.  As Bobby was getting set to leave the phone rang and he was told Brett was not signing. Bobby was shocked the deal fell through at the last minute and so was Gilmour. 

The result was Gilmour made a small fortune and the Hawks never really achieved much success. As time past the Hawks continued to be a non-factor in the Chicago sports scene and they deserved to be ignored. 

While watching yesterday’s press conference I remembered the much darker days. 

Sometimes to appreciate the future you have to remember the past.

blackhawkswin@comcast.net