All Entries Tagged With: "Sopel"
New Ice Hog Head Coach??… Plus Al’s Shots
According to a source close to the situation, the prohibitive favorite to become the next Rockford Ice Hog head coach is Ted Dent. Dent has been in the Blackhawks’ organization for the past five years, acting as an assistant coach on Bill Peters’ staff since 2008. Dent also served as an assistant to Mike Haviland [...]
Filtering GM Speak and Some Speculation
The feedback from Blackhawk fans concerning the July 1 acquisitions is mixed. Some feel change was needed and the new arrivals will help their favorite club progress next season. Others believe the Hawks are now an older, slower team. Both sides have valid points. Back on April 18, concerning the future direction of the Hawks [...]
Possibilities…
Without Troy Brouwer and Tomas Kopecky the Blackhawks are in need of a screen setter. Besides Jonathan Toews there isn’t anyone on the current roster who thrived in that role. Toews takes enough punishment and help is needed. Contract issues were probably not the main reason Brouwer and Kopecky are not with the Blackhawks. The [...]
Hawks Trade Brouwer and Dump Campbell
Sometimes things work out with an obvious trade partner. There was only one team that could swallow Brian Campbell’s contract and it was Dale Tallon’s Panthers. Stan Bowman somehow got Campbell to approve the deal and the rest is a math equation. I hesitate to call this transaction a trade. This wasn’t a talent for [...]
Pretend No More
This has to be sounding like the same old same old, but unfortunately for months a similar story has surfaced. On the bright side, well maybe a less cloudy side, the pretense appears over. This season the Blackhawks have pulled fans along with the hope that eventually all will be well. It wasn’t intentional deceit [...]
What’s Next?
Stan Bowman did what he had to and got himself some breathing room heading into the draft. The young GM walked away with a well thought of prospect in Jeremy Morin, a good depth center in Marty Reasoner plus the 24th and 54th pick in the upcoming draft. Bowman’s salary cap clean-up is not over [...]
Post Parade and Some Salary Cap Reality
The parade and Stanley Cup rally are over and it was some show. I have been at many events involving huge crowds including the gigantic July 3 fireworks display at the lakefront. At no time has there been a larger crowd gathering in downtown Chicago than for the Hawks Cup celebration. On Friday morning the [...]
From Hero to Goat and Goat to Hero
This game will go down in Blackhawk history as an unbelievable playoff comeback. It will be a memorable game which featured good fortune and some very costly mistakes. As much as anything else it was a case of which team made the biggest blunders. In Game 5 the Hawks proved they have regained their will [...]
Trading Places
The Blackhawks and Predators switched places for Game 4. Nashville became the tentative team which lost the majority of puck battles. The Predators best players didn’t have strong contributions. As the game went on the Nashville goalie looked bewildered and his performance slipped. Chicago assumed the role of the effective, confident team which was seldom [...]
Niemi Stands Tall As Hawks Seize A Big Win
On Sunday night the Blackhawks did what they have usually done the last two years after suffering a loss, they bounced back with a win. The downside for the Hawks is they have outplayed the Predators in five of six periods over the weekend but only came away with one win. The good news is [...]
Pssssssss……..
With my eyes shut I listened intently but couldn’t hear the air coming out of the Blackhawks season. But last night it sure felt like things were slipping away. Most of the 22,043 in attendance were just happy to be there but some did show displeasure with a few boos. The Hawks hit an exacta against [...]
Kane, Keith and Toews to Sign on Thursday…And Two Possible Scenarios
The Chicago Blackhawks are holding a 2:00 PM press conference on Thursday at the United Center to announce the contract extensions for Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Jonathan Toews. It has been reported in the Chicago Tribune that Kane and Toews will sign identical five year contract extensions. Their deals will be worth $31.5 million [...]
Hawks Shouldn’t Force A Trade
It was my opinion this summer the Blackhawks should have been aggressive in trading players to open up salary cap space for the coming season. There could have been a benefit for this year and next when the cap crunch will really hit. It was an unsettling summer for the Blackhawks front office. There was [...]
Kane Rallies Hawks And The NHL’s Misplaced Priorities
Friday night at the United Center the Hawks rallied to beat the Wild 4-3, hopefully this season comebacks won’t need to take place on a regular basis. Patrick Kane stepped on the gas and provided the Hawks with a couple of goals, but more importantly his tallies changed the momentum in the game. As has [...]
