That is good news.
- EKolb13

And HOSS IS BACK

And HOSS IS BACK

- philco28

Indeed.

Does that affect your opinions?
- StLBravesFan

My opinions are clearly always full of....

Wait....TrueGrit is Gone?????

GOOD NEWS

Tracey Myers ‏@TramyersCSN 48s
Hjalmarsson is fine, Q said. He'll play tonight. #Blackhawks
- philco28

thanks phil...a huge sigh of relief falls over the crowd...

Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) tweeted at 11:59 AM on Thu, Apr 04, 2013:
Jay Bouwmeester will be in the lineup tonight against the #Blackhawks #stlblues

I don't know. You could be right, but there's also a comparable from Sidney Crosby to Getzlaf. Do you really think Getz is worth 500k less than Crosby? Not a chance.

I think teams like Anaheim have to over pay to keep guys like Getz/Perry, whereas Pittsburgh can get a little bit of a hometown discount for guys like Malkin and Crosby, because they want to play in Pittsburgh.

We also don't know what the cap looks like in 3 years. That said, I can easily see Toews and Kane both clipping at 9M. I also think there's a cap on salaries too. I don't think salaries can exceed a certain number...I wanna say 9.5M or something.
- eburgio

yes WE will NOT know what the cap is....but...isn't it safe to assume that Kane and Toews will get contracts that are money above the top salaries now...especially if there was another Cup?
I am just trying to be logical, in the idea or windows, and star salaries.

To me for instance yesterdays Wild addition was a tremendous NOW move, even though it took Hackett (a quality goaltending prospect) and the Swedish wing Johan Larsson (but...when you have Granlund and Larsson, two fairly undersized same-type same age rookies, it is is difficult to find places for both) BUTTTTTTTTT...
it on the other hand places 42 mil of their Minny Cap space spread over six players and like the hawks is gonna require plenty of patching, decisions, and "let-gos."

Personally I don't think Kane is worth that, but he'll get it
- rollpards19

and probably more to go back to Buffalo.....

Wait....TrueGrit is Gone?????
- UnnamedSource

Hope Springs eternal!

thanks phil...a huge sigh of relief falls over the crowd...
- DK002

Cheers DK...but Myers was all over it

Cheers DK...but Myers was all over it

- philco28

Yeesh, that's a disgusting thought!

Now if it was Susannah you were talking about Phil

Yeesh, that's a disgusting thought!
- savvyone-1

We know you only have eyes for Leddy.

We know you only have eyes for Leddy.
- EKolb13

Shhh, Eli, please don't tell him I have a wandering eye

I can honestly say all of my posts today were done while I was on the throne, in bumblefk, St. Pete, Florida....
- wiz1901

Now, I can see the congruency...

Now if it was Susannah you were talking about Phil
- savvyone-1

As long as she doesn't open her mouth.. sure.. the moment she does its all downhill.

The Versteeg/Bochenski deal was a classic case of a current GM (Tallon) exploiting a relatively new GM (Chiarelli), who was looking to clean house after taking the job.
- philco28

yeah, but no...more things involved.
Dudley knew the Versteeg well, and Boston didn't see him as part of their major league roster as a wing.
I bet both GMS thought we made a AHL move that might come back and help us if there is an injury.... .....and the funny thing that happened is Versteeg clicked with two good players, and was also able to play, and talk bigger with the Hawks...Sometimes that's all the guy needs to get going....sort like Saad (not comparing players/skills) ...the energy translated to big goals and he established myself....in this case to the tune of a 4.4 million a year salary! until 2016!!!!!
There is a lesson to be learned in this.
Versteeg has long security (unless he is bought-out) and has scored only 88 NHL goals.
Think about that and then move yourself in as the present hawk GM and decide what you think is fair for a guy who has scored half as many, Viktor Stalberg.
You are put in a position of Bowman and you see Evander Kane whose goal totals fall between Versteeg and Stalberg 88 Versteeg/ 63 Kane / 43 Stalberg and Kane's based on his "upside has a present salary of 5.25 million until 2018

So Bowman has to look at upside.
...think about that Toews and Kane will want bigger payday after the next TWO seasons (even closer ....with the correction of my three seasons to go remark...
and make a decision.
Get the most for his asset, by paying him, trading him before he can leave or upset the
present rolling four lines and doing before the deadline.

My entire point is the GM is not an easy implusive no stress occupation.

As long as she doesn't open her mouth.. sure.. the moment she does its all downhill.
- victorymc98

So there's this nifty invention called duct tape...

Tracey Myers ‏@TramyersCSN 1h
#Blackhawks lines: 20-19-81, 67-36-88, 29-65-25, 52-16-26.
- philco28

Kruger centering for Bollig and Zeus, eh?

Wonder how Bolly's back & instep are doing.

and probably more to go back to Buffalo.....
- wiz1901

More salary but less commercial exposure and money outside of hockey. Chicago being a huge media market gives him more earning power outside of the game.

Ovechkin's cap hit is right around this mark. I think that's the highest cap number in the league.

Is there a cap on how high a cap number can be? Does anyone out there have an answer?
- EKolb13

Pretty sure the max a player can sign for is 20% of a team's cap.

More salary but less commercial exposure and money outside of hockey. Chicago being a huge media market gives him more earning power outside of the game.
- SDHawkFan

Chevy might say no more bad commercials for you Kaner in Buff............

Do you have no faith in Toews wanting to stay in Chicago? Do you think he'd just chase money? I feel like going down as an all time great for an original 6 isn't a bad career
- rollpards19

Not if there's disorder in the FO and they keep going one-and-done in the playoffs. Especially true if WPG makes a pitch for him and he decides to give them a real "home town" discount.

I can see Kane chase the money more than Toews. But you can bet right here and now that the FO is already planning on how to manage that cap hit from those two. I can EASILY expect to see Corey Perry numbers plus another 5-10%. Something like $75M for 8 years for each of them.

Well, sorry to see True Grit go. I enjoy debating with those who see the game different then I do.

As far as what did/didn't happen....Handzus could be valuable if used corretly. I am not expecting much. Like Sammy Pahlsson type pick up.

The guy I wanted was Ryan Clowe, and how nice did he look in front of the net on the Rangers PP? Did I mention he had a nice 3 pt night, and 2 goals? yeah, it was 1 game, but watch this game....A change of scenery, playing for a contract, may ignite him, and YES he was worth the price of Victor Stalberg, who probably won't be on this team by October. Minnesota got better, STL got better, Vancouver better, LA added a nice D man...so those teams are shrinking the window on talent compared to the Hawks. I don't even care who they play....because last year I wanted Phoenix compared to LA or SJ and we saw how that turned out.

I'm not going to rail on Bowman until the season is over. I think he did a piss poor job of correcting holes, most notably a 2nd line center, and size ,but it is what it is today. I don't care about what of, could have, or should have happened yesterday. Fact is, it didn't. ....Go check Kane's stats with Bolland and w/o Bolland. I rest my case on #36. God willing Sharp can man the 2nd line spot, and move Bolland back to the 3rd line. That's the only value he adds to this team.

So now, all I care about is the health of this team, PP ramping up, and getting back in a groove of playing smart, consistent hockey. I think they are small, and will have to rely on speed to out work larger size teams. They also will have to capitalize on the PP in the postseason to go far...

Are they good enough to win a cup? Yeah, if they stay healthy, and Corey Crawford doesn't melt down....again. However, if they don't, then I expect the same people who have been calling those of us who dare question this organization's approach to personnel "negative, or haters" or whatever else, to be here the day the Hawks season ends. If it's negative, then they need to answer the bell just like I'll be here IF they win 16 games and are riding buses up Michigan avenue...

To satisfy the political comment quota for the day for JJ and TrueGrit...

Commander in Chief is in town and his motorcade just strolled past my apartment. I get a little uneasy with people hanging out of a Tahoe with automatic assault rifles.

Carry on with your day...
- eburgio

Pretty sure that's a typical day on the south side lately.

Your projected lineup for the Blues is innacurate. Tonight will feature the debut of Jay Bouwmeester on defense.

Pietrangelo BOUWMEESTER
Shattenkirk Leopold
Jackman Polak

How do you like that Defense? The left side of the D has a whole new look since last time Hawks played the Blues.

A slight upgrade over Kris Russel. I'll be at the game tonight.
LETS GO BLUES!
- Taynos

FIXED