Agreed. I will projectile vomit if I have to watch Cindy Crosbaby raise Lord Stanley's Cup.
- EnzoD

Worst, will be seeing the glow in Bettman's eyes while he is handing it off to Cindy.

What does this day about you then? Talking like this?

carcus

I don't go out of my way to hit people when they are not looking - with intent to injure like that d-bag does. There should be absolutely NO place in professional sports for someone like that.

30 years ago, someone would have taken him out - but in today's game, everything is under the magnifying glass.

The hit Seabrook put on him was absolutely deserved - and it's too bad Backes came back from it.

You can be a physical player, you can check, you don't have to play with intent to injure like he does. There is a line, and he routinely crosses it.

He's not untalented. David Backes is untalented. Crosby winning would be the lesser of two evils.
- DMChi2010

But his entire career has been a scam!

From what I have heard from people who know how the politics in this type of case work... The DA had a very easy out if there was any evidence he could hang his hat on and that was to send the case to a Grand Jury.
For that not to happen with such a high profile case it's difficult for me to conclude Kane did anything illegal that night.
- Al

You are right about the Grand Jury, but what would you say if you were the D.A. in this case, and the accuser kept telling you she was unavailable for the days you needed her for the Grand Jury??

You would think what he did - that she was less than enthusiastic about this case when she found out the quick payout was not a possibility.

from the sounds of the posts here looks like this will be "shaaarrrks" blog for a about 2 weeks...

Pens will royally pay if Letang continues to take dumb penalties... Sharks powerplay is lethal

He's not untalented. David Backes is untalented. Crosby winning would be the lesser of two evils.
- DMChi2010

Come on. He may be a major league douchebag on the ice, he may be a poor choice for captain, but he is far from untalented

Buttman? Fan gets Bettman tattoo on rear
http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1033807
(via http://thesco.re/theScore_app )

Ha. What an idiot.

Blues brought to tears after falling to Sharks
http://www.thescore.com/news/1033462
(via http://thesco.re/theScore_app )

Gheesh I missed this. What as bunch of clowns. Talking about how close they were and crap. They didn't even make it half way. Their such millennials and emotional girly men I can't stand it. If they were my team, they wouldn't be my team. LOU ZERS!!!!

You are right about the Grand Jury, but what would you say if you were the D.A. in this case, and the accuser kept telling you she was unavailable for the days you needed her for the Grand Jury??

You would think what he did - that she was less than enthusiastic about this case when she found out the quick payout was not a possibility.
- dahawks8819

There isn't a hard time limit and the DA waited until after he was elected to a new position. Facts are if the DA saw anything within reason he sends it to a Grand Jury and does a Pontius Pilate-That way he takes himself off the hook both politically and in the eyes of the public.

For all of the public scrutiny involved and the fact it was a very high profile case for that area....The sensible thing would have been to throw it to the Grand Jury regardless of how unenthusiastic the supposed victim was. But the DA needed evidence and from what was reported there wasn't any DNA to support the accusations nor verbal testimony either.

I never sided with either while it was happening but logically I can't accuse Kane of anything now unless I want to believe the entire process was flawed and most likely corrupt.

Blues brought to tears after falling to Sharks
http://www.thescore.com/news/1033462
(via http://thesco.re/theScore_app )

Gheesh I missed this. What as bunch of clowns. Talking about how close they were and crap. They didn't even make it half way. Their such millennials and emotional girly men I can't stand it. If they were my team, they wouldn't be my team. LOU ZERS!!!!
- hocktock

"I see the devastation in our locker room right now," head coach Ken Hitchcock said in his postgame presser. "Guys aren't even able to speak. I'm more worried about our guys right now, to be honest with you. We got some guys that are pretty shook up right now, so ...

"They need their space with each other. They've bonded together better than any team I've coached in 10 years."

"We'll talk at an appropriate time. But right now they need to be with each other," the coach said.

Give me a (frank)n break...they lost a series in a sport where they earn millions..."they need their space".....aww life is tough...what a disgrace..

I know people who have endured and lost more than these premadona wimps and find a way to carry on

There isn't a hard time limit and the DA waited until after he was elected to a new position. Facts are if the DA saw anything within reason he sends it to a Grand Jury and does a Pontius Pilate-That way he takes himself off the hook both politically and in the eyes of the public.

For all of the public scrutiny involved and the fact it was a very high profile case for that area....The sensible thing would have been to throw it to the Grand Jury regardless of how unenthusiastic the supposed victim was. But the DA needed evidence and from what was reported there wasn't any DNA to support the accusations nor verbal testimony either.

I never sided with either while it was happening but logically I can't accuse Kane of anything now unless I want to believe the entire process was flawed and most likely corrupt.
- Al

me too. I watched the DA interviews after charges were dismissed and I was convinced that he thought Kane at least met the standard of "not guilty" and probably was close to a standard of "innocent" that courts outside of the US use. That's good enough for me. I still think Kane was guilty of poor judgment but I think he gets to take that lesson learned and move forward with the Blackhawks.

I have an intense dislike for Hitch, Backes, Reaves, Ott +Brodziak (and Jackman for a long time). I like Parayko, Tarasenko, Pietrangelo, Boumeester, Fabbri +Steen. It's a rivalry dude. I wouldnt expect you to react any differently to the Hawks losing. If you do like seeing the Hawks win, more power to you. I am a die-hard Hawks fan and the Blues are their biggest rival. As such, I will always root for St. Louis to lose....unless them winning somehow helps the Hawks in the regular season standings. Thats just how I operate, right or wrong.

EDIT: Do you disagree that Backes', Reaves, Ott +company's main goal when on the ice is to inflict pain/injury o the opposing team's top players??
- EnzoD

Every 3rd 4th line physical player should he trying to inflict pain on the other team. That's there job some guys can score and do it like Benn and lucic which makes them special. There not playing shinny for poops and giggles out there. There going out to compete and do there job.

These are really good questions. It's hard to say without being a close confidant of John McDonough and Rocky Wirtz.

But . . . ased on what I heard last summer . . . and what I have seen since (including the South Bend presser) is . . . one more "incident" and there will be some conversations and a serious exploration of moving him.
Some will say yeah, but how is that "fair" when there was nothing tot he allegations against him this past summer.

Problem is, no one knows there was nothing to it. All we really know is it was dropped. There could be a lot of reasons or combinations of reasons why and they don't necessarily mean Kane was completely innocent. Further, he had "two strikes" against him already (the cab incident, which I've heard may have been a lot worse than what he was charged with, and Madison). He is a public figure and very highly paid employee. CEO's are getting fired right and left these days for having affairs.

So my strong sense is, as long as he stays out of the papers and the police blotter, he's fine. One more "incident," even if its his cousin or some other numbskull and not him—he knows now he must show better judgement about the places he goes, what he does and who he does them with—and they will probably find a way to part ways with him.

And it might not take that. If the team feels his behavior is heading that way regardless? I can see them preemptively moving before something blows up in their faces.

But there's no evidence of that that I've heard.
- John Jaeckel

I watched the interviews the DA did with the local Buffalo TV stations and he got as close as he could to say that Kane was innocent or very close to it. Bad judgment, yes, absolutely. And a PR nightmare as a result. But since watching those interviews, I have been a Kane fan again (after being in wait and see mode during that whole thing.)

"I see the devastation in our locker room right now," head coach Ken Hitchcock said in his postgame presser. "Guys aren't even able to speak. I'm more worried about our guys right now, to be honest with you. We got some guys that are pretty shook up right now, so ...

"They need their space with each other. They've bonded together better than any team I've coached in 10 years."

"We'll talk at an appropriate time. But right now they need to be with each other," the coach said.

Give me a (frank)n break...they lost a series in a sport where they earn millions..."they need their space".....aww life is tough...what a disgrace..

I know people who have endured and lost more than these premadona wimps and find a way to carry on
- bogiedoc

Yea, it's like they were all knitting the same afghan and one of them dropped dead. It's really sad.

I'm curious if the SCF goalie match up of a 22 year old versus a 26 year old impacts the Blackhawks thinking about Crawford for next year. It seems like they could move from $6.5m on goalies to less than $2m on goalies for next season. That's enough to keep Shaw and maybe not buy out Bicks to save cap room for the following year.

Then maybe sign Darling as your #1 for $3m-ish and keep the Swede at around $1m and you have the goalies at $4m or so going forward and that saves $2.5 versus this year and add the $4m from Bickell and that is enough for Panarin and then some.

I'd hate to see Crawford go but maybe that is the best way to improve the team overall with the added cap room it would create.

God I wish Hedman was a Hawk. That move he made from bolts' zone up and around and that centering pass was pretty.
- maria_wyeth

I'd take Keith over Hedman any day of the week. I like Hedman, but Keith has that killer instinct in him, and he always raises his game come playoff time

There isn't a hard time limit and the DA waited until after he was elected to a new position. Facts are if the DA saw anything within reason he sends it to a Grand Jury and does a Pontius Pilate-That way he takes himself off the hook both politically and in the eyes of the public.

For all of the public scrutiny involved and the fact it was a very high profile case for that area....The sensible thing would have been to throw it to the Grand Jury regardless of how unenthusiastic the supposed victim was. But the DA needed evidence and from what was reported there wasn't any DNA to support the accusations nor verbal testimony either.

I never sided with either while it was happening but logically I can't accuse Kane of anything now unless I want to believe the entire process was flawed and most likely corrupt.
- Al

Al,

The take I got from the person I spoke to about the case was that after she filed the charge - and was very quick to do it, she became less and less cooperative with the D.A. As the investigation continued, the D.A. and the detectives handling it felt like they were spinning their wheels with her. She would tell them certain facts one day, then they would change the next. They would contact her to go over events, and she would tell them it was a bad time and she would call them back, then not call back. They had to call several times, and were told she was unavailable. If you were handling this case, what would you think??

And that's not even taking into account the public evidence fiasco with the bag the police left for the jacket she wore that night. She and her family KNEW that bag was not part of any DNA kit - and mislead their hired attorney about how it came into their possession - making him look bad in doing so.

The D.A. really wanted to present the case to the Grand Jury, but both the accuser and her friend that was with her were uncooperative.

Another interesting point in this case was the friend hiring her own attorney to accompany her to the questioning. The police were surprised by this - and the fact that she asked a few times about the charges that could be filed against her if it was found her testimony was not truthful. That put up a HUGE red flag in the minds of the people interviewing her.

I don't think any D.A. in this country would have felt comfortable wasting a judge and convened Grand Jury's time with what they found out.

Look, something did happen there, but as I said before, the only two people that will ever know for sure is the accuser and Kane. I don't think he is completely innocent here, and neither is she.

I'm so curious to see what's gonna end up happening with Stamkos
- maria_wyeth

signs a low cost 1 year deal with Hawks to play along side the Captain to get a cup before he signs next year with the Leafs and never sees the finals again

signs a low cost 1 year deal with Hawks to play along side the Captain to get a cup before he signs next year with the Leafs and never sees the finals again
- vabeachbear

I like when Backes said he wasn't feeling well and Ott came to him and "Gave him something" to make him feel better. Anyone wanna guess what that was? What did Ott give Backes to make him feel better? Anyone??? I think I know what he gave him...

I like when Backes said he wasn't feeling well and Ott came to him and "Gave him something" to make him feel better. Anyone wanna guess what that was? What did Ott give Backes to make him feel better? Anyone??? I think I know what he gave him...
- Ballam

HJ?

I like when Backes said he wasn't feeling well and Ott came to him and "Gave him something" to make him feel better. Anyone wanna guess what that was? What did Ott give Backes to make him feel better? Anyone??? I think I know what he gave him...
- Ballam

Enema?

Enema?
- powerenforcer

Thing is that for Backes, you could stick the syringe anywhere!

signs a low cost 1 year deal with Hawks to play along side the Captain to get a cup before he signs next year with the Leafs and never sees the finals again
- vabeachbear

That would be something
Someone is going to PAY him $10,000,000 +.