Fixed.
- John Jaeckel

Ha. Was waiting for the first Lepisto comment.

Only a matter of before he's the most sought after FA Dman out of Europe. #redfont

Fun watching this goalie thing play out, but IMO bad if you want to move a top 10 expensive goalie. I think Bishop, Fluery, Crow, Howard could hit the market. Also Niemi/Lethomen, Ward is a UFA, Fred Andersen is an RFA as part of the 1A-1B in ANA, I bet Bob is available in Columbus with Korpisalo out playing him a mile last year on an ELC through 2017/18, rookies Hellybuk (WPG) and Murray (PITT) outplaying the starters and IMO the only team looking to add a goalie for sure is CAL and maybe TOR and DAL.

A tangled mess and if you're looking for a goalie this is a helluva year to be doing so.

IF the Hawks really want to move Crow my guess is PHI is the best fit as they are close to being a real player in the East and would swap Mason (4.1 mil through 2016/17) and feel they are set in goal.
- Mr Ricochet

oh yeah i forgot about the those 2 other big $$$ bust outs: bobro and howard...and the bruins have the cap goalie anchor named rask

Correct Janet Jones wanted to be in the states, and Peter Pockington needed cash.
- SteveRain

Always perplexed with that decision. Left the best hockey team in the universe.

Sat in the Stadium during the '90 CCF watching the Oil beat my 'Hawks again just like in '83 and '85, this time without the Great One. Wondered if they'd ever beat the Oil.

...or Pascal LeClaire and Steve Mason. Goalies can go from red hot to subpar quickly.
- Al

Great point. Crawford has been through it all. Has battled his way up through the minors, seized his opportunity and has won this team a lot of games. Mental toughness and ability to bounce back after a bad goal or game has always been his forte. Was right up there with Kane when he won the Conn Smythe. Be at 2 cups rather than 3. Also don't think Darling is ready. Moving him would be a last resort and going with Darling or the new kid is a huge roll of the dice. Hope is a dangerous thing.

They outshot the Lightning by like 80 shots or something ridiculous in that series. Im sure it was 'fixed' skates on the TB players to make them not skate as well.

Do you EVER give this tin toil hat stuff a rest?
- kwolf68

You honestly believe that Pit won that draft lottery fair and square?
I'm sorry for you if you say yes.

Fixed.
- John Jaeckel

Ha. Was waiting for the first Lepisto comment.

Only a matter of before he's the most sought after FA Dman out of Europe. #redfont
- TyCamScore

Vancouver will sign him

Thanks for reminding me....

Just wondering....Was it fixed when the Hawks were able to pick first with like a 2% chance?

Or...Was the Draft fixed when Edmonton repeatedly got the #1 pick?

Let me know when you have time....That way I will never comment positively about either of those franchises.

- Al

Al - I'll answer your questions:

1) Yes - Kane was not the clear-cut #1 pick the year he went 1st. Think about it, each year there is a clear-cut #1. So if ever there was a year that Chicago should get #1 it is the year that there is varying opinion on who should go #1.

2) Yes - Has any other team in recent NHL history got so many #1 picks in consecutive years?

Hmmmmm.... thats an interesting idea. JVR is 4.1 and Bernier 4.4 salary wise right? Could we take that much salary back??
- z1990z

Attach Bickell to that, plus they give us a young D man back, They could HAVE Gusteffsson

Always perplexed with that decision. Left the best hockey team in the universe.

Sat in the Stadium during the '90 CCF watching the Oil beat my 'Hawks again just like in '83 and '85, this time without the Great One. Wondered if they'd ever beat the Oil.
- blackhawk24

Love will make you do strange things...

Hawks were very good back then and in a different time would have won a Cup or two-But they were not good enough to beat the Oil.

Attach Bickell to that, plus they give us a young D man back, They could HAVE Gusteffsson
- wonthecup10

The failure this year is all on Q with his BS coaching and not utilizing the players he was provided to the best of their ability
A great coach plays to the players strength and does not try to make them something they are not
This team had the talent and he never stabilized the lineup to allow them to get comfortable with each other. There was plenty of time before the playoffs started to settle on a lineup but he was to stubborn, arrogant and focused on showing the front office who has the power to determine the lineup

Q better get his head out his a$$ or he will loose the locker room if he hasn't already and be fired before next season is over

The failure this year is all on Q with his BS coaching and not utilizing the players he was provided to the best of their ability
A great coach plays to the players strength and does not try to make them something they are not
This team had the talent and he never stabilized the lineup to allow them to get comfortable with each other. There was plenty of time before the playoffs started to settle on a lineup but he was to stubborn, arrogant and focused on showing the front office who has the power to determine the lineup

Q better get his head out his a$$ or he will loose the locker room if he hasn't already and be fired before next season is over
- molly2522

i don't think Q did anything differently than he was doing when they went to 3 WC in a row and won 2 cups...this year he got the other result...now it seems i am double talking but some of his roster and in game decisions were at best confusing to me from the trade deadline going forward....but lets remember this team prior to beating the blues in G2 were 0-10 vs WC playoff teams since early feb and had not beaten said teams at home in over 3 monhts prior to G6...

post game presser he passionately decribed the loss as a "huge disappointment"... iw ould like to know what aspects of the hawks game was comprised that disappointment and did he include himself in that...

Thanks for reminding me....

Just wondering....Was it fixed when the Hawks were able to pick first with like a 2% chance?

Or...Was the Draft fixed when Edmonton repeatedly got the #1 pick?

Let me know when you have time....That way I will never comment positively about either of those franchises.

- Al

Can't recall were the Hawks that much of a long shot to draft first the year they got Kane?

I don't think that's enough cap savings for it to make sense for the Blackhawks to make the deal. They need to take back a goalie under $2m per or no goalie at all!
- matt_ahrens

Matt, the big savings would come for the 17/18 season (probably ONLY 3 mil assuming Darling is the man and signs for 3 mil) but in the mean time they save 1.9 for next year. But IMO the Hawks could go very deep with Mason, maybe win the whole thing.

I think Mason is underrated but my concern is his ability to stay healthy. This guy is always near the top in 5 on 5 save percentage, a huge stat for me, and does it behind a bad Philly D. Add he's only 26 yrs old and should still improve.

Save percentage 5 on 5 with at least 2,000 minutes: 2014/15 (1st) 2015/16 (4th)
http://war-on-ice.com/goalietable.html Change the minutes and year for a full list.

Will be interesting to see what Mason can do the year he's behind a top 10 defense, top 5 even better. Those excellent 5 on 5 stats were earned despite his situation (not a product of great talent or defensive system) not because of it.

Matt, the big savings would come for the 17/18 season (probably ONLY 3 mil assuming Darling is the man and signs for 3 mil) but in the mean time they save 1.9 for next year. But IMO the Hawks could go very deep with Mason, maybe win the whole thing.

I think Mason is underrated but my concern is his ability to stay healthy. This guy is always near the top in 5 on 5 save percentage, a huge stat for me, and does it behind a bad Philly D. Add he's only 26 yrs old and should still improve.

Save percentage 5 on 5 with at least 2,000 minutes: 2014/15 (1st) 2015/16 (4th)
http://war-on-ice.com/goalietable.html Change the minutes and year for a full list.

Will be interesting to see what Mason can do the year he's behind a top 10 defense, top 5 even better. Those excellent 5 on 5 stats were earned despite his situation (not a product of great talent or defensive system) not because of it.
- Mr Ricochet

Nothing against Mason, I'm just looking at the rest of the roster wondering where the Blackhawks can save some money to improve the forwards. It looks like they'll head into the season with the current defense corps and hope Kempny can be that #4 guy and have TVR on the 3rd pairing with one of the other young guys and spelled by Rosi. Yikes! But if that means the D is set, who plays with 19 on the top line? Who is the 4th center after 15 and 16? who plays on the wings on the 3rd and 4th lines? The forwards weren't good enough to win a cup this year, how will they be better next year without Ladd or Shaw or Weise or Fleischmann? Maybe they buy out Bicks and that $3m along with the $2m savings by trading for Mason are enough to resign Shaw and add another vet but I'm not sure that's enough.

Can't recall were the Hawks that much of a long shot to draft first the year they got Kane?
- Mr Ricochet

They were a longshot..

Shame on Kaner and Tazer. Undoubtedly will receive grief for this post but the facts speak for themselves. Very often we hear of players giving a "home town discount" to stay with their current team. Everyone was disappointed when Saad was traded because he wouldn't offer a large enough discount. Now we know Ladd will be gone despite him saying money doesn't matter at this point in his career...that may be true but he won't sign for a million per year. So, what is the NUMBER ONE HINDRANCE???? The very fact that Kaner and Tazer signed for 10.5 million a year. No home town discount there...no concern that those contracts will be the number 1 reason why there isn't cap space...no concern that the possibility to repeat as champions multiple times dwindles when you can't keep teammates who are friends. Greed...if each of them took 7 million per year there would be an extra 7 million to spend elsewhere. Are they worth 10.5 million per year...maybe...but if they cared about the franchise, they would have given a home town discount...so for all of the players who will no longer be Blackhawks because of the inability to scrape up an extra million or so...you can thank Kaner and Tazer.