Peluso and magnusson were usually punching bags. Ciconne was a nut job fun to watch. And cummins was a gamer but never a top fighter.
- vandymeer23

Ill take Dave Manson and Behn Wilson as my defensive pairing

No at the time Hawks needed toughness , I think it was the playoffs before the Canucks beat the tar out of the Hawks. FRASER was tough. He put up good numbers until injuries took their toll.
Then the Hawks somehow fished in Minnesota to give us Graham for him. Graham was tough as nails too and a good players well
- HamiltonHawk

Tough was Terry Ruskowski

Ill take Dave Manson and Behn Wilson as my defensive pairing
- bjphawkfan

Manson yes...to compare Wilson to a pylon would be disrespectful to the pylon.

Im pretty close to last in line to defend the NHL...Forget the shark and Phelps, the NBA Draft Lottery show has outdrawn Cup Final games.

But NHL playoffs goes on for months and only the die hards stick around and watch after their teams are out in the opening round.

Bettman made a choice as did the owners and went for more money and took the NHL off ESPN....It wasn't the other way around as many think.

Once that happened there were many reasons for the NHL to not get the nightly exposure on ESPN....How much did that hurt in the long run and was it worth moving for the difference in money?
- Al

No.

Thanks for getting technical

I went off a tweet from Darren Rovell who's job is tracking this sort of crap. Blame him.

Point is NHL ratings suck.
- SteveRain

Your last sentence is the point, and a good one. Who gives a rats ass if it is 4.2M or 4.8M. That is like arguing the Titanic went down in 90 mins vs 110 mins. Who cares.

The NHL is a ratings laughingstock. It should be 3 or 4x higher than that. It isn't cuz Bettman and his wonks can't sell a product. And they can't sell a product with limited appeal. And they can't up the appeal cuz they're too stupid to see the way the game is played is boring to casual observers.

"You're in the middle of the North Atlantic. Now do you want to live or do you want to die?"

Ill take Dave Manson and Behn Wilson as my defensive pairing
- bjphawkfan

Even on the back nine, with a lot of hard miles, I'd still take Probert over all those guys as the toughest to ever wear a Hawks jersey. Also the last one to score at Maple Leaf Gardens. Fitting.

Speaking of fighting...

https://amp.theguardian.c...threaten-future-of-league

Tough guys

Speaking of fighting...

https://amp.theguardian.c...threaten-future-of-league

Tough guys
- hocktock

There were 111 brains of former NFL players donated for testing by their families for CTE and all but 1 tested positive for CTE. Talk about problems football is in trouble and it's really starting at the grassroots level. Parents aren't letting their kids play pee-wee football. There aren't as many kids playing high school ball either. I don't know what the NHL can do to prevent going down this path. I guess banning fighting would be a start. The NHL most likely couldn't afford a massive settlement like the NFL could.

I want an away white, but hate the collar on this one. I prefer the old ones too and would like to find Seabs Hoss or Saad.
- HawkintheD

Throw any name on a #42 in HOME white and I'm happy. It's time for home sweaters to go back to being white. IMHO.

Throw any name on a #42 in HOME white and I'm happy. It's time for home sweaters to go back to being white. IMHO.
- Beaver-Warrior

I just bought a red (Reebok) jersey, I lost a bunch of weight and my old jerseys are way too big now.

I have to decide which name/number to get, I'm leaning towards Keith or Saad.

JJ you mention a back problem you have. Next time that occurs go bowling and let me know how that worked out for you. ......... Toews was seen bowling last year.
- Mr Ricochet

Have heard that many times. Are you saying that proves there was no back injury? Cuz it doesn't.

When was this now famous "bowling incident" anyway? if it was in the mid-to-latter half of the season, it really proves nothing because he was "better" at least for a while.

Will also tell you (from personal experience), your back can feel well enough to bowl (and I get how bowling torques your back and can be hard on it).

And even while you're dealing with back issues, you can feel OK to bowl or dance or work out or play hockey, and feel stiff, weak (or worse) at any other time. My back has flared a couple of times this year, I'm still doing everything. When I get tired (especially) it hurts and gets stiff, but that is a function more of age at this point.

Point is, you can play through or do a lot of things while your back is messed up—or not. It can be kind of day to day. But you can also be limited by it.

And bowling is not as difficult or demanding on your core as playing in the NHL.

Throw any name on a #42 in HOME white and I'm happy. It's time for home sweaters to go back to being white. IMHO.
- Beaver-Warrior

Agreed.

Agreed.
- John Jaeckel

Its pretty quiet for Hawk rumors. Is it safe to say that Bowman has done a good job working the cap ? On the flip side his drafting is very weak . I can not recall a player that he has drafted as being star quality player?

The best recap I've seen of camp and player comments: http://puckinhostile.blog...-blackhawks-prospect.html
- Mr Ricochet

Thanks man. Much appreciated