Nice move by Magnuson to pull the skates out from under the linesman to try to get one more swing at Orr. That would be an in-person hearing nowadays.
- Rota's Rooter

My old man used to call Magnuson a punching bag, he always took a beating and was always there to beat some more. I think he'd say it to piss me off

Dylan Sikura played 33 NHL games, with many on the #1 Line....ZERO goals and 8 assists. He belongs in the AHL as he lacks the required physical abilities to be an effective NHL Player. Sikura, along with Kunitz, Kruger, and Hayden all belong in the AHL. It is an indictment on the lack of talent and depth in the Blackhawks organization that Sikura was in the lineup for so long. Colliton continues to manage the worst Penalty Kill in the NHL since 1986.


I get it that Sikura is the new lovechild here. I am not saying he will never be an NHL player. He has some tools, just not enough of them. He is not an NHL player right now on a playoff team.
- EnzoD

NHL Eye for the BiPolar Fan guy

Pre tel, what physical abilities do you speak of?

Please, everyone draft together for the board a list of the required physical abilities to be an effective NHLer? Sikura has skated a regular shift for an NHL top 10 team over last 40 games. Or do we not count the teams actual record anymore?

This would be such a valuable piece of literature for us to refer to on the board.

He was also not a lavender sniffer, he beat the snot out of Magnuson in a fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pbwEGFiVDA
- LAHawk

Very few lavender sniffers in that era. But, who didn't beat up Maggte?

Is he ready to block shots? I think to be good on the PK you need to be willing to sacrifice your body occasionally. I do not see too much of an inclination in that regard from Schmaltz, Sikura, TT. Maybe because they are small guys. But Kruger is small and still blocks shots.

Lets have Sikura focus on improving at forward, before we start playing him on the PK.
- -Doh-

Good point but I haven't seen one way or another whether Sikura is willing to block shots. Could he? Perhaps but I don't recall any examples if any exist. Is he averse to putting his body in harm's way to block a puck? Perhaps but he is not shy to engage physically and go to the rough areas.

To play devil's advocate, Sikura is a better all around forward than Kampf yet Kampf plays on the PK. Your point, though, is shot blocking which Kampf does do at least more compared to Sikura. However, both of them need to improve at forward but that factor alone shouldn't necessarily be a prerequisite for PK duty.

Top 9
Kane
Toews
Saad
ADB
Strome
Kahun
#3C you acquire in trade or free agency

The last two spots are up for grabs. AA (if he is still here)? Sikura? Perlini? Hayden? Kampf? prospect? free agent?

Posters have said that AA moves after the Hawks pay AA his July 1 bonus. Wouldn't it be better to move him before the draft and eat the amount of his July 1 bonus? Dollars wise it would be the same for the Hawks and the team acquiring AA.
- -Doh-

Good breakdown of the forward spots. The 2 things I would add are

1) Caggiula is part of the mix.

2) There could also still be the option to find an upgrade at 4th line winger via free agency or trade. I know some on these boards like Tanev. I do, too. Doesn't necessarily need to be him but someone like him.

Good breakdown of the forward spots. The 2 things I would add are

1) Caggiula is part of the mix.

2) There could also still be the option to find an upgrade at 4th line winger via free agency or trade. I know some on these boards like Tanev. I do, too. Doesn't necessarily need to be him but someone like him.
- AEL_Fox

Caggiula looks to me like the new Shaw. We've been needing a Shaw-like player since he got traded to the Habs, and Caggiula looks like he used Shaw as a model. He agitates, he scraps, he goes to the net, and looks like a utility guy that can move up and down the line-up. Fairly fearless when he took on Big Buff last game.

Caggiula looks to me like the new Shaw. We've been needing a Shaw-like player since he got traded to the Habs, and Caggiula looks like he used Shaw as a model. He agitates, he scraps, he goes to the net, and looks like a utility guy that can move up and down the line-up. Fairly fearless when he took on Big Buff last game.
- Googlyeyes

After Byfuglien crossed checked his head - not a good experience for someone just off the concussion protocol.

He seemed to have gone off to the quiet room after that - any news on that?

He was also getting bear up by Macdermid the game before.

He was also not a lavender sniffer, he beat the snot out of Magnuson in a fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pbwEGFiVDA
- LAHawk

Who didnt

After Byfuglien crossed checked his head - not a good experience for someone just off the concussion protocol.

He seemed to have gone off to the quiet room after that - any news on that?

He was also getting bear up by Macdermid the game before.
- StLBravesFan

Colliton said he thought Cagguila was fine after the game, but he didn't want to see him fighting. Keith didn't approve of the fight, but said that Cagguila brings a feistiness to the team that he liked.

Apropos of nothing:

Michal Kempny tore his left hamstring and had surgery. He’s expected to miss four to six months.

Was playing about 19 mins a night.

Apropos of nothing:

Michal Kempny tore his left hamstring and had surgery. He’s expected to miss four to six months.

Was playing about 19 mins a night.
- Chunk

Brutal, brutal injury for a major league professional athlete to come back from. Arguably more difficult to return from than an Achilles rupture.

NHL Eye for the BiPolar Fan guy

Pre tel, what physical abilities do you speak of?

Please, everyone draft together for the board a list of the required physical abilities to be an effective NHLer? Sikura has skated a regular shift for an NHL top 10 team over last 40 games. Or do we not count the teams actual record anymore?

This would be such a valuable piece of literature for us to refer to on the board.
- TrueGrit

The physical ability to score a goal while being spoon fed undeserved Top Line minutes with 2 of the best players in the NHL this season in Toews and Kane. Marcus Kruger has 4 goals this season, playing less minutes, with less offensive zone starts, and with KUNITZ AND HAYDEN or Kampf. BTW, this is probably Kruger's last week of his NHL career, so that tells me Sikura is far from ready to be a contributor in the NHL. As of today, Sikura is a waste of space on NHL ice just like Kruger, Hayden, and Kunitz.


You think Eric Gustafson is a Norris Candidate, so your opinion is highly regarded for sure.

Colliton said he thought Cagguila was fine after the game, but he didn't want to see him fighting. Keith didn't approve of the fight, but said that Cagguila brings a feistiness to the team that he liked.
- Googlyeyes

Didn’t approve of the fight? What was he supposed to do? He got jumped. Can’t believe Byfuglien didn’t get an instigator on that. Illegal hit to the head followed by not allowing Cagguila to skate away.

Department of player safety continues to be the biggest bunch of hypocrites in the game.

Didn’t approve of the fight? What was he supposed to do? He got jumped. Can’t believe Byfuglien didn’t get an instigator on that. Illegal hit to the head followed by not allowing Cagguila to skate away.

Department of player safety continues to be the biggest bunch of hypocrites in the game.
- Ogilthorpe2

Big Buff was always an ass, but wearing the Jets sweater, his bumhole meter is off the charts. Even worse when he plays us. Minus the Matthews shoulder crunch.

Didn’t approve of the fight? What was he supposed to do? He got jumped. Can’t believe Byfuglien didn’t get an instigator on that. Illegal hit to the head followed by not allowing Cagguila to skate away.

Department of player safety continues to be the biggest bunch of hypocrites in the game.
- Ogilthorpe2

Yes, they are. Any statement by that pack if dolts carries as much weight as a McD marketing slogan. They are uninterested in taking unnecessarily dangerous hits out of the game.

Very few lavender sniffers in that era. But, who didn't beat up Maggte?
- mohel

Carol Vadnais. Look that one up.
Vadnais was a back stabber. Most guys got the best of Maggy. So in Oakland one night he jumps Maggy and has his way and feels like a tough guy. But a bit later in the game Maggy starts with Vadnais only this time it was much more even because Maggy never jumped anyone. Then later in the game Maggy drops the mitts again and calls out Vadnais, but this time he wants no part of it. The ref actually ordered Vadnais to drop em and go (prolly cuz Maggy was jumped in the first place). And this time Vadnais had to look near his ear to find his nose. And he had a HUGE nose. (frank)ing dropped him.

Few years later Hawks in Philly with Maggy out injured and the rat Linesman (I think, might have been Bridgeman though) was stirring the pot in the hawks crease when Tony Esposito had enough and dropped his mitts and gave him a tune up (Tony was a lefty and caught him by surprise and kept it coming). Bobby Clarke was quoted as saying that Esposito would never have to do that if Keith Magnuson was playing.

Laugh all you want, but players had respect for Magnuson. And after that Vadnais night only one other guy went out of his way to purposely start with him. Earl Heiskela. And that guy got hit with a punch that split his face from his chin to the bridge of his nose. His lips were cut clean through vetically. One punch. And when Earl finally came back from the injured list he played a few more games and was done. Got punched right out of the league. Thanks for comin.

Extremely sad night when I heard about the accident that took his life. RIP buddy.

Over the course of the season there have been 18 guys who have played forward for the Hawks. Of those 18 - only 5 have a positive +/- rating. I'm not here to extol the efficacy of using +/- to assess any given player - but I do think it's a good metric to assess a player relative to his team mates.

The 5 players are:
1. Kahun +8
2. Sikura +2
3. Toews +1
4. Strome +1
5. Caggiula +1

I'm not a fancy stat guy so I can't list Corsi and other stats to support that those 5 players were the most defensively responsible but I'd be surprised if the fancy stats didn't paint the same picture.

Re-doing the 2018 draft. How would it unfold today?

https://thehockeynews.com...how-would-it-unfold-today
- Mr Ricochet

Thanks for sharing this link. In the re-draft, Hawks took Filip Zadina and Bode Wilde at 8th and 27th, two prospects that many were hoping for or at least had on their short list.

The Isles took Boqvist at 11th and the Ducks took Beaudin at 23rd.

Carol Vadnais. Look that one up.
Vadnais was a back stabber. Most guys got the best of Maggy. So in Oakland one night he jumps Maggy and has his way and feels like a tough guy. But a bit later in the game Maggy starts with Vadnais only this time it was much more even because Maggy never jumped anyone. Then later in the game Maggy drops the mitts again and calls out Vadnais, but this time he wants no part of it. The ref actually ordered Vadnais to drop em and go (prolly cuz Maggy was jumped in the first place). And this time Vadnais had to look near his ear to find his nose. And he had a HUGE nose. (frank)ing dropped him.

Few years later Hawks in Philly with Maggy out injured and the rat Linesman (I think, might have been Bridgeman though) was stirring the pot in the hawks crease when Tony Esposito had enough and dropped his mitts and gave him a tune up (Tony was a lefty and caught him by surprise and kept it coming). Bobby Clarke was quoted as saying that Esposito would never have to do that if Keith Magnuson was playing.

Laugh all you want, but players had respect for Magnuson. And after that Vadnais night only one other guy went out of his way to purposely start with him. Earl Heiskela. And that guy got hit with a punch that split his face from his chin to the bridge of his nose. His lips were cut clean through vetically. One punch. And when Earl finally came back from the injured list he played a few more games and was done. Got punched right out of the league. Thanks for comin.

Extremely sad night when I heard about the accident that took his life. RIP buddy.
- 6628

Thanks for the stories, 66. By all accounts Maggie was a top notch human.

Didn’t approve of the fight? What was he supposed to do? He got jumped. Can’t believe Byfuglien didn’t get an instigator on that. Illegal hit to the head followed by not allowing Cagguila to skate away.

Department of player safety continues to be the biggest bunch of hypocrites in the game.
- Ogilthorpe2

Exactly what I was thinking darn near took his head off with his stick to the face. What’s Caggiula supposed to do?

Carol Vadnais. Look that one up.
Vadnais was a back stabber. Most guys got the best of Maggy. So in Oakland one night he jumps Maggy and has his way and feels like a tough guy. But a bit later in the game Maggy starts with Vadnais only this time it was much more even because Maggy never jumped anyone. Then later in the game Maggy drops the mitts again and calls out Vadnais, but this time he wants no part of it. The ref actually ordered Vadnais to drop em and go (prolly cuz Maggy was jumped in the first place). And this time Vadnais had to look near his ear to find his nose. And he had a HUGE nose. (frank)ing dropped him.

Few years later Hawks in Philly with Maggy out injured and the rat Linesman (I think, might have been Bridgeman though) was stirring the pot in the hawks crease when Tony Esposito had enough and dropped his mitts and gave him a tune up (Tony was a lefty and caught him by surprise and kept it coming). Bobby Clarke was quoted as saying that Esposito would never have to do that if Keith Magnuson was playing.

Laugh all you want, but players had respect for Magnuson. And after that Vadnais night only one other guy went out of his way to purposely start with him. Earl Heiskela. And that guy got hit with a punch that split his face from his chin to the bridge of his nose. His lips were cut clean through vetically. One punch. And when Earl finally came back from the injured list he played a few more games and was done. Got punched right out of the league. Thanks for comin.

Extremely sad night when I heard about the accident that took his life. RIP buddy.
- 6628

Must of been after Maggie took boxing lessons from Johnny Coulon.

Must of been after Maggie took boxing lessons from Johnny Coulon.
- LAHawk

He didn't have hand speed, but his hands were like bricks. The shot he hit those two guys with were from way back but were not wild. I know he took boxing lessons.

Another thing most don't know is that the first fight strap on the back of the jersey was improvised for Keith Magnuson. Lou Varga was the equiptment manager for many years. On a home and home saturday night in Philly Reggie Flemming got the sweater over Maggy's head in a scrum. So sunday before the game Louie cuts the strap off a garter belt and sews it with the button hook on the end to the inside back of the #3 sweater. And hooked it to one of the rear buttons on Maggy's hockey pants. Maggy couldn't wait to test it out with Reggie again and it worked like a charm. Reggie was dumbfounded after the bout.

He didn't have hand speed, but his hands were like bricks. The shot he hit those two guys with were from way back but were not wild. I know he took boxing lessons.

Another thing most don't know is that the first fight strap on the back of the jersey was improvised for Keith Magnuson. Lou Varga was the equiptment manager for many years. On a home and home saturday night in Philly Reggie Flemming got the sweater over Maggy's head in a scrum. So sunday before the game Louie cuts the strap off a garter belt and sews it with the button hook on the end to the inside back of the #3 sweater. And hooked it to one of the rear buttons on Maggy's hockey pants. Maggy couldn't wait to test it out with Reggie again and it worked like a charm. Reggie was dumbfounded after the bout.
- 6628

I could read those stories all day.

The physical ability to score a goal while being spoon fed undeserved Top Line minutes with 2 of the best players in the NHL this season in Toews and Kane. Marcus Kruger has 4 goals this season, playing less minutes, with less offensive zone starts, and with KUNITZ AND HAYDEN or Kampf. BTW, this is probably Kruger's last week of his NHL career, so that tells me Sikura is far from ready to be a contributor in the NHL. As of today, Sikura is a waste of space on NHL ice just like Kruger, Hayden, and Kunitz.


You think Eric Gustafson is a Norris Candidate, so your opinion is highly regarded for sure.
- EnzoD

And so the pendulum swings...very characteristic of the younger generation.

The tell tale sign is the compulsion to project ones interpretation of others words as their words. Pointing out a players positive attributes does NOT = anointing them as an All Star/Olympic player. The words, as written, have literal meaning.

Based upon your analysis, I have some real bad news, not only Sikura, but Joki too will be following Kruger out of the NHL. Joki played 6 more games and did not score a goal either.

Carol Vadnais. Look that one up.
Vadnais was a back stabber. Most guys got the best of Maggy. So in Oakland one night he jumps Maggy and has his way and feels like a tough guy. But a bit later in the game Maggy starts with Vadnais only this time it was much more even because Maggy never jumped anyone. Then later in the game Maggy drops the mitts again and calls out Vadnais, but this time he wants no part of it. The ref actually ordered Vadnais to drop em and go (prolly cuz Maggy was jumped in the first place). And this time Vadnais had to look near his ear to find his nose. And he had a HUGE nose. (frank)ing dropped him.

Few years later Hawks in Philly with Maggy out injured and the rat Linesman (I think, might have been Bridgeman though) was stirring the pot in the hawks crease when Tony Esposito had enough and dropped his mitts and gave him a tune up (Tony was a lefty and caught him by surprise and kept it coming). Bobby Clarke was quoted as saying that Esposito would never have to do that if Keith Magnuson was playing.

Laugh all you want, but players had respect for Magnuson. And after that Vadnais night only one other guy went out of his way to purposely start with him. Earl Heiskela. And that guy got hit with a punch that split his face from his chin to the bridge of his nose. His lips were cut clean through vetically. One punch. And when Earl finally came back from the injured list he played a few more games and was done. Got punched right out of the league. Thanks for comin.

Extremely sad night when I heard about the accident that took his life. RIP buddy.
- 6628

Great. I remember watching that game on TV, it was a Friday night against the Oakland seals, I think I might’ve been about 12 or 13 at the time actually they fought three times in a game. It was awesome hearing Lloyd Petit do the play-by-play. If I am served correctly Tony Esposito was the goalie that night. And I want to say the game was mid November, early December.