Re: NHL (Blackhawks included) offseason thread

[Butterscup1679666578]

Yeah I'd be all on board with a McKee signing.

 

I'm really starting to get pumped for the season again. This offseason has gone much better than expected.

[Soul]

Turco excited, of course, to be coming to Chicago:

 

"We were a little bit surprised [to get this opportunity]," said Turco, who was vacationing with friends in Scotland. "I said earlier about the desire to play for [the Blackhawks] before the playoffs even began. When they won, I assumed the opportunity was erased.

 

"I'm more than excited to help Chicago do what they want to do, which is [defend] the Stanley Cup. It's been almost a dream come true to play for an Original Six team, especially one with [the number of] Tony Esposito, who's from my hometown [saul Ste. Marie, Ontario], up in the rafters. It's an amazing day for my family and me to become a Blackhawk."

 

Nice Esposito reference :)

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=5430163

[jersey cubs fan]

Turco excited, of course, to be coming to Chicago:

 

"We were a little bit surprised [to get this opportunity]," said Turco, who was vacationing with friends in Scotland. "I said earlier about the desire to play for [the Blackhawks] before the playoffs even began. When they won, I assumed the opportunity was erased.

 

"I'm more than excited to help Chicago do what they want to do, which is [defend] the Stanley Cup. It's been almost a dream come true to play for an Original Six team, especially one with [the number of] Tony Esposito, who's from my hometown [saul Ste. Marie, Ontario], up in the rafters. It's an amazing day for my family and me to become a Blackhawk."

 

Nice Esposito reference :)

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=5430163

 

I love all the parentheticals in that little blurb, especially the one that clarifies that Tony Esposito is not up in the rafters, but rather his number is.

[Flames24Rulz]

Turco was one of the guys that many of us were clamoring for at the deadline.

 

I'm excited to see how this goes.

[Prizefight]

Had to email Boers and Bernstein to try to shut Terry up on this Turco stuff. Saying this signing is fine if 'Turco gets interested' Dan read it on air and it seems to have temporarily worked

[jersey cubs fan]

Had to email Boers and Bernstein to try to shut Terry up on this Turco stuff. Saying this signing is fine if 'Turco gets interested' Dan read it on air and it seems to have temporarily worked

 

 

Huh?

[Prizefight]

Boers keep saying that Turco will be fine if it "get's interested in playing hockey again" I have no clue where this is coming from and I'm chalking it up to his senility. Tried to give them some stats/analysis that shows that this was a great move for the Hawks

[Magnetic Curses]

Turco was one of the guys that many of us were clamoring for at the deadline.

 

I'm excited to see how this goes.

 

i didn't see him as much of an upgrade at the deadline, i wanted vokoun, but that would have never happened. as it stands now, turco is acceptable at that number. and mark my words, he will experience a resurgence, look for slightly better number than niemi's.

[jersey cubs fan]

Boers keep saying that Turco will be fine if it "get's interested in playing hockey again" I have no clue where this is coming from and I'm chalking it up to his senility. Tried to give them some stats/analysis that shows that this was a great move for the Hawks

 

Was he sleeping with porn stars down in Dallas or something?

[gflore34]

In looking at sully' Hawks' roster I don't know how they're not the best team in the WC this season. If Turco is solid, and I suspect he will be, the Hawks will considered favorites for the cup again, Rosenberg et al clamoring about the loss of Niemi just don't know anything about hockey.

[UMFan83]

In looking at sully' Hawks' roster I don't know how they're not the best team in the WC this season. If Turco is solid, and I suspect he will be, the Hawks will considered favorites for the cup again, Rosenberg et al clamoring about the loss of Niemi just don't know anything about hockey.

 

Rosenbloom is supposed to be pretty knowledgeable with regards to hockey.

[Magnetic Curses]

i'm confused, is rosenbloom sending his regards to hockey or are you?

[UMFan83]

i'm confused, is rosenbloom sending his regards to hockey or are you?

 

I don't know what I said wrong but I believe you when you imply I did.

[Magnetic Curses]

spell imply

[brinoch]

A couple of thoughts... I was opposed to getting Turco at the deadline, but I think letting Niemi go and signing him to a one-year deal is a really good move. It provides significant cap relief and probably an upgrade, given his numbers with a poor defensive club -- which has been pointed out numerous times by intelligent observers.

 

I don't know who among the young players will make the team. Neither does Bowman or Q-stache just yet. And that's a glorious thing. They can choose the best players out of camp, rather than pick out who must be on the team based on salary. They also have the flexibility to carry 22 players at times and cover for injuries without going over the cap. This means that if Beach demonstrates he's ready, he can make the team. Likewise with Leddy or Vishnevskiy or Kruger or Lalonde or Makarov or whoever.

 

I've been surprised before, but from what I've read I don't think Leddy is ready for the NHL. They could put him on the third pairing and learn on the ice, but Bowman has said that he's likely to start in Rockford. He has Junior eligibility left, so he could go to the OHL this season, too. Never having actually seen him play, I'm not sure what's the best course. I trust the Hawks to develop him properly, though (and isn't it nice to say that!).

 

I think the Hawks will have a lot more flexibility next season with the $4.1M penalty and whatever happens with the cap. They do have questions to answer at goalie, along with what to do with Brouwer and Seabrook. I'm not sure what happens with Brouwer. He's a very solid player and I think he could explode this year. He may be a cap casualty, but I hope they can find a way to keep him. As for Seabrook, there's no way the Hawks will pay Seabs more than Keith, so he won't make more than another $2M. I could see paying Seabs around $5M, which would be $1.5M more. I'd do that. The price at goalie will go up, most likely, but perhaps not if Crawford shows he can hold the fort (or if Turco wants to come back for another season inexpensively). There are several guys who will be RFA's, but they are completely unknown quantities at this point. And there's always the question of what will happen with the CBA.

[17 Seconds]

reading all the niemi tweets from randoms on twitter is equal parts hilarious and infuriating.

 

i saw one girl say "first theriot and now niemi?? wtf are my teams doing? i'm about done with chicago sports"

 

then i saw somebody else say that turco was a bad move because he's "too similar to huet" and that niemi "brings variety"

[kujay]

It's too bad, but it had to be done. The key, as Bowman stressed yesterday, is the defense. If they stay healthy, this team can win (obviously) with a goalie like Niemi or Turco.

 

Go get another cheap defenseman and then let's get on with training camp.

[Soul]

I'm pretty optimistic that Turco will be fine. I'd rather have just about anyone backing him up other than Huet, who I would have been happy to never see play for the Hawks again about 2/3 of the way through last season.

 

Turco/Crawford seems like a reasonable alternative to Niemi/Huet. Would I rather see Niemi return to defend the Cup? You bet. But I won't be whining and crying about it.

[Magnetic Curses]

It's too bad, but it had to be done. The key, as Bowman stressed yesterday, is the defense. If they stay healthy, this team can win (obviously) with a goalie like Niemi or Turco.

 

Go get another cheap defenseman and then let's get on with training camp.

 

i really really think they're going after jay mckee to replace sopel on that third pairing. if they do, they've somehow improved themselves defensively during the summer of capocalypse. honestly, this team hasn't even really taken a step back in my mind in terms of talent. kopecky replaces ladd, beach replaces kopecky, stalberg replaces versteeg, bickell replaces buff, mckee (?) replaces sopel, dowell replaces madden, turco replaces niemi. the only place where we become markedly worse is fourth line center, but then again we get infinitely younger.

 

can't wait for the season.

[Magnetic Curses]

holy crap, just noticed that atlanta has 3 black guys on their team. they must be really trying to get people in the seats.

[SouthSideRyan]

I've seen multiple people on facebook claim the Hawks won't make the playoffs. I guess I assumed since hockey had less fans than the other big 3 that there weren't as many morons, but maybe not

[Banedon]

I've seen multiple people on facebook claim the Hawks won't make the playoffs. I guess I assumed since hockey had less fans than the other big 3 that there weren't as many morons, but maybe not

 

Hawks have an awful lot of bandwagon fans at the moment.

[Prizefight]

I've seen multiple people on facebook claim the Hawks won't make the playoffs. I guess I assumed since hockey had less fans than the other big 3 that there weren't as many morons, but maybe not

 

 

You should de-friend them. Not doing you any good to hang around people like that.

 

People who know hockey realize that this is still a very good team. Top 4 in the West I'd even wager right now.

[jersey cubs fan]

I've seen multiple people on facebook claim the Hawks won't make the playoffs. I guess I assumed since hockey had less fans than the other big 3 that there weren't as many morons, but maybe not

 

There's a lot about hockey that I don't know, but I can't see this team missing the playoffs, barring multiple key injuries. Maybe they don't win their division and challenge for the 1 seed this year, but I think they'll at least be a top 6 team in the West.

 

I think something that a lot of people keep ignoring is the fact that Hossa and Bolland missed a ton of time last year and will make up for a lot of regular season production that has left.

[SouthSideRyan]

I've seen multiple people on facebook claim the Hawks won't make the playoffs. I guess I assumed since hockey had less fans than the other big 3 that there weren't as many morons, but maybe not

 

Hawks have an awful lot of bandwagon fans at the moment.

 

That I can understand, but I've seen people who've played hockey much of their lives saying this. Like Jersey, I'm far from an expert at hockey, but this just seems like common sense. It's people falling in love with what happened in the playoffs, and thinking that Byfuglien and Niemi were the reason this team was so good.