biittner77

Don't forget Cardenas 2-3 with 3 RBI. His bandwagon sure is lonely. I'm still on it (though I haven't been on here to proclaim it really). He could still be a very useful major league player. I actually think he'd be a nice 2 hole hitter or maybe a guy who can hit in the 7th spot and give you some offense down there. I wonder if Stewart keeps struggling the way he has if Cardenas gets first crack at 3b? If nothing else, he could make Baker, Barney or Dewitt expendable for a team looking to add depth at the deadline.

Wasn't it spelled Rubby?

Part of me thinks it would be great if, for once, the Cubs got lucky on someone like Lahair but then this is a lost season anyway so what difference does it really make? Maybe we could keep that lightning bottled kharma for future use. Thankfully, Hendry is gone and we won't have to hear how it would be unfair to Brian Lahair when it comes time for Rizzo to replace him.

the thing is, it's not like jay was taking a lot of 7-step drops during the season, and they played max protect on passing downs a lot and jay still got sacked. webb is not ill-suited for just martz's system, that's a lie people keep telling themselves. he's a bad LT, maybe the worst in the NFL, and emery, most likely acting on a recommendation from tice, who's most likely acting on his own arrogance and a desire to re-emerge as an HC candidate and talent evaluator, failed to address the O-Line on the first two days of the draft. they have ignored LT because they are wedded to the idea that Webb is a diamond in the rough. this myth was debunked last season, it's time to admit as much and move on. Maybe they think having receivers that can get open will help prevent the coverage sacks that happen when they go max protect. As for the part about Tice, if that's true he must really believe in Webb to be be putting a lot of his eggs in that basket.

A 4th line of Shaw, Mayers and Carcillo would have the potential to drive other teams nuts. But if they had Kruger instead of Mayers they'd have a better chance of putting up some points. Then Bollig becomes the press box denizen/ worthless thug minutes guy.

screw that It will be interetsing to see what the avs do though since about half their team are FAs. Saw on Yahoo that Brunette doesn't know what he's going to do next year but he won't be playing for the 'Hawks. I guess that makes it unanimous. I guess we'll be saying the sames things about Mayers next. No reason to have him and Carcillo and Shaw except that neither Shaw or Carcillo can play C.

Did people just ignore the freaking rest of the team? It wasn't the goalie. This team suffered from a severe downgrade of productivity and effectiveness at every single position, with the exception of Hossa, and he missed the playoffs. The obsession with goalie is not addressing the real issues. Is Crawford a stanley cup goalie? If Niemi can be, so can he. Is Marc Andre Fleury a stanley cup goalie? He just got his ass handed to him. And that's happened a lot. The Blackhawks didn't lose to Phoenix because of their goalie, they lost because they couldn't score goals. They lost because their best offensive player ended the playoffs with 4 GD points. They lost because they are completely incompetent on the PP. Goalies come and go. As soon as one plays well enough to get recognition and a contract he's no longer a standout. The Blackhawks need to shake up their core, which is either incredibly overrated or is still living off the accolades of 2 years ago. If they can get somebody to trade for Sharp, I'd like that. If they can get Buffalo to overpay for their hometown boy Kane, fine by me. If they can upgrade over Crawford, but don't do something stupid and acquire Luongo or some other reputation goalie with a big price tag. I'd rather go the gambling route on that position and go with cheap retreads or a kid out there. I'd be fine if they opened the season with Crawford, assuming they spend the offseason addressing the real needs. The rest of the entire team. The 'Hawks have the personnel to run a PP. Just last season their PP was top 10 if not higher (iirc they were 4th but not sure) That's a coaching issue and should be easy to fix. I'm ok with trading Sharp though I'm not sure how that helps now. The "Hawks have good players in the pipeline (Saad, McNeil, Denault, Morin, Pirri) so if they could get a good defenseman or if they use Sharp's salary toward Suter then maybe. Buffalo doesn't have anybody that's worth Kane.

Maybe not a straight up platoon but splitting time seems like a viable option

Somebody has to be the one to say it: what about Garza to the Yankees? What kind of package can the Yankees put together?

You are probably right. Goalies are like late relievers, they often go from bad to awesome (Smith) or really good to terrible (Mason). People point out Howard from the Wings who became an all star after having a bad sophmore season. That being said, I doubt they'll have a lot of patience with Crawford once the season starts. I still don't get why they extended Emery though if that (staying with Crawford) is the plan.

Seriously, what can be done about the PP? Toews, Kane, Sharp, and Hossa and the PP sucks? It's got to be coaching and scheme, no? Dead last in the playoffs (granted missing Hossa for most of the series) and 26th in the regular season? Having a point man to run the PP is pretty important. The Hawks missed that all season long. Atrocious entries and bad puck movement will result in a really bad power play. A few good signings would be nice, but they need to replace Mike Kitchen too. I was watching the Caps Bruins series the other day and noticed that they use Ovechkin on the point as a passer/ playmaker. That's supposed to be what Bolland was doing with Toews in front of the net. If they insist on keeping a forward on the point, I'd try moving Toews or Kane to the point and put Hayes in front of the net. Hayes has a big body and good hands- no reason why he couldn't do what Byfuglien did when he was a Hawk.

I look at this Hawks roster and see that the talent is there. Certainly some tweaking is necessary- better goal tending for example. The Brunette experiment was a low risk gamble that never really paid off. Father Time needs to be put out to pasture. Lepisto- who would be decent depth on any other team- has to go since Q steadfastly refuses to play him. But really the biggest problem as I see it with this team is special teams. They were both ineplicably awful. The talent is there but the scheme/ strategy / execution whatever you want to call it is a coaching issue and must be addressed.

Stalberg had a very good season but a bad series. He's not someone that is untouchable but he got a lot better this year- rather keep him. Oduya is a UFA. The Hawks don't have to worry about getting rid of him if they decide that they don't want him. He probably cost himself a couple million dollars with his bad series. I wish they had sent Hayes back to the Rock so he could have played more.

Yes, because monumentally terrible ideas should never be forgotten. Trading Kane for a goalie is right up there with Custer saying "Let's leave the gatling guns back at the fort, I doubt we'll see an Indians"

I'm pretty sure part of his brain got left on the ice. Upper body injury. It's part of the process. In all seriousness, the consensus is that it's not a broken jaw and the short stay in the hospital I guess rules out a skull fracture so a concussion seems most likely.

The answer is apparently no: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/22/no-surprise-blackhawks-rule-out-marian-hossa-for-game-6/related/ What does that even mean?

Schneider is a restricted free agent after July 1. Will be very interesting to see what Vancouver does with their goaltending situation. I think they'll be able to find a taker for Luongo, despite that contract. Maybe back to Florida. Tallon has shown a willingness to pay huge contracts to questionable goaltenders. And there may be other teams (Toronto?) that would be interested. So a lot of things have to happen for Schneider to even become available. I'm not so sure about Florida. After taking on Campbell's contract, can they afford Luongo's salary/ cap hit. Given a choice, wouldn't every team rather have scheinder than Luongo? There could be a "conspiracy" of non interest in Luongo to enable making a run at offering Schneider. Or once they see no willing to take Luongo maybe they try to trade schneider before July 1st.

I thought he traded Barker for Nick Leddy. Last night's game aside, Leddy has been an asset with a bright future. Everyone knew the Hawks had to hatchet their roster in order to get under the cap. Don't you think that may have hurt Bowman's leverage in negotiations? Less hits also means having the puck more. I'd bet the Hawks got out hit most of the time during their cup run. Everyone that traded for a defenseman- the Hawks biggest need- overpaid and by a lot. Oduya hasn't been very good in the playoffs but he was hardly a turnover machine down the stretch. Barry Melrose picked the Hawks to win the Stanley Cup. He was wrong but he's hardly a nobody If the Hawks were an old team with the window closing, I'd be a lot more worried. This past season was skewed by the uncertain future regarding the CBA. Once the dust settles on the labor front, we'll see what Bowman does then. I don't mean to sound like a Bowman apologist but I'm not sure all the blame can be laid at his feet. At least not yet.

Ron Swanson's cheeseburgers

As someone once said "It's a fast game". I guess they have to defend their player but Raffi Torres isn't exactly Mother Theresa out there. Why not just say, "he was trying to make a play and got there late." That satisfies the 'don't hang him out to dry' element but still acknowledges the dangerous and reckless nature of the hit.

Because if he has the ability to hit well enough to be a starter, and he costs next to nothing, he holds more value as a trade chip than a bench player. Why would you put a guy on the bench who can hit for a reasonable average and mash 30 homers a year if given full playing time. It's a waste of resources. if you have that guy and he's NOT in your plans, then he likely is a viable option for someone else. You find out who that is and you milk LaHair for all he's worth. You ruin his value by benching him. The problem there is that his age is working against him. If he was 25, a team might be willing to give something up for him. He's not. A low budget "rebuilding" team might be able to use him as a stop gap. That's not going to get much more than what Lahair already is: a bench bat. So there's really not much point unless they could get someone that could also back up another position like 3rd or corner OF.

I want the HCCF malfunctioning robot.

Matt Loosen looking to improve his 81.00 era

They're a poor man's version of the Preds. Not quite as boring but not as talented either. They're getting good goal tending from Smith but the series will probably come down to how well Crawford plays.

I didn't get to see the game. How does everyone feel about Shark throwing 110 pitches in his first start?