UMFan83

Oh yeah, and most of them are certain that the entire Hawks team is going to be gutted this offseason and they are going to be a shell of their former selves next season.

BTW, good old Red Wings fans...I went to a message board to see what they were thinking about the Hawks title, and here are some of the threads on their main page -chicago area wings fans (talking about how annoyed they are with all the "bandwagon" hawks fans giving them crap) -Fire sale in Chicago (regarding the offseason, how apparently we are going to be dismantled.) -Toews: Most undeserving Conn Smythe winner ever? losers

He had a bad concussion, and I guess he's had issues with concussions in the past. But with this being hockey there was so little information regarding his status, it became a running joke that he had died.

What if we don't win the draft lottery to get Kane? What if we don't lose the draft lottery to get stuck with Barker instead of Ovechkin or Malkin? Here's a fantastic one: What if Niemi doesn't beat out Crawford on the last day of exhibition season? What if Kim Johnsson didn't die? What if Q didn't take out Brouwer and Colin Frasier (it's amazing that he never saw playoff time after the third game against Nashville), what if Q decided to stick with the veteran Huet and tried to let him work out of it? What if Martin Erat didn't make a horrible ill-advised blind pass with time running down in game 5? Mine aren't as good as yours but still, I could do these all night. It's amazing how it all comes together.

Amazing that the Hawks finished off their season by winning 12 of their last 15 games. As the journey got tougher, they got stronger.

When was the first time you really legitimately thought the Hawks could actually win the Cup this year? For me it was after destroying San Jose 7-2 in San Jose just before Thanksgiving. Before then, I knew they were good and they could be a contender, but after that moment it was like a lightbulb went off and I thought "wow, we really really could/should win this thing!" I went to bed that night dreaming of the Hawks winning the Cup...I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had to force myself to think of something else because it was only November and so much had to happen between then and June. It is amazing everything that had to happen to get to this moment. All the highs and lows....a lifetime of memories. BTW, the Cup is making its rounds around Chicago right now. I keep getting updates on Facebook from friends that are out and about and somehow ran into the Cup. One person said they saw it at Stanleys (Lincoln and Armitage). Another said it was at Market (Randolph and May). And the most recent update is that it was at Will's Bar (Wellington and Racine), and it was with a picture of Campbell, Madden and Burrish holding the Cup. I am told that it has since left though. Edit: It was also at Harry Carey's where they passed the Cup around to fans, who got to drink out of it, as well as Tavern on Rush and Rockit downtown earlier in the day. is tracking it, but they don't have anything about Will's...but I have a photo: http://img815.imageshack.us/img815/5243/dacup.jpg And Toews at Ann Sather this morning: http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5485/toewsannsather.jpg

Odd...I guess it's cool but I think a bit over the top and unnecessary.

I just thought the soccer thread was long as it is and it really doesn't need 200 more pages. Plus we'd probably get more casual fans coming into the World Cup thread vs. that huge soccer thread. If people don't want it, by all means delete it.

That's why I didn't understand why people were making such a big deal about it.

I read that on 300 level. The thing is Campbell really showed how necessary he is on this team in the playoffs. First because of how much the defense struggled at the end of the regular season and playoffs without him. And also when Q put Hammer and Sopel together and limited Campbell's minutes for whatever reason, Hammer really struggled and they had trouble clearing the puck without Campbell in there. That said, he would take a sizable chunk of our cap problems away, and also supposedly a prospect named Shawn Lalonde had a really really great season and skyrocketed up the Hawks depth chart. He could be legit. We also used our 1st round pick last season on a defenseman named Dylan Olsen, but he's still playing college hockey and won't be around for a couple of years. Before you start trading away defensemen just remember how average our team looks when the D isn't playing well.

When I came home last night I drunkenly went to every sports site I could think of and took screenshots of them to save for a long time. Figured I'd share them with you: WARNING: IMAGES ARE BIG ESPN: SI: Suntimes Sports Page: CBSsports.com: Fox Sports: Second City Hockey Blog: I thought I saved the Trib but I think I messed up...oh well.

I'm watching interviews with the Hawks on Sportsnight and it's really weird to see most of them clean shaven

good post. i thought itd be relevant since that was the only time i went to the pony. i didnt say jack to him, i just thought it was cool to see him out. anyways yay hawks. I didn't post that to say your post wasn't relevant. I just started getting carried away for some reason after reading your story, and I didn't give a crap that its way off topic ha

Yeah well I saw Bonnie Hunt at Blue Bayou once after a Cubs home opener. My friend swore it was her and I didnt believe her, so I asked her. I didn't really know anything about her so after she replied "yes", I just stared at her blankly for a second and said "nice to meet you" and quickly sat back down. Yes guys THE Bonnie Hunt! Oh and 2 weeks ago before my kickball game, Blago was jogging by and everyone noticed him and called him over. One of my teammates pitched him the ball and he pretended like he was going to kick it, and instead ran past it and waved to us awkwardly as he jogged away. I got tons more boring C-list celebrity run in stories to share, like the time I accidently bumped into Jeff Garlin (literally) on State Street, or the time I was walking my dogs and saw Dempster walking down Addison with his kid and in a stroller, and my idiot dogs started barking like crazy at the stroller, but I don't want to be known as a name dropper

When you can't get rid of them and need to sell them for half price, you just let me know :)

I'd complain about the Cubs but: A) I don't care B) Another team I root for won a major professional sports championship last night. This is my bridge I'm using to ignore the Cubs: 1. NHL Playoffs until mid-June - CHECK 2. World Cup until mid-July 3. Bears open in Bourbonais/Bulls FA frenzy/watch Stanley Cup Finals DVD over and over and over again 4. Bears Preseason, followed by Hawks preseason/Weeks 1-4 of the NFL season Before you know it it's October and the Cubs are long gone for the winter. Yay?

I posted that story a few pages ago. Afterwards at about 9am, they went to Ann Sather to get some breakfast and left around 10. Funny when I walked to the train today I heard helicopters buzzing overhead and wondered why they were still out and about (they were all over Wrigleyville last night). Apparently I read that newscopters were following them around all morning. Those guys must be passed out right now. A tiring hockey game and then an entire night/morning of partying? I'd be [expletive] wiped after that. Ann Sathers isn't that good. I'd have gone home and passed out. I'm just mad that no one informed them that there was a closer Ann Sather on Southport that they could have gone to instead of the one on Belmont. I would have loved to have bumped into the Stanley Cup on my way to the train this morning.

I figure it'd be best if we have a dedicated World Cup thread. I know there's a terrific soccer thread that we all use, but I figured a seperate World Cup thread would be nice to have. I'll post the groups and stuff in this post for reference later unless everyone is opposed to this thread's existance. Looking forward to using the World Cup as another bridge between the Stanley Cup Finals and Bourbonais! U-S-A!

I posted that story a few pages ago. Afterwards at about 9am, they went to Ann Sather to get some breakfast and left around 10. Funny when I walked to the train today I heard helicopters buzzing overhead and wondered why they were still out and about (they were all over Wrigleyville last night). Apparently I read that newscopters were following them around all morning.

this is true, and they won the cup. Not that they will not be a contender next season, but this off season would have a different feel about it if the Hawks didnt win and they had to sell off some peaces to make the cap. Yes, probably while we all flipped out after game 3 and 4. This was our best shot for the next couple of years most likely. detroit's corps isn't getting any younger or better. toews is going to be molesting them for years, no worries. This is what championship sulley looks like?? Nice

this is true, and they won the cup. Not that they will not be a contender next season, but this off season would have a different feel about it if the Hawks didnt win and they had to sell off some peaces to make the cap. Yes, probably while we all flipped out after game 3 and 4. This was our best shot for the next couple of years most likely.

That's why I buy it. Lou's behavior of late makes me think he's stopped caring. I don't know this of course; its supposition on my part based on the circumstances. I briefly saw a minute or two of the Cubs game yesterday....has Lou stopped shaving? The guy is totally losing it.

I believe it's legit.

I know I'm just bitching about this because it's affecting my team, but it's kind of weird that an award that is voted on by just 11 people can have the ability to screw over a team as much as it will for us. I mean those 11 voters for the Conn Smythe had the ability to make a difference in how gutted our team will be next year. Now I doubt any of the voters probably even realized that when they voted, but still. Anyways, I'm not really seriously complaining about the process that much, if the Hawks didn't wnat that to bite them they shouldnt have put it in his rookie deal or they shouldn't have won the Cup.

I mean it's good for us long term to face this head on. As long as we trust the org's scouting, being able to get rid a few of these guys for prospects/picks will only help us reload the team in the long run. And next year, guys like Beach should be able to give the Hawks a lot of what they are losing. I don't think it's crazy to suggest they can make a run next year. But we probably have less room for error than we did this year. I also worry whenever a young core achieves the highest goal so early in their careers in terms of a potential hangover effect.