brinoch

Damn.

I had the pleasure of being in the crowd last night. What a great time -- my voice still hasn't returned.

Guess he wanted to see what was out there. I can understand that -- and I'm not huge into the super-early commitments in part because of that. Where to go is such a huge decision that I think kids really need to wait and see.

Sounds about right. I think it would take some unexpected development to do much better. Always hard to predict without having seen any of the players play.

They also have Crawford, and would still have Crawford with or without this contract. Yes. Indeed. And the extension takes effect after this coming season. I'm talking about where they will be after this season when Crawford would have gone UFA, as well as goalies in the prospect pipeline. We agree that the contract is bad. I've offered a theory as to why they may have made that offer. Drew ably demonstrated that there would likely be FA options out there, or potential for a trade. Personally, I'm still not sure why they rushed.

Gooney, seriously, stop. You couldn't be more wrong on the availability of a goalie in the system. Raanta might be a good prospect. Might. He needs to adjust to a smaller ice sheet -- hence moving to the AHL next year. It is a bigger adjuatment than most think, and we won't know for a while how he adjusts -- probably well, but you just don't know. Likewise, Khabi at 40 as a replacement? No. Just no. They signed Huet the last time he was here because he wasn't an elite -- or even above average -- goalie and that's saying something. He was also merely acceptable in Edmonton, and he is 40. Not a long-term solution. Crawford was very highly regarded and forced his way into the conversation. He arguably performed better than Niemi in early 2010, but Niemi was out of options while Crawford still had one. At the beginning of the year, no one foresaw either of them supplanting Huet. Right now, the top goalie prospects in the system are Raanta and Carruth, and Carruth is just out of junior with Portland. He needs time -- a lot of time. Raanta has been here for less than 6 months and has yet to see a single game in North America. That's the definition of a bare cupboard. Making a trade? Sure the Hawks could make a trade, but as we have all seen, they need to keep drafting well and churning out cost-controlledreplacement level NHLers to sustain success around the core. Spending prospects and picks to get that goalie is likewise out of character. Is Bowman overreacting? I strongly think so. And I think this a bad deal. The numbers for Crawford and Emery over the past two years strongly correlate with the quality of the defense rather than the quality of the goalie. Frankly, I think going back to '08-'09, you see that the success/failure of Khabibulin/Huet/Niemi/Turco/Crawford/Emery is based on the play of the defense. I believe Crawford is above average, ranking in the 10-15 range NHL-wide, but otherwise not worth $6m per year for 6 years in a salary cap world.

That is shameful. Simply shameful.

I think Crow's deal is for too much and for too long, frankly. I wonder if this is a reaction to the paucity of goalie talent in the system? I don't know, but it doesn't seem like a deal the Bowmans would typically make. The model has always been cheap goalies with highly paid elite defense/scoring. That said, I'm very pleased with Hjalmarsson's deal. It is movable and below market for a key stay at home defenseman. Best deal of the summer, for sure. Bickell's deal seems... meh. Below market, but I think the market was overpaying for playoff performance. That said, if he keeps bringing that for the playoffs, we'll be very happy.

It's not just years, I just don't think he's anything special. I don't really care if he would have gotten more from somebody else, that is a terrible way to justify moves. Sports management types are notoriously foolish with money. Goalies come and go and aside from a very select few, do not impact the team all that much. The Blackhawks don't just have to keep Toews/Kane intact, they will need to bring in more talent from outside the organization, not to mention pay the next wave of talent when those raises are due. We really don't need to bring in outside talent. The Hawks have done an excellent job with drafting/developing prospects and trading mediocre or overpaid players for picks/prospects.

He was great on the penalty kill, but he was making a ton of money for a 4th liner. We save almost $6 million with Bolland and Frolik traded away. Both can be replaced, IMO. I agree, it's a good trade. He can be replaced. Don't get me wrong, Frolik does drive possession and he always plays hard, but we have a pipeline of guys that need a chance and can serve the same role for cheaper. The cap is going down next year, but it'll go back up -- just in time for more money for Toews, Kane and Hjalmarsson. In the mean time, we clear out a lot of money between the buyouts of Montador and Olesz, and the trading of Frolik and Bolland, while keeping the core intact and giving our young players a chance. I do think Bickell is a bit overpaid, but that's the market for a power forward. Now the Hawks have about $7-7.5M (of $9.5M) to re-sign Leddy and Kruger, and fill the spots of Rozsival, Handzus, Mayers, Stalberg and Emery. The Hawks will save some room for trades, etc.

Cubs take Bryant. I like the pick.

Yep. It's a lot of fun.

These games mean nothing to the Hawks. They've got the #1 spot in the West, and that's great. Now they are just waiting for the playoffs, working on some things, all while generally avoiding getting hurt. The Canucks, on the other hand, were still competing for their division crown (which they have now clinched). Expect more sort of bad/boring/tune-up play against Edmonton and Calgary. Against St. Louis? Neither team will care, most likely.

Nope, you're seeing what we've seen much of the season. He works hard and isn't afraid to use his size. Having Toews and Hossa as examples helps, too, but Saad definitely took a step forward when Hossa went down.

Updated fun with numbers... with 3 more wins (and one point dropped by St. Louis), the Blackhawks clinch the Central Division. Blackhawks: 60 points with 11 games remaining (22 possible points). They can get 82 points, maximum. Maximum possible points for each team in the division: Detroit -- 63 (43 points with 10 games left) St. Louis -- 66 (42 points with 12 games left) **Columbus -- 59 (39 points with 10 games left) **Nashville -- 56 (38 points with 9 games left) In terms of clinching a playoff spot, the Hawks can clinch with a win tomorrow, or with a regulation loss by Edmonton and if Phoenix does not win (regulation or OT loss): #9 Edmonton -- 61 (39 points with 11 games left) -- any combination of 2 points eliminates them. **#10 Columbus -- 59 (39 points with 10 games left) #11 Phoenix -- 60 (38 points with 11 games left -- 1 point eliminates them. **#12 Nashville -- 56 (38 points with 9 games left) **#13 Dallas -- 59 (37 points with 11 games left) **#14 Calgary -- 54 (30 points with 12 games left) **#15 Colorado -- 51 (29 points with 11 games left) **Cannot catch the Hawks Plus, with the Western Conference teams only playing each other this year, teams are always dropping points against their maximum against the Hawks.

Look above... I posted that very thing earlier this week. :-)

So here is some fun with numbers... with 4 more wins (and one point dropped by St. Louis), the Blackhawks clinch the Central Division. Blackhawks: 58 points with 12 games remaining (24 possible points). They can get 82 points, maximum. Maximum possible points for each team in the division: Detroit -- 63 (41 points with 11 games left) St. Louis -- 66 (40 points with 13 games left) Columbus -- 61 (39 points with 11 games left) *Nashville -- 58 (38 points with 10 games left) In terms of just clinching a playoff spot, the Hawks can clinch with two wins this weekend: #9 Edmonton -- 61 (39 points with 11 games left) #10 Columbus -- 61 (39 points with 11 games left) #11 Phoenix -- 60 (38 points with 11 games left) *#12 Nashville -- 58 (38 points with 10 games left) #13 Dallas -- 59 (35 points with 12 games left) **#14 Calgary -- 56 (30 points with 13 games left) **#15 Colorado -- 52 (28 points with 12 games left) *Tied,is eliminated against the Hawks with OT or loss Saturday or Sunday. **Cannot catch the Hawks Plus, with the Western Conference teams only playing each other this year, teams are always dropping points against their maximum against the Hawks.

Honestly, unless they can get a really awesome 2C, there isn't much need for an upgrade other than more faceoff wins. Particularly given Hayes and Morin waiting in the wings -- who I like more than Carcillo and Mayers in any event.

I don't think they rate Pirri. Danault is the guy they have their eyes on as 2C.

Those weren't good goals, but Emery is much, much slower laterally. Good teams will exploit that. Crawford is just better than Emery. What is it about Chicago that we question our QB's and goalies?

Yep, the draft will be really telling. If Emery can draft well, combined with his offseason moves, we'll actually have a front office that is doing the right things. With respect to Trestman, I'm willing to give him a fair shake -- not that I have a choice, of course. It would be really nice to have an excellent offensive mind here.

USA is in great shape. If they can get wins against Jamaica and Panama in June, they will have effectively qualified.

Think Chepo is fine. He's done too much for the whole program. I think they're going to fire him. They have 3 points through 3, but have burned 2 of 5 home games. Winning at home and drawing on the road only gets them to 16, which may or may not be enough, and there's no guarantee they win those road games (Columbus). Huge road point for USA. Mexico is going to have to win on the road to place in the top 3, but I'm assuming they'll fire their coach and run through the second half of the hex again. Still, 2 draws in 2 home games is not good for them.

But he's suspended... dumbass.

Meh. Without Sharp and Hossa, and a clearly gassed Kane, the Hawks played really well for 35 minutes in the 2nd and 3rd. The first was just... ugly. I would have preferred that they call up Morin rather than have Carcillo out there for 2 or 3 minutes.