Will The Hawks Open the Checkbook Finally?

Two things before I get into this post.

#1: We never congratulated Patrick Kane on winning Rookie of the Year..so..congrats.

#2: What the fuck is that dress? A guard to protect the legs while walking through sawgrass? A diversion from her average rack?

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, the NHL free agency period starts at 11am today. Ryan Malone is a Lightning bolt, or something like that. So that leaves on the market Marian Hossa (seen right with Zebra safari leader), Sean Avery and Pavol Demitra who aren't in the 34 and older category for forwards.

At Defensemen you've got Bard Stuart, Paul Mara, and one got the 'Hawks already have their eye on, Brian Campbell.

I don't claim to be a "Hockey Aficionado", or know a ton about alot of these guys, but what I do know is how fucking cheap every franchise is in this city is that doesn't play their sport on a diamond. While the Cubs and Sox are generally willing to pay (Cubs much more becuase they can afford to, thanks to their lovely bar at Clark and Addison), the Bears, Blackhawks and Bulls generally tend to stay reserved.

The McCaskey's have astonished me so far by paying Tommie Harris what he's worth, but still have Urlacher and Hester to take care of.

The Bulls paid Jordan what he was worth in his final years, but since then would prefer to draft and develop their talent rather then pay for it free agency. And I'm sure their thanking god after not signing Gordon to 50-60 million they were willing to before this past season started. Talk about fucking yourself out of a payday, BG.

The 'Hawks? What was their last splashy signing? Hey Hawks fan, we just got Andrei Zyuzin, try not to shit yourselves!!! I guess in reality that would be the 'Bhulin wall. Personally, I would rather commit to Lalime (whom is also a free agent, and rumored to be heading back to Ottawa. Looks like I'm fucked on that commitment).

With 44 million locked up, and a salary cap of a little over the 56 mil., it appears the Hawks will try to lock up Campbell, and another forward who can provide some scoring. That title was assigned to Havlat, but picking up a straw without tearing a muscle is obviously too much to ask for.

While .0009% of this city will be paying attention to see who they sign, I'm excited for the upcoming season. They should finally be expected to compete, and having back on the airwaves completely is something no one under 30 has ever seen.

So please John McDonough, don't follow city sports franchise spending policy. Commit to the payout.

It's Now or Never For The 'Hawks

As we head to the second half of the NHL season, I've decided to focus more of my attention on the Blackhawks instead of the Bulls until they make some sort of trade. I honestly cannot stand watching the Bulls at this point. Nothing they do warrants my attention. Call it being a fair-weather fan if you want, but I would rather watch a 3 hour documentary on the history of bridge building for all I give a fuck. I have a feeling you can count on Noce to handle your Bulls thoughts; so with that in mind, let's take a look at the highs and lows of the season thus far.

EMERGENCE OF KANE AND TOEWS: The 07' number one pick and the 06' number three pick have been an awesome combination to watch thus far despite Toews having been out the past few weeks with a knee injury. Despite the injury, Toews is still third among all rookies with 32 points, while Kane leads with 45. While Kane only has 12 goals, he has 33 assists, which puts him 15th in the league overall. Kane has shown a great ability to set up his teammates, with guys like Bobby Lang and Patrick Sharp benefitting. The goals will catch up as he gets older, but he's shown instant impact on a team that struggles to score at times. The Hawks will need Toews to get healthy soon to contribute.

THE OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: Brent Seabrook, Brent Sopel, Duncan Keith and Dustin Byfuglien have been playing great on the opponents side of the ice, contributing 69 points, which is 12 more then the combo of Tuomo Ruutu, Jason Williams, Marty LaPointe and Rene Bourque. It's pretty sad to consider that lack of offense from your forwards, considering Ruutu was a former first round pick in 01'. While LaPointe is slowing down, and Bourque missed 14 games due to a broken thumb, Ruutu was billed to be alot more then he has shown. Marty Havlat needs to stay healthy and Ruutu needs to pick it up. The kids can't do it by themselves.

STAGNANT OFFENSE: The Blackhawks were 19-15-3 heading into this month before going 0-6-1 to start January. They currently sit at 23-23-4, which puts them 6 points out of the final spot for the playoffs. The reason for their slump this month is their inability to consistently score. During that 7 game streak, the Hawks scored only 12 goals. Now on the year, they rank 17th in Goals scored per game. However, in 5 on 4 situations, they're 27th. In 5 on 5, they're ranked 23rd. Not having Toews and Havlat have hurt, but they need more production from their forwards to carry them forward if they are to make the postseason this year.



THE 'BULIN WALL IS BROKE: Talk about a waste of money. The guy is 25th in the wins, 29th in GAA (2.77) and 36th in Save PCT. (90%). While Patrick Lalime's Save PCT isn't much better (90.8%), in my opinion he's been slightly more consistent. Yeah it sucks that the goalies aren't getting much goal support, but they know they need to keep the score low if they are to win, and cannot have games like the 9-2 ass-kicking from a worse L.A. Kings team.

LOOKING AHEAD: The schedule doesn't start off nicely for the Hawks, as they start on a seven game road trip with every team having a better record then them (which isn't hard when you're in last place of your division). In fact, they only play 3 home games in the entire month of February. Savvy's called out his team to "commit to the Indian". In reality, they should be commiting to the offense. It's obvious they're not going to get steady play from Khabibulin; so it will be on them to win games instead of holding on to them. It should be interesting to watch.

This team is about a year or two from being serious contenders, but it sure as hell beats watching a lifeless Bulls team.