Now that the shock of seeing Andrew Ladd get traded to Atlanta has sunk in, I'm in a much better state of mind. This one really stung me. I had this whole thing figured out, or so I thought, but apparently young Ladd had ideas of throwing a wrench into the mix. The Hawks made a qualifying offer of about half what he was going to look for in arbitration. This simply wasn't going to fit in the plans, so Stan was forced to move him. In return, the Hawks got a fairly high draft pick and a top prospect Defenseman named Ivan Vishnevskiy. Ivan finished last year with the Chicago Wolves, so he's familiar with the city. In the long run, I think this is going to really lean in the Hawks favor, but today, the loss of Ladd hurts. No use crying over it now, though. It's time to continue on. Here is a little "highlight" of our new prospect.
Next, we found out that the Dallas Stars signed Adam Burish. Production-wise, this is pretty much a non-issue. He missed most of last year with a blown out knee, and he isn't a big goal scorer. Where we'll miss him, is in the locker room. He's a fun guy that is loved by teammates and hated by opponents. Men of Dallas, lock up your daughters and wives, because he's a dog that'll steal both right out from under you.
The Hawks DID make a splash in the free agent market, albeit a tiny one. They signed 6'8", 258 lbs former Minnesota Wild Defenseman John Scott. This guy will be good for one thing...pummeling faces. As with Stu Grimson, when the Hawks got him from Calgary as an unknown, this guy has the potential to be a fan favorite, if he plays his cards right. Leave the skill to other people and pummel as many faces as possible, when called upon. Here are some of his greatest hits:
Pummeling Alexandre Bolduc
Pummeling Tim Conboy...notice a common theme?
Teaching a lesson to Dean Arsene
Destroying Blackhawks minor leaguer Danny Bois last pre-season
You get the idea. I'm putting my faith in Stan Bowman, that he has a grand plan. He should have no problem signing Hjalmarsson and Niemi, now, and it's time he made a decision on Huet. That's just too much dough to be tied up in a player that will not be seeing significant ice time with the team in 2010-11. If all this gets cleared up, we may see him actually sign a relevant player. I have my fingers crossed. We need something to look forward to, in October.
