Rockford Express

In what is pretty much a standard Blackhawks move, the team recalled 11 players from Rockford, over the past few days. This really has nothing to do with current roster situation. It's more of an "experience" builder for the young players, and it allows for more practice dummies to play against. Last season, they did the same thing with the likes of players like Crawford, Bickell and Dowell. If they need the help, the players are already with the team, but there is a VERY small possibility of them ever playing. Anyhow, the players are Forwards Jeff Taffe, Rob Klinkhammer, Jeremy Morin and Brandon Pirri; Defensemen Garnet Exelby, Jassen Cullimore, Brian Connelly, Shawn Lalonde and Ryan Stanton; and Goalies Hannu Toivonen, and Alec Richards. Here is the info on each player:

• Taffe, 30, appeared in one game with the Blackhawks this season, logging 4:05 of ice time on Feb. 12 at Phoenix, in his first year with the organization. The Hastings, Minnesota, native paced Rockford and shared eighth in the AHL with a career-high 30 goals and led the IceHogs with 67 points (30G, 37A) in 74 regular-season tilts. Taffe has registered 21 goals and 23 assists in 175 career regular-season NHL contests over parts of seven seasons with the Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes (2002-04, 2005, 2006-07), New York Rangers (2005), Pittsburgh Penguins (2007-09) and Florida Panthers (2009-10).
  
• Klinkhammer, 24, made his National Hockey League debut on Dec. 8, registering one shot and a +1 plus/minus rating against the Dallas Stars at the United Center. The Lethbridge, Alberta, native paced Rockford with a +14 rating, ranked fourth with a career-high 17 goals that included 16 markers at even-stregth, and finished third with a career-best 46 points in 76 regular-season tilts with the IceHogs.
  
• Morin, 19, posted three points (2G, A) and a +2 plus/minus rating in nine regular-season contests with the Blackhawks this year in his professional debut. The Auburn, New York, native added 12 points (8G, 4A) in 22 AHL games with Rockford and was a member of Team USA’s bronze medal-winning squad at the 2011 World Junior Championships in Buffalo.
  
• Pirri, 20, made his NHL debut on Oct. 9 in the Blackhawks 2010-11 home opener at the United Center. Chicago’s second selection (59th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Toronto native ranked third on the IceHogs, and shared eighth among AHL rookies, with 31 assists and finished fourth on Rockford with 43 points in his first professional campaign.
  
• Exelby, 29, registered 13 points (3G, 10A) and ranked second among club defensemen with a +7 plus/minus rating in 77 AHL contests with Rockford while serving as the captain of the IceHogs. The Ste. Anne, Manitoba, native is a veteran of 408 career National Hockey League regular-season games, racking up 43 assists, 50 points and 584 penalty minutes with the Atlanta Thrashers (2002-09) and Toronto Maple Leafs (2009-10).
  
• Cullimore, 38, recorded eight assists and eight penalty minutes in 36 regular-season games with the Blackhawks this season, and nine points (2G, 7A) in 41 AHL contests with Rockford. The Simcoe, Ontario, native is a veteran of 812 career National Hockey League regular-season games, racking up 85 assists, 111 points and 704 penalty minutes with the Vancouver Canucks (1994-96), Montreal Canadiens, (1996-98), Tampa Bay Lightning (1998-2004), Blackhawks (2005-07, 2010-11) and Florida Panthers (2007-09). Cullimore has also notched four points (G, 3A) in 35 career postseason contests, which includes helping Tampa Bay capture the 2004 Stanley Cup.
  
• Connelly, 24, ranked sixth among American Hockey League defensemen, and second on the IceHogs overall, with a career-high 52 points, pacing the club with 41 assists in 80 regular-season tilts. The Bloomington, Minnesota, native, who was honored as the IceHogs Rookie of the Year during the 2009-10 season, also represented Rockford at the 2011 AHL All-Star Game.
  
• Lalonde, 21, ranked second among team blueliners, and shared fifth among AHL rookie defensemen, with 32 points (5G, 27A) in 73 regular-season tilts in his first full professional campaign. Chicago’s second selection (68th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the Ottawa native ranked sixth on the IceHogs and second among defensemen with 142 shots on goal.
  
• Stanton, 21, paced IceHogs defensemen with a +9 plus/minus rating and registered 17 points (3G, 14A) in 76 regular-season AHL tilts. A native of St. Albert, Alberta, Stanton shared second among Rockford blueliners with 76 penalty minutes in his first full professional season.
  
• Toivonen, 26, dressed for one game with the Blackhawks this season but did not appear in the contest. The Kalvola, Finland, native led Rockford with a career-high 21 wins (21-16-6) and posted a team-best .907 save percentage in 49 appearances between the pipes. Originally acquired by the Blackhawks on March 1, 2010, in a trade with the St. Louis Blues, Toivonen has appeared in 61 career NHL contests with Boston (2005-07) and St. Louis (2007-08), registering an 18-24-10 record with a 3.37 goals against average and an .890 save percentage.
  
• Richards, 23, led Rockford netminders with two shutouts and a 2.89 GAA in 44 appearances in his first full professional campaign. The Robbinsdale, Minnesota, native posted a 17-21-2 mark between the pipes for the IceHogs.
  

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Turco Accepts the Keys to the 2010 Stanley Cup Defense

Marty Turco
I’m not a betting man, but I’m going to ride this hot streak I’ve been on. Monday the Hawks announced that they signed 3 time former All-star Marty Turco to a one year deal worth a reported $1.3 Million. Yes, I just said only $1.3 Million. The Hawks just signed a $5.4 Million, 3 time all-star for a mere $1.3 million. In doing so, the Hawks let Antti Niemi try his luck in the free agent market. The only words I have for that are "GOOD LUCK", because he will need it. Based on the fact that goalies have been signed for bargain basement prices all summer, I cannot believe that someone will sign him for a long term deal at $2.75 million a year. I’ve said over and over that I feel this is a very smart move by the Hawks. In fact, based on the current roster situations, he’s not even guaranteed a starting job somewhere else. He went from the starting goalie on the Stanley Cup champs to fighting for a starting job on some other team. I’m not a sports agent, but I’d say that’s a considerable step down.


I don’t want to take away from Antti Niemi, because he HELPED bring the Hawks a Stanley Cup, but lets look at the facts in this situation. He’s not even close to the only reason the Stanley Cup is in Chicago. Before last season, Niemi was an undrafted free agent signing that had ONLY played in the AHL, where he ONLY went 18-14-3 with a GSS of 2.43. He barely beat out Corey Crawford for the backup position and remained there for a good portion of the season. He only won the starting position when Cristobal Huet completely shit the bed in late February. During the regular season he only faced 21.8 shots a game, and in the playoffs he faced 26.7 and his GAA went up to 2.63. He’s played a total of 64 NHL games.
Turco, on the other hand, has an average of 29 wins a year (262 total). His GAA is 2.31 and he’s faced an average of 22.6 shots a game over his career. He’s been the starting keeper of a team for nearly 10 years. He’s a superior puckhandling goalie, and a great locker room presence. He’s never had a defense in front of him like the one the Hawks currently have. You can chirp all you want about how he’s a playoff choke artist, and all that other horseshit. He’s never had a team in front of him with offense and defense like this. Niemi rarely ever had to stand on his head and take over a game and neither will Turco. He’s a positive guy that keeps his teammates loose. He’s not a pouting Frenchman who has such a fragile ego that he can’t keep a job anywhere he goes, and he’s not a green, sophomore goalie that had the benefit of a strong defense in front of him. I love what I’ve heard and read of Turco. He took a huge pay cut just to come to Chicago. In the day and age of pompous egotistical athletes that expect huge contracts before they ever step on the field/ice/court, and for fluke years, this is refreshing. So, hate him all you’d like, but he has showed the maturity and character that most professional athletes lack.


Detroit has a new man in charge
Marty Turco will do just fine here in Chicago, so all of you haters and your “Enjoy your cup now because you’ll never defend it” can kiss my ass. This is a win/win situation for Stan Bowman. They get a proven goalie at a bargain price, and have leftover cash to fill out their roster. Some of these people act like the Hawks wanted this situation. Their hand was forced because of some bad decisions by previous members of the staff. Until the cup is in another city you can yap all you want; especially in Detoilet. The days of Detroit mowing the conference down are over, "Hockeytown". You’re older, and more fragile, so that "we had a lot of injuries" excuse doesn’t fly any longer. Every team has injuries, and every team has to learn to overcome them. You people can jump on the Chicago hating bandwagon just like everyone else outside of Chicago. If winning means everyone hates the Hawks, I hope every person outside of IL hates the Hawks. I’ll be the first to admit that maybe the Hawks won’t repeat. It’s a VERY hard thing to do in ANY pro sport, and the odds are against them without this salary capocalypse, but I will promise you one thing; The Chicago Blackhawks will contend for the Stanley Cup and will for quite a few more years to come.


In the shadows of the Turco situation the Hawks signed a few pretty obscure minor league players, some of whom I’d reported earlier. Evan Brophey, Jassen Cullimore, Nathan Davis, Hugh Jessiman, Hannu Toivonen, and Igor Makarov were announced this week. None of these guys are going to see significant time with the team, so don’t put too much effort into remembering their names. The biggest name is Jessiman, because he’s a former 1st round draft pick of the NY Rangers in ’03, and obviously hasn’t panned out.

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Man, I'm Tired of Being Right

Not that I predicted that the world would end in 2012, but it’s August 2nd and the Hawks are right where I said they would be. Sometime Saturday, the arbitrator awarded Antti Niemi $2.75 Million, which is at least half a million more then they want to pay him. I’m sure more than a few of you are mumbling to yourselves, “What’s $500,000, when we have salary cap that is $56.8 Million?” and I answer…again. The Hawks are currently over the salary cap by $3,003,256 with 1 forward, 1 or 2 defensemen, and 2 goalies left to decide on. As I’ve pointed out, that salary cap number includes Cristobal Huet’s $5.625 Million that the Hawks have no choice but to unload. Once Huet is removed, they have about $2.6 Million to play with. You can see where I’m going with this, as the ruling would put the Hawks back up over the cap by roughly $15,000 with a minimum 3 players left to fill the roster. The Hawks really have no choice, but to let Niemi go, but there are reasonable options that I’ll point out later.


NOW, Anyone who starts with the “wa, wa, wa, they are breaking up the team in some diabolical plan to make the city of Chicago suck again” needs to be stabbed in the thorax with a knitting needle, because you’re a complete asshole with no concept of the business side of sports. It’s a moronic theory and no team would do that. All the players that were sent away were overpaid or role players that were expendable. This is not entirely the management’s fault, and this is why. First of all, Jack Skille, Bryan Bickell, Jake Dowell, and John Scott are probably underpaid. You have Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith, Kopecky, Brouwer, Stalberg, and Seabrook that are pretty much paid fair market value. There is Sharp, Bolland, and Hjalmarsson that are slightly overpaid, and there are Campbell and Huet that are just retardedly overpaid. They are going to make the Huet abomination go away, and there isn’t much that can be done with Campbell. In all honesty, at the time, Campbell was a “must sign” player, and to get him, the team needed to overpay. You can’t fault them for being aggressive, and it paid off with a Stanley Cup. I fully blame the fact that they had to overpay for some of these players on the one and only rotting corpse, Bill Wirtz. He drove the value and reputation of the team down to the depths of embarrassing hilarity. Think about the scenario that he put the Hawks in; you’re a big money player that has a chance to play for a proven winner or cup contender for average market value or the lowly Hawks of 4 years ago, that had been the joke of the league because of the drunken, senile old curmudgeon, for roughly 10 years. Of course the Hawks would have to overpay. Dale Tallon really made a mess of the unrestricted free agent tenders last year, and the Huet thing is a big mess, but he accomplished quite a few more good things that brought a Stanley Cup to Chicago. So, If things were a little less screwy we might have about an extra $3.5 million to play with, but it’s not to be. At least we’re not paying Rick Dipietro $4.5 million a year until the 2020-2021 season, right?


Marty Turco
Now on to the options. I mentioned last week that Marty Turco was the best replacement option on the market for Niemi, and it’s looking like the Hawks think so, too. Early reports have the Hawks negotiating with Turco as recent as last night, and rumors have the one year deal worth about $1.75 Million. I realize Turco is 8 years older than Niemi, but this makes sense. The Hawks know what they are getting with Turco. Niemi may become a superstar, or he may slide right into Averageville. Don’t forget that the Hawks probably had the best top 4 defensemen in the league. Let Niemi try for a “no-no” playing in Edmonton, or for the Islanders. The bottom line is that he had a good playoff but could not win the starting job, outright, until Huet folded like a soggy pita. The outside option, which might drive me straight to the looney bin, is Jose Theodore. No one with any brains wants to see the guy that was chased out of Montreal by Cristobal Huet, and chased out of Washington by a marginal goalie named Semyon Varlomov. As I said the other day, I’d rather struggle with Corey Crawford and Hannu Toivonen in net. I'm just hoping we can see a sign and trade scenario with Niemi, so maybe we can get something in return.

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