My View: The Paul Kelly Situation

I smell something fishy going on in the whole Paul Kelly situation. I just feel like there is something more than they are telling us. Especially the timing of the situation. When else have you ever met in the middle of the summer on a Sunday at 7 o'clock and met until 3:30 am then started the next morning at 8:30 all over again.

Also, they said that the vote was overwhelming. I'm sorry but an overwhelming vote doesn't take six hours to conduct with only 30 people. Unless Adam was hiding the vote slips and even then it would be like 3 hours tops. I would love to know the real reason behind it. You don't just get fired at 4:00 am for not being friendly enough with the players. It will be interesting if the real reason emerges or if the NHLPA ever becomes less corrupt or messed up. What do you think?

Also, we thought that the Huet signing was bad. At least that is only for five more years. Yes Roberto Luongo is an awesome goalie now at age 30 but at 42 who knows what things will be like. All I know is that hopefully DirecTV people can see the games by that time, so glad I have Time Warner.

Help Wanted!

Hi Everyone,

The Re-Draft has hit a wall. It is now required of all of the GM's to have an assistant GM so if you are interested please email me at hawksgirl924@gmail.com. If you have any questions feel free. You won't have to do much, it is just a formality. Or if you are interested in helping out with the blog let me know that too, I am trying to get better at posting but maybe having a person helping out would be good for me.

Thanks in advance,

Clare

Re-Draft

Cycle Like Sedins is re-drafting the league. While the whole format is still being worked out it is a cool concept. For more information and the other picks head over there.

The Hawks had the fifth pick and it was pretty obvious to me (as the Hawks GM) who I was going to pick. I'm sure a lot of people won't necessarily agree but without further ado, my pick was:

Don't be so shocked about it, Jonathan.

He's a young leader that you can build your team around. The fact that he has a scoring presence and isn't afraid to use a bit of grit helps too. Logically if you were picking the best player, I wouldn't have picked Toews next but I looked at his overall game and the fact that he stays so cool under pressure and is so respected.

I could go on and on about why I picked him but chances are if you are reading the blog, you know why I picked him even if you don't exactly agree.

Free Agency Thoughts

Hmm...I am quite interested in what exactly Dale Tallon has been thinking the past two July 1-2. It has certainly created a pickle of the salary cap. I wonder if he is a magician, does he have one of those freaky fortune teller globe things?


First of all- the length of the Marian Hossa deal! 12 years, if someone asked me to commit myself to something for the next 12 years I would be hesitant and I try to stick with things. As opposed to Marian "If you don't win the Cup during my first year with the team, then I'm leaving" Hossa. However, I have decided I am going to start over with Hossa, all of the bad feelings that I had towards him will be wiped away. Do you remember how your teacher's blackboard was so nice and pretty in the morning because it had been cleaned overnight and all of the math problems and everything for the day before are gone and it is a new day. That's how Marian Hossa is for me now. To warrant me disliking him he must do something in Chicago that I don't like. 


The reason why they signed Kris Versteeg in my opinion is because Tallon didn't want to go through the hearing and wanted to quietly make this QO snafu go away. He knew that someone in his office messed up and he didn't want it to become a bigger story than it already is. He was in a rush to get this whole thing over with and signed Kris and Cam quickly and for bigger money than he wanted to. 


At this point I really think Tallon needs to be fired. He has made many questionable decisions and I believe it is time for a change. Many people will claim that he has drafted well but other than Kane and Toews who else that he has drafted been a stand-out. Plus the drafting of Kane and Toews was a pretty simple decision. He has messed up the whole salary cap and is going for the cup this year while completely ignoring goaltending which is the last position to ignore to win the cup. The way things look right now, it will be a miracle if ONE of Kane, Toews, Keith would be back after this season. 


I am scared for the future of the franchise. They have gone so far, I would hate to see it end so soon. 

Happy Belated Birthday!

I just realized that AHH is 1 year and 4 days old and I forgot, I had it on the calendar but my printer is on my calendar so it has slipped my mind.

I promise that a real post is coming soon but until then this is for my friend Cari:

Well that was bad

If the guys on CBC said one more time that this could be the last home game of the season I was going to scream. I get it, guys I do. Maybe they have stock in Zoloft, because they certainly want me to be depressed enough to start taking it.

The Blackhawks are down three one in this series. Their comeback is about as unlikely as me getting over my fear of birds. However, it could happen. Again unlikely I know but who would have thought that after going 0-4 and then firing their head coach, this team would end up fourth in the west. They are the team that never says quit mostly because they don't know any better.

This is a group of guys that are good friends having fun. This was one weird game from start to finish. As the commentators said, who knows who the goalies will be on Wednesday. Could anyone have imagined that Jimmy Howard could face off against Corey Crawford in a WCF elimination game!

So yes it is unlikely that the Hawks will make it out of this series but I won't give up hope until the handshake line.

Conference Finals

There is one thing I am pretty sure of and that is that most of the league hates Detroit (the Red Wings not the city). For whatever reason be it being sick of them winning all of the time, or a history with the team. After observing Twitter, one can come to the conclusion that even if a someone hates the Hawks they will probably be rooting for them just because they hate Detroit more. Lesser of all evils, good logic right. Now that 26 teams are out it seems as though most everyone has to pick a new team to follow the rest of the way. Even if your team is in the Eastern Conference finals you still need someone to cheer for in the west. If you have chosen the Hawks as your team to cheer for,  congratulations, they are a great team. Lets hope this series ends differently than the Winter Classic did. Game time is in just over 2 hours and I am going to watch my dog roll around in the grass so:

Let's Go Hawks!!

Happy Birthday Captain Serious!

I am going to start doing birthday wishes for the boys and what better person to start with than the Captain so without further ado:

Happy 21st Birthday Jonny!!!

Yes I realize it is a Ranger and a Devil, find me a better hockey cake and I will replace it. Now lets follow it up with a Hawks win tomorrow.

Next Birthday: Aaron Johnson tomorrow actually


GO HAWKS!!

WOOOOO!!!!

If you don't think that Martin Havlat is awesome tonight then you are obviously not a Blackhawks fan. More tomorrow.

Hawks Flames Blog

I am the editor of a blog devoted to the Flames vs. Hawks series. It is part of a mini-blog series from Cycle Like the Sedins. I will probably cross-post a lot of things but who knows. If you have something that you would like to add to it let me know, especially if you have some piece of writing you want to put up there about the series. You can email me here. So here is a link to it just in case you want to check it out.

Hawks vs. Flames

ETA: The game will be on Center Ice for those of you not in Chicago.

Series Preview: Round One

Calgary VS. Chicago

How these teams match up:

Hawks record against the Flames: 4-0-0-0
Flames record against the Hawks: 0-3-1-0

Hawks outscored Flames: 19-7

Needs to be a factor for the Flames: Olli Jokinen
Needs to be a factor for the Hawks: Patrick Sharp

I don't know about the rest of you but I am absolutely thrilled for the playoffs, that is why this post isn't as well thought out as it should be. I am sure you understand.

GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

Playoff Preview

I am worried that I won't be able to watch game one but I will try my hardest to find the game somewhere even if it means camping out at a restaurant in Canada watching TSN. I think that the Hawks will be able to win over the Flames, I really do. This Hawks team swept them in the regular season, yes, I know what you are going to say, the playoffs are a whole different ball game. I don't care call me delusional but I really think that this team can win over the Flames. I think that the Hawks can use the momentum from this weekend to start strong over the Flames.

If the Hawks start strong in the series, I think they will use that momentum to take them through. Can you guess what I think is the key to this series?

Momentum and Confidence and I think the Hawks will have it.

I will be back with a full game one preview tomorrow.

Chicago 2016

I want you all to watch this video and then watch it again. Watch it in HD full screen and is it just me or is this video sort of funny?

A Major Announcement (to me)

Ok so I have a major announcement for you:

There is a new blog joining the Hawks blogosphere. For the most part it is a Kris Versteeg blog but it will also have a couple of tidbits of the whole team. I am taking credit for the idea and why it came about but to say that it is my blog would be completely wrong. I have turned Cari, one of the lovely writers of Sabre Chaser  and a diehard Sabres fan into a Kris Versteeg fan. So much so that almost every Hawks game we have a Hawks watch party at my house (they are always quite fun). I even bought her a jersey at the game against the Canucks. I will stop in and write a post from time to time but it will be Cari's blog. So without further ado I present:

Verbeauty and the Beast 

A Sad Day-UPDATED

ETA: I got the ok to link to the blog post from the author.  Read it you certainly won't regret it. Why she still hasn't gotten a book deal is beyond me.

I am sure that by now you have all heard about Carly Bragnalo. I was going to write a long post about life and everything but then I read a blog entry written by another member of the blogosphere and it was so powerful and moving and I cried. I knew I couldn't write anything close to as powerful as that entry was so I hit delete. I didn't link to it because I am not sure whether it would be ok with the blogger, (you know who you are, well I'm using my common sense in hoping you know who you are (yes that was a big hint.)) So if she is reading this and gives me the ok (either by email or comment) to link to it I will but also if she doesn't want me too I completely understand.

It is truly tragic for Taylor and both his and Carly's families. They had been together for 11 years and were both only 27. From what his team mates have said, she was a delightful person and wonderful to be around. To think that they had been engaged for two years and just a few months before their wedding for her to pass away is just heartbreaking. I hope that you will take a moment and think about all of the people you love and make sure that even in just a subtle way make sure they know you care. Taylor, both his and Carly's families and his Canuck teammates and their families will be in my thoughts.