Monday, July 21, 2008

O Captain! My Captain!



It finally is official... Toews will be wearing the "C" on his sweater for hopefully the rest of his career. We all knew this was going to happen and I don't think I've heard anyone anywhere say this is a bad idea. EDIT: Just after writing that, I read this written by Greg Wyshynski (aka PuckDaddy). Although he agrees it's the right decision - he gives different views. I'm still not sweating it.

Bring on any comparison to Yzerman or Crosby.. Actually - I don't think Toews will ever cry as much as Crosby.

At the convention Toews was probably the most sought after autograph. He evidently got into a shouting match with someone from the Front Office who said he had to stop after his allotted time. I'm not sure how much longer he ended up staying but he definitely stood up for the fans.. what a fucking guy..

The opening ceremony was amazing. Toews gets the C, #3 gets retired. Classy move from the Hawks to retire it for both Magnuson and Pilote. Pilote deserves it for how good he was and what he did for the team. But also honoring Magnuson who was always a fan favorite is a great move. This front office really seems to get it..

Aside from buying a partial season ticket plan (because, why the fuck not?) and failing to get Bobby Hull's autograph.. the only other thing I did was attend some of the seminars. My favorite was easily the "Voices of the Blackhawks" with Foley, Olczyk, Murray and Wiederman. Foley, as usual, was fucking hilarious. The best question asked was about his famous rant about Karpovtsev.


Welcome Back, Pat.

All in all - I have to say the Rocky Wirtz was probably one of the most popular men at the conference. Every time I saw him he was surrounded by fans asking for pictures or autographs. Fans would have probably lined up to punch his old man in the face - now they're lining up just to say "thanks".

My camera basically decided to suck balls - but here are a few pictures I took.


Fans watching the opening ceremony in the lobby since the ballroom was full


The only poorly planned part of the convention - lines for autographs.. This one is for Bobby Hull

After failing to get Hull's autograph I ran into Rocky with the fans.. the line to meet him was long too so I just took pictures

What a creepy fucking smile...
Huge numbers of people listening to Wirtz, McDonough, Blunk and Tallon.. also some new ticket guy they hired.. I don't remember his name though.. chris something..

Other random thoughts I have will be uploaded later. Did anyone else attend... see anything cool? Run into Hull or others at the bar? Let me know in the comments


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I spent some time hanging out by the skills games - saw Sharp & Kane play the "sniper" game.
Also, walked past the IceHogs booth, and saw a very bored Jordan Hendry, and got to spend a few minutes talking with him.

Anonymous said...

You know what I find interesting? about a year before the old man died two people at work told me that Rocky was worse than his old man! People were worried when he first took over because I had also heard that Peter would have been the guy to turn the team around.... but look what has happened since Rocky took over. It is absolutly incredible the turnaround that has happened.

To be truthful I think the turnaround is all due to Rocky putting homes games on TV. Everything else has been a bonus.

Here Come The Hawks said...

The home games on TV are huge - definitely.

I think it has to do more with Kane and Toews though. The fact that it seems they are going to blackhawks for a long long time and not just traded away when they start to ask for more money gives me huge hopes for this team.

Bringing back past hawks, games on TV, the convention, the winter classic.. Rocky really has done an amazing job.