Some very rare praise for Detroit...

Well.. rare praise from this (or any other) Chicago blog or fans.. 

I, like any other good Hawks fan, can't stand the Red Wings.  I hate the team more than any other.  I love when the Hawks beat them, so last year was especially nice.  Their fans annoy me more than any other teams (except maybe the Flyers for some reason).  But I've also got to say, I hate how fucking good they are.  They make the right trades, get the big free agents and always seem to pick some guy in the late rounds of the draft that ends up being one of their best players.  I can't even remember the last time they didn't win the division - though it didn't hurt that the rest of the teams have been pretty weak.  ESPN and other sources may have a big hard-on for the Braves of the 90's.. but the Red Wings actually win championships.  Man, I hate them...

But hate them as I do, I have to really give them credit for the way they've acted in letting Bowman come join the Hawks.  While I doubt they would have been quite as understanding if his son wasn't working here, they've shown they are a class act organization.  Still, I hope we beat them 8 times this year...

The thing I'm most excited about having Bowman here for is the guidance he'll have on Savard.  Some seem to think that Bowman will be a threat to Savard and could become the next coach, but I think it's pretty safe to say Bowman doesn't want that role again.  He's an amazing hockey mind, but he's also in his mid-70's... I don't think he'd want to go back to the high pressure situation.  I might be in the minority, but I actually think Savvy has been a good coach.  He's not great.. He makes mistakes.. He still needs to learn.. but who better to learn from than Bowman?

Tallon, however, I'm not quite so fond of... he needs a lot of work and this article from Scott Burnside over at ESPN really seems to sum up what I think we're all hoping to see:

Bowman, as far as we can tell, has never said anything just to make someone feel good.  Few men have ever seen the game as well as Bowman, and when he tells Tallon et al what he thinks of a player or a situation, he won't be worrying that it's going to hurt someone's feelings.

We also shouldn't forget, Bowman is the one who helped turn Yzerman, one of our boy Toews' hockey heros, into one of the greatest two-way forwards ever.  If you're sick of the comparisons between Toews and Yzerman now, you might want to not read anything about Toews for the next 15 years... 

So enough of the praise for Detroit... that's probably the last time you'll see it here.

Suck it Detroit

Scotty Bowman has committed to the indian... Watch the press conference live at 2:00 right.... here

Ain't no cure for the summertime blues...

So the Hawks finally did it - they pulled off the trade we've all been waiting for. Pascal Pelletier will finally be putting on a Blackhawk sweater....

Well - maybe not.. Summer is boring for hockey news - The Pelletier for St. Pierre trade is really the only thing that has happened since the press conference.

Mike Haviland became an assistant coach, I guess that's kind of exciting too...

Oh, and the Winter Classic logo was released - I dig it..



The Cubs minor league team in Peoria, named the Chiefs, acted like they're from Charlestown and had a massive brawl yesterday.. Some schmuck tried to throw a ball into the other team's dugout.. missed and hit a fan who had to be taken to the hospital... nice

Sadly Ryno didn't get to play Reggie Dunlop since he wasn't at the game..


And I feel like this blog is official now, as Forklift pointed out in the comments for a previous post, I got a link from Stu Hackel over at a little paper called the New York Times - Thanks Stu!

More importantly though in terms of blogging - I also got my first negative comment in the same post from a Detroit fan - Adam (if that is his real name) proclaims that "everyone knows that people love cockmeat" - very profound. I won't be responding to douchebag comments like that always but thought it was nice to point out my first one.. kinda like how store owners frame the first dollar they make when they open.

So Adam - thank you for welcoming me.. and eat a bowl of dicks

Here's hoping something exciting happens soon..

A conversation with Mike Quigley's Office

After reading all the negative comments on the articles posted today - I felt it was my job to send Mike Quigley some love.. Here is an email I sent and a response from his office:

From: HereComeTheHawks to commquigley Dear Commissioner,

Here Come The Hawks is proud to call you our County Commissioner - even if I'm not totally sure what it is that you do and actually I don't think I live in your district either.. but that's besides the point.

I'd like to say we all appreciate your support of the Hawks, even if others don't really get that it's all in good fun. Detroit does indeed suck, only partly because they just can't seem to take a joke. Have you had much of a response to the resolution yet? Either pro or con? What exactly did the resoultion say? Is there a place to read it online?

Also, I have to try and since you're in politics - can you get me tickets to the outdoor game?

Hope to see you at a game - Go Hawks

-Matthew

From: commquigley@aol.com to me

Hi Matthew-

Thanks for your email. People from Detroit are not reacting well to our resolution. It was all in good fun to get people excited about the game.

Unfortunately the Commissioner does not have any access to additional tickets. I think they are giving priority to season ticket holders at Wrigley and the Blackhawks if you know any season ticket holders.

Kimberly
Office of Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley


Kimberly was also kind enough to copy the resolution in with the email too - The letters in the final line were all normal - so I just took a stab at seeing what they'd actually be..

RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING THE NHL’S

SECOND WINTER CLASSIC AT WRIGLEY FIELD

SPONSORED BY MIKE QUIGLEY, COOK COUNTY COMMISSIONER

WHEREAS, the Chicago Blackhawks have been a Chicago sports tradition since 1926; and

WHEREAS, the Chicago Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup three times, in 1961, 1938, and 1934; and

WHEREAS, the Chicago Blackhawks played at the Coliseum from 1926-1929, the Chicago Stadium from 1929-1994 and currently plays at the United Center; and

WHEREAS, the National Hockey League has announced that New Year’s day 2009 will feature yet another installment of the epic and long time rivalry between two of the original six franchises of the National Hockey League – the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings; and

WHEREAS, this game will be the NHL’s second Winter Classic and will take place at Wrigley Field; and

WHEREAS Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914, is the second-oldest major league baseball park; and

WHEREAS, the Friendly Confines is going to be covered in ice for this historical hockey game; and

WHEREAS, the game will be the third regular-season outdoor game in NHL history and harkens back to games of youth playing on frozen lakes and brings an excitement to the sport like none other; and

WHEREAS, the match up will be the 701^st meeting between the Red Wings and the Blackhawks; and

WHEREAS, no NHL opponents have played more regular-season games against one another than the Red Wings and the Blackhawks; and

WHEREAS, the Blackhawks through a mixture of young talent and veteran savvy are bringing the roar back; and

WHEREAS, Chicago’s selection for this auspicious occasion further illustrates our city and county’s Olympic spirit.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Cook County Board of Commissioners, gathered here this 22nd day of July 2008, wishes the Chicago Blackhawks much success in this historic game; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that January 1 , 2009 shall be known as “Chicago Blackhawks Day” in Cook County; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners have declared Wrigley Field and the surrounding neighborhoods to be an Octopus Free Zone; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of the rEsoluTion be pResented tO the DetroIT red WingS, the Detroit City CoUncil, and the Chicago BlaCkhawKS.

Wrigley is soon to be an Octopi-Free Zone

Sounds like we have a pretty damn good County Commissioner here in Cook County. Mike Quigley has written a resolution to make Jan. 1st "Chicago Blackhawks Day" and make the area surrounding Wrigley an "Octopus Free Zone".

As an added bonus - he included a secret message in the last line "DETROIT SUCKS".

If you check out the comments section of that article, you'll get to read the thoughts of a bunch of people with no sense of humor, also known as people from Detroit. What a bunch of tools..

It seems like the picture from yesterday isn't official yet - The NHL still hasn't decided where the rink will be on Wrigley. Seems like it'd make more sense to have one goal near home plate with the other in center. Hopefully they'll have plenty of time to figure it out since baseball will be long over by then.



Bobby Hull continues to show how much he loves booze (and one of the reasons why we all love him). During an interview at the press conference yesterday he talked about how cold it was in Wrigley when he used to watch Bears games there - and made the reporter nervous when he started talking about bringing his flask into the game and taking sips throughout the game. Something I do all the time at the United Center...

There's also this YouTube video - around 30 seconds in you can hear Bobby say he knows a good bar nearby. It was probably 1:00 in the afternoon..



These cocktease rumors about Kopitar just won't go away..

Finally, PuckDaddy, Greg Wyshynski, asks a question we all fear. Can we trust the NHL with ticket distribution?

Really? The SuperBowl? We're so fucked...