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

Captains, Beatings and Hunchbacks..

Will Toews being wearing the C on his sweater next year? Probably.

"It's a natural fit," Savard said at rookie camp at the Edge in Bensenville. "Personally, when I sit down with the staff and my coaches, I know that I've got my mind made up. I don't care how young you are. He's that type of person that is going to be a great captain for us. But we'll see before I make a final decision."

I'd expect an announcement about that at the convention next weekend... At least the days of this jagoff are behind us.

For the record, Kyle Beach seems to deny beating a garbage collector with a baseball bat and he doesn't do drugs.. good to know. He is guilty of what the Sun-Times is calling "hunchback imitation" though, but honestly, aren't we all a little guilty of that on occasion?

Finally, it seems I'm not the only genius starting a hockey blog in the middle of July. Happy anniversary to Melt Your Face Off