GENTLEMEN! I HAVE CREATED....A THIN FORWARD LINE, WITH NO EXPERIENCE! Dale Tallon, or maybe the people telling Tallon what to do, like shiny things. They like expensive things. But they don't think of the consequences of buying these things on the rest of the budget. I used to blow all my money on drugs, and then couldn't afford the cookies and pizzas those drugs necessitated I would need later. This is where Tallon has left us, at least at the moment. Because of his splash on the Huet signing, without a plan as how to move the other goalie out, our biggest weakness, a forward line lacking depth and experience, just got weaker.
I only hope there's another deal in the works, and will reserve final judgement until then. But the preliminary scores are not encouraging. We have, at the moment, a disgruntled goalie who will make a nuisance of himself, and four top-6 forwards with 1 YEAR OR LESS experience. Add to that we have less than 1M of cap room, and the flexibility to fix this would appear to be at the bar with the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. I'm getting itchy all over.
It seems like we might actually be stuck with the Khabby/Huet tandem afterall.. The Hawks announced they're sending Lang to the Habs (hey! just like all those internet rumors said!) for a second round pick in 2010.... The Hawks should be under the cap now but the problems are still not over... I'm bummed...
Up next in this here weekly series of blog interviews is Dirk from On The Forecheck. Dirk follows the Predators with great analysis of stats and numbers and overall pretty much the best writing you'll see following the Preds. I sent him these questions earlier this week and some recent developments have kinda fucked up one of the questions - but that happens.
Who actually thought it would be a great idea to give a franchise over to a guy with the nickname "boots"? How big of a fuckup is this and will it effect(affect?) the Predators this season?
Well, if you ask anyone around Nashville, "Boots" was preferable to "Balls" at the time! Yeah, he turned out to be a complete fraud, but at least the local group is in a position to buy him out, once the bankruptcy proceedings go through. As to an impact on the hockey team this season, I don't think there will be any, but the sooner this is over with the better.
How big of a blow is the Radulov mess to the Predators future? Is there anyone else in the system you can hope to shift a focus onto now that it seems Radulov won't come back? Do you hate him for the decision, or are you just disappointed?
Radulov was certainly the team's best offensive prospect, and the Preds will miss what they hoped to get out of him this year; something around 35 goals. It'll likely be up to the duo of Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Jones to replace that production. The guy to get excited about just might be Jones, lately the captain of the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks, who should be much more of a team-first guy than the mercurial Radulov, and is the type of exciting, hard-working plugger that fans adore.
As to Radulov, you just have to shake your head and wonder what makes a guy who came over here, invested four years in working his way through Junior Hockey and with Nashville to develop himself into an NHL star, then throw it all away when he would have been eligible for a huge contract next summer. If he pots 35 goals in 2008-9, you can bet he'd be looking at a $30-40 million dollar contract either from Nashville or someone else with deeper pockets. For his sake, the Russian economy had better hold together for the next few years.
(So just yesterday Puck Daddy wrote that Radulov actually might want back into the NHL after only a few games in the KHL. I can't say anyone else in the Central should really be happy about that news, and while many fans I'm sure are pissed at him about this Dirk likens the situation to Fedorov's holdout with the Wings back in '97 and seems ready to welcome him back.)
With the exception of Radulov, what were the Predators biggest moves in the off-season, either in addition or subtraction?
The big trade sent Marek Zidlicky, a good powerplay QB, to Minnesota for Jones and a draft pick. Personally, I thought the Preds should have packaged Zidlicky along with picks or prospects to land a major talent that could help the team win right away, because after Brian Campbell signed at $7.1 million per year and Dan Boyle got $6.7 million per, Zidlicky's $3.3 million pricetag (which runs through 2009-10) looks awfully affordable for a legit offensive blueliner.
Everyone gives places like Nashville shit for not being a "real hockey town", how do you respond - what's the scene like in Nashville for hockey fans?
I'd encourage anyone laboring under that delusion to just come on down; the atmosphere is great, and the energy in the arena is much like a college game. Opposing goalies are taunted, there's crowd interaction with Paul McCann, the PA announcer, and the fans are genuinely behind this team. I've seen some pretty amazing NHL moments in person (the massive McCarty/Lemieux brawl, Wings winning the Cup in '97), and the Sommet Center gets as loud as anywhere else in the league.
Now, it is true that hockey will never be #1 in Nashville; football is king south of the Mason-Dixon line, and many in the local sports media still talk like they've just come out of "Hockey 101". Building the broader base of people with at least a decent understanding of the game will take time, but that's the way it works.
Your site focuses a lot on the numbers and statistics which has always been more of a baseball thing, I've always loved hockey more for the action, speed and athleticism, but what drew you to hockey rather than baseball? Which stats do you enjoy watching for the most?
I used to be a pretty big baseball fan, but having lived away from an MLB city for over 10 years now, that's pretty much worn off. As to hockey, growing up we had an ideal pond across the street that would freeze nice and solid for a few weeks every winter, but it wasn't until college that I tried actually playing in beer leagues. There's definitely nothing like the combination of speed, power, and fluidity that hockey brings, relative to the other major sports.
As far as stats go, the neat thing about all of this relative to the NHL is that it's still wide-open territory. How can we succinctly summarize the impact of a given player, and evaluate him against the performance of some guy from the other conference? Are there ways to determine what type of player (sniper, playmaker, mucker) might make the most effective addition to a given lineup? There are a zillion questions to be answered like that, and the toolbox available for that work, while limited, is growing more sophisticated with each passing year.
The one stat I enjoyed watching last year was thePenalty Plus/Minus; finally, the NHL started noting in the Play By Play files which player drew a given penalty, allowing us to quantify what everyone knows to be a game-changing effect of great players; the ability to take a defender out of position and force them into a hook, hold, or trip. Generating a power play opportunity for your team is, outside of scoring an actual goal, one of the most useful things a player can do for his team in a given game. For the record, Dustin Brown of L.A. led with a +43 (he drew 43 penalties more than he took), although Sid Crosby was not far behind at +39 despite missing time due to injury.
Every team needs a good rivalry, right? Do the Predators have one team in the division that you love to hate? Is it the standard Detroit, because we all pretty much hate them? I think Columbus would be a great rival for Nashville - is there anything going on there? If not, care to start something now? Go ahead - feel free to insult Rick Nash's mother or maybe just the Buckeyes in general (they hate that shit).
I think there's a Big Fish, Small Fish thing going on here; Predators fans absolutely hate Detroit above all others, because, as an up-and-coming team, obviously the team on top is the one to target. Also, there a ton of ex-Detroiters (like myself) that live in the area, and for years, matches against the Red Wings looked and sounded more like a Detroit home game. That's no longer the case.
With Columbus, they definitely have it in for the Preds, but Nashville has historically owned them. According to Hockey-Reference.com, the Predators enjoy a .756 lifetime winning percentage against the Blue Jackets, who roll over easier than theBulgarian women's team. As to how easily Rich Nash's mother rolls over, hey, I try to keep mine a family-friendly blog...
Finally, how do you see the division playing out? Who makes the playoffs and what will the final record be between the Preds and the Hawks?
The easy part here is that the Wings should cruise away with their 47th consecutive Central Division title, and Columbus and St. Louis will come in 4th and 5th, respectively. Over the course of the season, I think the Preds will still keep ahead of the Blackhawks, because they've already got a deep lineup that's perfecting a well understood, consistent team philosophy. Basically, they'll be ready to go right from Day One. With Chicago, there are some depth questions behind those exciting stars, a two-headed goaltending situation that could become a real distraction, and I wonder how Denis Savard will handle the pressure of coaching a team that actually has expectations of success this year. I'll call the Preds for a 3-2-1 record against the Hawks in the regular season, with both teams making the playoffs.
Then training camp will start - This 60-man roster will slowly shorten.. the meaningless preseason games will end and the season will start.
Season tickets have been mailed and it feels amazing to hold 42 tickets in your hand all at one time.
In addition to Hall, Pilote and Magnuson - the Hawks relatively subtly announced that they will also be having Larmer, Amonte, Probert appreciation nights. They're calling them Blackhawks Heritage Collector's Series.. I have no idea what the fuck that means exactly but it might be getting a little out of control. There's still another night on their schedule with the player TBA..
Tomorrow I'll be posting an interview with Dirk from On The Forecheck.. until then.. there's this:
All the talk of hockey by politicians is fucking weird - it annoys me to see the two mixed but it's also getting me even more excited for the season to actually start. We know we're all close know.. who isn't getting excited about $7 beers already?
With the season so close - I thought it'd be a good time to get in touch with some of our foes around the central division and see what's going on with them. Hopefully, once a week til the season starts I'll be posting short email interviews with authors of other blogs from around our division. Sam and I will also be doing some individual player previews once we figure out what the hell we want to say about them. So in all - it's going to start getting busier around here now that we've survived the summer.
So first up on the interview schedule - it's Sean Gallagher (another one.. not the former cub) from St. Louis Game Time:
I was in such a state of shock that the Hawks actually signed two of the best free agents this year (even if one of them is yet another overpaid goalie) that I barely paid attention to other moves made in the central division around free agents or anything else, so what are some moves the Blues made, were there even any? Anyone prospects coming up?
The biggest move the Blues made this summer was to not re-sign Matt “Big Country” Walker, allowing him to go to Chicago where he can wander the streets in full bewilderment a la Crocodile Dundee. The bright lights of the Windy City ought to quickly have Walker in all sorts of mad-cap adventures that culminate with his down-home country charm and wit allowing him to escape city slickers with high falootin’ hubris as well as crafty ne’er-do-wells who mistake a bumpkin accent for stupidity rather than realizing that smart is smart, no matter how ‘country’ the person may be. Oh, and they also signed a bunch of guys who will fill out the roster in Peoria.
What should we expect from the Blues this season? What are you looking forward to seeing?
You should expect the Blues to pretty much suck, throwing their fans onto the horns of a dilemma: root for the team to win more or root for the team to lose more, pushing them towards a shot at the first overall pick and John “Sidney Crosby carries my jock” Tavares. The Blues will play lots and lots of youngsters in key spots this year which means that fans will see lots and lots of enthusiasm. And lots and lots of mistakes. I’m personally looking forward to seeing TJ Oshie who has been a one-man wrecking ball and offensive star for the North Dakota Fightin’ Sioux for three years. A youngster who also managed to out-score a talented young man named Jonathan Toews when the two were linemates in Grand Fork, ND, we just hope his game translates to the N as well as Mr. Toews’ did.
I know about your thoughts about Matt Walker, what can we expect from him? Should we hope he is going to punish St. Louis the way Edmonds did recently?
Matt Walker, when he’s not working away at a cure for cancer, perfecting his “sound” on the pan flute or hand-buffing his custom-built monster truck, will provide the Hawks with exactly the same thing he provided the Blues: solid if unflashy defense, simple no-mistake play in his own zone and exactly one goal every nine years or so. He’s a great guy to fans, a great teammate in the room and very much the definition of a seventh defenseman. Plus, he’s like a crazy-savvy neo-hero in the mode of Crocodile Dundee as previously mentioned.
Are we going to see much from Erik Johnson this year? What's the word on his shoulder?
You’re going to see more of Erik Johnson than you care to as a Hawks fan. His shoulder is supposedly 100% (don’t know why he didn’t say 110%, but we’ll let it pass) and his role on the team is guaranteed to expand over last year’s when he played limited minutes and in limited situations and still led the blueliners in points.
Last I heard, the Blues were still interested in Shanahan, think he'd come back to St. Louis? He continues to play for teams I tend to despise, except for the Whalers of course, (who can hate the whalers?) is that whole situation being held up by the Sundin fucker?
The Blues broke with NHL tradition by coming right out to the media and announcing, “We’re in the fucking Brendan Shanahan sweepstakes!” knowing full well that fans in this town love former heroes. They then, very unsubtly, announced that single-game tickets were on sale the very next day. The Shanahan move is a shitty PR scheme if we’ve ever seen one. Why would a guy like that come here for the last year or two of his career? What benefit could there be? I mean, unless he wants to trade in his wife (the former Mrs. Craig Janney) for yet another teammates’ wife.
Any luck finding that Jay McKee picture in drag? That has to exist somewhere right?
The best Jay McKee in drag pic we could come up with was a photochop of him as the real Marilyn Monroe. I haven’t slept well since I saw it. Speaking of Fragile Jay McKee, if your team is interested in him, we can work something out. Some Chicago-style hot dogs, perhaps? Hell, I’m sure we could pop for the plane ticket and everything….
There was a little bad blood between our two teams this year, Savard claiming some cheap shots and Jackman apologizing for hurt feelings (a noble gesture from a lovely youngman, I'm sure) - Think that will carry over to this year? How many fights between our squads do you see?
Blues/Blackhawks games have always had an extra edge, but back in the days when our team was good and yours was deeper in the standings than Bill Wirtz is now and during the days when we both sucked, the rivalry died a little. Last year was the first real charged up games in quite a while. Even in the stands it was getting pretty chippy, which we can all enjoy. We love when you guys come to town because our fan bases can argue and make fun of each other, but at least there’s some sense of mutual respect. Red Wings fans, by comparison, are just an ungodly amount of retarded. I hope they all die. As for the games, I’d put the over/under on on-ice fights at 2.5 per game.
Finally, how do you see the division playing out? Who finishes where? What will the record be between the Blues and the Hawks?
Division: expect the Wings to walk away again, the Hawks to beat out the Preds for the two spot and the Blues and Jackets to battle for last. Expect the Blues to always get up for the Hawks, as Oshie tries to outduel his fellow “underage in a bar” arrestee buddy Toews and Johnson to tries to out-MacInnis his landlord and break a goalies’ hand with a slapshot like Al did when you guys thought Thibeault was a good goalie. I’ll go ahead and predict a season split between the two, with each team getting one win in the other guy’s barn.
A big thanks to Sean for answering the questions - and it's always good to hear other teams hate Detroit nearly as much as we do..
Coming up next week: I don't know.. maybe Nashville? Who ever answers their email first I guess
This is the kind of stuff we hope we will consistently provide when we carry the torch on from The Blue Line as the official Hawks' fans program. For info on how to advertise or how to help out, email committedindian@gmail.com.
The idea that Chelios would come here as a player is laughable. He hasn't been a relevant player for years now and the only thing I remember him doing last year (other than sitting out the entire finals) was him repeatedlyslashing cross-checking Kane in a corner at the last home game against Detroit while the entire UC screamed for his head. In case he doesn't realize, we've got a bit of a youth movement going on here and I don't think it makes much sense for him to be on the ice while hawks warm up to "Youth Gone Wild" - scratch that.. lets strive to never have Skid Row play at Hawks game ever again. His 12 points in 69 games don't do much to really show he's got anything left in the tank either..
His "just somehow maybe involved with the Blackhawks" quote is worse than the idea of him actually wearing the Indian head sweater. In case he doesn't get it - we wanted Bowman because the guy is a fucking hockey genius. He can help the front office find the right pieces to win a cup. Chelios at best could show Keith the best way to throw out some cheap elbows..
You broke your promise to us Chris.. stay in Detroit.. move to Malibu.. but don't come back here. There's a fucking reason we boo whenever you hit the ice...
This is how you know that despite some strides, Chicago is far from a hockey town. Late to the party on this one, but it took me that long to recover from the sight of this scumbag parading around the trophy he hardly had anything to do with winning. Did he even dress during the finals? If there were even a decent number of true hockey fans in the building, Chelios would have been booed vehemently, if not had 7 dollar beers chucked at him. Would you allow Brett Favre to parade around the Lombardi Trophy? Of course not, because he would have thrown a season killing INT before his team ever gets to the Super Bowl, but you take my point. If the Cubs go on to win the Series, Jim Edmonds isn't going to parade into Busch Stadium with the World Series Trophy. I don't care that he's from here. Chelios is a Judas. A Traitor. He was an overrated captain here in Chicago, who always took selfish, dumb penalties when we least needed them. Get bent, Chelli.
As I sit here procrastinating, watching the Olympic basketball (and the English soccer fan in me can't help but root against Argentina. Diving, cheating bastards.) I keep coming back to just how galactically stupid the Olympic hockey tournament is. I know all of Canada is already dissecting who will make their team and what roll they would play, I can only conclude there isn't much to do up there. (Though that seems odd, all my friends rave about Banff, and the beer's so much better up north.) For the hoops, the NBA season ended two months ago. These teams have had since then to gather together, practice, form cohesiveness, and develop an identity. Meanwhile, the Olympic hockey teams get what, one practice before the games start? This is why generally the hockey resembles monkeys humping a football, to quote USA legend Herb Brooks. Now, generally this leads to Canada losing before any hardware is handed out, and the baying wolves from the Land of Maple Leafs is quite hilarious. But it's hardly a representative competition. I, for one, couldn't be happier that Vancouver will most likely be the last Olympics to include the pros.
This is not to say International Hockey is a bad idea. I've always thought the World Cup, which sprang from the Canada Cup, was a great tournament. That's because those teams actually practice together for a good month beforehand. No, there's no good time to have it, as in September it'll have to compete with the start of the NFL and pennant races in baseball, but it's far better advertisement for the game than the slop that takes place under the Olympic flame.
April 1st will be Glen Hall night... Nov. 12th is the Magnuson/Pilote number retirement ceremony and Fri. Jan 16th is Patrick Sharp bobblehead night.
John McDonough is showing more of his marketing side offering a lot more give aways than last year, or at least different types of things. Instead of the normal cheap crap with a hawks logo pasted on it seems the Hawks will be giving different cheap crap with the hawks logo.
I won't be getting any of this crap because just about every game with a giveaway isn't included in my partial ticket plan. They don't have the dates for the other 21-game plan up anymore since it's sold out so I can't check if I just got unlucky or if McDonough chose to be a prick and is going to force me to buy two more tickets for the Hall/Pilote/Magnuson games on purpose. Not that I really need a Patrick Kane figurine in my apartment anyway.
The Blackhawks are fighting it out with the Penguins again, this time over at Icethetics. Right now the vote is showing that more people like the Pens center ice design than the Hawks.
Fuck that. Go vote for the Hawks - and do it the Chicago way, early and often. No one needs another '92...
I wonder if the Blackhawks would be pissed if I just stole this image from them.. probably.. Training Camp starts in less than 4 weeks... go hawks
GENTLEMEN! I HAVE CREATED....A THIN FORWARD LINE, WITH NO EXPERIENCE! Dale Tallon, or maybe the people telling Tallon what to do, like shiny things. They like expensive things. But they don't think of the consequences of buying these things on the rest of the budget. I used to blow all my money on drugs, and then couldn't afford the cookies and pizzas those drugs necessitated I would need later. This is where Tallon has left us, at least at the moment. Because of his splash on the Huet signing, without a plan as how to move the other goalie out, our biggest weakness, a forward line lacking depth and experience, just got weaker.
