Quote

This past season, there was nothing to cling to for Blackhawks fans. The tank was excruciating to watch. It was impossible to invest any emotion into a roster full of stopgaps and journeymen just passing through for a few months. There was no stability, no point, and there sure as hell was no hope. The only reason to watch was that you knew there were only so many games left to see Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in a Blackhawks uniform, which only lent a touch of sadness to all the ambivalence. A return to contention seemed eons away. Heck, forget contention, Blackhawks fans would have gladly taken relevance. Interest. A reason to celebrate a win, to lament a loss, to give a damn about any of it.

Well, the wins and losses won’t really matter next season, either. But the games will matter. The moments will matter. The Blackhawks will be interesting. They’ll be exciting. They’ll be worth watching again. In time, yes, there might be parades and trophies and all that good stuff. But right now, this is what Bedard brings: a reason to care again. Throw in the first full season of Lukas Reichel — who had been the team’s top prospect on whom all these thin hopes were pinned, but who now only has to become Patrick Sharp rather than Patrick Kane — and maybe the first NHL season of defenseman Kevin Korchinski, and the future starts taking shape. It’s a little too neat and facile to put it this way, but it’s impossible not to think Bedard is the new Toews, and Korchinski is the new Duncan Keith— the two toughest spots to fill, No. 1 center and No. 1 defenseman. The tank is over. The way back has begun.

Good couple of paragraphs from Laz. 

Looking forward to at least having interest in turning on the Hawks next season

 

Hall + Bailey for Bedard to play with. I like it.

Edited June 29, 20232 yr by SoxAce

8 minutes ago, SoxAce said:

Hall + Bailey for Bedard to play with. I like it.

And a 2nd rounder just because 

37 minutes ago, SoxAce said:

Hall + Bailey for Bedard to play with. I like it.

I think it's really important for him to have some establish vets in the room from good organizations. Hall, Foligno, and now Bailey help that for sure. 

 

 

My brothers response, after hating this man for his entire career 

Hmm.. so Hawks got a free 2nd round pick and threw the player a bone. Whatever.

Ironically enough, Bailey and Perry share the same agency. Might go good with negotiations down the road.

So what is the benefit to getting the player before UFA? Is exclusive negotiations that powerful? Does it make a difference in like dealing with this year vs 'next' years cap?

https://chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2023/7/25/23807793/rocky-wirtz-dies-blackhawks-chairman-bill-danny-wirtz-breakthru-beverage

 

Whoa!

Wow that came out of no where. 

3 hours ago, Tony said:

Wow that came out of no where. 

A very polarizing owner. Did alot of good (basically brought this franchise back from the dead and ill always be grateful), but the Beach stuff and especially that outburst taints his legacy. 

 

I do wonder if we see a power struggle with the Wirtz family on who will own the team. I hope Rocky is giving his son Danny full control in his will or something. I know he and Peter were not seeing eye to eye on how to run the team (Peter sided more with his father Bill if I remember correctly and Rocky went a different direction thank god).

Rocky brought hockey back to Chicago, but his role in the Beach scandal can't(and shouldn't) be ignored. 

It's a complex legacy that is up to each individual to define for themselves as a Hawks fan.  

Edited July 26, 20232 yr by baseballgalaly

https://theathletic.com/4721327/2023/07/25/blackhawks-rocky-wirtz/

 

Pretty good article from Lazerus. McDonough is the true culprit for the Beach stuff. That's not to say Rocky didn't have his fair share of blame from that tirade with the reporters but McDonough always kept stuff away from his bosses, even dating back to his Cubs President days.

17 hours ago, SoxAce said:

https://chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2023/7/25/23807793/rocky-wirtz-dies-blackhawks-chairman-bill-danny-wirtz-breakthru-beverage

 

Whoa!

Too bad it wasnt Jer.....eh forget it, cant wish that on anyone

I recently read Career Misconduct published many yrs ago about Dollar Bill and it was a total hatchet job on the entire Wirtz family esp Bill. It really opened my eyes about how crooked he was (although the author clearly was grinding an ax) 

I wonder if the Wirtz family would ever consider buying the Sox? Seems I read a while back the family was worth in the 4 billion dollar range 

On 7/25/2023 at 10:16 PM, baseballgalaly said:

Rocky brought hockey back to Chicago, but his role in the Beach scandal can't(and shouldn't) be ignored. 

It's a complex legacy that is up to each individual to define for themselves as a Hawks fan.  

It's probably unfair and inaccurate to judge someone on their best, or worst, day. 

But for me, it takes a lot of really good days to make up for the Beach scandal. 

On 7/25/2023 at 10:03 PM, SoxAce said:

A very polarizing owner. Did alot of good (basically brought this franchise back from the dead and ill always be grateful), but the Beach stuff and especially that outburst taints his legacy. 

 

I do wonder if we see a power struggle with the Wirtz family on who will own the team. I hope Rocky is giving his son Danny full control in his will or something. I know he and Peter were not seeing eye to eye on how to run the team (Peter sided more with his father Bill if I remember correctly and Rocky went a different direction thank god).

All true. This could be kind of reminiscent of the Comiskey family fighting after Charles died. 

Officially Danny's team.

https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/release-blackhawks-to-retire-chris-chelios-no-7-on-feb-25

Congrats to Chris Chelios. Very well deserved. The question will be now is Seabrook joining him? Cuz if anything he should be too.

12 minutes ago, SoxAce said:

https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/release-blackhawks-to-retire-chris-chelios-no-7-on-feb-25

Congrats to Chris Chelios. Very well deserved. The question will be now is Seabrook joining him? Cuz if anything he should be too.

Was at the PJ show tonight, very cool moment. But Seabrook should be up there too

10 minutes ago, Tony said:

Was at the PJ show tonight, very cool moment. But Seabrook should be up there too

Starting to assume they'll retire his down the road since he's technically still "under contract" with the Lightning (similar to Hossa with the Coyotes). I thought they were just going to do a joint retirement like Pilote and Magnuson but they'll likely do it different this time.

Edited September 8, 20232 yr by SoxAce

Any chance the Hawks might win this year? Or are they still lousy?

On 9/15/2023 at 3:09 PM, greg775 said:

Any chance the Hawks might win this year? Or are they still lousy?

No. They will be bad. But they will have a number of young players that should be major contributors to the next "great" team. And Bedard should give most fans a reason to watch every night. 

No captain this year for the Hawks. As it should be. In my opinion, pretty much all but confirmed Bedard will likely be the next captain as soon as next season. Hope the kid learns alot from Foligno in that regard as well as Murphy, Perry and Jones. This is his team and he is the franchise.

Edited September 19, 20232 yr by SoxAce