Five Reasons the Hawks are OK

It’s been a long July afternoon for the NHL - comparatively speaking, at least - but it’s beginning to look and feel as if little will be done to the Blackhawks as it relates to the NHL’s investigation into the team’s long-term signing of Marian Hossa earlier this month.  Here’s why:

1. ‘Cuz everyone says so!  Hell, even the NHL gave the contract its blessing 30 days ago.
2. The Blackhawks are hardly the only team to have entered into these long-term cap friendly- didn’t that use to be an oxymoron? – contracts.  Detroit’s Ken Holland signed Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen to deals in which the players’ pay takes huge drops during the final years of the respective contracts; Chris Pronger’s seven-year deal with the Flyers sees his pay fall to $525,000 in years six and seven; and Vinny Lecavalier’s fairly new deal includes a drastic dip in pay for 2020.  Unless the NHL is prepared to undo nearly every long-term deal signed since last summer – not to mention the shackles on my soul – it stands to reason the league will eventually back off penalizing teams for deals already made.
3. The portion of the NHL CBA governing circumvention requires an agreement or understanding between two parties.  In this instance, the NHL will have to show at least an informal understanding between a team and its signee.  Needless to say, that will prove difficult.  (To make sure no information regarding negotiations is leaked, teams may even begin extending and reassigning exiting members of management involved in negotiations, rather than just firing them.  All the pieces are starting to come together…)
4. The teams implicated so far include three of the NHL’s bedrock franchises: the Hawks, Wings and Flyers.
5. The current CBA expires after the 2010-’11 season.  Though it may seem a little early for posturing in advance of negotiations, keep in mind the last negotiations were, well, less than quick.

And You Thought Shoulder Surgery was Bad?

Detroit GM Ken Holland may have bested the Blackhawks again – this time during the off season.

Though details are scarce at this time, the Toronto Sun is reporting the Blackhawks are under investigation by the NHL for “circumventing” the terms of the current CBA by signing Marian Hossa to a 12-year deal under which Hossa will receive less than $1 million on average for the final four years – a tool Holland arguably placed into the GM toolbox with the Zetterberg and Franzen deals. The NHL may apparently charge the Hawks with entering into an oral agreement, if not an informal one, with Hossa at the time the contract was signed that would see the new Hawk signee retire sometime after the seventh year of the deal when his annual take declines precipitously.  In that instance, Hossa’s retirement would save the Hawks – if the current CBA were in effect at the time of the retirement – a $5 million cap hit during the deal’s remaining years.

For completeness, the CBA does by its terms prohibit such misconduct. Article 26, subsection 26.3 of the agreement prohibits clubs from, “directly or indirectly … enter(ing) into any agreements, promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind, whether express, implied, oral or written, including without limitation any (Standard Player Contract) … if … [it] is intended to or has the effect of defeating or Circumventing the provisions of this Agreement or the intention of the parties as reflected by the provisions of this Agreement, including … provisions with respect to … Team Payroll Range …”

Though it’s almost impossible to tell what, if any, action the NHL will ultimately take with respect to this situation – there is, after all, no precedent here – it’s important to note that the “circumvention” described above does not include an intent element; that is, a club can be penalized under the terms of the CBA for actions merely “(having) the effect of defeating … the provisions of the” CBA. If the NHL decides to take a step closer to penalizing the Hawks, that will make its job much easier.

And, while other teams – most notably, the rival Wings – have entered into similar contracts with players, arguably none have involved such a strong likelihood of the player’s retirement during the latter portions of the respective agreements.

Finally, some may be wondering – our commenter Coach included – whether this could have been the underlying reason for Tallon’s dismissal. And, while I certainly do not know the answer to that question, it could finally bring some level of explanation for the move and, more importantly, the reason for the way it was handled. Remember, during that time, we found it difficult to buy what little explanation we received from Hawks’ management as to why the decision was made, but keeping quiet about this particular subject is, at the least, understandable – and yet another example of why it’s so difficult to criticize organizations from the outside.

Stay tuned, folks.  At the least, a look at the Hawks’ best arguments against possible NHL allegations will be forthcoming later today or tonight.

Suddenly, a review of Brent Sopel’s glorious ‘08-’09 campaign is much less interesting…

2009-2010 Preview: #5 Brent Sopel

We continue our player preview with a look at someone who was only with us for 23 games, Brent Sopel.

2008-2009 Recap

Brent Sopel came into this season considered to be one of the veteran stalwarts on the NHL’s youngest team.  During most of the 2007-08 campaign, Sopel was the most consistent defenseman on the Hawks.  Steady and calm, he brought a soothing presence to the back line.  You could even make the argument if it wasn’t for his broken finger and wrist injury, the Hawks would have qualified for the playoffs in the ’07-08 campaign.

In the first two games of this season, Sopel eclipsed the 20 minute mark in both games and was a collective -4.  He then saw his minutes take a dip, staying at a steady 15 minute clip.

The low point of his season came on November 16th at the United Center against the San Jose Sharks.  About halfway through the second period, he coughed the puck right in front of his net.  Jeremy Roenick happily deposited the gift past Cristobal Huet and Sopel spent the rest of the game opening up the door for his teammates.  He didn’t see a shift the rest of the game.

He missed the next two games with an undisclosed injury.  He saw limited action in his return, only seeing more than 10 minutes of ice in three of his next 6 games.  In his final five games, he averaged around 15 minutes of ice time and following a 3-1 win over Vancouver on December 20th, Sopel just disappeared from the line-up.

It wasn’t until ten days later that the Hawks announced Sopel had a elbow injury and he was out indefinitely.  

There were rumors late in the season that Sopel was skating with the team and may see some action down the stretch.  They were unfounded and he spent the rest of the season hanging out in the skybox with Nickelback.

Sopel’s 2009-2010 Season will be a success if… 

He returns to Sopel Version 2007-08-  It doesn’t take a whole lot for Brent Sopel to be a solid defenseman.  As long as he stays well-positioned and plays his game, there’s no reason he can’t be a solid 4th to 6th defenseman on the Blackhawks.  His days of crossing the 30 point threshold are long gone.  However, if he can clear the front of the net, block some shots, and clear the defensive zone effectively, that’s three steps in the right direction.

He can convince the rest of the league that he’s still a useful player-  As the Tampa Bay Lightning are proving this off-season, there is always going to be a team desperate for defensive help.  Even with a 2.33 cap hit, a healthy and useful Sopel will be coveted by someone.   That in lies the rub, however, because Sopel hasn’t played in more than 70 games since the 2003-2004 campaign.  Even if he can make it through 60 games, one team will want to take a nibble on him next summer.

Sopel’s 2009-2010 Season will be a disappointment if….

His play is so poor, the Hawks are forced to buy him out-  No, the Hawks won’t buy him out this summer, but if Sopel’s downward spiral continues this season, they won’t have any choice next summer but to swallow the last year of his contract.  Since the Hawks are finally getting out of the Curtis Brown debacle, they probably aren’t in the mood to pay someone else for free.  They may be left with no other option, though, if Sopel doesn’t attract any takers with his play. 

He spends the majority of the year as a healthy scratch-  It’s one thing to be a disappointing player on long term injured reserve, it’s quite another to be perfectly healthy and entertaining guests from the company skybox.  Sopel’s 2.33 cap hit should force him into the line-up on a nightly basis.  It didn’t seem, however, that Quenneville had all that much patience for Sopel when he first took over.  He’s also the type of coach that will have no problem scratching him on a nightly basis.  That won’t be good for anybody.

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We don’t know when Sopel suffered his elbow injury, but it’s very likely he was playing hurt for some time before the Hawks put him on the shelf.  If his injury is behind him, then he should go back to being a decent defenseman.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), it’s probably only a matter of time before another injury will sideline him.  Sopel’s shot blocking ways doesn’t lend itself to NHL longevity (he blocked 45 shots in only 23 games last year).  He is probably one of the premier shot blockers in the league but at his age, 33 in January, it is starting to become a detriment. 

So the biggest hope for Brent Sopel ’09-10 campaign is for him to simply survive so he can be someone else’s problem in ‘10-11. 

2009-2010 Preview: #16 Andrew Ladd

This is the first in a series of player previews for the upcoming 2009-2010 season.  By the time training camp starts, we should have everyone previewed.  Our first look is at probably the most vanilla player on the Blackhawks, Andrew Ladd. 

2008-2009 Recap

Andrew Ladd started this season rather inauspiciously.  He opened up the season skating on a line with Martin Havlat and Jonathan Toews.  That didn’t last very long and by the second game he found himself skating with Dave Bolland and a revolving door of wingers that included Jack Skille and Dustin Byfuglien. 

It didn’t help matters that the person Ladd was traded for (Tuomo Ruutu) started off the season for the Hurricanes like a maniacal Finn.  There were more than a few whispers that the trade was becoming one of the more underwhelming moves of the Dale Tallon era.

It wasn’t until Joel Quenneville partnered Havlat with Ladd and Bolland on December 3rd against the Ducks that his season truly started to take off.  Up until that point, Ladd only had 3 goals and 5 assists in 22 games.  The rest is history and Ladd ended up with 15 goals and 34 assists.  His biggest outburst came on December 7th when he notched a goal and three assists in a 7-1 thrashing of the Phoenix Coyotes. 

To go along with that, Ladd was more than capable in his own end.  His Behind the Net numbers show he played against the opposing teams’ top players more than anyone else on the team.  In fact, Ladd has some of the best sabermetric numbers on the team in nearly every catergory. 

In the playoffs, Ladd didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard, but he played exactly the type of game that was expected of him: a tough, physical grinder who made sure his three goals came at the most opportune times. 

He had no bigger game than in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Canucks when he had a goal and assist in a 2-1 overtime winner.   Ladd also played a significant (and controversial if you ask Mike Keenan) role in the Game 1 overtime winner against the Flames when he crashed the net and Havlat slipped the puck past Mikka Kipprusoff.

And that takes us to the present.

Ladd’s 2009-2010 season will be a success if….

He can match his goal output of this past season-  We can safely say that Ladd will probably come nowhere close to his 34 assists next season.  He will, after all, no longer be playing on a line with Martin Havlat.  15 goals, however, is a very reachable goal for Ladd’s skill set.  As long as Ladd plays with someone of decent offensive stature, then he’ll be able to deliver on that output.  If everything goes right, a 20 goal season is not out of the realm of possibility.

He continues to become a solid checking winger-  There’s a decent chance Ladd will find himself on the third line next year playing with the likes of John Madden and Tomas Kopecky.  If he’s asked to play that role, then goal scoring will be on the low end of the totem pole and that’s not exactly a bad thing.  Playing alongside Madden, Ladd could become one of the better checking wingers in the league.  Even if he doesn’t contribute a ton offensively, then Ladd will still be a key cog on the ’09-10 roster.

Ladd’s 2009-2010 season will be a disappointment if…. 

The injury bug bites him again-  Not many people remember, but when Ladd was traded to Chicago, the Hurricanes had soured on him because he couldn’t keep himself on the ice.  He only played in 65 games during the 2006-07 season and played in 63 combined games with the Hurricanes and the Hawks in 2007-08.  Ladd kept himself healthy enough last year to play in all 82 games.  Suffice to say, anything less than 70 games would not be good.

Ladd disappears in the regular season AND the playoffs-  Now, let me clear this up because I don’t want to sound like Tim McCarver here.  It would be perfectly acceptable for Ladd to have a marginal regular season.  He’s not on this team to score 30 goals.  It would not, however, be acceptable for him to disappear in the playoffs.  Ladd is the type of player that needs to become better when the ice gets smaller.  If the Hawks are going to advance through four rounds of the playoffs, Ladd has to come up with the same important plays he did this past spring (see above). 

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More than probably any other player on the Hawks roster, Ladd’s type of play is wholly dependent on who his linemates are.  Since his junior days playing alongside Ryan Getzlaf, Ladd has proven he can be a positive offensive contributor when paired up with elite talent.  He’s also proven to be a good checking winger. 

I’d love to see him play with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews while Marian Hossa rehabs his shoulder.  They had some success in limited action when Ladd first arrived in Chicago.  I also wouldn’t mind seeing him play on a line with Madden and Troy Brouwer to see how well they could shut down the opposition’s top line.  It’s a fascinating dynamic.

That’s why the decision that will probably shape Ladd’s 2009-2010 season more than anything else is: Who are his linemates?

Why Next Summer May Not Suck

Great post by Puck Daddy basically stating what we’ve been saying for quite some time.  Restricted free agency in the NHL is one of the most misunderstood concepts.  Fans spends countless hours worrying about some team swooping in and nabbing their star player with an unmatchable offer.

Of course, the problem with the league and its salary cap is contending teams don’t have the cap space to outmatch another team and rebuilding teams won’t give up multiple draft picks for one piece of the puzzle.  The wheel goes round and round, but we’ll still have to talk many a folk off the ledge within the next 12 months.

There Goes the Neighborhood…

Marian Hossa will have surgery, after all, the Blackhawks announced today.  The recovery time is said to be four months, according to the Blackhawks’ head physician, which puts Hossa back into the Hawk line-up in late November.

Look at the bright side: at least it’s only an 11 1/2 year deal now.

All kidding aside, though it’s not optimal, the injury is no big deal.  Hossa has a history of staying healthy, and a rather minor shoulder injury – which he apparently played through for quite some time – shouldn’t cause too much worry.  Moreover, the Hawks should have enough fire power to land in a top-four spot in the Conference next season with or without any Hossa-related regular season heroics.  So long as he has a pulse come May, I think we can all continue to enjoy the summer.

The bad news: Because of the way the Hawks have handled their business since John McDonough became president – and in particular the Tallon dismissal – we’ll never know the real circumstances behind the signing.  I suppose we’re left to believe it was Tallon’s decision, but I wouldn’t buy it.

Hossa Injury Deemed ‘Minor’

An enormous can of worms opened up for the Blackhawks yesterday morning after Daily Herald beat reporter Tim Sassone reported that Marian Hossa had a shoulder injury that could require surgery.

Did the Hawks know about the injury before they signed him?

If so, how come nothing was said of it?

How serious is the injury?

Is surgery imminent?

With all these questions looming, newly minted GM Stan Bowman had to field a conference call to settle down the masses.  All the questions were answered and Bowman did all he could to downplay the hysteria. 

From the sounds of it, this injury will just have to be monitored and if everything goes alright in the rehabilitation, Hossa won’t miss any long stretch of games.  

When the story was first reported, it was said that Hossa hurt his shoulder in the playoffs.  Red Wings GM Ken Holland refuted that later on Wednesday evening.

“He was hurt before he got to us,” said Holland, who signed Hossa as a free agent in the summer of 2008. “Our doctors looked at him and we had conversations about whether to have surgery.  Our doctors recommended he should have something done at some point, but it’s something he can play with.”

While I’d like to be more upset with the Hawks for not being upfront about Hossa’s shoulder, it’s not like they did anything that was outside the rules.  Technically, since the NHL changed their injury disclosure policy, the Hawks did nothing wrong.  They don’t have to disclose player injuries to anyone outside their locker room.  Yes, it would have been nice and likely avoided this latest headache, but its nothing different from how the 29 other teams in the league operate.

Buried at the end of Sassone’s story was perhaps the most important Bowman quote, at least if your favorite summer activity is predicting where Patrick Sharp or Kris Versteeg is going to be traded to:

Bowman said the possibility of starting the season without Hossa wouldn’t change how he sees the Hawks’ roster shaping up for training camp.

“We’re not going to make any moves,” Bowman said. “We’ve got 14 forwards who are going to compete for jobs, and that’s not even counting guys like Jack Skille, Akim Aliu and Kyle Beach. Forward is really a strong suit for us.”

Now, that can just be Bowman posturing himself with other general managers or it could be the truth.  The fact is, we haven’t seen, or heard, enough of Stan as a GM to know where he’s coming from. 

Either way, someone is going to be pissed.

Rockford Depth and What The Vrbata Trade Means

In case you missed this signing, the Blackhawks agreed to terms with Danny Bois.  In 2001, Bois was the 97th overall selection by the Colorado Avalanche.  He’s played in exactly one National Hockey League and in that game, he played 4 minutes and racked up 7 penalty minutes. 

Move along, not much to see here.  Bois will likely spend the entire 2009-2010 season trying to murder people in the AHL.  Unless of course, the Hawks want someone to decapitate in Niklas Kronwall in Detroit’s home opener.

–There was an interesting trade made today.  The Tampa Bay Lightning sent Radim Vrbata back to Phoenix for Todd Fedoruk and David Hale.   Vrbata, if you recall, was signed by Tampa last summer to a 3-year, $9 million deal.  Then after playing 18 games, he was told he might be better off playing the rest of the year in the Czech Republic league. 

Now, you may be asking what does this have to do with the price of popcorn at the United Center. 

There have been many people wringing their hands dry over the contracts handed to Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Cam Barker, etc., all of whom have contracts nearly identical to the immortal Radim Vrbata.  ”Why would any GM make a trade for contracts like that” is something you may have heard, or even read.    

If Tampa Bay could unload Vrbata (and his $3 million cap hit) after he was told to go back to the homeland, then I’m pretty sure the Hawks could find suitors for any of the previously mentioned.  Granted, the return Tampa received was less than stellar, but salary dumps are still en vogue in the NHL and the Hawks figure to be participating in at least one of them within the next 11 months.

You have been warned.

Update– Tim Sassone is reporting from a source that newly acquired Marian Hossa is nursing a shoulder or rotator cuff injury.  Sassone goes on to speculate surgery would put Hossa out until December.  For the record, the source never said anything about surgery, only that the Hawks are monitoring the injury; it was Sassone taking it to the worst case scenario.    

We’ll see how this one plays out.

Convention Over; When does the Season start again?

Anyone who attended the convention this weekend, feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.  Me, I lived vicariously this weekend through Forklift’s Twitter. 

By all accounts, it seems as though President McDonough got a chilly reception the first night.  By chilly, I mean booed unmercifully.  Then, when he was given his time on the microphone, he did what he does best, and people were falling all over themselves to admire him again.

That’s fine, you’re entitled to the right to immediately forgive someone after they just spent the last week talking out of both sides of their mouth. 

I don’t even care all that much that Dale Tallon was relieved of his general managing duties.  He certainly had his warts and as I wrote last week, if the move was made for the right reasons, then this is fine. 

What I do have a problem with is a team president who admits to the public not knowing anything about hockey yet behind closed doors may act like Don Cherry after polishing off a 12-pack of Red Bull.  That’s not good for anybody.  

That’s a legitimate concern and anyone who thinks otherwise is nose deep in the Blackhawk Kool-Aid.

Unfortunately, because this is the off-season, there isn’t much else to discuss, so this soap opera has become the only topic of discussion.  If there were actual games to watch, then we’d have something else trivial to be worried about, like why hasn’t Brian Campbell scored a goal in a couple weeks or why hasn’t Adam Burish dropped the gloves since the Bush Administration. 

Ah, the joys of summer….

Hindsight is Near-Sighted

Sure, the writing appeared on the proverbial wall for Dale Tallon long before this week when he was replaced by former Blackhawks Assistant GM Stan Bowman as General Manager.  After all, in spite of managing the NHL’s youngest team to a conference final, Tallon hadn’t received even a whiff of a contract extension as the team’s GM.

One of the popular questions around the NHL in regards to Tallon’s dismissal revolves around when the decision was made to replace him.  Sure, the RFA snafu occurred just a couple weeks prior to the official decision – perhaps giving the Hawks hierarchy “cover” to make such a decision - but that couldn’t have been the impetus for firing, arguably, one of the league’s most successful GMs, could it?

Well, not if you re-listen to this May 18th interview with Rocky Wirtz on the Score, 670 AM.  While Rocky’s answers were less than transparent at the time, each answer seemingly foreshadowed this week’s management shake-up.  Among the more interesting answers were the following:  

- When asked about Dale Tallon’s future – and this was just following game one of the Western Conference Finals, mind you – Rocky said, “Dale is gonna be just fine.”  Just fine?  The GM of one of the NHL’s final four teams is going to be just fine?  You mean, like, reassigned within the organization for a raise, just fine?  Yeah, probably.

- When asked how the Blackhawks would keep its young stars together, Rocky responded, “That’s where Stan Bowman has to come in.”  Huh?  The Assistant GM has to come in to sign the team’s players – to do, ya know, the GM’s job?  Isn’t that a touch odd?  Yeah, probably.

- When asked to discuss the role each person in management had in making personnel decisions, Rocky described Stan Bowman as “the brain trust behind Dale Tallon.”

- Rocky also went out of his way to mention that the elder Bowman only offers insights on organizational activities when asked.  Odd, don’t you think, for a senior advisor of Bowman’s ilk to provide guidance only when asked?  Wouldn’t you think, given Bowman’s experience, that there would be times he could foresee important happenings before they occurred, and in so doing, given he’d be the only one with this knowledge, wouldn’t it be beneficial to the Hawks if he advised members of management on these happenings, ya know, before he was asked by a member of management to do so? 

So, what good would it be for an owner of a franchise, absent knowledge that he would soon promote said senior advisor’s son or the senior advisor himself, to tell the world that the senior advisor has an oddly limited role within the organization?  Anyone?  Anyone?

Weird, indeed.  At the very least Rocky’s rewind Nostradamous impression casts John McDonough as an even bigger lying sack than he appeared at Tuesday’s press conference.  McD’s comment that the Blackhawks would “probably not” have fired Tallon absent the RFA mishap seems downright asinine given his owner’s comments two months earlier.

And, that brings us to a more recent radio interview: this time with former Blackhawks Assistant GM Rick Dudley this past Tuesday by the FAN in Toronto.  (Thanks to Chris over at Third Man In for pointing to this one.)  Though Dudley essentially recuses himself through much of the interview, he does admit that John McDonough has recently become increasingly involved in the team’s hockey operations. 

And, yes, that’s the same John McDonough who tells anyone who will listen that he’s not a “hockey guy.”

Seems to me that McD is really just a Bill Wirtz in logo-emblazoned lamb’s clothing…