The Draft and some Soup

So for anyone that doesn't the NHL draft was last Friday and Saturday. If you didn't know when the draft was you probably didn't miss anything unless you're just the biggest Pierre Maguire fan on the face of the earth in which case you had the fan club meeting in your closet. The same closet Pierre Maguire hides in at night to watch you sleep.
Sorry got distracted. What I meant to say was That if you didn't know when the draft was you probably have no clue who the guys that got drafted are. Which is fine, because neither did I. The great thing about watching the draft if you're as clueless about the players being drafted as I am is that every team is trading players and the Canucks were getting boo'ed by the Minnesota faithful.
First of all let's talk about the #1 overall pick. The Oilers pretend that they don't tank seasons to get that pick, but let's be honest running an AHL team with an over the hill goaltender out there and then not winning shit is no surprise to anybody except Craig MacTavish.
Got that out of the way!
I want to say that out of everyone at the draft there was only one kid drafted that looks like he's ready to lace 'em up, hit the ice, and bang. Who could that kid be? None other than the Blackhawks' 1st draft pick: Mark McNeil. Seriously he doesn't look like somebody's little brother trying on daddy's jersey. Dude's a man. Which is good. We could use a Center with his size and I'm guessing he can bang. And we need some Bangers. NEED bangers.

As happy as I was about our 1st pick of the draft I was even more excited about us unloading $7.1mil worth of overpaid salary cap hell. AKA Brian Campbell. We can thank the Cap floor and teams absolutely needing to get there for us moving Campbell. Everyone I know said we'd never move him because of the size and duration of his contract. Not only do I not have to put up with Soupy, but I also get to rub everyone's faces right in it. Suck it. Suck it long. Suck it hard.
With Soupy going to Florida and Chicago receiving wounded warrior Rusty Olesz or cap relief in return means we can actually put something on our 3rd and 4th lines which were pretty much decimated this past season. But overall it means I don't have to watch a defenseman not play defense. I don't have to see 7million dollars of "WTF is he doing?!?!?!?!" when he tries those worthless end to end rushes.
So in short the Blackhawks drafted well (I assume), got rid of Campbell (HOORAY!), and Pierre Maguirre is in your closet.

thoughts

I've been lazy and I really have no excuse for not writing a damned thing in this for like 2 years. I've had a lot of time to ruminate and here's some things I may have missed writing about over the last two years and their hypothetical headlines:

1. Blackhawks squeeze past Nashville looking to lose to Canucks.
2. Blackhawks cream those Canuckle heads, Sedins cry in unison.
3. Sharks don't bother showing up for WCF.
4. Those cheap punks from Syracuse Philadelphia!
5. Holy fucking shit Blackhawks land on fucking moon!
6. I may have been drunk last night.....
7. WTF happened to the Blackhawks roster!?!?!?!?
8. At least we got Pisani! He's going to be GREAT!
9. Let's trade Pisani for a used puck bag!
10. Have we traded Campbell yet!?!?!?
11. Why can't someone fuse Bolland's back with a titanium exoskeleton much like a Terminator?
12. For Fuck's sake! Can we just clinch that 8th spot or what!?!?!?!\
13. who shot J.R. Ewing? OR Thanks for blowing it in Minneapolis.
14. Why am I watching this shit?!?!?!
15. Hey we got a chance against this Vancouver team!
16. Well.....shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
17. Thank GOD the Bruins won!

I think that about brings us up to speed more or less. Tomorrow look for my thoughts on the Campbell trade, the draft, and whatever it is that Flyers are trying to pull.

Trade deadline Suggestions.

Yes, this is late. But I'm transferring it over from Facebook.

1. Scott Stevens' elbow to STL for a Paul Kariya concussion
2. DUstin Byfuglien to Phoenix for Ollie Jokinen
3. Dominic Moore to the Ottawa Senators for Anton Volchenkov
4. Jon Sims picked up by Chicago Blackhawks
5. Martin Brodeur to Patrick Roy for a boatload of cash
6. Sean Avery to Dallas for Tony Romo to the Giants
7. Brian Campbell to Progresso soup for 3 cases of Southwestern Chicken soup
8. Kieth Tkachuk to the glue factory
9. Doug Weight to Shady Pines retirement home for 3 Snuggees and some Geritol
10. Barry Trotz' head to the Nashville zoo for a baboon's ass
11. Chris Drury to Buffalo for some self respect for the Rangers
12. Scotty Gomez to the INS
13. Don Cherry's suit to Rudy Ray Moore for some hoes
14. Ryan Smyth to Calgary for nothing. God just hates the Oilers.
15. Your mom for a conditional 6th round pick
16. Barry Melrose to Tampa Bay for a new hair do (Bubba Bryant)
17. Jiri Tlusty to playgirl, Hugh Hefner to NY to replace Avery (Amanda Perry)
18. Mike Milbury's hair to ned in 7th grade for a pocket protector
19. Brett Hull trades co-GM Les Jackson to McDonald's for a year's supply of Big Macs (Erin Holliday)
20. Chelios to an Adirondack chair for some back issues of Hockey News and a pair of Reggie Dunlop pants.
21. Claude Lemiux's skating abilty for Baby Huey's goal tending skills and a flock of 'migratory' Candian geese.
22.

Dear Wayne

Dear Wayne Gretzky,

Your legacy as a scoring center is cast in solid gold and sitting in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Everyone knows your name, knows your face, knows what you did for the league in the 80's and early 90's. You're an icon.
But you are not a coach. I understand how hard it is to let go of the game that has given you so much, and no one is asking you to. But you do not belong behind the bench. With a 132-150-22 record up until now it is obvious that you own the lower end of mediocrity.
Perhaps it is time to move to the front office and be an ambassador of the sport before you run an entire franchise into the ground. The Phoenix Coyotes have a decent talent pool. You actually have a pretty good team, but you are dis-servicing them by not bringing in a good coach.
So Wayne please retire from coaching anything above peewees or the odd celebrity game. It's not your forte.

--Angry in Illinois

I pop off at the mouth

It's hard to win 9-2 graciously. What am I supposed to say? They played a hell of a game? Fuck that! How could I? when you give up 9 goals, no matter how flukey they are, on home ice; you suck. That's right. I said it. The Oilers suck.
It's been a long time since they were a dynasty. It's been a Pete Pocklington trading Gretzky to California 20th year anniversary long time. I hear the fans whine about Craig MacTavish, but last time I checked Craig doesn't lace them up. He does however stand ineffectively on the bench like Barry Melrose did in Tampa. But the team lacks the ability to follow through, play heads up, and keep pucks out of the net as evidenced by last night's game.
But the Oilers are not alone. You know who else sucks? The Phoenix Coyotes. We gave them a 7-1 ass whipping too. And we did the same thing last season when we threw them a 6-0 skull-crackin'. At least once per season we don't just beat them, we embarrass the shit out of them. This year we were also treated to Gretzky running his suck about rookie winger Kris Versteeg after the game.
I never liked Wayne much as a player (which I've been over before), but as coach I think he's an embarrassment. Seriously, the guy should retire and be an ambassador of hockey or something.
Talk about a sore loser in WAY over his head.
I can only look ahead to the next blow out raping we hand a team. So until then I'm gonna be waiting ever ready with vigilance and some beers. Later, All.

Building the team

This is how you make a contender like the 2008-2009 Chicago Blackhawks. Carefully. You build it on the backs of broken seasons, hardships gone but not forgotten, and state wide liver damage of your fans. 3 years ago no one would have mentioned the Chicago Blackhawks and the Playoffs in the same breath unless it was the punchline to a joke or just some wishful thinking. Now the team is not only a contender for the Playoffs but the question is "How far will they go?" So I thought I'd break it down where this team came from.

The Draft is the best place to refill the cupboards efficiently without the risk of signing a big money bust on the free agency market. But drafting excellently takes not just good, but great scouting. This is where Dale Tallon's insistence on doubling the budget for scouting on his first day of being a General Manager comes into play. It's easy to see where the scouts came in towards how, when, and who they drafted. Patrick Kane at 1st overall is a no-brainer so was Johnny Toews at 3rd overall, assuming he's still left out there. But the true genius comes in snagging a guy like Dustin Byfuglien in the 8th round or super pest/grinder Adam Burrish in the 9th and then watching them crack the NHL line up legitimately.

Drafting
Dave Bolland- DRAFTED 2nd round draft pick (32nd overall) in the 2004 draft
Troy Brower- DRAFTED 7th round draft pick (214th overall) in the 2004 draft
Adam Burrish- DRAFTED 9th round draft pick (282nd overall) in the 2002 draft
Dustin Byfuglien- DRAFTED 8th round draft pick (245th overall) in the 2003 draft
Patrick Kane- DRAFTED 1st round pick (1st overall) in the 2007 Draft
Johnny Toews DRAFTED 1st round pick (3rd overall) in the 2006 draft
Cam Barker DRAFTED 1st round (3rd overall) in the 2004 draft
Duncan Kieth DRAFTED 2nd round pick (54th overall) in the 2002 draft
Brent Seabrook DRAFTED 1st round (14th overall) in the 2003 draft
James Wisniewski DRAFTED 5th round pick (156th overall) in the 2002 draft


So you drafted a dud and signed a bust, huh? Well chances are someone deeply and thoroughly believes that that bust or dud simply needs a change of scenery or a different system and will be willing to make a deal unless you're trying to shop Sean Avery around. Trading wisely can build a core of players to play the 3rd and 4th lines and occassionally you get lucky and put a Patrick Sharp in your line up for next to nothing. I would like to take a minute here to deeply thank Bobby Clarke for his contributions to the Chicago Blackhawks, and for taking some of the deadest weight we've ever had.
TRADING
Craig Adams- Acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional Draft pick last season.
Ben Eager- Acquired from the Philedelphia Flyers for defenseman Jim Vandermeer (now in Calgary)
Colin Fraser- Acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers with Jim Vandermeer and a 2nd round pick for Alexi Zhamnov and a 4th round pick.
Martin Havlat- Acquired from the Ottawa Senators with Bryan Smolinski for Micheal Barinka, Mark Bell, Tom Preissing and Josh Hennessy and a 2008 2nd round draft pick through San Jose
Andrew Ladd Acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes for Tuomo Ruutu (Chicago's 2001 1st round [9th overall] draft pick).
Patrick Sharp Acquired from the Philadephia Flyers with Eric Meloche for Matt Ellison and a 3rd round draft pick in the 2006 draft
Kris Versteeg Acquired from the Boston Bruins for Brandon Bochenski

So you drafted some youth, traded for some energy, but you need some much missing veteran depth to replace your duds and losers that got traded away, huh? Free Agency is the place for you to go assuming you can stomach a big contract, attract the right kind of attention from the player you want, and have a viable destination for him to go. The free agent market is a dangerous and surprising place. You have everything from the small dollar surprise such as Walker and Johnson to the mid-level contributor such as a Brent Sopel all the way to the "Holy Grail" acquisition of a Brian Campbell.
Free Agent Signings
Brian Campbell Free Agent signing before the 08-09 campaign
Aaron Johnson Free Agent signing before the 08-09 campaign
Brent Sopel Free Agent signing before the 07-08 campaign
Matt Walker Free Agent signing before the 08-09 campaign
Chrisotbel Huet Free Agent signing before the 08-09 campaign
Nikolai Khabibulin Free Agent signing before the 05-06 campaign

I hope you all have learned something about building a team of players that will compete at a high level. But more importantly I hope my little exercise leaves you with a better understanding of how the Chicago Blackhawks went from the bottom to the middle and now onward towards the top.



*Thanks to NHL.com and ChicagoBlackhawks.com for all acquisitions and transactions information.

Social causes and Awareness

Did you know for just 4 quarters a day, you can give some NHL players a much needed salary boost?
Peter at the Sens Army Blog has spearheaded a directive to shower these hard working men with some much needed adoration and pay raises. So get behind this important social cause.
Won't you Help?

http://sensarmy.blogspot.com/2008/11/no-habs-no-tomas-fleischmann.html