2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[RedRenesis]

I would think its a safe bet that if the Hawks win the Cup that Niemi will retain his starting job into next season.

[The_Admiral]

The plan for goaltending next year is to extend Niemi and bury Huet in Rockford/Europe if he can't be traded or sweethearted into retiring. As promising as Niemi has looked, cap considerations and common sense preclude giving him a huge raise. If some team swoops in with an offer sheet the Hawks can't match (but that team sure would have to be dumb to overpay for such a terrible goaltender amirite), I'll be upset, but he isn't irreplaceable. Which goalies are these days? Philly is two wins away from winning a Stanley Cup with Michael freaking Leighton.

As for giving a :censored: about next year, I'm resigned to the fact that there's going to be a "restocking" year as the higher-paid complementary players are cycled out for new ones. People are exaggerating the impending demise of this team. As long as they maintain the core of Toews, Kane, Keith, Hossa, Seabrook, and maybe Bolland, they're going to be in fairly good shape for years to come. It's not going to be like that 2006 Hurricanes team, where they quietly won a championship in lieu of anyone better bothering to do it, then fell off the planet for two years.

[Sodboy13]

Once you're in the Blues family you're always in the Blues family. He is a Blue.

I thought that only happened if you died in a alcohol-related motorvehicle accident.

Now now, in fairness, you can also die in your hotel room during a road trip. In fact, if you do that, it automatically makes you eligible for an ardent lobbying for the Hall of Fame.

It's great to see what you guys do with the grain of sands I give you. I don't think I've ever discussed Darryl Kile and the HOF. Course I never said your guys favorite quote either.

We're St. Louisans, we're Cardinals, and now we've lost one of them. And I'm mourning.

You are not a Cardinal. You're a Cardinal fan.

No sir.

I am a Cardinal.

But I won't partake in this discussion here anymore.

Ahem.

[STL FANATIC]

Once you're in the Blues family you're always in the Blues family. He is a Blue.

I thought that only happened if you died in a alcohol-related motorvehicle accident.

Now now, in fairness, you can also die in your hotel room during a road trip. In fact, if you do that, it automatically makes you eligible for an ardent lobbying for the Hall of Fame.

It's great to see what you guys do with the grain of sands I give you. I don't think I've ever discussed Darryl Kile and the HOF. Course I never said your guys favorite quote either.

We're St. Louisans, we're Cardinals, and now we've lost one of them. And I'm mourning.

You are not a Cardinal. You're a Cardinal fan.

No sir.

I am a Cardinal.

But I won't partake in this discussion here anymore.

Ahem.

Of course I said that. I'll say that again.

But I didn't say everyone's favorite refrain.

[DDR]

Once you're in the Blues family you're always in the Blues family. He is a Blue.

I thought that only happened if you died in a alcohol-related motorvehicle accident.

Now now, in fairness, you can also die in your hotel room during a road trip. In fact, if you do that, it automatically makes you eligible for an ardent lobbying for the Hall of Fame.

It's great to see what you guys do with the grain of sands I give you. I don't think I've ever discussed Darryl Kile and the HOF. Course I never said your guys favorite quote either.

We're St. Louisans, we're Cardinals, and now we've lost one of them. And I'm mourning.

You are not a Cardinal. You're a Cardinal fan.

No sir.

I am a Cardinal.

But I won't partake in this discussion here anymore.

Ahem.

Of course I said that. I'll say that again.

But I didn't say everyone's favorite refrain.

Back on topic, Chicago will back Niemmi as our starter next year if we win it all this year, no questions asked. In Chicago, we support the players that perform for us. Today, we are all Blackhawks.

[STL FANATIC]

The plan for goaltending next year is to extend Niemi and bury Huet in Rockford/Europe if he can't be traded or sweethearted into retiring. As promising as Niemi has looked, cap considerations and common sense preclude giving him a huge raise. If some team swoops in with an offer sheet the Hawks can't match (but that team sure would have to be dumb to overpay for such a terrible goaltender amirite), I'll be upset, but he isn't irreplaceable. Which goalies are these days? Philly is two wins away from winning a Stanley Cup with Michael freaking Leighton.

As for giving a :censored: about next year, I'm resigned to the fact that there's going to be a "restocking" year as the higher-paid complementary players are cycled out for new ones. People are exaggerating the impending demise of this team. As long as they maintain the core of Toews, Kane, Keith, Hossa, Seabrook, and maybe Bolland, they're going to be in fairly good shape for years to come. It's not going to be like that 2006 Hurricanes team, where they quietly won a championship in lieu of anyone better bothering to do it, then fell off the planet for two years.

Thanks. It was an honest, serious question, I wasn't trying to stir up trouble.

I'll hate any team that lets the Hawks off the hook by taking Huet (Campbell, too, but at least he still has game), and I really can't see anyone doing that. And of course the Hawks are already over next year's cap, so I wasn't sure what people thought they'd be able to do. I think Niemi's set himself up to get a nice payday (probably one someone's gonna regret if it's more than 2 years), and I have trouble seeing the Hawks being able to give that out. I'm sure they're convinced at this point Niemi is good enough to be their #1 next year, but can they actually make it happen? They've got a lot of stuff they'll have to sort out.

The Hawks won't fall off the map or anything. If they don't keep making the playoffs, it'll be underachieving. But they probably won't be the favorites on paper unless they pull off something spectacular roster management wise.

[STL FANATIC]

Once you're in the Blues family you're always in the Blues family. He is a Blue.

I thought that only happened if you died in a alcohol-related motorvehicle accident.

Now now, in fairness, you can also die in your hotel room during a road trip. In fact, if you do that, it automatically makes you eligible for an ardent lobbying for the Hall of Fame.

It's great to see what you guys do with the grain of sands I give you. I don't think I've ever discussed Darryl Kile and the HOF. Course I never said your guys favorite quote either.

We're St. Louisans, we're Cardinals, and now we've lost one of them. And I'm mourning.

You are not a Cardinal. You're a Cardinal fan.

No sir.

I am a Cardinal.

But I won't partake in this discussion here anymore.

Ahem.

Of course I said that. I'll say that again.

But I didn't say everyone's favorite refrain.

Back on topic, Chicago will back Niemmi as our starter next year if we win it all this year, no questions asked. In Chicago, we support the players that perform for us. Today, we are all Blackhawks.

As myself and Admiral both pointed out, questions HAVE to be asked. The Hawks can't snap their fingers and make it happen. Niemi's going to get some bucks, so where's he fit in the cap? I don't doubt it'll happen, but I'm curious to see what shuffling they do to make it possible.

[Sodboy13]

Once you're in the Blues family you're always in the Blues family. He is a Blue.

I thought that only happened if you died in a alcohol-related motorvehicle accident.

Now now, in fairness, you can also die in your hotel room during a road trip. In fact, if you do that, it automatically makes you eligible for an ardent lobbying for the Hall of Fame.

It's great to see what you guys do with the grain of sands I give you. I don't think I've ever discussed Darryl Kile and the HOF. Course I never said your guys favorite quote either.

We're St. Louisans, we're Cardinals, and now we've lost one of them. And I'm mourning.

You are not a Cardinal. You're a Cardinal fan.

No sir.

I am a Cardinal.

But I won't partake in this discussion here anymore.

Ahem.

Of course I said that. I'll say that again.

But I didn't say everyone's favorite refrain.

Forget your current career path; politics is apparently your calling.

[STL FANATIC]

I'm too nice for that.

But I'll end that odd side track there. Hockey, hockey, hockey.

[-kj]

STL's more vocal about it, but let's face it: for a Blues fan, the Hawks winning the Stanley Cup is our WORST NIGHTMARE. Seriously. It's much like the idea of the Cubs winning a World Series: sure, we know it's possible in theory, but we never thought it would actually happen.

[The_Admiral]

Niemi's going to get some bucks, so where's he fit in the cap? I don't doubt it'll happen, but I'm curious to see what shuffling they do to make it possible.

Removing Huet and Sopel (probable retirement) frees up $8MM in cap hit, plus the cap might go up by $2MM if all goes as planned with the union and so forth. Sharp and/or Versteeg are probably being moved for high picks. Madden, Burish, Boynton, and Johnsson are free to go. It's not impossible that Campbell will be traded. He's overpaid, yeah, but he's still a highly valuable component of the team, and if the market for offensive defensemen is as dire now as it was then, someone will be willing to take him.

[STL FANATIC]

If either of Campbell or Huet gets moved, the dynamic changes drastically. But they're albatross contracts, so it's not a given. Is Huet likely to retire, or was that just intended for Sopel? If so, like I said, that changes things. Campbell's is extremely expensive for very long, but like you said, he's still a valuable player, so I could see him being moved. It might have to be a situation where the Hawks give up a higher draft pick and Campbell for a lesser one, though.

[The_Admiral]

Sopel's a possible retirement. Word on the street is he'll be offered a cushy do-nothing job to get his $2.33 the hell off the books. I doubt Huet retires with two years left. My guess is they negotiate some sort of clever exit strategy whereby he gets paid not to be such a nuisance to the Hawks' cap situation, which will subsequently be investigated by the league and/or union.

[MDC]

I dont want to get rid of Sharp, but it'll probably happen. Similar to Havlat last offseason. He was great as a Hawk and deserves some credit for helping the Blackhawks with their turnaround. I think a Stanley Cup victory would be a good enough sendoff for guys like Sharp and Versteeg who will be tough to keep. Even if they dont do as well next year as they did the last two, a championship would certainly soften the blow

[Don]

I'll take Sharp off your hands.

[DDR]

I'll take Sharp off your hands.

You will? What, like a personal services contract? Can you afford that?

[Don]

I'll take Sharp off your hands.

You will? What, like a personal services contract? Can you afford that?

He'll be my personal hockey player. I've got more cap room than the Blackhawks do.

/snark

Rephrasing, my TEAM would be happy to take Sharp off the Blackhawks hands. They can have Tomas Fleischmann.

[oddball]

Anyway, forget about next year, we still have a couple more games to go before we worry about next year. I have this gut feeling that Philly will win game 6 sending us back to Chicago for game 7 where anything can happen and Pronger will take a 5 minute high sticking penalty in the third period with 8 minutes to go giving the Blackhawks a 5 minute power play where they score 3 times and win the game 5-2.

[DDR]

2 hours. I expect the Hawks to come out flying and the Flyers to come out hawking.

[Still MIGHTY]

"Looks like Tarzan skates like Jane"

"-4 Plus/Minus in 3 Hawks wins"

"-5 Plus/Minus in Game 5"

"100% chance we'll change our minds if Hawks sign him"

You stay classy, Chicago Tribune

Completely unprofessional from a newspaper standpoint.