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HOCKEY
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ADAM BURISH INJURES KNEE IN PRESEASON & IT COULD BE SERIOUS REPORT HEARD ON ABC 7 WILL THAT AFFECT THAT STATION'S CREDENTIAL STATUS & HOW LONG WILL BURISH BE OUT? STAY TUNED.
THE KANE MUTINY  
(8-10-09) It's been an interesting summer for the Chicago Blackhawks and their 2008 Rookie of the Year Patrick Kane. First he gets featured on the cover of EA Sports video game "NHL10," and now another endorsement falls into his lap. He is on the cover of the most recent of the "Grand Theft Auto" series in "Grand Theft Auto: Ice City." Based on recent events, play as Kane or any one of his relatives as they hop from cab to cab in Ice City looking for exact change. When you don't get it, let loose on the stingy cabbie and then go over the falls in a barrel. Remember, every dime counts. P.S. Here's the story of Kane's wild cab ride in Buffalo. Although I have my issues with the Blackhawks organization that I will get into more on this site in the coming weeks, I sincerely hope that Kane and his cousin didn't act as stupidly as the **Click here for another update in the Buffalo News from 8/11/09.  Photo: Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News KANES PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO MISDEMEANORS; EXPECTED TO PLEA BARGAIN TO AVOID JAIL FOR BUFFALO CAB INCIDENT.
FUZZY MATH WITH HOSSA PUTS HAWKS IN TROUBLE 
The NHL is investigating the 12-year $62.5 million contract that the Blackhawks inked with offensive stalwart Marian Hossa at the start of free agency this year. Should the league find any impropriety regarding the salary cap or collective bargaining agreement, the Blackhawks could face $5 million in fines and lose draft picks. Is Dale Tallon at fault for this? Stan or Scotty Bowman? Will someone be fired for this if the Hawks are found to be in the wrong and get punished? Or is Blackhawks President John McDonough trying to get a deal as part of "Cash for Clunkers?" Only problem is since Hossa is out until at least mid-November, McDonough may have purchased the clunker. This is a sharp team in the front office, just as advertised. Yeah, it was hard to type that with a straight face.
HERE COME THE MIGHTY BOWMANS  
STAN BOWMAN IN AS GM DALE TALLON "REASSIGNED" After the late mailing of restricted free agent offers fiasco, longtime Blackhawk Dale Tallon was pushed aside for Scotty Bowman's son Stan. That situation sure was screwy. It seemed a bit much for a grieveance to be filed by the NHL Players Association, but it's probably something that automatically happens when the deadline is missed. Although inflating players contracts when your sport has a salary cap doesn't make much sense because not everyone can make as much as they want when everyone has a limit on their spending, but that's an argument for a later time. This day was in the works from the moment John McDonough took over as Team President and was put in overdrive when Stan's father Scotty came on as a Senior Advisor. Now Tallon will join the elder Bowman in that same role. This move smells the same as the firing of Denis Savard. While you can't argue with the results that Joel Quenneville helped produce last season, Savard's firing was still poorly done. The Hawks may go to the Stanley Cup Finals and even win it next year with a team Tallon built, but he is another lifelong Hawk that has been unceremoniously removed. It looks to me that McDonough is taking advantage of the loyalty that the likes of Savard and Tallon have toward the team knowing that they won't lash out publicly against the team despite the hurt feelings that both must have. Tallon was quoted thusly in a statement released after he learned of his fate: "I have been with this organization in several different capacities since coming over as a player in 1973, and although my position has changed, my goals have not. In my new role I will continue in any way that will help make this a better product on the ice. I'm confident he is the right person to step in. This is what is best for the Blackhawks." That's the definition of loyalty. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Sounds like he deserves better.
BLACKHAWKS SIGN FREE AGENT TRIO   
HAWKS' GM DALE TALLON SIGNS MARIAN HOSSA & TOMAS KOPECKY AWAY FROM RED WINGS BEFORE PICKING UP JOHN MADDEN. WAIT, I THOUGHT MADDEN RETIRED. HE'S KIND OF OLD, NEVER PLAYED HOCKEY, I DOUBT HE CAN EVEN SKATE, & HE'LL PROBABLY REQUEST THAT YOU ALSO SIGN BRETT FAVRE. OH, WAIT, THERE'S ANOTHER JOHN MADDEN? OH YEAH, THE 2-TIME STANLEY CUP WINNER FROM THE NEW JERSEY DEVILS. WELL, THAT'S NOT SO BAD AFTERALL. THAT PICTURE BELOW WOULD LOOK A LOT BETTER WITH THE INDIAN HEAD ON HIS SWEATER, WOULDN'T IT? 
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| CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 2009 PLAYOFF ROUND 3 THE RUN IS OVER Although the Blackhawks had an amazing 2008-09 season, it ended disappointingly with a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 5 on Wednesday night in Detroit. Despite some injuries for the Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup Champions proved repeatedly that the Blackhawks just didn't have it to overtake them this year. The way the Blackhawks played proved that as well. They couldn't clear their defensive zone to save their lives as shown on the series-clinching goal. They also couldn't get into or stay in Detroit's zone long enough to cause much damage, either. They made silly passes all over the place giving the Red Wings free chances they didn't need to win. Coach Joel Quenneville got this team to go as far as their talent could take them at this point. It was a steady progression of difficulty in their playoff opponents. First, the Calgary Flames basically had just one player in Jerome Iginla, and the Hawks neutralized him. Next, the Vancouver Canucks mostly relied on the Sedin twins line, and the Hawks minimized any production for the Canucks outside of that group. When the Wings came calling, there would be no rest for the Hawks. The weak points in Detroit proved to few and far between, but the Wings were very good at finding and exploiting any and all Blackhawks weaknesses in the series. The defensive questions from the first two rounds became gaping holes against the Wings, namely Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell. They were awful. I hope their play in this year's playoffs will motivate them to do their jobs better next year or motivate the Hawks to get someone else in here who can make the goaltender's job a little easier. That said, the team roared back to relevance with an exciting attacking style of hockey that was not only entertaining but also, and more, importantly WINNING! With this experience, the continued growth of young stars like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to go along with an improved defense, the Blackhawks will play into June of 2010. MY THREE STARS OF THE SEASON MARTIN HAVLAT, NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN, JONATHAN TOEWS MY THREE DUDS OF THE SEASON CRISTOBAL HUET, BRENT SEABROOK, BRIAN CAMPBELL DISHONORABLE MENTION BLACKHAWKS PR MAN BRANDON FABER
WEST FINALS, GAME 4 ONE GOAL: AVENGE MARTY HAVLAT
A (RED) WING & A PRAYER After dropping the first two games of the Western Conference Final in Detroit, the Chicago Blackhawks MUST win both Games 3 and 4 at the United Center this weekend. There's no two ways about this. If they go back to Detroit with the Red Wings able to clinch the series, their octopus will be cooked. Now, I like me a nicely grilled octopus but not from Detroit. To make this happen, the Blackhawks need to stay out of the penalty box and give Wings' net minder Chris Osgood some work to do and some traffic to worry about. Dustin Byfuglien was parked right in Mr. Osgood's neighborhood, and it helped create two goals. Also, the Hawks have to make good decisions. I don't care if Brian Campbell says he'd make that fateful game-ending move from Game 2 a million times out of a million, it was still dumb. The Hawks have to work for shots while the Wings get clear sailing at the net way too many times. Any team will do well with those chances, let alone the defending champions. And finally, the Hawks need Brent Seabrook to HIT SOMEBODY. He never seems to be ready for anything yet he's always right in front of the Blackhawks goal. I know he's very well liked and has a lot of potential, but watching him more closely in the playoffs he seems to be just window dressing. You could hang the No. 7 sweater on a hanger, and it would be more of an obstacle to the Red Wings than Seabrook has been.
PLAYOFF ROUND 2 MONEY MARTY HAVLAT The Hawks were less than three minutes from having one foot out of the playoff door and the other on a banana peel when who should come to the rescue? Martin Havlat...AGAIN! The hero of Game 1 against Calgary donned his cape again on Thursday night to take another packed house at the United Center from exasperation to extacy with a game-tying goal with just 2:44 remaining in the third period. He then helped set up the overtime winner with line mates Dave Bolland and goal-scorer Andrew Ladd making the comeback complete and turning the Conference Semifinal Series with Vancouver into a best-of-three. As much as is made of the young guns Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks would already be golfing if not for Martin Havlat's health and resurgence. He was brought here to win, but he couldn't keep himself healthy enough to stay on the ice until this year, and his influence has shown all year and even more so in the playoffs. He takes a fourth line with young hard workers like Bolland and Ladd and turns it into a legitimate scoring line. It's a great thing to see that what seemed like a bust of an investment has finally yielded good returns on the grand stage of the playoffs.
THE DEFENSE RESTS
With the loss Sunday night in Milwaukee, the Chicago Wolves will miss the Calder Cup Playoffs for just the second time in 15 seasons of play. It's an especially bitter pill to swallow just 10 months removed from hoisting the Calder Cup in triumph at the Allstate Arnea. It was a season marked by plenty of transition starting with a new head coach in Don Granato and going on to the difficult task of making up for the losses of Darren Haydar and Jason Krog offensively. Granato had his hands full, and injuries didn't help matters. The Wolves missed veteran Steve Martins for significant time as well as 2007 AHL Rookie of the Year Brett Sterling. All-Star forward Joe Motzko wasn't the same after his call up to Atlanta shortly after the all-star break, and newcomer and 34-goal scorer in 2007-08 Grant Stevenson fought with injuries and could never find his groove scoring only 8 times through Sunday. The goalie carousel earlier in the season didn't help matters either. The Wolves had four goalies on their roster for quite some time during the season, and that makes it hard to find enough minutes of practice for all of them let alone game minutes. Ondrej Pavelec still had a save percentage in the low 90's, but his record is below .500. He was great most of the time, but even he'll admit he had more clunkers than he's used to. The main killers for the Wolves were the power play and the third period. The team went 0-for-24 on this last 3-game road trip with a man or two extra, and they've been outscored by 15 goals in the final 20 minutes despite having many more shots accumulated in the third period during the season. The team was 3-23 when entering the third period trailing, so they were hardly a comeback oriented team. They sure could blow a lead in the third, the perfect example coming against Milwaukee at the end of December when the Wolves took a 3-0 lead into the third period only to lose 5-3 at home. No lead was safe for the Wolves in the third, and that ultimately cost the Wolves a chance to at least make this last week of the regular season worth something. Now it's just pride they play for with 3 games remaining, two of which are at home. I know owner Don Levin, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, and Coach Granato will work tirelessly to right this ship and be ready for winning Wolves hockey starting in October. | | WATCH MY 3 APPEARANCES ON WOLVES WEEKLY ON LINE  
WOLVES WEEKLY ON SPORTSPAGE, EVERY SUNDAY AT 9:45 PM I HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY "EXPERTISE"
ATLANTA'S BLUNDER 
Coach John Anderson was relieved of his coaching duties with the Atlanta Thrashers at season's end after just 2 years behind the bench. It's their loss. If I owned a hockey team, I'd hire him immediately and sign him for 10 years. I'd get Kevin Cheveldayoff as the team's GM and give him the same deal. If they didn't bring home a championship in that time, I'd sell the team, because I must have screwed it up because Johnny's a winner if given a chance and anything to work with. I know he'll land on his feet and do great things for whoever is smart enough to hire him.
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