UPDATE: Dale Tallon 'fired'--the story behind the story

Haha, can I laugh yet, DTR? Dave Tallon and I are now at the exact same level -- "amateurs".

Clearly, the RFA goof up was the last straw.

rooneypoo wrote:Haha, can I laugh yet, DTR? Dave Tallon and I are now at the exact same level -- "amateurs".

Clearly, the RFA goof up was the last straw.

Rooney>you thought I was kidding when I told you to send in your application for the job as GM of the Hawks...

This is not news...Tallon was on shaky ground for some time.

davetherave wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:Haha, can I laugh yet, DTR? Dave Tallon and I are now at the exact same level -- "amateurs".

Clearly, the RFA goof up was the last straw.

Rooney>you thought I was kidding when I told you to send in your application for the job as GM of the Hawks...

This is not news...Tallon was on shaky ground for some time.

I'd apply for the job...but I'm busy...painting...my horse.

davetherave wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:Haha, can I laugh yet, DTR? Dave Tallon and I are now at the exact same level -- "amateurs".

Clearly, the RFA goof up was the last straw.

Rooney>you thought I was kidding when I told you to send in your application for the job as GM of the Hawks...

This is not news...Tallon was on shaky ground for some time.

So we're in agreement, then, that I know how to manage a hockey team at least as well as Tallon?

(What's the "for reals!" emoticon look like?)

There have been indications of various kinds that Dale Tallon was going to be moved out of the GM chair, starting with the appointment of John McDonough as President of the Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Club in November 2007.

With the arrival of Scotty Bowman as a consultant, the rumours began to multiply that it would not be long before his son Stan Bowman was appointed GM.

Interestingly enough, this article appeared on the RDS Montreal site just ten days ago:

YZERMAN BIENTOT DG DES BLACKHAWKS?
RDS.CA, 4 juin 2009
http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/277745.html

Dale Tallon demeurera-t-il encore longtemps directeur-général des Blackhawks?

Selon un dirigeant de la LNH, le président de l'équipe John McDonough lui aurait récemment refusé une prolongation de contrat. Rappelons qu'il ne reste qu'une seule année à l'entente de Tallon.

Le nom de Steve Yzerman revient souvent comme éventuel remplaçant de Dale Tallon.

---

I suspected that, given the absence of a renewal of Tallon's contract beyond this year, there might be plans for the Bowmans to assume greater control...and the developments in the front office were consistent with a possibility of Yzerman coming to Chicago.

What the reasons are for the timing, and decision to dismiss Tallon, may come out when the official announcement is made later today; but most probably in the aftermath and analysis of those who have an inside view.

As for the so-called RFA 'gaffe'...McDonough himself was, according to some Chicago journalists, responsible in part for the delay in sending the offers.

My view is that McDonough may have simply been playing hardball with the agents by not sending the offers earlier...but we will never know that for sure.

Hockey is a brutal business, and events like this underline just how brutal it can be.

When Denis Savard was fired, I looked at it the same way I do this news about Tallon. Unsettling from a human perspective...but sentiment counts for very little in the sports and entertainment world.

rooneypoo wrote: So we're in agreement, then, that I know how to manage a hockey team at least as well as Tallon?

(What's the "for reals!" emoticon look like?)

Rooney> far be it from me to judge...I'm just another hockey amateur.

Comcast Sports Network Chicago's Josh Mora is probably the broadcaster closest to what goes on inside the Blackhawks organization.

Mora broke the story on Tallon's firing (which was picked up by HB and The Fourth Period, and subsequently ESPN and others).

Late last night he provided his version of 'the story behind the story'.


MORA: HAWKS FIRE TALLON, STAN BOWMAN IN AS GM
Josh Mora. CSNChicago, Monday July 13 2009

Late Monday night sources told me the Blackhawks had fired Dale Tallon as GM and replaced him with Assistant GM Stan Bowman. With Rick Dudley already gone to Atlanta this off-season, it means that the Blackhawks have turned over virtually their entire front office since John McDonough came in as president, with Bowman being the lone exception.

First, some thoughts about Bowman. Stan is a very sharp guy. Though his background is the financial side, rather than the player/scouting side, he's been around hockey all his life. (He was named after the Stanley Cup for Pete's sake!) He's been involved in the decisions about on-ice personnel since I've been around the team. With Stan, the club is in good hands going forward.

But how Stan ascends to the general manager's position, and how it became available in the first place, betrays big political maneuverings in the front office. Those kinds of things are never healthy -- not when those conflicts are ongoing, and in the end they aren't healthy for those who survive the conflict. These kinds of manifestations of petty jealousies are worrisome for a franchise that has had so much going in the right direction.

To the outside world, it appears that the Hawks fired Dale Tallon because he cost them money when the organization bungled the distribution of the RFA offers two weeks ago. But it likely isn't so. First of all, the agents and players I talked to disputed the notion that the Hawks lost money in the mistake.

Every one of them doubted that the players would have automatically become Unrestricted Free Agents even if the Players' Association won their grievance, which was a questionable proposition.

Second, it isn't clear that Tallon was the one who made the mistakes, even though he took the blame for it last week.

There's even a published report from Sunday's Boston Globe by the esteemed veteran hockey writer Kevin Paul Dupont that cites a source saying that Tallon wasn't to blame for the RFA mistakes, but that McDonough himself had a hand in delaying the contracts.

So there are clearly two stories here. The first claims Tallon made the mistakes. That story leaked to TSN at night on July 3rd, three days after the contracts were late.

The question is why then? And who released it? I raised those questions at the time, and in my last blog you'll note that one of the possibilities I suggested was that "It could be someone within the organization who has his eyes on the GM job, or who wants someone different in the GM job. All I can say here is that I hope not. But I think it's a plausible scenario."

With the clarity of a little time and a few more developments, it looks to me like this is the scenario that allowed the contract snafu to reach the public.

The second story is the one that reached the Boston Globe, and in retrospect it looks like the defense put out by Tallon's supporters.

Why, then, did Tallon himself accept the responsibility? In part he did it because Tallon plays by old school rules of war and hockey and other sports -- the man in charge takes the bullet because ultimately all the responsibilities are his responsibilities. And in part he did it because he knew that once that RFA story hit the streets, he was a goner.

We may never know the truth of what happened in regards to the RFA story. I highly doubt John McDonough had anything to do with delaying the contracts himself. For one, it's bad public relations, and McDonough doesn't stand for that.

For another, McDonough is about mending fences not creating rifts. For a third, I think such a move would be beneath him.

Let's not forget, it was McDonough who made sure the team went to Dale's father's funeral as a team after a game in Toronto. John doesn't fight dirty in his own house.

But could someone else, have intentionally held up those contracts, knowing it would make Dale look bad and cause the kind of negative publicity that McDonough detests? Last blog I said that though I hoped not, it was plausible, and I think so again here (Though for the record, I'm not referring to Stan Bowman. This isn't how he operates. Nor am I trying to out the person here. It really isn't relevant to the larger point).

And so I think this points to the real reason Dale was let go.

There was a deep divide in the front office about many things. Certain player signings. Certain contract agreements. Direction about styles of play and which players fit those styles of play. During the playoffs, there were even some front office people who weren't thrilled to see the Hawks advance as far as they did because that made it tougher to move Dale out.

Dale was not a perfect GM, but I liked him. Perhaps there were some contract negotiations that could have gone better. Perhaps there are managers with more natural intellectual talents.

But Tallon certainly knew hockey up and down. He made more good trades than bad trades. He signed and drafted more good players than bad ones (though by less of a margin than his trading record). And he was a great guy to deal with -- courteous to the media, gracious in returning phone calls and texts, and lightning quick with a one-liner.

But I liked him most because he loved his team -- the organization as well as the individual players -- with every ounce of his being. He churned as much about winning and losing when the team had a 66 point season, as he did when they were three wins away from the Stanley Cup Finals.

There's something to be said about having a guy at the top of the organization who allows his passion to burn so visibly rather than keeping it close to his vest.

We'll find out over the coming months if the Hawks actually improved on Monday night. It's very possible they did.

But the days of innocence and wonder are over.

The Hawks paid a price in blood and soul. They have to win, then hope the price they paid to do so was worth it.

A link to the audio commentary by Mora, from a telephone interview with Comcast Sportsnight can be found here:
http://csnchicago.com/pages/new_landing?Mora-Blackhawks-Fire-GM-Dale-Tallon=1&blockID=63735&feedID=661

Oddly similar to Muckler getting canned after going to the SCF.

So what are your feelings on it DTR? Do you like the decision to fire Talon. Do you agree with this blogger who suggests there could be some in fighting going on in the organisation to the point where, even with Talon gone, it has the potential to cause further issues?

wow what a controversy in Chicago, well maybe not, but they are making it sound out to be one, nothing worse than infighting in a corporate structure, back stabbing gets the team nowhere. I won't say too much until I hear from Dave, he knows the team well and the people surrounding the team, so he will be able to shed some more light on this.

rooneypoo wrote:Clearly, the RFA goof up was the last straw.

Sounds like it was. I still can't believe he made that RFA goof up. Unbelievable.

SensFan71 wrote:wow what a controversy in Chicago, well maybe not, but they are making it sound out to be one, nothing worse than infighting in a corporate structure, back stabbing gets the team nowhere. I won't say too much until I hear from Dave, he knows the team well and the people surrounding the team, so he will be able to shed some more light on this.

Well, I have been following the story in the Chicago papers and on Chicago radio, as well Comcast Sports Net Chicago, where the story originated from Hawks broadcaster and insider Josh Mora.

Listening to Josh Mora's audio clip is very instructive. Here's the link:
http://csnchicago.com/pages/player?is_popup=1&feedID=634&vidID=10866&startclip=1&dord=mr

Mora said that the RFA 'brouhaha' was NOT the issue...this change appeared to have been brewing for some time. There were apparently disagreements in the front office over certain aspects of the direction and management of the team and its assets.

Tallon was a holdover from the previous regime, and club President John McDonough apparently wanted his regime to be firmly in charge.

As I said, not a surprise to Hawks fans.

Steve Rosenbloom of The Chicago Tribune had predicted this change back in October of last year. His column follows:

TALLON LOSES THIS GAME OF 'SURVIVOR'
Steve Rosenbloom, Rosenblog/The Tribune Sports, October 16, 2008

I signed off the last post with the idea that Dale Tallon will be the next Blackhawks suit to get fired, and the more I think about the ham-handed way in which this or-gan-I-za-tion fired coach Denis Savard on Thursday after a win -- and just four games into the season -- the more I think the Hawks are wasting our time with the news conference this afternoon.

They should just finish the job. They should do what it seems hockey guru Scotty Bowman has in mind, which I believe is to get rid of Tallon, promote his son, Stan, the Hawks assistant GM, and then everybody will take orders from Scotty. This is what seems to be happening anyway, so why not admit it and get on with it?

I don't see how Tallon sticks around. He has spent about $13 million in goalies, but only half of that can play at one time. The expensive signing of Cristobal Huet and the failure to dump the even-more-expensive Nikolai Khabibulin, along with some curious spending on some complementary players in a salary-cap world, forced Tallon to trade second-line center Robert Lang.

And guess what? One of the things the Hawks desperately need now is a second-line center who can get 55 or 60 points, work a second power-play unit and has a ring.

The fallout from those moves forced the deposed Savard to move Patrick Sharp to center after he had a career season on the wing with kid stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. This team is too young to deal with such messes successfully, if four games is any indication, and apparently it was more than enough for somebody on the West Side.

The top two lines are a problem, the goalie choice remains a problem, and the Hawks will need a defenseman or two before it's all over. It's tough to rectify what's wrong on the ice when things don't appear solid upstairs.

Another point to be made here: Don't confuse what the Hawks did with the way they're doing it. The way they're doing it makes you think Bill Wirtz and Bob Pulford are still in charge. But what they're doing is closer to the right thing than they've done in a while.

The Hawks are paying Svengali Bowman for his expert opinion, and no one is more expert.

Few people can be as ruthless, as well.

Savard wanted his players to commit to the Indian. The Hawks appear to have committed to the Bowman.

---

So how do I feel? It's not pleasant, but not unexpected. I keep coming back to what Bobby Hull said in his book "Hockey Is My Game"...People kept forgetting that hockey is also a big business.

It's a business decision. It looks ugly, but I know the ugly side of big business all too well.

The Hawks' management have work to do, and there are games to be played. So you move on.

Good thing Bowman is apparently a capologist. He's gonna need every skill to get the Hawks compliant for next year.

A quick heads up - Bryan Murray loves to deal with new, inexperienced GMs. Who knows...

SpezDispenser wrote:A quick heads up - Bryan Murray loves to deal with new, inexperienced GMs. Who knows...

Well, this *new* GM has Scotty Bowman looking over his shoulder... so I don't think BM will be able to pull a quick one here.

But, you never know.

And thus, a new Bowman era begins in Hawks-land.

shabbs wrote:
Well, this *new* GM has Scotty Bowman looking over his shoulder... so I don't think BM will be able to pull a quick one here.

But, you never know.

And thus, a new Bowman era begins in Hawks-land.

True enough Shabbs. Still...Murray's like Iceman in Top Gun. You get bored, do something stupid and he's got you.

SpezDispenser wrote:

shabbs wrote:
Well, this *new* GM has Scotty Bowman looking over his shoulder... so I don't think BM will be able to pull a quick one here.

But, you never know.

And thus, a new Bowman era begins in Hawks-land.

True enough Shabbs. Still...Murray's like Iceman in Top Gun. You get bored, do something stupid and he's got you.

That's hilarious...

SpezDispenser wrote:

shabbs wrote:
Well, this *new* GM has Scotty Bowman looking over his shoulder... so I don't think BM will be able to pull a quick one here.

But, you never know.

And thus, a new Bowman era begins in Hawks-land.

True enough Shabbs. Still...Murray's like Iceman in Top Gun. You get bored, do something stupid and he's got you.

Well, if he can distract McDonough and Scotty long enough... he may be able to get him. heh heh.

Is it me or does it sound like there's the same old "autonomy" questions in Chicago as there were in Toronto with JFJ and the MLSE? Sounds like McDonough did not give Tallon full reign. I wonder if it will be different with Stan... or will Stan have both Scotty and McDonough pulling the strings?