Tallon Replaced as Hawks GM by Stan Bowman--UPDATED

Everyone knew Havlat was pissed, but wow.

Sorry, but good for him to say this.

SpezDispenser wrote:Everyone knew Havlat was pissed, but wow.

Sorry, but good for him to say this.

Why is it 'good for him to say this'?

Havlat had one good year out of the three he was signed for.

Yes, he had injuries...but he was very well compensated for his time in Chicago.

Havlat had an excellent season...as he should have, paid well as he was.

Management wanted to offer Martin a one-year deal...the story is that there were two reasons...one being the injury factor, and one being the salary cap factor.

Havlat chose to go with Minnesota.

Sorry, but Havlat got his money, so IMHO he should move on. He gains nothing from dissing Hawks management.

davetherave wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Everyone knew Havlat was pissed, but wow.

Sorry, but good for him to say this.

Why is it 'good for him to say this'?

Havlat had one good year out of the three he was signed for.

Yes, he had injuries...but he was very well compensated for his time in Chicago.

Havlat had an excellent season...as he should have, paid well as he was.

Management wanted to offer Martin a one-year deal...the story is that there were two reasons...one being the injury factor, and one being the salary cap factor.

Havlat chose to go with Minnesota.

Sorry, but Havlat got his money, so IMHO he should move on. He gains nothing from dissing Hawks management.

Remember when I was saying how the Hawks were probably regretting signing him for that much, and you replied that they were actually very happy with Marty, and how they would want to re-sign him. Now you're saying he had one good year of the three?

He was actually backing up the man who built that team... Can't blame him there. Shows he actually cares and loved the team he played on.

davetherave wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Everyone knew Havlat was pissed, but wow.

Sorry, but good for him to say this.

Why is it 'good for him to say this'?

Havlat had one good year out of the three he was signed for.

Yes, he had injuries...but he was very well compensated for his time in Chicago.

Havlat had an excellent season...as he should have, paid what as he was.

Management wanted to offer Martin a one-year deal...the story is that there were two reasons...one being the injury factor, and one being the salary cap factor.

Havlat chose to go with Minnesota.

Sorry, but Havlat got his money, so IMHO he should move on. He gains nothing from dissing Hawks management.

I agree to the extent that it "good for us" to hear this more than it's good for Havlat to say it. Nice to hear some forthright opinion from someone other than current management quite frankly.

I heard a fella from a local Chicago station who claims to be friends with McDonough but also said that this firing "stinks" and it was Bowman nepotism all the way.

Rick Dudley was more diplomatic, not owning up to any knowledge of a power struggle, but simply saying that Tallon should be an NHL GM right now.

wprager wrote:Remember when I was saying how the Hawks were probably regretting signing him for that much, and you replied that they were actually very happy with Marty, and how they would want to re-sign him. Now you're saying he had one good year of the three?

Prager> the Hawks were indeed happy. Havlat had an excellent year and was a strong performer in the playoffs.

The fact is that he had only one good year out of the three, due to injuries. It's not a measure of disrespect to Havlat to state the facts.

They DID want to re-sign him, and he was offered a contract based on his performance.

Havlat declined, and now he's a Wild man.

Hossa is a Hawk.

Things change. Time to move on to the next season.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

davetherave wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Everyone knew Havlat was pissed, but wow.

Sorry, but good for him to say this.

Why is it 'good for him to say this'?

Sorry, but Havlat got his money, so IMHO he should move on. He gains nothing from dissing Hawks management.

I agree to the extent that it "good for us" to hear this more than it's good for Havlat to say it. Nice to hear some forthright opinion from someone other than current management quite frankly.

I heard a fella from a local Chicago station who claims to be friends with McDonough but also said that this firing "stinks" and it was Bowman nepotism all the way.

Rick Dudley was more diplomatic, not owning up to any knowledge of a power struggle, but simply saying that Tallon should be an NHL GM right now.

SSF> you know very well that a guy like McDonough is going to measure his words carefully, so let's not be naive here.

And you also know that there will be as many opinions about the process of Tallon's replacement as there are mouths to express those opinions.

It's just the hockey business. Is it a 'nice' business? Of course not.

davetherave wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

davetherave wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Everyone knew Havlat was pissed, but wow.

Sorry, but good for him to say this.

Why is it 'good for him to say this'?

Sorry, but Havlat got his money, so IMHO he should move on. He gains nothing from dissing Hawks management.

I agree to the extent that it "good for us" to hear this more than it's good for Havlat to say it. Nice to hear some forthright opinion from someone other than current management quite frankly.

I heard a fella from a local Chicago station who claims to be friends with McDonough but also said that this firing "stinks" and it was Bowman nepotism all the way.

Rick Dudley was more diplomatic, not owning up to any knowledge of a power struggle, but simply saying that Tallon should be an NHL GM right now.

SSF> you know very well that a guy like McDonough is going to measure his words carefully, so let's not be naive here.

And you also know that there will be as many opinions about the process of Tallon's replacement as there are mouths to express those opinions.

It's just the hockey business. Is it a 'nice' business? Of course not.

I'm not being naive at all, DTR. We both understand that "measuring your words" in cases such as this is business-speak for "lying". :^^^^:

I just think it's neat that Havlat had the stones to say, 'There's something wrong with this picture. This is not the way things should be done. I want to stay here and gave you everything I had this past season - and you turn around and sign Hossa instead?'

He has a right to be peeved the way things went down, but at the same time, I agree he was majorly over paid for that contract. That was one of the silliest contract of that summer, if I recall correctly.

davetherave wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

davetherave wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Everyone knew Havlat was pissed, but wow.

Sorry, but good for him to say this.

Why is it 'good for him to say this'?

Sorry, but Havlat got his money, so IMHO he should move on. He gains nothing from dissing Hawks management.

I agree to the extent that it "good for us" to hear this more than it's good for Havlat to say it. Nice to hear some forthright opinion from someone other than current management quite frankly.

I heard a fella from a local Chicago station who claims to be friends with McDonough but also said that this firing "stinks" and it was Bowman nepotism all the way.

Rick Dudley was more diplomatic, not owning up to any knowledge of a power struggle, but simply saying that Tallon should be an NHL GM right now.

SSF> you know very well that a guy like McDonough is going to measure his words carefully, so let's not be naive here.

And you also know that there will be as many opinions about the process of Tallon's replacement as there are mouths to express those opinions.

It's just the hockey business. Is it a 'nice' business? Of course not.

Of course there are going to be many opinions. The whole timing is fishy. But anyone who believes McDonough's version of events as gospel truth, then I'd say they're probably not looking or not wanting to see the whole picture.

The man gave 30 years to the Hawks. The way he was dumped was just plain trashy. McDonough talks a good game about how the organization will hold itself to a certain standard, a way of doing things. They basically did a midnight move on Tallon. I want to be surprised that he's still with the organization but after being a part of it for 30+ years, he's probably way too comfortable to leave just yet.

I would expect the Panthers to be all over this guy.

From Havlat's twitter account....

"For everyone asking, I will be wearing number 14 with the Wild. I got into an arm wrestling match with Boogie over 24 and lost!"

You lost to a 6'7" freakshow? You don't say....
Just buy whoever wears number 9 a rolex and go back to being Mach 9.

SpezDispenser wrote:I just think it's neat that Havlat had the stones to say, 'There's something wrong with this picture. This is not the way things should be done. I want to stay here and gave you everything I had this past season - and you turn around and sign Hossa instead?'

He has a right to be peeved the way things went down, but at the same time, I agree he was majorly over paid for that contract. That was one of the silliest contract of that summer, if I recall correctly.

He was, but at the time they were looking for a top line player, and Havlat never got that opportunity in Ottawa. Chicago gave him that and paid him accordingly. I don't think that contract was too ridiculous. It wasn't $6.5 for Redden ridiculous certainly.

Havlat being pissed is a red flag that Tallon got shafted. He states on his twitter account that "Dale was a 2nd father to me", so if he's speaking out, he's got to be speaking out in defense of Tallon for a reason.

SeawaySensFan wrote:[I'm not being naive at all, DTR. We both understand that "measuring your words" in cases such as this is business-speak for "lying". :^^^^:

SSF> as we both know, business-slash-corporate speak is what it is.

My point is that, with all the hubbub over this, it's like Jack Welch said..."Business is simple." And this situation in Chicago is a lot simpler than people make it out to be.

Dale Tallon pursued a high risk strategy of spending big to make the team better. He made some excellent trades and draft picks. The team progressed, but the management of the salary mass became more difficult.

The RFA situation precipitated further overspending that put the Blackhawks in a potentially tenuous position regarding their budget going forward.

Tallon is not the 'bad guy' or the 'fall guy'. McDonough made the decision to move Dale out of the GM chair and put in Stan Bowman partly because, as he said in his various interviews--all of which you can watch by following the links I provided--that he feels Bowman is well equipped to address those potential issues.

IMHO McD is also no longer confident that Tallon can do that...so he made a change. And that is McD's prerogative as President.

The other factor is that McDonough probably felt the Tallon situation had to be dealt with as soon as possible after the RFAs were signed, because the uncertainty could have created distractions that would be detrimental to the organization.

Again, I'm not defending McD...just saying this is what may have taken place, based on my knowledge of how mega-companies like the Wirtz conglomerate work.

A lot of opinions will be expressed as to the motives of all involved, but in the end, what matters is that the team wins a Championship, right?

Marty Havlat might have thought Dale was 'like a father', but Havlat, after all is said and done, was a contracted employee of the Blackhawks.

That page has been turned.

Being 'nice' doesn't win Championships.

You don't play 'nice' on the ice...and you don't play 'nice' in the front office.

Hockey's not a 'nice' sport, and not a 'nice' business...and as far I know, there's nothing 'nice' about the business of pro sports.

And I don't know about you, but I'm actually looking forward to seeing everybody play hockey again for a change...