Hawks let Niemi walk, sign Turco

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=329318

The Chicago Blackhawks have walked away from the $2.75 million contract that was awarded to Antti Niemi in arbitration, which makes the Stanley Cup-winning goalie an unrestricted free agent. Instead, the Blackhawks have signed veteran netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

Truly a bizarre move by the Hawks, 2.75 for the guy who saved your Donkey, really isn't that much in my opinion.

I'm not sure about you guys, watching them gut their core (I know that didn't have a choice with some of it) is going make hard to cheer for them next season.

I know it's easier said then done, but they could have solved all their issues moving two players instead of losing 6-8 they have. Those two are obviously Campbell and Huet. Two horrid signings to begin with, and are likely impossible to move. I did the math earlier and I don't know if it is a viable option, but buying those two out would have saved them more than they saved trading all the players they did.

I'm kind of glad this is happening to them though, because it shows you have to pay dearly when you spend foolishly with no regard for rules. Ya, they won a cup, and I am sure some people say that it is worth it if they suck for the next 10 years, but they have fans to answer to.

M_Christopher wrote:http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=329318

The Chicago Blackhawks have walked away from the $2.75 million contract that was awarded to Antti Niemi in arbitration, which makes the Stanley Cup-winning goalie an unrestricted free agent. Instead, the Blackhawks have signed veteran netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

Truly a bizarre move by the Hawks, 2.75 for the guy who saved your Donkey, really isn't that much in my opinion.

I'm not sure about you guys, watching them gut their core (I know that didn't have a choice with some of it) is going make hard to cheer for them next season.

They haven't touched their core at all. They will be right up there in the West just like they were last season.

Straight Shooter wrote:

M_Christopher wrote:http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=329318

The Chicago Blackhawks have walked away from the $2.75 million contract that was awarded to Antti Niemi in arbitration, which makes the Stanley Cup-winning goalie an unrestricted free agent. Instead, the Blackhawks have signed veteran netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

Truly a bizarre move by the Hawks, 2.75 for the guy who saved your Donkey, really isn't that much in my opinion.

I'm not sure about you guys, watching them gut their core (I know that didn't have a choice with some of it) is going make hard to cheer for them next season.

They haven't touched their core at all. They will be right up there in the West just like they were last season.

Perhaps they will, but they have a tiny little chance of repeating. 1 in 100 IMO. They've lost a TON of their depth, their depth is now actually almost laughable. A deep team in the West will destroy them.

SpezDispenser wrote:

Straight Shooter wrote:

M_Christopher wrote:http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=329318

The Chicago Blackhawks have walked away from the $2.75 million contract that was awarded to Antti Niemi in arbitration, which makes the Stanley Cup-winning goalie an unrestricted free agent. Instead, the Blackhawks have signed veteran netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

Truly a bizarre move by the Hawks, 2.75 for the guy who saved your Donkey, really isn't that much in my opinion.

I'm not sure about you guys, watching them gut their core (I know that didn't have a choice with some of it) is going make hard to cheer for them next season.

They haven't touched their core at all. They will be right up there in the West just like they were last season.

Perhaps they will, but they have a tiny little chance of repeating. 1 in 100 IMO. They've lost a TON of their depth, their depth is now actually almost laughable. A deep team in the West will destroy them.

I know they aren't as deep as they used to be, but they can still throw together a pretty deep lineup, and with the top end talent they have it won't matter as much as some other teams.

Troy Brouwer - Jonathon Toews - Pat Kane
Kyle Beach - Patrick Sharp - Marian Hossa
Viktor Stalberg - Dave Bolland - Jack Skille
Jake Dowell - Tomas Kopecky - Bryan Bickell

Brent Seabrook - Duncan Keith
Brian Campbell - Nick Hjalmarsson
John Scott - Brian Connelly

Marty Turco
Cristobal Huet

Besides that 4th line/3rd pairing it doesn't look awful at all. Some question marks when it comes to young guys, but that's always the case and guys like Brouwer and Stalberg have proven themselves at the NHL level, so it's not that bad.

stempniaksen wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

Straight Shooter wrote:

M_Christopher wrote:http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=329318

The Chicago Blackhawks have walked away from the $2.75 million contract that was awarded to Antti Niemi in arbitration, which makes the Stanley Cup-winning goalie an unrestricted free agent. Instead, the Blackhawks have signed veteran netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

Truly a bizarre move by the Hawks, 2.75 for the guy who saved your Donkey, really isn't that much in my opinion.

I'm not sure about you guys, watching them gut their core (I know that didn't have a choice with some of it) is going make hard to cheer for them next season.

They haven't touched their core at all. They will be right up there in the West just like they were last season.

Perhaps they will, but they have a tiny little chance of repeating. 1 in 100 IMO. They've lost a TON of their depth, their depth is now actually almost laughable. A deep team in the West will destroy them.

I know they aren't as deep as they used to be, but they can still throw together a pretty deep lineup, and with the top end talent they have it won't matter as much as some other teams.

Troy Brouwer - Jonathon Toews - Pat Kane
Kyle Beach - Patrick Sharp - Marian Hossa
Viktor Stalberg - Dave Bolland - Jack Skille
Jake Dowell - Tomas Kopecky - Bryan Bickell

Brent Seabrook - Duncan Keith
Brian Campbell - Nick Hjalmarsson
John Scott - Brian Connelly

Marty Turco
Cristobal Huet

Besides that 4th line/3rd pairing it doesn't look awful at all. Some question marks when it comes to young guys, but that's always the case and guys like Brouwer and Stalberg have proven themselves at the NHL level, so it's not that bad.

That line-up isn't all that scary anymore. It's like ducks after they won the cup, gutted thier depth (mind you selanne and nieds caused issues) and never have been as dominant as they once were.

The difference is Stemp that their young guys had filled up the 3rd and th line spots and were almost all entering into their 3rd, 4th, even 5th year in the NHL. They knew what it took to be the energy guys (Eager), they knew what it took to win (Ladd), they sacrificed themselves on the 3rd pairing to win (Sopel) and they caught lightning in a bottle in nets (Niemi).

Now they start all over again with guys like Bickell, Skille, Scott, Connelly - all of them need to get their feet wet at this level, all must learn what it takes to win. Experience has left the building for anything other than lines 1 and 2.

Also, Brouwer on line 1? I rest my case. And Turco in between the pipes? He gets rattled reaaaaaal easy - especially by the Detroit Red Wings - a team he must have a +7 GAA against.

SpezDispenser wrote:The difference is Stemp that their young guys had filled up the 3rd and th line spots and were almost all entering into their 3rd, 4th, even 5th year in the NHL. They knew what it took to be the energy guys (Eager), they knew what it took to win (Ladd), they sacrificed themselves on the 3rd pairing to win (Sopel) and they caught lightning in a bottle in nets (Niemi).

Now they start all over again with guys like Bickell, Skille, Scott, Connelly - all of them need to get their feet wet at this level, all must learn what it takes to win. Experience has left the building for anything other than lines 1 and 2.

Also, Brouwer on line 1? I rest my case. And Turco in between the pipes? He gets rattled reaaaaaal easy - especially by the Detroit Red Wings - a team he must have a +7 GAA against.

They are gonna take a hit next year I have no doubt about that. But to write-off guys like Beach, Skille and Stalberg because of how young they are is ridiculous. Each of these players is put in a position to succeed and have the skill to do so.

And for what it's worth Brouwer played significant time on the first line last season, so I think he's getting hugely underrated in this thread.

I'm not saying the Hawks are shoo-in's to win the West, but I do think that they are still a top-three team in the conference and that they are getting underrated because of a few key losses.

stempniaksen wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:The difference is Stemp that their young guys had filled up the 3rd and th line spots and were almost all entering into their 3rd, 4th, even 5th year in the NHL. They knew what it took to be the energy guys (Eager), they knew what it took to win (Ladd), they sacrificed themselves on the 3rd pairing to win (Sopel) and they caught lightning in a bottle in nets (Niemi).

Now they start all over again with guys like Bickell, Skille, Scott, Connelly - all of them need to get their feet wet at this level, all must learn what it takes to win. Experience has left the building for anything other than lines 1 and 2.

Also, Brouwer on line 1? I rest my case. And Turco in between the pipes? He gets rattled reaaaaaal easy - especially by the Detroit Red Wings - a team he must have a +7 GAA against.

They are gonna take a hit next year I have no doubt about that. But to write-off guys like Beach, Skille and Stalberg because of how young they are is ridiculous. Each of these players is put in a position to succeed and have the skill to do so.

And for what it's worth Brouwer played significant time on the first line last season, so I think he's getting hugely underrated in this thread.

I'm not saying the Hawks are shoo-in's to win the West, but I do think that they are still a top-three team in the conference and that they are getting underrated because of a few key losses.

I think the loss of Versteeg is going to be the biggest issue

M_Christopher wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:The difference is Stemp that their young guys had filled up the 3rd and th line spots and were almost all entering into their 3rd, 4th, even 5th year in the NHL. They knew what it took to be the energy guys (Eager), they knew what it took to win (Ladd), they sacrificed themselves on the 3rd pairing to win (Sopel) and they caught lightning in a bottle in nets (Niemi).

Now they start all over again with guys like Bickell, Skille, Scott, Connelly - all of them need to get their feet wet at this level, all must learn what it takes to win. Experience has left the building for anything other than lines 1 and 2.

Also, Brouwer on line 1? I rest my case. And Turco in between the pipes? He gets rattled reaaaaaal easy - especially by the Detroit Red Wings - a team he must have a +7 GAA against.

They are gonna take a hit next year I have no doubt about that. But to write-off guys like Beach, Skille and Stalberg because of how young they are is ridiculous. Each of these players is put in a position to succeed and have the skill to do so.

And for what it's worth Brouwer played significant time on the first line last season, so I think he's getting hugely underrated in this thread.

I'm not saying the Hawks are shoo-in's to win the West, but I do think that they are still a top-three team in the conference and that they are getting underrated because of a few key losses.

I think the loss of Versteeg is going to be the biggest issue

That's funny because he's the guy I think will be easily replaced, haha.

I'm not sold on Beach, but he's ready for the NHL so it'll be interesting to see how he adapts. I think he'll be a big key for them going forward. And if they decide to play him in the "Ladd" role on a line with Bolland then he could be absolutly deadly.

I still think it's gonna take a long time to acclimatize the new kids to the NHL and the system played in Chicago, the role they fit in, the fact that the Hawks leaned on some of the 'depth' guys so heavily.

I think the Hawks will sorely miss Byfuglien, Ladd and Versteeg. I think Sopel was an easy choice to let go, but those are the 3 that have the potential to really hurt. I'm not even discounting what Beach and Skille bring to the table, just that they don't bring what those 3 did.

SpezDispenser wrote:I still think it's gonna take a long time to acclimatize the new kids to the NHL and the system played in Chicago, the role they fit in, the fact that the Hawks leaned on some of the 'depth' guys so heavily.

I think the Hawks will sorely miss Byfuglien, Ladd and Versteeg. I think Sopel was an easy choice to let go, but those are the 3 that have the potential to really hurt. I'm not even discounting what Beach and Skille bring to the table, just that they don't bring what those 3 did.

Obviously those three are gonna hurt, but their spots are basically replaced in the lineup by Brouwer, Beach and Stalberg. Now I'm not saying that these 3 guys will play huge roles like those other players, but they are good enough to hold the fort and the Hawks will hope that their top guys can step it up a bit. Luckily for them Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Bolland are all guys that are only getting better.

They have 4 top-six players. That's it. Any significant injury and they are fighting to get in 5-8. Although I cannot argue with walking away from paying $2.75M to a guy with 42 regular season game, I also cannot argue about somehow -- anyway possible -- moving Campbell and Huet. Bottom line, they snookered themselves but they *did* get a Cup out of the deal. If it does happen, they won't be the first SC Champs to struggle to make the playoffs or miss them entirely.

When you say that a significant injury in the top-six will leave a team fighting you are completely right, but the same can be said for any team. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a team with 6 'legitimate' top-six players.

If Spezza or Alfredsson get hurt the Sens will be in a world of hurt as well, so I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the BHawks. I think because they used to be so deep that people are underestimating the players they have in those spots now.

stempniaksen wrote:When you say that a significant injury in the top-six will leave a team fighting you are completely right, but the same can be said for any team. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a team with 6 'legitimate' top-six players.

If Spezza or Alfredsson get hurt the Sens will be in a world of hurt as well, so I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the BHawks. I think because they used to be so deep that people are underestimating the players they have in those spots now.

I agree, I think they'll make the top 5 in the West, I just think they'll be soundly beaten in the playoffs this time. No disrespect intended to the great Toews, Kane, Sharp ( ), Hossa, Keith, Seabrook, Campbell, Turco (blah), but I think there are deeper teams. Vancouver comes to mind immediately as a team that I can see taking their revenge on the Hawks.