EHM The Blue Line

Chicago made 2 deals today...


To San Jose:
Mark Bell

To Chicago:
Tom Priessing
Josh Hennessy


Also:

To Ottawa:
Tom Priessing
Josh Hennessy
Michal Barinka
2008 second-round draft pick

To Chicago:
Martin Havlat
Bryan Smolinski




Go change your pants Minty.

According to me,the best operation on that one is for the Sharks,no?

It sounds good for the Hawks to acquire Havlat... But i think they'd better build a real defense to protect Khabibulin than acquiring good goal-scorers...

I don't really understand the interest the Sens had in this deal... It might be the start of a rebuilding operation,but they don't seem to need it at once...

Wow; way to go Dale!! It will be simply amazing to actually have a natural goal scorer on the team; it's been years. Literally.

Bell is one of the few players on the team I have a high regard for so it will actually be tough to see him go. He's still young, he's big, tough and can score. He also is a "no quit" kinda guy and could be a hell of a power forward surrounded wih better talent than he's been saddled with in Chicago. Barinka is also a very good prospect who has looked sensational in training camps/rookie camps etc. and will be a very good NHLer I believe but injuries have raised some questionmarks about his durability so I'm not super upset there, I know we'd have to give up talent to bring in someone like Havlat. I actually really like Priessing too and would have preferred keep him and deal someone else but obviously that part of the trade was mandated by Ottawa.

Smolinski is smart addition to the team; much smarter than the additions of Martin LePaycheck, Matthew Barnaby and Curtis Brown as "veteran leaders" last season and hell no matter the cost you won't hear me complain about having a guy the talent of Havlat wearin the Indianhead!

Shad the Hawks are stacked with young defense currently, it's their forwards who are a few years from ready yet so this is a great deal for the development of the team actually.

Both Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook proved they have the ability to be solid NHL defensemen last year (one of the only brightspots of the entire miserable injury riddled season actually) with Keith making a big leap forward in his development.

They still have Cam Barker, 2004's #3 overall pick and top Hawk prospect who has been lighting up the WHL with 65 points in 69 games last year at Medicine Hat. He's a huge kid at 6'3" and over 200 lbs at only around 20 years old. So that's a serious core of three great young players on D; and if Aucoin doesn't get hurt every fifth game that gives them enough to not worry about it.

It's been the near absolute lack of scoring by the team that has really been the glaring problem. This is what happens when you deal Steve Sullivan and then count on Eric 'Daisy' Daze for 35 goals even though he's coming off his third back surgery in three years (and didn't play a game most likely to retire) and then have Ruutu also go down for most of the year with injuries.

So I'm glad to see that they've actually gone out and gotten a proven goal scorer because one was needed far more than an addition to the defense.

What about Wisniewski (sp.?), ya think he'll be on the Hawks roster next year, Minty?

Minstrel: i hadn't seen the things like that... It seems to be a better trade than what i firstly thought... Maybe not enough to reach a playoff spot,either... Time will tell...

Personally I've been a big fan of Wisniewski's because I love guys that have the desire and heart he does; he's one of those guys that is in constant motion out there. I think his combo of speed and toughness is a great match for the "New NHL" while before I'd have questioned the survival of a guy 5'11' who loves to hit... his offensive abilities are what make him a very interesting combo though. I think he has a shot to make enough noise in camp to get a long look.

A guy we've had our eyes on for a while has been Dustin Byfuglien (pronounced Bufflin) just because he is a monster. He was like 6'3" 280 when he was drafted loves to hit and not afraid to stand up to anyone, he got increasing icetimes as the season dragged on which can only help. If he gets himself in real NHL condition and decides he wants to be here Bubba can write his own ticket.

The "kids" are the only thing that keeps us Hawks fans from giving up hope entirely; we actually do have talent in the pipeline for the first time in, oh, a few decades. Hockey's future has the Hawks with the #4 rated system in the NHL. They have a coach now who not only will play young players but get the best out of them (as opposed to Sutter who is known to be terrible with young players). GM Tallon seems to have actually been given the power to shape a real NHL team. They have "big name" players with actual NHL contracts and skill levels. It's kind of wierd... Who knows what might happen.