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Elliott Friedman of CBC has an intriguing couple bullet points in his latest blog . He says:
“… Strongly believe there was one, possibly two teams who were willing to take Cristobal Huet from Chicago. (Should clarify: I’m more certain about one than the other.) But the Blackhawks decided to stand pat, much to the surprise of other GMs. Unloading Huet’s contract (two years remaining, $5.625 million cap hit) would have ...
Antti Niemi Starts Wednesday: Blackhawks Carousel Turns Again
Posted: 9th March 2010 by TAB BAMFORD in NHL
After Tuesday morning’s skate, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the media that Antti Niemi would start in net against the Los Angeles Kings.
Round and round we go…
The staggering issue the Blackhawks continue to deal with is neither of their netminders appears ready/willing/able to grab the top of the depth chart. Niemi has had a handful of opportunities to become the undisputed No. 1, and has struggled with each chance. Meanwhile, ...
On Tuesday morning, the Minnesota Twins revealed that their closer, Joe Nathan, had a torn ligament in his throwing arm and would likely be shut down for the 2010 season.
The subsequent barrage of texts, tweets, and comments from White Sox fans were overwhelmingly celebratory.
As one Sox fan friend of mine put it, "Hell yeah!"
There's no doubt that Nathan being removed from the equation seriously hurts the Twins' chances of winning ...
Bears Signing of Julius Peppers Puts Pressure on Bulls to Sign Free Agents
Posted: 6th March 2010 by TAB BAMFORD in NBA
When the Chicago Bears signed DE Julius Peppers to a six-year, $91.5 million contract, they made a number of statements.
One, the Bears indicated to the rest of the NFL that with Peppers, Chester Taylor, and Brandon Manumaleuga, they're trying to win.
A franchise that had historically been referred to as "cheap" gave Peppers the highest total of guaranteed money in the history of the NFL ($42 million).
Two, the Bears showed their ...
Whenever something takes two weeks away from the NHL season, there better be a good reason. This year, the Olympics did just that.
The Idiot In Charge, I mean Commissioner Gary Bettman has made the point that there needs to be a legitimate value to the National Hockey League for the League to continue investing in the world's greatest sports spectacle. If the largest television audience in the history of Canada, ...
Let’s Make a Deal: The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres
Posted: 1st March 2010 by TAB BAMFORD in MLB
It's March, so it's once again time to get out the glove oil and rubber bands, clean off or buy new spikes, remember where the lucky batting gloves went, and wonder if you're too fat to play softball.
It's also time to wonder if your favorite player will stay on your favorite team throughout the entire season.
Because of the finances of professional sports, keeping superstar players in smaller markets is harder ...
The NHL has two poster boys that they promote all day, every day.
One, Alexander Ovechkin, was watching the gold medal game from home.
And yes, Sidney Crosby scored the now-legendary game-winning goal in overtime to win the gold, but he hadnÆt scored in regulation in four games in the tournament.á
Theánational face of theáBlackhawks has been Patrick Kane: Heáwas selected witháthe No. 1 overall pick in the draft, won the Calder Trophy, ...
It's been an incredible two weeks for six of the Chicago Blackhawks.
In Sunday's gold medal game, the United States and Canada played a legendary game that featured all of the drama the Olympics is about. Finally, Blackhawks' captain Jonathan Toews put the puck in the next to push his point total to eight (one goal, seven assists) in the tournament.
Toews was voted the best forward of the Olympic tournament by ...
This is my third and final pre-combine mock draft, and I'm going to work under the same rules I've used before: no assumed trades, despite how badly some teams want to move up/down.
The recent releases of a number of players, most notably LaDainian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook, shouldn't change much on the draft board because A) Philly took a back last year and B) I had San Diego taking a ...
NHL Trade Rumors: Nashville’s Potential Impact On Blackhawks Rumors
Posted: 24th February 2010 by TAB BAMFORD in NHL
The Nashville Predators will reportedly announce late Wednesday afternoon that they have agreed to an extension with goalie Pekka Rinne. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
Nashville, like Montreal, was one of the teams that could become active in the trade market before the March 3rd deadine because they had two netminders facing free agency this summer. The Preds were reportedly going to make a choice, based on ...