A Chicago Blackhawks Site
Jeff Bartl
Editor/founder of Cheer the Anthem, season ticket holder in Section 326 and full-time sports writer who lists June 9, 2010, as one of the greatest days of his life. Contact him at jeffrey.bartl@gmail.com.
Posts by Jeff Bartl
Honoring Norval Nelson, a True American Hero, on Independence Day
Jul 4th
Norval Nelson with Jim Cornelison (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Ciepley)
When fan of the site Jennifer Ciepley contacted me back in April about her husband’s 92-year-old grandfather, I was touched with a wonderful story about a man who is the true definition of an American hero.
Before Game 6 against the Vancouver Canucks, World War II veteran Norval Nelson stood next to Anthem singer Jim Cornelison as the crowd cheered every word. Jennifer gave me the story behind Mr. Nelson, and I felt the need to write a post detailing his experiences as one of the few surviving U.S. Navy divers during the D-Day invasion June 6, 1944.
Jennifer informed me through email Mr. Nelson died Saturday, surrounded by his three daughters after passing away peacefully in his sleep.
Mr. Nelson’s family likely won’t forget the night he was able to be honored by the Chicago Blackhawks’ wonderful tradition, and Jennifer wrote of how much fun Mr. Nelson had that evening.
Here’s to a true American hero. Thank you for everything, Mr. Nelson.
Have a fun and safe 4th, everyone.
Blackhawks Add Veterans: Sign F Jamal Mayers, F Andrew Brunette, D Sean O’Donnell to 1-year Deals
Jul 1st
You’ve got to hand it to Stan Bowman if you’re a fan of a veteran presence.
After rolling through a disappointing season with an extremely young roster, Bowman added Jamal Mayers (36), Sean O’Donnell (39) and Andrew Brunette (37) to go along with Steve Montador (31).
It’s quite obvious the Blackhawks are trying to balance out the locker room by adding tough, no-nonsense veterans to a roster which didn’t seem to understand the magnitude of their failures last season.
While Duncan Keith admitted packing it in and most others continued with their versions of, “We’ll be fine,” the team pretty much fell apart and nearly missed the playoffs, which would have given Chicago an increased suicide rate.
Now, with a locker room full of guys who likely won’t take much shit, there aren’t many excuses.
Campbell, Brouwer, Kopecky; Free Agency; Draft; Cheer The Anthem Details – Welcome!
Jun 30th
Take it easy, fellas.
I know things look different compared to our last shop, trust me. It’s been a whirlwind few days as Tim, Brandon and I moved here from Blackhawk Up. We refused to let the move get in the way of providing our random idiocy to the loyal followers, so here we – locked and loaded.
Unfortunately, the shift came as Stan Bowman decided to revamp the roster, leaving us out of the loop on the Web to providing our thoughts. Since you’ve heard most everyone else’s already, I’ll summarize mine best I can. The main thing I want to talk about is our new home, which I’ll get to here in a few minutes. Let’s get started:
Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky dealt to Florida; Troy Brouwer to Washington
I’m going to start with Campbell, because I’m pretty sad to see that full head of red hair head to The Land of White Shoes. There’s been plenty of talk for a couple years regarding Campbell’s cap hit and how the Blackhawks need to rid themselves of it. At one point, I felt the same way. Then I realized at the times he went down with injuries the ‘Hawks were most always worse without him. With Duncan Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and to a point Brent Seabrook taking major, major steps backward last season, Campbell often played as the Blackhawks’ best defenseman. When a guy who isn’t your overall best player but is being paid like he’s your best player, fans become uneasy.
Blackhawks Trade for Rights to Buffalo defenseman Steve Montador — UPDATED
Jun 29th
Stan Bowman (hopefully) has made his first true addition of the offseason, trading a late-round draft pick for the negotiating rights to Buffalo Sabres defenseman Steve Montador.
The ‘Hawks have until 11:59 EST Thursday to strike a deal before Montador becomes an unrestricted free agent, though I can’t see Bowman letting this last that long.
Montador became expendable with Buffalo trading for Christian Ehrhoff’s rights and making a draft-day deal to acquire Robyn Regehr.
Montador had a $1.55 million cap hit last season, and likely will get roughly $2.5-$3 million from the Blackhawks. The 31-year-old is going to be a hell of a pickup for the ‘Hawks given his toughness and willingness to throw his body in front of the puck at any given time. Oh, and he can kick someone’s ass:
More >
Tampering Week: Andrew Ladd
Jun 20th
The Blackhawks are poised to make some changes after a disappointing 2010-11 season, and with cap space to spare this offseason there’s potential for some quality moves. Blackhawk Up will take a look at who’s available for Stan Bowman to pursue over the next week. However, Bowman cannot negotiate before July 1 – or should he? On the docket today is Atlanta Thra…err, Winnipeg forward Andrew Ladd.
"How 'bout this view, Stanley?"
CONTRACT STATUS: Restricted free agent; $2.35M cap hit in 2010-11
2010-11 STATS: 81 GP; 29 G; 30 A; minus-10; 9 PP goals; career-high 14.9 shot percentage
Tampering Week: Ville Leino
Jun 18th
The Blackhawks are poised to make some changes after a disappointing 2010-11 season, and with cap space to spare this offseason there’s potential for some quality moves. Blackhawk Up will take a look at who’s available for Stan Bowman to pursue over the next week. However, Bowman cannot negotiate before July 1 – or should he? On the docket today is Philadelphia Flyers forward Ville Leino.
Photo: Getty Images
CONTRACT STATUS: Unrestricted free agent; $800k cap hit in 2010-11 ($825k salary)
2010-11 STATS: 81 GP; 19 G; 34 A; plus-14; 117 SOG
Tampering Week: Brandon Dubinsky
Jun 15th
The Blackhawks are poised to make some changes after a disappointing 2010-11 season, and with cap space to spare this offseason there’s potential for some quality moves. Blackhawk Up will take a look at who’s available for Stan Bowman to pursue over the next week. However, Bowman cannot negotiate before July 1 – or should he? On the docket today is New York Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky.
Pucker up, buttercup. (Associated Press)
CONTRACT STATUS: Restricted Free Agent; $1.850 million cap hit in 2010-11
2010-11 STATS: 77 GP; 24 G; 30 A; 100 PIM; minus-3; 2 GWG
Tampering Week: Introduction
Jun 14th
"My lips are sealed."
Last offseason became one of expected loss as Stan Bowman faced the daunting task of keeping the Blackhawks salary-cap compliant. With that and a disappointing 2010-11 season behind us, it’s time to enter another offseason of change – this one hopefully for the better.
With July 1 approaching and the ‘Hawks possessing some wiggle room under the cap, we’re going to take a look at who they may be able to afford when the time comes. However, Bowman isn’t allowed to speak to potential free agents until the clock officially strikes midnight.
That’s where Tim and I come in. We’ll be breaking down free agents over the next week (maybe longer) to determine who Bowman should risk the fine for to get a jump on other teams, and who he should leave alone until it’s legal – or at all.
Of course, we all know the Blackhawks would never dream of breaking NHL rules and couldn’t possibly ever even think of tampering with a potential free agent. However, for the sake of having some fun, let’s play along.
The posts will start shortly, but we wanted to give you the opportunity to tell us your suggestions for who the Blackhawks may pursue. Make a case and we’ll put together a post.
Fire away, ya’ll.
*Thanks to our friends at Nets are Scorching for help with the idea.
The Greatest Moment I Didn’t Know Happened: Happy 1-year, ‘Hawks Fans
Jun 9th
"Yeah, you can just engrave my name right .... here." (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
With the next goal determining either a long-awaited championship or an anything-can-happen Game 7, the last thing I ever wanted to experience was confusion.
At 10:06 p.m. on June 9, 2010, those who packed into the tiny J&M at Augusta Blvd. and Oakley were just as bewildered as I. The puck was gone, the Philadelphia Flyers looked stunned and Patrick Kane was undressing faster than a slut on prom night.
It must’ve gone in. Did it go in? I think it went in…
‘Hawks sign Crawford to 3-year deal
May 19th
Breaking news via every Blackhawks beat writer on Twitter: Goaltender Corey Crawford has signed a three-year deal. A conference call is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. central time, when more details should be shared on the situation.
After the debacle with Antti Niemi following last season, it’s nice to get this done early to save for any stress. I’ll be on to update things as they come along, including the dollar amount.
UPDATE: Multiple reports say Crow’s deal is for $8 million, making his cap hit $2.6 million per season. Crawford is now making more money than Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick and Detroit’s Jimmy Howard.
Overall, this is fantastic news for the Blackhawks for a couple of reasons. First, there’s no more wondering who is going to be the starting goaltender, meaning for the first time in four seasons the ‘Hawks will enter training camp without any sort of goaltending questions. Secondly, the dollar amount is slightly more than we may have expected, but it’s not by much.
Between getting Crawford locked up and being able to do it for this price, the Blackhawks did very well on this one.
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