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Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: Blackhawks Free-Agent Targets
Jul 1st
Photo: Aerys Sports
Okay, this is it! Free agency starts at 11am Chicago time. Speculation is rampant as to who the Blackhawks will go after, so we thought we’d add to the prognosticating with a quick summary of who, why (or why not), and what the chances are.
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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:
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Welcome to CheerTheAnthem.com!
Jun 28th
The three of us want to say thanks for joining us on our new little project. We’ve split from the Fansided Network, and that meant saying goodbye to BlackhawkUp. If you’re still inclined to visit, don’t worry: Frank is a Blackhawks fan from WAAAAAYYYYYY back, he’ll be good to you. Just don’t feed him scraps or he’ll puke on the carpet.
We’re just getting started with things here, so please pardon our dust and the empty pizza boxes. As the off-season progresses we will be adding more features, and of course you’ll get all of the Blackhawks news and commentary you’ve come to expect. And it all starts right away: the free agent signing period starts Friday, and we’re all cranked up and ready!
One quick thing that we’re very excited about: our ENTIRE archive of old pieces from BlackhawkUp is loaded and available! Look back to when Tim called the Sedins the “Tampon Twins” and pissed off the entire province of British Columbia; check out Bartl’s Boxing from when we made Bobby Lu cry like a girl; check out Spinner’s playoff edition of “The Daily Espo”; it’s all there!
So once again, thanks for joining us, be sure to follow us on Twitter and “Like”us on Facebook, and we hope you’ll be back soon!
– Jeff, Tim and Brandon
P.S. — Yes, “Bartl’s Boxing” will be making its triumphant return in September. WOO-HOO!
Tampering Week: Shea Weber
Jun 23rd
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? Today we say, “Dream with me, people!” and look at Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber.
Photo: Bridget Samuels/WikiMedia
CONTRACT STATUS: Restricted Free Agent; $4.5 million cap hit in 2010-11
2010-11 STATS: 82 GP; 16 G; 32 A; 56 PIM; plus-7; 3 GWG, 211 hits
Tampering Week: Marcel Goc
Jun 22nd
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 Nashville Predators center Marcel Goc.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
CONTRACT STATUS: Unrestricted free agent, $775,000 salary in 2010-11
2010-11 STATS: 51 GP; 9 G; 15 A; 6 PIM; plus-10; 2 GWG
Tampering Week: Brandon Sutter
Jun 21st
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 wish list today is Carolina Hurricanes center Brandon Sutter.
Photo: Gregg Forwerck/Getty Images
CONTRACT STATUS: Restricted free agent; $1.225M cap hit in 2010-11
2010-11 STATS: 82 GP; 14 G; 15 A; plus-13; 1 PP goal
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: Semyon Varlamov
Jun 19th
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 Washington Capitals’ goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
Photo: AP
CONTRACT STATUS: Restricted Free Agent; $821,667 cap hit in 2010-11 ($765,000 salary)
2010-11 STATS: 27 GP; 11-9-5; 2.23 GAA; 0.924 SVG; 2 SO
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
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