“Turns out Marian Hossa has a bum shoulder. Wasn't Martin Havlat's history of shoulder injuries a big reason why the Blackhawks inked Hossa instead?”
No, Neil. Hossa was signed to spite Detroit and Havlat was ousted because Kronwall made him “eat his lunch”. The whole injury bug trade-off just happens to be a pleasant surprise (for us Detroit fans).
“But why try to conceal something that is bound to leak out eventually? If the Hawks were aware of the injury, which they claim they were, why not get in front of the story rather than wait for it to appear on the front pages of sports sections?”
That’s an easy one, Neil. Because they didn’t know. They didn’t have the first damn clue. And do you know why, Neil? Because Ritch Winter and Marian Hossa put a lid on it so tight that Dale Tallon and his pudgy, money-grubbing little fingers could never have pulled that intel out of him. And why not? You think Winter and Hossa are stupid enough to believe that admitting to a bum shoulder prior to contract-signing would add to his value? Tallon meanwhile was so distracted with getting another “blockbuster” deal done, and one that was a “stick it to the Wings” deal, who could blame him for not doing anything important, like looking at medical records.“Now this. If the Hawks knew about Hossa's injury, isn't it risky bordering on reckless to sign him to a $62.8 million deal without so much as a physical?”
Like I said, they were in too much of a hurry to get the deal done. Risky? Absolutely. Reckless? Dale Tallon wasn’t exactly worried about his job security, rumor has it he lost his job late in the season when he tried to trade then starter Nikolai Khabiboulin to Washington for Michael Nylander. John McDonough vetoed the deal and was waiting for an excuse to fire him ever since.
“Recent news seems symptomatic of a sense of urgency bordering on desperation that has gripped the franchise since the season-ending loss in Detroit. It's troubling. When organizations begin to cannibalize themselves, diners can become dinner and the feel-good vibe around a team evaporates.”
Good god. This team is already trying to come to grips with its impending doom. Diners becoming dinner? Is this some sort of metaphor for all of those bandwagon Bears fans that just want another reason to get drunk in public and yell obscenities? Go to a Fire game, no one will even notice. At least Hayes is taking into account how fickle and fragile the attention span of Hawks fans truly is.
“But there's a fine line between demanding excellence and firing a loyal employee who deserves much of the credit -- more than McDonough, in fact -- for building a roster worthy of a Stanley Cup contender over an oversight that didn't cost more than a couple dollars.”
And there goes the last remaining strand of credibility, Neil. McDonough isn’t the reason Chicago will implode in a year or less. It will implode because of Dale Tallon’s poor decision making and disregard for cap management, and any speculation to suggest otherwise is yet another shining example of the ignorance of the Chicago fanbase.
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At least when there’s NO news coming out of Detroit’s camp, we have such an abundance of BAD news coming out of Chicago. That’ll do…for now.
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