Blackhawks re-sign Corey Crawford

From Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

The Blackhawks re-signed goaltender Corey Crawford to a one-year contract Monday.Crawford, 23, appeared in five games with the Hawks last season and had a 1-2 record with a 2.14 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. The victory was a 3-0 shutout of the then-defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks on March 5.

Read the entire entry from Icing here.

If the Hawks thought Crawford was capable of playing big NHL minutes in the near future, they definitely wouldn't have signed Cristobal Huet to a massive contract.

Chicago has very successful first fan convention

From Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

"When you're a player, you just want to be put in the best position to win, and it looks like Mr. [Dale] Tallon and Mr. [Rocky] Wirtz have done that so far," veteran forward Patrick Sharp said. "They've made some great moves this off-season, and ... this is the most excited everybody seems to be about [the team] in a long time."

The Blackhawks Convention drew a sellout crowd of about 8,000 to the Chicago Hilton for three days of autographs, seminars and a chance for fans to connect with players, coaches and members of the front office.

Read the entire story here.

Great idea by the Hawks to run an event like this. The fact is, the Hawks fans have every reason to be excited about the team's prospects for next season. This team reminds me a lot of the 2007/08 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Havlat's health improving

From Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

Winger Martin Havlat traveled from the Czech Republic to attend the convention and said rehabilitation on his surgically repaired right shoulder is going well.

"It has been four months, and I still have two months before camp starts," said Havlat, who was limited to 35 games last season after twice injuring the shoulder and undergoing surgery for a second time. "I should be 100 percent. We took it slower than the other two surgeries. This time I didn't have to push it.

"It's going to be important to stay healthy the whole year. I'm doing everything I can to be that way. I'm doing the rehab the right way, and hopefully everything's going to be all right next year. I'm pretty confident right now, but I guess we'll see when the games start."

Read more news about the Blackhawks here.

Havlat has all the talent in the world, but the Hawks really can't expect him to play more than half of the team's 82 game schedule next year. In fact, he hasn't played over 56 games since 2003-04. So, if he stays healthy and plays a majority of the team's games, that will be a huge bonus for the talented Hawks squad.

Toews named Blackhawks captain

From the Globe & Mail:

The Chicago Blackhawks announced Friday that centre Jonathan Toews will serve as the team's captain for the 2008-09 season, making him the third-youngest captain in NHL history.

Only Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay Lightning centre Vincent Lecavalier, both while still 19, became captains at a younger age than the 20-year-old Toews.

"Jonathan deserves this honour," said Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon. "He is a tremendous individual and a wonderful leader on and off the ice. He has experience in captaining teams from his world junior appearances and guys follow his lead in our locker room."

Read the entire story here.

The Blackhawks are going to be this year's version of the 2007/08 Penguins with all the young talent they have throughout their line up. Selecting Toews as captain only makes the teams more similar, as Toews will play the same role Sidney Crosby does in Pittsburgh. I love this decision by the Hawks. Toews is their best all-around player who will lead this team on and off the ice for years to come. Making him captain right now will only give him more confidence. The responsbility that comes with this move is nothing that Toews cannot handle.

If you believe this rumor, you'll believe anything

From the Canadian Press:

If talk turns to action, Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray could be on the verge of making his biggest move as the GM of the Senators.

A hot rumour in NHL circles has Ottawa trading netminder Martin Gerber and defenceman Andrej Meszaros to the Los Angeles Kings, who would send 20-year old centre Anze Kopitar to the Chicago Blackhawks, who then would send goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and either of young blueliners Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker to the Senators.

Read the short article here.

Ha. This is one of the top ten worst trade rumors I have ever heard. I can't even break it down because it is that far-fetched. How can the Canadian Press even publish this garbage?

The best/worst off-seasons so far

From Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch:

The events of the past four weeks will best be gauged a few seasons down the road. For now, The Dispatch offers this analysis of the proceedings:

Best offseasons

1. Chicago -- With all that "Youth Gone Wild" up front, the Blackhawks landed offensive-minded defenseman Brian Campbell and No. 1 goaltender Cristobal Huet to balance the attack. They could be the next Pittsburgh Penguins.

2. Detroit -- The Red Wings are so good, talent comes knocking on their door. Witness Marian Hossa taking a one-year deal to leave Sidney Crosby's wing and move to Motown. The Wings lost nobody except forward Dallas Drake (retired yesterday) and still have salary-cap room for the future to stay intact...

Read the entire article here.

No real surprises on Portzline's best/worst list. I'm not so sure I'd put Chicago at number one; in fact, I wouldn't. The Campbell signing was a nice move, but the Huet signing still doesn't make a lot of sense to me, especially at those dollars.

Brian Campbell on the Winter Classic

From Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

"It was mayhem," the Hawks' newly acquired free-agent defenseman said Tuesday about the game Jan. 1 in Buffalo. "If it's here in Chicago, the buzz would just be tremendous. It was a lot of fun for the whole city of Buffalo and western New York."

As the Hawks—and the rest of the hockey world—await official word from the league on the team playing host to the Detroit Red Wings on New Year's Day at Wrigley Field, Campbell met the media at the United Center to discuss his role with his new team and recalled playing in last season's outdoor game as a member of the Sabres.

"With the snow and the weather the way it was, the buzz in the city was all wrapped around that game," said Campbell, who signed an eight-year, $56.8 million contract with the Hawks on July 1.

Read the entire article here.

The Winter Classic is great for the NHL in every way imaginable. This year's reported game at Wrigley should be as good, if not better than last year's.

Wrigley Field to host New Year's Day game

From Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

According to a knowledgeable source, it’s official. The NHL’s second outdoor Winter Classic will take place New Year’s Day at the storied Wrigley Field when the Blackhawks take on the Stanley Cup-champion Detroit Red Wings.

An announcement is expected next week in the days leading up to the three-day inaugural “Blackhawks Convention” at the Chicago Hilton.

Read the entire entry from Russo's Rants here.

Should be a fun New Year's day game. The fact that Wrigley Field is hosting the game makes it much more intriguing than watching a game at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Having Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane playing doesn't hurt either.

Wisniewski tears ACL

From Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

The Blackhawks announced Thursday that defenseman James Wisniewski has torn the ACL in his right knee and will undergo surgery this week.

The 24-year-old defenseman injured his knee training for the upcoming season and is expected to return sometime during the season.

Read his entire entry from Icing here.

Tough news for the Hawks. Wisniewski has already torn his ACL on one occasion, so this has to be devastating news for him. The youngster came into his own last season for the Blackhawks and added some sandpaper to the team's blueline. Considering his past injuries, I would be surprised if he returned to the line up before February.

Martin Havlat on the trade block?

From Steve Zipay of Newsday:

Blackhawks are shopping speedy Martin Havlat ($6 mil, then UFA) to several teams, one of them the Rangers, I'm told by someone familiar with the process. Interesting. Especially if you can land him with a D from Chicago.

Read more from Blue Notes here.

Martin Havlat would be an interesting acquisition for the Rangers. He is a supremely talented player, but is always injured. His price tag of $6 million per season is a heavy price to pay for a player that very well might play less than 40 games.

Blackhawks building buzz

From Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

"We've created a buzz here in this market," Hawks general manager Dale Tallon said. "We're starting to sell more and more tickets and more and more sponsorships, and we decided we'd try to make an impact to continue that. We had to make a statement and we felt we made a statement. Everyone on this staff—on ice and off ice—has grown new wings. We're flying. We want to continue the buzz."

Read the entire article here.

I have never really understood the "building on momentum" and "continue the buzz" rationale. That only lasts so long, and then winning becomes the only thing that matters.

Rumor: Huet to sign with Blackhawks

From Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

Update:I just heard from a source that Huet asked the Caps for three years, $15 million and the Caps offered it to him. But Huet then said he wanted test the market today and see what might be out there. Now it's looking like he'll sign a four year deal with Chicago for $5.6 million.

Read more from El-Bashir here.

With Khabibulin on the books next year at $6.75 million, I don't fully understand why the Hawks would invest that much money in goaltending. Although Huet is an upgrade over Khabibulin, it isn't significant enough that it merits this much money invested in the goaltending position. Also, if the Hawks buy Khabby out, that is a lot of dead money on their cap.

Update: The deal is official. Read the story from TSN here.

Calgary Acquires Rene Bourque? Cujo to Toronto?

James Mirtle is reporting that the Flames have acquired left-winger Rene Bourque from Chicago. He also reports that Toronto will sign Curtis Joseph to back up Vesa Toskala.

The Outdoor Game may not be in New York

Larry Brooks: "The NHL needs to make commitment to the Winter Classic's host city within the next week or two. If the Rangers are awarded the game, it is believed they would meet the Bruins on New Year's Day in what would be the first of a home-and-home, with the return at Fenway on a year to be named later."

Here is the full article from the NY Post.

It appears the NHL's first choice is to have the game in New York and why not? However, the concern that the New York arrangement won't work does not seem that concerning to me as long as the NHL has Chicago and Wrigley Field as its second choice (which it does). Either of these two choices are terrific and whichever stadium is chosen to host the event, I'm sure will do a great job. As much mystique as the Rangers organization carries with it, an opportunity to watch Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane at Wrigley Field may be even more appealing than Scott Gomez and Henrik Lundqvist.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. A profile on the OHL's Ice Dogs, who are led by a Danish goalie.
2. Gene Principe pens the first What If The Oilers had... column of the off-season.
3. Mike Babcock feels that the Red Wings get no respect. Win a couple playoff series and people will notice, Mike.
4. TSN will televise the NHL Draft Lottery, billed the Stamkos Sweepstakes. Will they issue a retraction if Doughty goes first?
5. Kyle Turris impresses in his first NHL practice.
6. The Top 10 Excuses for the Vancouver Canucks.
7. Eric Desjardins and Pierre Turgeon have been selected to the QMJHL Hall of Fame.
8. The Hobey Baker finalists are announced. NHL.com previews the Frozen Four.
9. John Kreiser picks two teams of unsung Stanley Cup heroes.
10. Kurtis Foster's girlfriend initially thought he was "faking it" when he broke his leg against San Jose. Perhaps a little bit of turnabout?
11. Random thoughts from Edward Fraser.
12. Alexei Yashin is a pretty big deal in Russia.
13. Rimouski will host the 2009 Memorial Cup.
14. The Detroit Red Wings have signed Michigan State standout Justin "Alphabet Soup" Abdelkader.
15. Hayley Wickenheiser makes Sports Illustrated's Toughest list.
16. The Oilers hope to play the spoiler role tonight in Vancouver.
17. Vito Spatafore, hockey fan.
18. NHL.com hands out the end of season awards for the Northwest Division.
19. ESPN predictions for tonight's games.
20. Check out the story on Wally Stanowski, the figure skating defenseman.
21. Old time hockey with Jim Dorey.
22. Hockey season rolls on in Roseau, Minnesota.
23. The Chicago Ice Crew: Hottest Ice Girls of 2008. Chicka, Chicka, What!
24. Pierre Lebrun thinks the Canadiens have something cookin' as the playoffs approach.
25. Nice little puff piece on the Blackhawks.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Gary Bettman says the NHL may pass on the 2014 Olympics, since they are being held in Russia.
2. Fernando Pisani is close to returning to the Oilers, but Ethan Moreau is still out for the time-being.
3. Sean Avery will undergo wrist surgery after attempting to fit his entire hand into his mouth.
4. Ilya Bryzgalov has been a prime beneficiary of this move to the desert.
5. A profile on Peterborough's Zach Bogosian.
6. Chuck Kobasew has effectively filled the void created by Patrice Bergeron's injury.
7. Eddie Belfour's Swedish team is 18-1-1.
8. Inside College Hockey tracks the Hobey Baker favorites.
9. The Flyers have signed Braybon Coburn to a contract extension.
10. The NHL has visions of expanding the Chinese hockey market.
11. David Shoalts feels that MLSE must been unanimous when choosing the next GM.
12. George Johnson of ESPN with his picks for the NHL Awards.
13. Fanhouse notes that Jordan Staal is successfully demonstrating the sophomore jinx.
14. Chuck Gormley with an interesting story about the perils of the internet for professional hockey players.
15. Allan Muir of SI gives his contenders for the NHL Awards.
16. Kris Draper of the Red Wings is out for 10 days.
17. Dany Heatley answers readers' questions.
18. The Calgary Flames say they are tired of moral victories.
19. New details emerge about the death of Bob Gainey's daughter.
20. The NY Post discusses the Red Wings' PP.
21. Darren McCarty still hopes to return to the NHL.
22. The Leafs arethisclose to touching bottom.
23. The Blackhawks will welcome Martin Havlat back to the lineup tonight vs. the Bolts.
24. The New York Rangers have renounced their team option on Jagr for the 2008-09 Season.
25. 10 Tips from the NHL to the NFL to increase scoring.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

Nightly Recap - Sabourin Picks up Relief Win

Pittsburgh 6 - Ottawa 5 - Dany Sabourin entered the game with the Pens down 2-0 and earns the relief win in a shootout. After playing in only 9 games last year backing up Roberto Luonogo, Sabourin has appeared in more games this year than all of last year. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza had three points each for the Sens, Pittsburgh's Ryan Malone also collected three points.

Nashville 3 - Detroit 2 - Martin Erat was in on all three Predator goals, putting up a goal and two assists. Erat started off slow this season recording only 6 points in his first 11 games, but in his past 10 games, he has scored 14 points, including 5 multi-point nights. Chris Mason stopped 28 in the win.

Chicago 2 - Calgary 1 - Chicago scored both of their goals tonight on the penalty kill, it was Patrick Sharp's fifth shorthanded goal of the month (!) and Jacob Dowell put in the other in his NHL debut. Khabibulin stopped 30 saves in the win. The Flames are now 3-7-0 in their last 10.

Colorado 3 - Edmonton 2 - The Avalanche ended a four game road losing streak, receiving goals from Milan Heduk, Karlis Skrastins and Marek Svatos. Joni Pitkanen returned to the lineup tonight for the Oilers after missing 13 games with a knee.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
12:00pm NYI@BOS,
1:00pm WSH@PHI
2:00pm CLB@MIN
4:00pm PHX@ANA
7:00pm TB@CGY
7:30pm MTL@BUF, NYR@FLA, NJ@ATL
8:30pm TOR@DAL, VAN@STL

Nightly Recap: Kane Continues to Lead Rookies in Scoring

-Chicago 3 - Detroit 2. Rookie leading scorer Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist and Jonathan Toews, second in rookie scoring had one goal. Robert Lang had two assists against his former team. Kane and Toews now have 21 and 14 points, in their rookie campaigns. Boy do they look like the West's version of Crosby and Malkin.

-Colorado 4 - Minnesota 2. Paul Stastny had two goals and one assist, he now has 100 career points in 99 career games, becoming the sixth player in franchise history to have 100 points in less than 100 games. Wojtek Wolski and Ryan Smyth had two points each for the Avs in the win.

Saturday Night: Lightning Beast on The Thrashers

This is the abbreviated Saturday Night Recap

• Smart move by the Bruins organization to move the game to the afternoon to avoid conflict with the Red Sox. The game was 0-0 going into the shootout and Phil Kessel netted the only goal for Boston. Bruins 1 - Rangers 0.
• Chicago 2nd win in two nights comes against the rested Maple Leafs. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are reminiscent of the Thrashers' Heatley/Kovalchuk in their rookie years. They combined for 3 points tonight and Mats Sundin continues to rake for the Leafs (2 goals). Blackhawks 6 - Maple Leafs 4. Chicago's second third period comeback in a row. Chicago looks like they will be able to compete this year and may begin to fill the United Center, a playoff spot may be in sight
  
• Eric Staal and Justin Williams are able to beat red hot Marty Biron. The Canes are able to take the Flyers to overtime but bow out to Simon Gagne's winner. Philadelphia 3 - Carolina 2 (OT) Justin Williams only has 3 goals on the year now, but they have been snipes, in his age 26 season he is on his way to a career year
  
• Tampa Bay beats up on Atlanta for the second time of the year. The Lecavalier/St. Louis/Prospal line combines for 8 points. Lightning 6 - Thrashers 2.
  
• Edmonton continues to be the bitch of the Northwest Division going 0-4 against their rivals. Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla were the first two stars with 3 points each and Kristian Huselius rounded up the back end with 2 points. The Flames show the Oilers who owns Alberta 4 - 1.
• In a rematch from last years playoffs San Jose shuts out Nashville 3-0. The Legend of Jeremy Roenick lives on, he scores his 3rd goal of the year and is two away from 500.

Tomorrow's Match Ups (All Times Eastern)
5:00pm VAN@CLB
7:00pm COL@MIN

Nightly Recap

• Jussi Jokinen reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a new move for the Stars. He scores a goal in regulation and the shootout winner. The Stars beat the Blue Jackets 3 - 2.
• The New Jersey Devils win a wild one over the Pittsburgh Penguins 5- 4. Arron Asham scored the game winner for the Devils.
• Former Winnipeg Jet Keith Tkachuk and Brad Boyes had two points each. The St Louis Blues knock off the Blackhawks 3 - 1.
• Petteri Wirtanen and Drew Miller each score their first NHL goal for the Ducks as they eat up the Preds 3-1

Some News:
-Southeast Shootout breaks down possible candidates for the Thrashers head coach

-Eric Duhatschek feels that firing Bob Hartley was not the answer for the Thrashers

-The Battle of California posts the link to Anze Kopitars shootout winning goal of last night, as they say it was "Kopitarded"

-Bryan McCabe is trying to stay positive

-Martin Havlat will be out at least four weeks as he rehabs his injured shoulder. I could see this being a year long problem, you knew that when they couldn't diagnose it immediately he would be gone for a while.

-Edmonton Oiler Shelley Souray will be out indefinitely with a separated shoulder.

Tomorrows Games (All times Eastern)
7:00pm: TB@BOS, NJ@PHI, NYI@WSH, NYR@ATL
7:30pm: MTL@OTT, FLA@TOR,
9:00pm: LA@CGY,
10:00pm: EDM@PHX
10:30pm: DET@SJ