Khabibulin praises Hawks
Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin praised the Blackhawks following his former team’s 4-3 win Wednesday at the United Center.
“It was weird being on the other side,” Khabibulin said. “They actually have become a pretty good team. They put a lot of pucks at the net and look for rebounds. To beat them we have to have a good game and I have to have a better game.”
Khabibulin was pretty good with 34 saves, including a stop on Patrick Sharp’s penalty shot in the second period.
“I don’t have too much in the bag that he hasn’t seen already,” Sharp said. “I wanted to come down with a lot of speed, but he’s a good goalie and made the save.”
The Hawks haven’t converted a penalty shot on home ice since Troy Murray did it in 1987.
The Hawks take on a desperate Nashville team tonight that is trying to figure out how to score goals.
The Predators have scored only 7 goals in five games and have been outscored 12-1 in their last two losses to Edmonton and Dallas. Only four Nashville forwards have points so far this season.
Winger J.P. Dumont, expected to miss the Hawks because of a concussion, has been cleared to play tonight and should provide some offensive spark. Dumont has been sidelined since Oct. 3.
The Predators also recalled forward Cal O’Reilly from the minors.
I have asked poster to Wolves story to give observation(s) about Icehog players in their game last night vs Wolves. I saw on theahl.com site that Connelly given third star despite Icehogs loss.
I also would like chicohawk, steve rain, southpaw to look at late add my post last blog from Tim S. It concerns how Bowman has to be thinking about possibilities of trades. It isn't easy to make any moves. Some moves seem more likely than others only due to the salary cap. Witz GM around, Panger, JohnnyChi also don't see your comments lately. Darren Pang has moved to color commentary for Blues on Direct TV center ice.
Khabby39 I used to be in draft leagues in 1980's and I know some people in Philly and inventor of old FaceOff game (the most realistic/accurate results if you replay an entire NHL season). Dan in Vanc..lots of drat league people in your area. I tend to like Shironokov future, Grabner not sure, underastand Hodgson will make tam and be a good one. Not sure how well your #1 center '09 does in NHL due to size factor.
A great pick up if affordable late season could be Brind'Amour. How is he skating this year. Looks like he is playing well. Canes have two good ones chomping at the bit, prepping at Albany. Another Sutter in the Sutter mold (only more mobile) and another #1 center in very talented Boychuk. Don't think he is related to Boychuk in Boston. Other dept: He gone! Back to Russia...is he too soft for a big size d-man? Babchuk was really coming on big time in gola scoring second half of last season. One of three former #1's drafted by Chicago (how much input Tallon on each). Still saying that it wasn't all Tallon behind Huet signing. Would love if Tim S ever asked McDonough his role in urging Tallon to sign Huet! Name the four ex Blackhawks as veteran help on Phoenix this year. Hey Real Wiz: Now Bodeker was sent down as well! May he be quickest on forecheck in the league? I like him more than Turris ..at least until Turris shows more!
I am no cap wizard as it's confusing as hell. Nhlnumbers and hockeybuzz both conflict with one another, and just when you have it figured out....the hawks can roll out a lineup that both sites claim is over the cap. I don't get it. I never have. I tried crunching numbers, but unless somebody on here works for the Hawks front office, or knows somebody who can break this down.....we are all lost. It's like calculus all over again.
I do know that when Hossa comes back, something will happen. Gotta wonder if Sharp's and Versteeg's quick start is a blessing. I would prefer to hold on to both of those guys and send Barker on a boat to no where, but who knows? I just think that Sharp is FAR too valuable to deal for his locker-room presence, his leadership, and the many roles he can play. Versteeg....do the Hawks have an answer down in Rockford? You could see Versteeg's ability back in 2007 when he came up vs Phoenix. He played outstanding. I just don't like giving up gifted, YOUNG guys like him, and who knows.....his deal may become a bargain at some point.
Barker...most frustrating Hawk for me. You get the benefit of his cannon from the point, but the shot accuracy is sometimes missing. You also get his idiotic hockey sense, pinching at the wrong times, and the way he treats the puck like a grenade and feels he has to get rid of it as soon as he gets it. Leads to block shots at the point going the other way, stupid passes, and just head scratching turnovers. All of these happen way too often. Watch it live at the UC. Keep your eye on him, and then curse yourself at how he wastes so much talent.
You know I am not a big fan of Mr. Bolland. Like Brouwer, I have heard for the past 18 months about all this guy's talent and all his junior/AHL stats and I'm not sold. Hopefully, Bolland can justify that deal, but his contract alone....led to me pounding a ton of beer watching the draft and realizing how screwed the Hawks were down the road. Unreal. For the money he's making, he better blossom into a 25-30 a year goal scorer. Can he do it without Havlat? Not so sure......
Big game tonight....Time for Huet to rise up and make a statement.
I think, unless I am wrong, that Hossa's deal is already working right now in the current cap so there would not need to be a "big move" when he comes back. I hope someone has better info than me (so please correct me at any time) but here is what I THINK is the deal:
2009-2019 Salary Cap Upper Limit is $56.8 Million
The current Hawks roster shows a salary amount of $58.471 million but that includes Aaron Johnson ($540K and waived) Bursih and his $725K..Take those off and you are at $57.1 Million and about $300,000 over the cap..This is including Eager as well in the cap.
Every day that Jack Skille is not on the team his salary does not count against the cap so by shuttling him back to Rockford they save one day on his annual contract that pays $850,000.00. Because the Hawks are so up against the cap, every day like this is a help
Part 2: If every Hawk on Roster meets potential Bonus structures in there contracts, the Hawks would have a Cap Hit for 2009-2010 of $60.2 Million and well over the cap
So, I think they have to pay attention to both of these parts every day in trying to stay under the cap at seasons end and staying under the cup on a daily basis. I think in regard to the rumors about ultimately having to trade Barker, Versteeg, Sharp or Buff, that is that you will need to ship a few of them out if you want to have a chance to sign the big 3...Oh and by the way, in addition to the big 3, the following are also RFA's at the end of the year and will need to be signed:
Hjalmarsson, Skille, Ladd, Eager, Niemmi
Lets enjoy the here and now because who knows what will happen...I like the Huet to Rockford idea..Rocky can afford to pay him the 5.6 million for the next 3 years and we can get that valuable money back to use for the players we need. Hope this provides some insight.
currently because he is on long term injured reserve.
http://www.nhlscap.com/cap_faq.htm#article_50.10
once hossa comes back, his cap hit will count & put them over - the amount of actual overage depends on who they keep & who they drop/demote, but it is going to be at least $650K over (AFTER excluding Burish, Eager, Skille AND Hendry).
they are going to have to make a move BEFORE Hossa returns & several of them if they want to extend RFAs kane, keith & toews...
moving Dman johnson simply so they could bring in skille seems a bit shortsighted given the already thin depth on defense.
Chico,
If Hossa is not counting right now then why do they need to keep moving Skille back to Rockford every day to get under the cap? If his 5 mill is out right now as is Burish 800K, why don't they have plenty of room in the short term month of October? So confusing to me, drives me nuts because I can't figure it out. I used the salary grid on thethirdmanin.com but also looked at the one you listed
that the hawks could get relief & go over the salary cap by up to the amount of hossa's salary as they were already up against the cap max of $56.8M with him on the roster.
they aren't using all of that additional cap room at the moment, since they would have to dump it immediately when hossa returned, but they are using some of it (around $650K which will have to be "dumped" when hossa comes back & if you add eager & skille it would be close to $3M (burish is on LTIR so I didn't include his salary).
so every day that skille is not on the 22 man active roster for purposes of calculating the cap, the hawks save cap room, something like $6,600/day is the figure i read. doesn't sound like much, but it shows just how desperate the hawks situation is if they are trying to save such a small sum of money.
so he gets called up on game days to play & then gets sent back down right after - to save cap space & not because the hawks are or would be technically "over the cap"
when he is "sent down", he can't even practice with the hawks but can work out with the ice hogs - there is blurb on his situation in one of today's articles.
Tim S reported that Johnson was moved to provide more cap space for skille, but i'm not sure that is accurate, given that johnson was barely making the minimum & the fact that the hawks have extra room created by hossa's status, which they would have to eliminate immediately once he returned. i think it might have more to do with waivers - it is likely that hawks could have lost johnson on waivers for nothing (when hossa returned & they would have to put him on waivers) while greentree probably can't. - same reason given why niemi is in chicago & crawford in rockford...
that is my understanding only - certainly open to being corrected if someone can provide more definitive info.
when doing the cap numbers? I understood there's a given percentage related to bonuses that allows the teams to go over the prescribed cap ($56.8M this season) by some percentage. Perhaps they're utilizing that.
I was told there'd be no math...
Re: Bolland, I think he is a decent player, he's scored some key goals - that shortie vs vancouver in the playoffs & one the other night vs. calgary, but it was idiotic to sign this guy to 5 years at the money he got after just his first full year in the league AND KNOWING he played with BACK ISSUES ALL of last season!!!
Who else besides Tallon can possibly be responsible for another outrageous signing like that, given all of his other ridiculous contracts he's handed out as GM??
as for brouwer, i've liked him from the beginning - he never got a fair shake with savard but once Q got here, brouwer suddenly appears in the lineup & a becomes a regular - tough kid & I think he'll be a scorer eventually at this level - the moves he made on that one rush last night suggest it may be sooner rather than later. he's scored in every previous league he's played in & he's very cap friendly & can handle himself - took the flyer's richards last year, knocked out phaneuf in the playoffs & at least stood in there with iginla despite taking the worst of it - i like this guy more & more.
as for the cap numbers, whatever the actual numbers are, I think we can get a reasonably close enough to figure out the hossa signing has screwed the hawks but good where they will be forced to move young guys for little or no $ back, besides endangering their chances of signing the big 3 & doesn't even contemplate the possibility the cap could go down....
That is, one of three number one round russian draft selections with Tallon how much input?
I know you could do this with most clubs but it would be very interesting to put together a team of all ex-Hawks. Many of those guys who Hawks brought up- (Cleary, Moreau, Dumont, Anderson, Bourque). A lot of these players weren't lost b/c of financial concerns. Just lost due to bad moves. Then again- it's nice to be rid of the Mark Bell's, Kyle Calders, and Tyler Arnason's of the world. Just sayin'. I'll take what we've got any day. Fun to watch.
That's how far the 'Hawks have come in recent years.
The Arnason, Bell, Calder line the team was promoting back then. Like they were trying to promote the MPH line: Martin, Pappin, (D.) Hull.
Then again, as much as I did like Pit Martin, I have to remember the 'Hawks acquired him for Phil Esposito.....yikes!
ok not exactly "all star" (far from). Valuable guys though.