I came about as close to meeting Dale Tallon as I ever have last week at Hawks' Prospect Camp. When 2009 third-round draft pick Dan Delisle lasered a wrister for a goal, I looked over at Dale to see his reaction, my eye caught his, I smiled and the guy with me gave him the thumbs up, which he seemed to acknowledge.

Regardless, I feel like I know Dale well, through mutual acquaintances, listening to him for years when he was the Hawks' color analyst, seeing his photo in a Team Canada sweater at the Hockey Hall Of Fame.

Dale is a good man. I remember the pain in his face and in his voice when he had to let friend and fellow Hawk Denis Savard go last fall. I remember his pride in and personal affection for many of his players. The fact that his players, to a man, rode in an unheated bus through the flats of Ontario in mid-winter to attend Dale's father's funeral speaks volumes about him.

Dale also built what is arguably one of the top two to three teams in the league from the junk heap up in a short period of time.

Yes, he had help, from the likes of Rick Dudley. But just as today he's going to take the blame for the RFA flap and cap mismanagement (which he might or might not personally deserve), he also deserves the credit for things like: dealing Matt Ellison, Brandon Bochenski, Michal Barinka and Mark Bell for Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg and Martin Havlat.

He deserves credit for withstanding pressure to draft Phil Kessel (at a time when the Hawks desperately needed speed and scoring) and taking the 'less exciting' Jonathan Toews. And for rolling the dice a bit on a tiny, but gifted Patrick Kane, versus taking Kyle Turris or James Van Riemsdyk.

Still, I think Dale, like his friend Dudley, is a builder at the end of the day, and not a manager.
And that said, this might, might, have been the right move at the right time.

His alleged replacement, Stan Bowman, seems to be a good guy as well. He has the bloodlines (obviously) and has a personal story of courage of his own (battling a serious and life-threatening blood disease). And the younger Bowman is a numbers guy, which is what the Hawks need in spades right now. 'Building' is less important now than managing and restocking, something Scotty Bowman knows all too well from his years in Detroit.

The Hawks do face some serious cap issues next year. And they will have to make hard, heartless decisions on players that they and the fans have literally watched grow up.

And as much as I like and respect Dale Tallon, and think he did a good job overall, I'm not sure he is the right guy for that job.

Few better men than Dale have been fired from jobs. But it does happen to good men.

Now, as for the back story surrounding the "motives" behind Tallon's dismissal and those involved. I have it from a very good source now that there was an issue between the GM and Team President John McDonough. Allegedly, Dale felt he deserved a certain degree of autonomy and McDonough didn't. And, reportedly, this led to some ugliness.

I'm still not sure I buy the story that McDonough forced Tallon to sign Marian Hossa. That said, I could also see Tallon's sense of loyalty to Martin Havlat perhaps getting in the way of what might actually have been better for the team long-term. But I don't know.

I do know, I have been saying for a long time that there are many cooks in the kitchen that is the front office of the Blackhawks. Though it was barely mentioned last week, guess who was also in the box overlooking Hawk prospect camp last week, in addition to Tallon, McDonough, both Bowmans, Marc Bergevin, Steve Smith, Mike Haviland, Joel Quenneville, etc.?

Bob Pulford. A name sure to instill fear in the hearts of most Hawk fans, and a man who is no stranger to front office infighting.

And in the last few weeks, this organization lost two very good hockey men: Dudley and Tallon. (I personally would love it if today's announcement included a re-assignment of Tallon to a player personnel role. Though I think that's a longshot. You might also see Dale eventually return to the Hawk broadcast booth, with longtime partner Pat Foley. But again, I wouldn't look for that soon.)

A couple of things are clear, John McDonough is a man who wants to do things his way and demands a high level of control. Control and authority in one pair of hands are fine if they are used properly. But all must remember that it was McDonough who publicly festooned his stamp of approval on the Cubs' $100 million+ signing of Alfonso Soriano. And look how that's worked out.

If McDonough can leave the hockey operation to hockey men, then it is fine. If he can't, look out.

And, on a positive note, the influence of Scotty and Stan Bowman in this organization is now undeniable. As long as Scotty Bowman is healthy and can make it to the rink, that is a good thing.

As long as McDonough, but more importantly Rocky Wirtz, listen to him, that's even better.


JJ

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