The whole Saad thing got me thinking who was a player that reminded me a lot of him, now granted Saad plays tougher than this guy, better defense, hands are slightly better

Viktor Stalberg

Season GP G A P +/-
11-'12 79 22 21 43 +6

Doubt very much that the Hawks win the Cup in either 2013 or this year without Cro in goal, especially vs the Ducks and Lightning. There were a lot of very close games and triple OT's the Hawks won this playoff year and they beat Rinne, Dubnyk, Anderson and Bishop in tough series to do it.

Does anybody really think Darling could have steered the ship thru 4 rounds? Or much more cap friendly goalies like James Reimer, Brian Elliot, the Hamburglar or even Freddie Anderson? My guess is the Hawks would have been on the sidelines after playing 5 games with the Ducks.


Cheap goaltending and average performances in the NHL playoffs gets you a seat on the sidelines with the also rans. Stanbo isn't moving Crawford for money reasons The only way it happens is if the return on CC in trade is too good to turn down.
- RickJ

And if the return includes an NHL caliber goal tender, since the Hawks will be short otherwise...

...and Q and Co. will not enter next season with zero depth in net.

The whole Saad thing got me thinking who was a player that reminded me a lot of him, now granted Saad plays tougher than this guy, better defense, hands are slightly better

Viktor Stalberg

Season GP G A P +/-
11-'12 79 22 21 43 +6
- BetweenTheDots

And half his points were against Columbus.....coincidence???

And half his points were against Columbus.....coincidence???
- teh_HAWKZ

Nice full circle

This may have already been said/torn apart, but I think it would be smart to bring in the youth and let them play as much as possible. Smarter to let them get in now and learn from all these guys who have been doing this for years rather than throw them in the deep end in a little while from now. Just a morning pre-coffee thought. Gonna go back and read the blog now

truth about the Oilers, and completely agree about luck. It's not every draft you get a guy like Toews at 3rd (that draft was insane), and some years you can end up with Yakupov as the hands-down first. Not to say Yak is bad, just that he isn't a right-out-of-the-box franchise-changing player.

I don't think Calgary has really gotten a true, game-changing player, but they've gotten a lot of solid guys over several years, and are starting to come together as a good team with a lot of great pieces. I think that's the way rebuilds are going to have to happen more and more in this NHL. Taking a long time to collect a lot of pieces that are going to form into your squad. If you get lucky, a guy or two will speed up the process by being those elite level talents.

Ekblad, for instance, gave Florida a big step forward last season.
- SolidGoldBricks

Think they were very fortunate to get Monohan @#6. You want to talk about crazy drafts, take a look at '13 now.

The whole Saad thing got me thinking who was a player that reminded me a lot of him, now granted Saad plays tougher than this guy, better defense, hands are slightly better

Viktor Stalberg

Season GP G A P +/-
11-'12 79 22 21 43 +6
- BetweenTheDots

Can't agree with this. Saad is light years better than Stalberg in every area except speed and he's not that far behind him in speed. Saad's overall game has been compared to Hossa, rightly or wrongly, but Stalberg would never in a million years be compared to Hossa because really the only thing Stalberg has going for him is his speed.

with regards to saad, the ONLY thing stan wasn't prepared for was to pay him $6m per year....he had a backup plan and executed it.

Can't agree with this. Saad is light years better than Stalberg in every area except speed and he's not that far behind him in speed. Saad's overall game has been compared to Hossa, rightly or wrongly, but Stalberg would never in a million years be compared to Hossa because really the only thing Stalberg has going for him is his speed.
- EbonyRaptor

Wrongly

The whole Saad thing got me thinking who was a player that reminded me a lot of him, now granted Saad plays tougher than this guy, better defense, hands are slightly better

Viktor Stalberg

Season GP G A P +/-
11-'12 79 22 21 43 +6
- BetweenTheDots

Saad did that against the other teams best players not sheltered minutes like slick Vic.

with regards to saad, the ONLY thing stan wasn't prepared for was to pay him $6m per year....he had a backup plan and executed it.
- Confederate

I recall hearing parts of an interview with Saad after the trade, and he said he let his agent do everything. I wonder if he will take some initiative next time? Agents look out for money first, not taking into account what might put the player in the best position to win. He may have more money in the end, but his hockey "one goal"s will be less.

Think they were very fortunate to get Monohan @#6. You want to talk about crazy drafts, take a look at '13 now.
- vabeachbear

Good point. That's an insane 6th pick. Was a great draft.

There are quite a few reasons why I'm happy the Hawks didn't sign Brandon Saad, and why Bowman might have simply just moved on....

- Signing him to a $6mil RFA is lunacy at its best. Bowman knows it, the Hawks know it.

- The return the Hawks got was unreal for the situation they got in. They got a #2/#3 center, and a potential very good top 6 forward in Dano. Sign me up for that return!

- Signing him to that contract would have left the Hawks in an even more precarious position this offseason and into the next offseason. I'm highly confident in making this statement: Bowman didn't remotely think going into this season that he would potentially be looking at paying Saad $6 mil and projected salary cap earnings as such.

Each time we have won the cup, we've had such issues where key guys had to get moved. While the 2010 team was mostly Dale Tallon's guys, the fact remains many of us, myself included were very upset to loose keys guys like Ladd, and Byfuglien. However, that said, the really key move was recognizing how valuable a kid named Hjalmerson would be, and match the Sharks offer.

Same thing in 2013, although not as huge, and impact, but once again, Stan made the 'right' calls....

While I still think we should have signed Kane and Toews to something less than 10.5 Million per year (9.5?), it is not hard to debate Stan's success during the cap era. Let's hope the moves he continues to make, are as lasting as the ones made so far?

Go Hawks!

Saad did that against the other teams best players not sheltered minutes like slick Vic.
- fattybeef

Hmm with two if the best players in the world isn't sheltered

There are quite a few reasons why I'm happy the Hawks didn't sign Brandon Saad, and why Bowman might have simply just moved on....

- Signing him to a $6mil RFA is lunacy at its best. Bowman knows it, the Hawks know it.

- The return the Hawks got was unreal for the situation they got in. They got a #2/#3 center, and a potential very good top 6 forward in Dano. Sign me up for that return!

- Signing him to that contract would have left the Hawks in an even more precarious position this offseason and into the next offseason. I'm highly confident in making this statement: Bowman didn't remotely think going into this season that he would potentially be looking at paying Saad $6 mil and projected salary cap earnings as such.
- CaptainBlackhawk

Yeah fans are pissed about Bickell making 4 million, imagine Saad making 6 and not performing.

Can't agree with this. Saad is light years better than Stalberg in every area except speed and he's not that far behind him in speed. Saad's overall game has been compared to Hossa, rightly or wrongly, but Stalberg would never in a million years be compared to Hossa because really the only thing Stalberg has going for him is his speed.
- EbonyRaptor

Saad top 6 forward yes, did he benefit from Toews and Hossa yes, to be continued in Ohio. light years better ehhhhh, better yes how much we'll see.

For you to be confused on that issue, you really must not watch many Blackhawks games.

Defense in the NHL has become so important for cup contenders, and the more forwards - centers in particular - a team has that can lock down the opposing team's first line, the better you are at winning the cup.

Just ask Anaheim and Tampa how important Marcus Kruger was to the Hawks winning the cup - maybe their players can explain it so you can understand.....
- dahawks8819

spare me the condescension BS...ok....i understand full well krugers play and contribution...

my point was in the era of of your top 6-7 players taking up 75% of cap space... your #9 forward is considred "essential"....

The whole Saad thing got me thinking who was a player that reminded me a lot of him, now granted Saad plays tougher than this guy, better defense, hands are slightly better

Viktor Stalberg

Season GP G A P +/-
11-'12 79 22 21 43 +6
- BetweenTheDots

Saad >> Stalberg

if interested, some really sharp Avs writers are doing the central division roundup and talked about the hawks.

http://bsndenver.com/cent...undup-chicago-blackhawks/

Saad >> Stalberg
- blackhawk24

I agree, but really how much better and more to the point is, If Stalberg can score 20 goals for us is it out of the realm of possibilities whoever we plug into that LW position scores at least 15 to 25 goals? And if they are really good I can see 30 plus goals.

if interested, some really sharp Avs writers are doing the central division roundup and talked about the hawks.

http://bsndenver.com/cent...undup-chicago-blackhawks/
- DDM-Coga

Meh...a lot of outsider perspective that doesn't always cut the mustard. And not one mention of Panarin...

with regards to saad, the ONLY thing stan wasn't prepared for was to pay him $6m per year....he had a backup plan and executed it.
- Confederate

Shouldn't your AVI be in red font?

I recall hearing parts of an interview with Saad after the trade, and he said he let his agent do everything. I wonder if he will take some initiative next time? Agents look out for money first, not taking into account what might put the player in the best position to win. He may have more money in the end, but his hockey "one goal"s will be less.
- powerenforcer

From what I've read, it seems his father had as much input about "show me the money" as his agent.

if interested, some really sharp Avs writers are doing the central division roundup and talked about the hawks.

http://bsndenver.com/cent...undup-chicago-blackhawks/
- DDM-Coga

Very cool article. Thank you for sharing!