I doubt Dudley would come to a franchise that would be content sitting in the basement.

Maybe the best signing in the SE Conference. But we cannot stop, we need more.

No top forward = Upsets Ilya = will not resign = signs after 7/1/10
with another team = mad as hell fan base – declining attendence due to bad product on ice – team sold – team moved… It has started folks.

Congrats, Rawhide. Ahh, well. I like the Exelby trade. It prevents us from having to buy him out. Just kidding. I tease. I kid. I do that, sometimes. Sorry to see Colin Stuart leave, but he didn’t set the world on fire. And, truthfully, that shouldn’t be expected from a 5th round draft pick (2001). Now, as for Kubina, I welcome him here. And, I hope DW/Dudley get a lot of interest in him at the trade deadline. Waddell got a “net gain” 2nd round pick in the Schneider deal last year. Can Kubina fetch more than that? Shrugs. I don’t know.

Now, I hear some of you saying, “Trade him, RIGHT NOW, for a 2nd round pick!” It uhh, doesn’t work that way. First off, Atlanta needs to reach the floor of the cap. And secondly, Kubina’s 2010 salary hasn’t been pro-rated down enough to be palatable for another GM in the playoff hunt. Point of fact, no team knows where it’ll be in Feb/March. Okay, yes! The Red Wings know. Point taken. Segue to Hossa.

Wow. 12-years. What prompted that? Did his agent really say, “Marian, you can’t underperform in the playoffs and still get $8 million-a-year, every year. Let’s take the money while it’s still being offered.” The thing is … didn’t someone offer Hossa $80-plus million last year, on a 9-year deal? He’s left money on the table. But hey, I commend those who follow their dreams. If someone offered me $21 million to surrender my hopes and dreams, I think I could find some boiler plate contracts lying around here, and whip up some fine print, and establish a Swiss Bank account. Or, perhaps something in Seychelles. ‘Cuz we’d have a sale.

Now, I am “hearing” that the cap hit on Hossa is $5.22 million, or something resembling this figure. I assume that’s FRONT LOADED, and that when Hossa turns 38, 39, his actual salary is far, far less than $5.22 million. That would make him easier to trade, for a team with cap room. I’m a little bit surprised that Detroit didn’t make him this sort of offer. When you stop to think who’s on the clock, officially, the answer is: (drumroll, please) the Chicago Blackhawks. 1961. Maybe Hossa is playing percentages? Aren’t the Blackhawks due???? And, certainly, they are headed in that general direction. Toewz, Kane, Sharpe, Keith, Seabrooke, Campbell, Byfuglien, Huet, and now Hossa, maybe even Cam Barker? And this has every outward appearance of a future Stanley Cup Champion. Couple that with Chicago being an “Original Six” market, now with better ownership, and it could all work out. Now, if Hossa, 3-4 years later asks for a release or a trade out, he’ll still attract suitors. The front loaded portion of the contract would be out of the way. The remaining issue would be years on the deal and the cap hit. I bear Hossa no ill will. So, I hope the Blackhawks do win the Stanley Cup. Hockey fans in Chicago have suffered for decades. The sun finally rose on the NY Rangers, after 54 years, in 1994. Why can’t it happen in Chicago? They’re doing things right. They need to find a backup goalie. What would they give us for Pavelec?