Monday's news: Has Chicago dumped their cup-winning goaltender?

by Dirk Hoag on Aug 2, 2010 8:17 AM EDT

The Great Chicago Trainwreck continues this morning with reports that the Blackhawks have signed a veteran goaltender for less than what they'd have to pay Antti Niemi based on his arbitration ruling. If memory serves, this would be the first goalie to win a Stanley Cup then immediately get shipped out of town since Mike Vernon in 1997, right? In that case, the Red Wings gave Chris Osgood the starting job and defended their title in 1998, but they didn't have to dismantle everything else about that team because of the salary cap...

Follow after the jump for this and a whole lot more, including a new Nashville Predators-related podcast, a reminder about this week's business breakfast hosted by the team, and a trade out east which sends a playmaker to the bright lights of Broadway...

Predators News

Nashville Predators Business ROI Breakfast - LinkedIn: Events
This is a reminder that the Preds are hosting their Business ROI Breakfast event this Wednesday from 7:30-9:00 a.m. at Bridgestone Arena. If you're on LinkedIn (and trust me, if you're working, you should be - here's my profile), you can RSVP via the link above.

Smashville Sports Potpourri: Preds Off-Season Awesomeness
Two Preds fans talk about the summer developments on a podcast (and I dig what they've done with the left/right channel split on the audio)...

Offseason Losses & Gains (Part 4 of 4) - Predlines
Amanda considers what the minor acquisitions will mean to the Nashville lineup this fall, and doesn't see a spot available for Jerred Smithon or Nick Spaling.

Around the NHL

Blackhawks Sign Marty Turco? - Second City Hockey
WGN reported last night that Chicago has signed Marty Turco and will announce it today, as the Blackhawks can't afford to keep Antti Niemi and his arbitration-ruled $2.75 million cap hit. Turco actually played decently behind a lousy Dallas Stars team last season, and might have a little gas left in the tank.

Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman On Niemi: 'One Guy Does Not Make A Team' - The Grinder
The Chicago GM prepares Blackhawks fans for Niemi's probable departure.

Rangers News: Rangers Acquire Todd White in Trade with Thrashers - Blueshirt Banter
Rick Dudley has certainly gotten to work reshaping his Atlanta Thrashers, sending Todd White up to Broadway. The Rangers hope he can help set up newly-acquired goal-scorer Alexander Frolov.

30-in-30: Anaheim Ducks history - NHL.com - 30 in 30
From kids movie to Stanley Cup champions in 15 years... that's pretty amazing.

Black Dog Hates Skunks: Deja Vu All Over Again
Staring at the likelihood of five straight seasons without making the playoffs is hardly sobering for this Oilers blogger.

NHL trying to sidestep CBA - NYPOST.com
Larry Brooks loads up on the righteous indignation as he defends the Kovalchuk contract from the evil, manipulative Gary Bettman.

To keep up with all of our coverage of the Nashville Predators, you can subscribe to the RSS feed, follow us on Twitter (@Forechecker & @predatweeter), or catch the site on Facebook. You can also email me at the.forechecker@gmail.com.

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The interesting thing about the Chicago/Niemi situation to me is that Turco, for just the one year, could actually be a better goalie statistically. Now, I don’t think Chicago will have the same success after losing Sopel, Versteeg, Byfuglien, Ladd, Burish, Eager, and who knows who else, but it may be harder to put pucks past their netminder.

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by Chris Burton on Aug 2, 2010 9:04 AM EDT reply actions

NHL.com has it as official now. I think the Preds have a better chance vs Turco than Niemi imo.

by DonBorvio on Aug 2, 2010 12:53 PM EDT reply actions

Silly Question

but why are the Blackhawks getting rrid of all these players. i’m new to alot of this so i don’t want to sound to dumb! but it looks like they are getting rid of the guys who really helped them win the cup.i’m assuming it’s because of salary cap and thier individual contracts, but i really don’t know for sure.. just thought i would ask..

by bluegrassbaby on Aug 2, 2010 12:56 PM EDT reply actions

It’s totally the salary cap. Last summer, the Blackhawks fired their GM Dale Tallon, who set up most of this trainwreck.

With some of the players, winning the Cup has made the salary situation worse. For example, Niemi would never have been awarded $2.75 million in arbitration if he hadn’t won, and when Jonathan Toews won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, that triggered bonuses which added to the financial distress. All the same, people have known for a year now that the Blackhawks would have to get rid of salary this summer.

On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators. Catch me on Twitter at @Forechecker.

by Dirk Hoag on Aug 2, 2010 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions

They will be okay

Lets not write them off as a trainwreck yet.
Sharp, Hossa, Toews, Kane on the first two lines
and their top 4 D are still amongst the best.
Their depth is gone, but remember Hossa missed a ton of time,
and Bolland had a bad back and played 40 games.
When he was healthy in the playoffs, he had 16 points AND ticked
everybody off as a defensive center.
There top of the lineup is so strong (and expensive),
they may not even need (and can’t afford) the depth.
Just play the top players until they drop.
They can always bury Huet in the minors and pick up pro-rated contracts at the deadline.
They are weaker, I still think they are better than San Jose (who also lack depth, and have Nittymaki in net, a bigger drop off than the Blackhawks transition).

by DontfeedtheBelak on Aug 2, 2010 3:13 PM EDT reply actions

huh?

play the top players till they drop. a full season of that could likely result in an early exit from the playoffs. dont be surprised to see niemi wind up by the bay and we will see if the sharks dmen are as good at clearing juicy rebounds as the hawks were.

by predswilrule on Aug 2, 2010 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Trotting out their best

How many minutes did Keith/Seabrook and Hjalmersson/Campbell play, relative to Sopel and Barker/Boynton? Sopel was useful in killing penalties at times, but really,
Playing Keith and Seabrook 25 minutes a game (and sometimes 30 minutes, in the playoffs) got them where they were.

Depth is nice, but people forget that the loss of Buff/Ladd/Versteeg will be somewhat offset if Hossa and Bolland don’t miss 70+ games due to injury.

Their stars are up there with the very best in the league. On defence, losing Sopel hurts, but they still have their top 4. Losing the secondary forwards hurt, but they still can trot out Hossa/Bolland/Sharp, and Kane/Toews/Brouwer, and that’s arguably the best top-6 in the league.

I do agree with you though, that Niemi in San Jose may shift the balance of power in SJ’s favor. As it stands now, though, I think Chi and Det are still the class of the West.

by DontfeedtheBelak on Aug 2, 2010 8:30 PM EDT reply actions