My 2 cents on the Patrick Kane arrest...

Well if nothing else, the Blackhawks have given us lots to write about this season.

The latest is the arrest of star forward Patrick Kane for allegedly assaulting and robbing a Buffalo cabbie early sunday morning.

The early reports didn't sound too good, Kane and his cousin beating up the driver, Jan Radecki, for a measly twenty cents, but something tells RTB there is more to this story.

Kane and his cousin were obviously out drinking when they jumped in the cab. The cabbie maintains that the Kanes gave him $15 for a $13.80 fare, when the driver gave them a dollar back and told them that he didn't have the extra twenty cents, then they started choking him and punching him and took their money back. This is where the robbery charge comes from.

Today, Andrew C. LoTempio, the lawyer for Mr. Radecki says the whole thing has been blown way out of proportion and that he doubts the pair will face felony charges. He also goes on to say that he feels things can be worked out between the two sides.

It was also revealed that Buffalo cabbies have a policy of locking the doors to the car so that passengers can't jump out and skip out on the fare. Something that was apparently instituted because of Buffalo college students. Radecki also says he didn't realize who Patrick Kane was and mistook the two as students.

Here is my take on this, keep in mind that we haven't heard anything from Kane himself yet, but if what the cabbie says is true and you believe his story completely then you would have to wonder what the fuck Kane was thinking, but I don't believe a young NHL star with that kind of money is going to go nuts over twenty cents, that sounds absurd to me.

I would personally give him the $15 and be done with it. Then again, the boys were having a few and so maybe they weren't thinking straight.

The second thing that bothers me about this is that Radecki locked the doors and presumably wouldn't let them out of the car which could have angered them and provoked a response of some sort.

The third thing and maybe its just me reading between the lines here, but why would the cabbie be so willing to quickly settle this out of court. It seems to me, if he is in the right, then he would have the potential to sue Kane for a lot of dough. He isn't doing that though, through his lawyer, he is saying he would be willing to settle quickly out of court. To me this sounds a little "shakedown-ish", but I don't know. His ship would seem to have come in as they say, but he seems okay with something out of court.

I don't condone what the boys did, but I think there is more to this than meets the eye. They shouldn't have laid a hand on the guy that is for sure, but alcohol has a way of impairing good judgement.

One thing is for sure, Kane's side needs to come out and clear the air and let everyone hear his side of the story.

Blackhawks Goalies: The Eagle Has Landed

1984-1997

By the 1984-85 season, Tony Esposito had retired and backup Murray Bannerman was promoted to the starters role. Truth is, he had wrested control from Espo the previous year.

Bannerman would be the man for the next couple of seasons until his career was derailed by a broken metacarpal in his left hand. Oddly enough, the injury was not hockey related, Bannerman broke it falling out of a tree. After the injury, Bannerman's GAA ballooned to a whopping 4.48 for the 85-86 season. Meanwhile his save percentage dipped to a paltry .869.

Teammates and coaches said he lacked the focus and motivation needed of a big-time puck stopper. He was demoted to the minors in '87. Murray Bannerman quit hockey after one season in the minors.

Meanwhile, with all of this in mind, the Blackhawks used the No. 8 overall pick in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft on a kid they thought would be their goalie of the future- Jimmy Waite. That same spring the Blackhawks signed an undrafted kid from the University of North Dakota- Ed Belfour. This was also around the time that eastern european players began to come to the NHL in droves. Amongst them was a guy the Blackhawks had drafted four years earlier- Dominik Hasek. Suddenly, the Hawks had a glut of good young goaltenders in their system.

Jimmy Waite was going to be the next big thing in the late 80's. Despite an appalling 4.88 goals against and a weak .869 save percentage with Chicoutimi of the QMJHL, scouts and hockey people remained high on him. They attributed his inflated GAA to the high scoring 'Q'. A league which boasted two 70-plus goal scorers that season. The fact of the matter is that Waite was a complete bust, never living up to the hype of being the eighth overall pick and to this day the world is still waiting for Jimmy Waite to arrive.

In the meantime, the Hawks turned to pint-sized Darren Pang to handle their immediate goaltending needs, but he wouldn't be in the position for long. Just two years after inheriting the job, Pang lost it to Jacques Cloutier. In 1990, Pang suffered a career-ending knee injury.

In 90-91, Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour had emerged as Chicago's new top-netminder. He played in an amazing 74 games that season winning 43 of them. The following year with Dominik Hasek and Jimmy Waite playing the roles of No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, the Hawks would advance to the Stanley Cup final for the first time since the days of Tony Esposito.

The Eagle had led the way putting up a 2.47 goals-against and a .902 save pct. playing in 18 playoff games, but Hasek wasn't far behind.

After losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in in 92, the Blackhawks thought highly enough of Belfour to trade Hasek to the Buffalo Sabres in return for Stephane Beauregard and future considerations. As we all know Hasek would go on to star with the Sabres and later the Detroit Red Wings. Looking back, it was a pretty bad deal for the Hawks.

Chicago had made their commitment to Belfour however, and for the next five seasons, the enigmatic Belfour would be the man in Chicago.

Known for his temper, Belfour ultimately forced his way out of the Windy City in 1997. Unable to come to an agreement on a contract, the Hawks sent him to San Jose where he would play out the remainder of the season. Later that summer he joined the Dallas Stars as a free agent.

In a strange twist, when Ed Belfour and the Dallas Stars made it to the Stanley Cup against Buffalo in 1999, it was Dominik Hasek in goal for Buffalo. The two goalies who fought for playing time as rookies with the Blackhawks were now facing each other in the championship. Belfour and the Stars would go on to win a controversial final and claim the cup.

Hossa going under the knife... will miss four months

Just a day after Stan Bowman announced that Marian Hossa's shoulder injury was "relatively minor" and that surgery was a "last resort", they come out and say he has a torn rotator cuff and will undergo surgery.

WTF? Why not just say that in the first place?

I have heard lots of mainstream media people cut down blogs and bloggers. I am not sure why they do this, perhaps they feel threatened I don't know. Either way its bullshit.

John Jaeckel blogs about the Blackhawks over at HockeyBuzz.com and he offers his thoughts on this whole affair with Hossa and his shoulder and the message coming out of the Hawks front office. He is well written and insightful and I don't think I can put it any better than he already has. Here is the link. Give it a read.

RTB

Hossa has a shoulder injury...WTF?

By now, you've all heard the story about Hossa's shoulder woes so I am not going to sit here and beat a dead horse.

Newly-minted GM Stan Bowman calls it "relatively minor" and says that surgery will be a last resort if it doesn't respond to treatment.

There hasn't been much information released yet, so we will just have to take Stan at his word. Lets all just take a deep breath, there is no point in overreacting.

Hopefully a little rehab will do the trick and he will be fine.

If it turns out to be a torn rotator cuff that needs to be surgically repaired than so be it. He will miss a couple of months and should be fresh joining the team midseason. We have a good team, we'll manage for a couple of months without him.

Either way we should know more in the next few days, so stay tuned.

Blackhawks Goalies: The Seventies

1967-1984: The Arrival of "Tony O"

When Glenn Hall was taken by the St. Louis Blues in the great expansion of 1967, Denis DeJordy was handed the keys to the Hawks crease. Truth is, DeJordy who had backed-up Hall through parts of three seasons during the 60's, had taken over the number one job in Chicago in the 66-67 season. That year he played the lions share of the games that year (44 games played), relegating Hall to second string. For his part, DeJordy shared the Vezina with Hall that season.

He would go to be the guy for the next two seasons in the City by the Lake. Dave Dryden, brother of Canadiens legend Ken, would serve as DeJordy's backup for the next two seasons. Dryden would later go on to play in the fledgling WHA.

In 1969, the Montreal Canadiens had a glut of goaltenders. With Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon pencilled is as the 1 and 2 combination, there was no room for an unorthodox 26 year-old from Sault Ste. Marie. Anthony James Esposito was left unprotected and quickly picked up by the Black Hawks in what was then known as an Intra-League Draft.

Espo, known for his quick glove, was unorthodox by 1969 standards. His loose style perplexed scouts of the day not yet accustomed to what would later be known as the butterfly style. They all agreed he was effective nonetheless.

"I studied all the basic older guys. I learned a lot of things from Glenn Hall. For example, when I was in college, my brother played for Chicago and Glenn Hall was the goalie, and I'd go down and visit. I'd spend hours with Glenn Hall. We would go out and have a sociable beer and he would talk goaltending and stuff with me." said Esposito. Tony O and Mr. Goalie were pioneers of the butterfly style.

Esposito's arrival spelled the end of Dave Dryden's run in Chicago. When Dryden refused a minor league assignment, he was suspended and later traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In his first season, "Tony O" was dynamite. He played in 63 games recording 38 victories to go along with a sparkling 2.17 goals-against average. He also set a modern day record that year notching 15 shutouts. The Black Hawks would finish the season tied for the East Division lead with the Boston Bruins. At the conclusion of the year Esposito would claim the Calder trophy, the Vezina and be named a First Team All-Star. It was the first time that a rookie would win the Vezina since Frank Brimsek in 1939.

The next year, the Hawks were moved to the West Division and captured their first Campbell Bowl en route to a Stanley Cup matchup with the Montreal Canadiens. Esposito and the Hawks narrowly missed a fourth Stanley Cup championship, losing in seven games to the Habs.

In 71-72, he would share the Vezina with his new backup- Gary "Suitcase" Smith (left). Nicknamed "Suitcase" because he played for so many teams, Smith was acquired from the woeful California Golden Seals in September of 71 to be the No. 2 in Chicago's goal. He would play 28 games that season, posting a 2.42 goals-against average while notching 14 wins- 5 by shutout.

Before the 72-73 season would begin, Tony Esposito would play for Canada in the famous 72 Summit Series against the Soviet Union's Central Red Army. After sitting out Game 1 in favor of Ken Dryden, Tony O would start Game 2. His style was better suited against the criss-crossing Soviet attack and Esposito would allow only one goal on 21 shots in registering the win. Tony shared the Team Canada MVP honors for that game with his brother Phil.

After a tying Game 3, Tony was back in goal for Game 5 of the eight-game affair. Despite losing the first game in Moscow, Tony O was once again named as an MVP for the Canadian side. In game 7, with Canada behind 3-2 in the series and their backs against the wall, Tony Esposito got the call. In the madness that was the second period, Tony Esposito was peppered with 13 shots, stopping every one of them sending it to the third tied at two apiece. In the third, he would make at least 6 memorable saves as his squad went on to win 4-3 forcing an eighth game that will be forever remembered for Paul Henderson's heroic winning goal.

When Tony returned home to the Black Hawks for the 72-73 NHL season, he hit the ground running leading the Hawks back to the Stanley Cup final before losing in six games to Montreal. The next year he would again share the Vezina trophy, this time with Philadelphia's Bernie Parent. That year he would shutout opponents 10 times and add another in the playoffs.

Over the next ten seasons, the Hawks would make the playoffs with Tony in net. During that time a number of backups would come and go, most notably Mike Veisor and later on Murray Bannerman. By the 82-83 season, Tony O was 39 and one of the games grand old men and he was now splitting time in goal and in 83-84 he was the games oldest player and had relinquished the starters job to Bannerman. He retired at seasons end.

For his career, Tony Esposito played in over 900 games in a Chicago sweater, both regular season and playoffs, winning more than 450 times. His number 35 was retired by the Hawks in 1988, the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Hawks Looking to deal Patrick Sharp?

Rumors are beginning to swirl about the possibility of a trade involving Patrick Sharp. I'm hearing several teams may be involved including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks and the Montreal Canadiens.

Newly minted GM Stan Bowman has said he is prepared to go into the season with the lineup he has, but eventually he will need to make a move to free up some cap space.

Stay Tuned.

RTB

Blackhawks Goalies: The Sixties

1957-67: Mr. Goalie

In what will forever go down as one of the greatest heists in hockey trade history, the Black Hawks obtained goaltender Glenn Hall and winger Ted Lindsay from the Detroit Red Wings for what amounted to a bag of pucks in July of 1957. Wings manager Jack Adams was upset by Lindsay's attempts to unite the players and in his anger dealt the pair to the Hawks.

Hall's arrival in the Second City solidified the keeper position which had become something of a revolving door. Hall was the goalie they had been missing since the days of Iron Mike Karakas.

Almost overnight, the fog of losing that had blanketed the Chicago Black Hawks for most of the 50's began to lift. The acquisitions of Hall and Lindsay and emergence of rookie Bobby Hull started a renaissance in Chi-Town hockey.

In his first season in the Indian Head, the man known as "Mr. Goalie" would log 4200 minutes in the Hawks crease. He would register 24 victories, a 2.86 goals against mark and a .909 save percentage, all the while being named as an NHL First Team All-Star. The Hawks missed the playoffs that year, but it was evident their sad sack ways had begun to change.

A consecutive games-played streak, started while he was still in Detroit continued to grow during the next few seasons in Chicago and his legend began to grow right alongside. In 1958, he was again named as a First Team All-Star, a feat he would accomplish 8 times in his career to go along with 3 Second Team All-Star nominations.

When the 1960-61 season rolled around the Hawks were primed for a cup run. With Hall's consecutive games streak still intact, he was surrounded by the likes of Pierre Pilote and Eric Nesterenko, Al Arbour and a kid named Stan Mikita. When the regular season had concluded, the Hawks found themselves in third place behind the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the opening round of the second season, Chicago was in tough against the defending champs from Montreal. Hall backstopped them to a 4-2 series win and they earned their first Stanley Cup final berth since 1944, coincidentally against the team that sent Mr. Goalie to the Hawks; the Detroit Red Wings.

Glenn Hall and the Hawks would go on to win the see-saw affair 4 games to 2. It was the Hawks third Stanley Cup Championship. To this day, they are still looking for their fourth. Hall was fantastic in the playoffs that year logging a spakling 2.02 GAA to go along with two shutouts.

The following season they were back in the Finals and again in 1965, sadly they were defeated in those series by Toronto and Montreal respectively.

The consecutive games played streak, a record which still stands today, finally came to an end on November 8, 1962. Hall, suffering from a back injury, had to be replaced by Denis DeJordy during a match with Boston. He had played every minute of every game for 502 games. A record that will likely never be broken.

Hall would continue his solid play throughout the better part of the 1960's capturing a Vezina in 63 and sharing another with DeJordy in 67, his last season in Chicago. Left unprotected by the Hawks in the expansion draft, he was selected by the newly-minted St. Louis Blues. A ten year run of greatness in Chicago had come to a close. His final numbers in a Chicago sweater would be 275 regular season wins to go along with 31 in the playoffs and a total of 56 shutouts, five of which were of the playoff variety.

A few fast facts about Glenn Hall:

• He would vomit before every game and sometimes during the game, so the Hawks would keep a bucket on the bench should he feel the need.
• He was the first goalie to use the butterfly style, used pretty much exclusively by today's netminders.
• In 1998, The Hockey News ranked Glenn Hall #16 in their list of 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
• The city of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, his hometown, erected a permanent monument to his career in Glenn Hall Park.
• In 1975, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• Hall's #1 was retired by the Blackhawks on November 20, 1988.