No hazing? No wearing the goalie’s jockeys on your head? No eating the Star player’s puke? Sheesh,, what’s the world coming to?!?!

Sad news: Barry Melrose has passed.

Great player, coach, and broadcaster.

Rookie camps open today, with prospects showcases in various spots around the continent this weekend and early next week.

Jackie is pleased.

George Chuvalo , Canadian heavyweight boxer, finally hits the canvas. He was never knocked down in any of his bouts.

It's nice to see MLB honoring Billy Ashley by having players sport a "#21" commemorative patch. 

Google AI tells me he was "a slugging outfielder who mostly flailed against major-league pitching, wearing No. 21 for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 1996 and 1997 seasons and totaling a -2.1 WAR."

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C.B. captain of the Black Hawks??  Could well be the right/best choice, but, not having followed things particularly closely, my reaction is an unequivocal: "sit on the fence for a bit and see how things pan out."

BA / RC ,,, it’s all relative, ain’t it?

C.B. ? Not yet, I’d say. Really don’t know what he’s like in the dressing room, though.

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C.B. captain of the Black Hawks??  Could well be the right/best choice, but, not having followed things particularly closely, my reaction is an unequivocal: "sit on the fence for a bit and see how things pan out."

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Well, in fairness, Les Habs pinned the C on Suzuki at a very early age, and it seems to be working. 

Bedard is clearly a remarkable player. But I'm old-school enough to believe that the C should be worn only by someone who has been-there-done-that and who either maintains or shapes a team's identity. And IMO that alone requires a certain amount of been-there-done-that.

.... and the Hawks been there and done that with Toews.

If CB leads by example I figure that’s enough,, that’s what Toews , Suzuki, and Yzerman did

@eag This is likely in your area of interest, Skip,,,, do you think small market teams with little corporate support are viable or are they important in the grand scheme of things? I’m thinking of the Jets and their issue with Hellenbuyck ; they definitely need a strong piece back if they trade him,, they depend on fan base $$ , who probably have limited patience with a losing team.

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Originally posted by chuckv97

@eag This is likely in your area of interest, Skip,,,, do you think small market teams with little corporate support are viable or are they important in the grand scheme of things? I’m thinking of the Jets and their issue with Hellenbuyck ; they definitely need a strong piece back if they trade him,, they depend on fan base $$ , who probably have limited patience with a losing team.

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No, they're actually not, usually, with a caveat.

Clickety-pop here to see current and former NHL teams by population base alone - and this leaves corporate support aside. With exceptions, the minimum market size for a successful NHL team appears to be around 2.5 mm - in a comparatively wealthy area. After you get to about 8mm, more teams make sense. Consider the west coast (LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks) or the NYC metro (Rangers, Islanders, Devils).

Winnipeg is currently the smallest market base of any NHL team, with less than a million. Admittedly they serve a FAR greater market area, geographically, than a lot of teams do - but even so... it wouldn't surprise me if the team was moved within the next decade. Maybe to Atlanta (and I'm not being snarky here).

As for Hellebuyck: I can undertand why he might want out. On the other hand, HE SIGNED A FREAKING CONTRACT worth an AAV of $8.5mm per year. And he's got five years left on that contract. That contract, among other things, means that unless he gets fired for cause or bought out, he's going to get all of that money - provided that he plays.

I have little sympathy for him, and it has nothing to do with the market size, although I'd argue it has outsized value in a market so tiny. He agreed to play there. The team agreed to pay him. The fans were counting on him.

I don't care if he was playing for Chicago, which has ONE TEAM in a metro of nearly 10 million. You pull a stunt like that, and you've basically torched your career. I can't imagine a team would take a chance on him after this.

Actually, I can. Vegas or the Panthers might pick him up on the right (short money) deal. But Zito and McKrimmon are cutthroats anyway.

And otherwise: SCROOIM. He signed a freakin' contract, FFS (in case you wonder, I have the same opinion of art majors who whine about their student loan debt).

Sorry for the rant (even though I'd bet you were hoping for it). I just have too much respect for the game for this kinda boolsheet. When I heard about this this morning, my intial reaction was "Now THAT'S interesting." And the more I thought about it, the more my opinion became "Okay, fact is that goalies have always been weird and always will be. But SCROOIM."

It's a damned shame that the new CBA just took effect, because we're locked into this for at least four years. Personally, I think that if a player who contracted for NMAs or NTC lists asks for a trade, their protection should be voided and the team should be able to get the best deal they can. And while we're on the subject, if you're drafted, you play for the org that drafted you. If you're good enough, bet on NOT going to the draft and enter the pro game as an undrafted free agent. I'm all for players getting what they're due, but IMO the players may actually have TOO MUCH control the way things are right now.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go extract the gravel from the knuckles I've been dragging along the ground.

Atlanta…? Again? Wadda they gonna call’em now, the Peach Kings?

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Originally posted by chuckv97

Atlanta…? Again? Wadda they gonna call’em now, the Peach Kings?

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Atlanta actually makes sense as a market.. population base, potential corporate support.

Earlier in my career, I used to name stuff for branding purposes. I could issue a couple of snarky responses here, but in actuality, brand naming is actually something of an art. Good names have to reflect the product, its values, and ideally reflect something of the market itself. That's what makes a good name resonate.

The Avalanche would have been a far more apt name for Utah than it is for Colorado. Avalanches happen regularly in Utah within ten miles of city limits. Avalanches rarely happen within an hour of Denver, and that's if traffic on I-80 is flowing easy.

Too bad for Utah that the name was already used. That's the other tricky part - you can't violate someone else's trademark. I still can't believe that the ice chest company were such dicks about the Yeti name, and I'm astonished that the case couldn't have been adjudicated in Utah's favor. Nobody would ever confuse a hockey team with an grossly overpriced cooler. And IMO, Yeti missed out on bazillions in cross-promotional revenues, which I view as ENORMOUSLY stupid on their part.

I seem to be in a spleeny mood this evening. Don't know why - it was a lovely day.

Hah,, I wasn’t being confrontational, but after 2 chances with an NHL team and even having Smoltz and Glavine (a Nooinglandah) boosting for the Thrashers, they folded anyway and moved to Winterpeg. (who was that goalie that didn’t want to play in the Peg cuz he said there were no parks in the city? .. lol). btw, there’s a Junior C team called the Peach Kings in Grimsby, Ontario- Kevin Bieksa played for them; it’s his home town.

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Originally posted by chuckv97

Hah,, I wasn’t being confrontational, but after 2 chances with an NHL team and even having Smoltz and Glavine (a Nooinglandah) boosting for the Thrashers, they folded anyway and moved to Winterpeg. (who was that goalie that didn’t want to play in the Peg cuz he said there were no parks in the city? .. lol). btw, there’s a Junior C team called the Peach Kings in Grimsby, Ontario- Kevin Bieksa played for them; it’s his home town.

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I certainly didn't view it as confrontational, you may rest assured! But let's consider that the previous Atlanta teams were quite some time ago, and failed for reasons that probably didn't have as much to do with market size as market opportunity.

In a lot of ways, I think it was The Great One who paved the way for teams in places where winter is a concept, not an actuality. Among his other marvelous achievements, he was enough of a draw to prove that professional hockey can be viable in locations where it's always summer. IMO that's his REAL legacy - not his astonishing and freaky stats records. And all of that has made the game immeasurably better for the players and the fans, to my way of thinking.

I agree about the Gretzky effect, but the road was somewhat paved beforehand by,,,, wait for it….. two former St. Catharines Blackhawks- Marcel Dionne , who dazzled and befuddled NHL defencemen for many seasons in LA, and a bit later by Phil Esposito who battled against the odds to start up the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise.
(btw, I’m still musing over the “spleeny” term…..)

Mr. Goalie, 502 consecutive games without a mask…. and the barn he said he was always painting every year to skip most of training camp. (I did get his autograph one year in September when the ChiHawks had their camp in St. Catharines)

Apparently there's barns and then there's barns ... https://www.instagram.com/p/DN6_cM8DV7C/

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Originally posted by chuckv97

Mr. Goalie, 502 consecutive games without a mask…. and the barn he said he was always painting every year to skip most of training camp. (I did get his autograph one year in September when the ChiHawks had their camp in St. Catharines)

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One of the greats - and one of the few players about whom it can be said "He changed the way the game is played."

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Originally posted by Owen

Apparently there's barns and then there's barns ... https://www.instagram.com/p/DN6_cM8DV7C/

 

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Now THAT'S funny!

C'mon ... a 62-yard field goal as time expires ... gimme a  *)*&^(%  break:   https://www.facebook.com/reel/1875522523856625

[I watched the game in bits-and-pieces, but gotta admit I was kinda hoping Paredes would miss .... might be rooted in my going winless for an entire season of 'ockey,    I dunno.]

“ As of the 2026 CFL Season, Parades is known as the oldest active player in the CFL at 41. On September 20, 2026, he kicked a game-winning field goal from 62 yards out, one yard shy of the CFL record.”

As of this writing: T-minus 51 hours and a few minutes until puck drop.

The Holy Season is upon us.

Go Hawks Go!

Yes indeedy!!