Gordon Bombay

Niemi was pretty bad in the SCF. Overall he was maybe a little above average for the playoffs (.910 save percentage), but he did steal a few games. Still though, he feels like an average goalie, and if if it comes down to him or Hjalmarsson/Sharp, it would be better to let Niemi go. Also Niemi's agent has been making it sound like Niemi might not want to stay hear and talking about how he doesn't like all the attention. Could be posturing, but it didn't seem like it.

Hossa was probably the Hawks second best forward in the postseason, maybe third (behind Sharp, but I don't think so). He was making things happen offensively every single time he got the puck in the offensive zone, was a monster defensively, and was consistently winning battles on the boards. It's really sad that people can't get over this irrational disdain they have towards Hossa. Either that or they're erroneously looking at point totals to determine how good a player was. Either way, it's sad that so many people don't understand how good Marian Hossa was this postseason.

If you think any of those guys listed aren't going to be on the Blackhawks next season, you're going to be pretty dissapointed. The best player you could hope for the Hawks losing this offseason would be Patrick Sharp or Hjalmarsson, and both of those are pretty unlikely to be gone. They're going to be losing the likes of Ladd/Versteeg/Byfuglien/Niemi/Madden/Sopel etc etc. They'll almost definitely still have Kane and Toews on the first line, Hossa and Sharp on the second line, and the foursome of Keith/Seabrook/Hjalmarsson/Campbell on D. And if they do lose Niemi, they'll have plenty of young pieces coming back for other guys that could be used to get a goalie like Carey Price, who is most likely better than Niemi anyways. People need to stop acting like the Hawks are going to lose core players this offseason. They're not.

San Jose was 2nd in the NHL in points, and Vancouver was 5th. But hey, don't let facts get in the way.

Yeah, Wings fans don't care about the Hawks at all. It's not like half the thread on the first page of this forum are about the Blackhawks. Oh wait....

Boy, you guys sure do like talking about the Blackhawks. I'll admit though, it's interesting hearing you guys try to talk yourself into thinking that the Blackhawks will suck this year. A point nobody is bringing up - the Hawks are going to absolutely load up their system in the returns they get for these guys. The guys they're going to be trading had very good value right now. Really what we're looking at next year for the Hawks is a team that is still part of a group of about 6-8 teams that has a chance to win a Cup. The stars are more important than the depth, and that's all the Hawks are losing.... depth. Will they even lose one of their top 10 players this offseason? Hawks best 10 players, in no specific order Hossa Toews Seabrook Keith Hjalmarsson Campbell Kane Sharp Bolland Niemi Most likely, they won't lose any of those guys. Maybe Bolland. So yeah, the Hawks will be losing depth more than anything else. Will this offseason hurt them? Absolutely. But to act like they aren't going to be a Cup contender next season seems pretty silly to me. What will happen is they'll spend the next couple years as one of 6-8 teams that has a chance to win a cup, then will be in great shape again after that. Their system is going to be loaded, and the money situation will be better. But hey, if you guys want to say things like "the hits keep on coming", go right ahead. I'm sure the Stanley Cup championship this year was worth sitting through a horrrrrible 100-105 point season next year.