Niemi and the Cup (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The writing was on the wall when the Blackhawks opted to match San Jose’s $14 million ($3.5 million per) offer sheet to Niklas Hjalmarsson. It was going to be tough for Stan Bowman to keep Antti Niemi on the payroll as a result, but you can’t say the man didn’t try. Post offer sheet, Bowman traded Marty Reasoner to the Panthers, and re-signed Jack Skille and Bryan Bickell to minimal deals in an attempt to have enough cap space to accommodate Niemi. I’m under the impression if Niemi really wanted to stay with Chicago, he and his agent would have been more amendable then they were.
According to various sources, Niemi’s camp sought out a one-year deal well above $3 million going into the arbitration hearing, and they were awarded a favorable one-year deal worth $2.75 million by the arbitrator. That number would have handcuffed Bowman when it came to the Blackhawks’ roster, so he walked. He was unable to pull off a sign-and-trade because other clubs didn’t like the deal either.
Enter Marty Turco. The Blackhawks probably started looking at his as a viable option weeks ago, but would have preferred to keep Niemi around at the right price. When the decision had to be made, signing Turco to a one-year deal worth $1.3 million worked best for the Blackhawks salary cap issue, so it eventually became easy for the Bowman to walk away from Niemi. He freed up 1.45 million, and they will be able to field a full 22-man roster.
There will actually be position battles taking place at training camp. Low salaries won’t dictate who makes the NHL roster come fall. We might actually see guys like Kyle Beach and Shawn Lalonde as soon as October. Also, all signs point to Corey Crawford as back-up goaltender.
Before you grab a pitchfork and/or torch on your way to Stan Bowman’s doorstep, think twice before you blame him for disbanding your Chicago Blackhawks. First, lynch mobs are no longer in fashion. Also, he’s just working within the parameters of the current collective bargaining agreement. Last, it’s a recent league-wide trend that goaltenders don’t win Stanley Cups – defensemen do. In other words, don’t hate the player, hate the game.
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I am a 49 year old and a college graduate. I have been a lifelong Hawk and wore my Blackhawk jersey proudly as I watched through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I am APPALLED AND SICKENED to see a team that could have potentially won the cup again next year broken apart shortly after the celebration parade. I think the people of Chicago as well as the Blackhawk faithful around the world DESERVE an explanation as to the circustances(salry caps blah blah blah) around the disassembly of such a great team. I challenge the Blackhawks management to come out from hiding behind their office doors and explain themselves!
Let’s take a chill pill Hawk fans. This is still a solid team. If you watched all year you know Big Buff played way too many soft games and Niemi isn’t Glenn Hall, he was better than Huet but so was Goldberg from the Mighty Ducks. The NHL is set up this way and teams like Pittsburgh have figured out you pay your core guys and change the parts around them and that can make you a contender year after year. Did we pay the right guys, Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, Hossa, Bolland, Sharp, … hard to argue and only time will tell. Campbell was overpaid at a time not many free agents were lining up to come here and Huet was just a bad signing. The Hawks have a lot of young players that will have to step up to the challenge. Isn’t that what makes sports great… when challenges are met and championships are won. GO HAWKS!!
@Mike, you’re correct sir. The Blackhawks are still a great team. One oculd even argue that they are better off in some areas with the moves that Bowman made this off-season.
@Denny Yea, it sucks losing a boat load of players on a Stanley Cup winning team, but welcome to Bettman’s NHL.