Turco Signed (1Y,1.3M), Hawks walk away from Niemi.

[nana]

[quote name="R K"]



If they could have gotten Niemi for 1.3 and Wilson had not fucked us on Hjarlmarsson I'd bet money they'd have been able to keep Ladd.



I'd also suggest Ladd may be back here in Chicago at some point.



IMO Ladd is still the biggest loss for this team so far this off season.[/quote]



You can definitely make arguments for Buff, for Versteeg, etc., but I agree with this and already miss Ladd. He just seemed to do so many of the little things consistently well and gave 100% effort, all the time. If he came back at some point, I would be thrilled!



Turco, with these quotes, is getting an early start trying to rival his former teammate Madden's amount of man love in Chicago at the beginning of last year. Niemi played an absolutely critical role in the Cup win and I wish him the best wherever he ends up... and please for the love do not boo him when he comes to the UC! It didn't work out with him, so I am excited to have another Wolverine here and am loving his excitement to be with the team. Go Blue!

 

[esbrechtel]

[quote name="THe Count Dante"]

Instead we got a hungry Vet, proven franchise netminder, for perhaps the best deal I can think of for someone like this, who at least says all the right things, has the attitude, and gave up money and years to play with the Hawks.



Wish ya the best of luck Niemi, thanks for your play, hope you find what you are looking for in your career.[/quote]



QFT

 

[Guest]

[quote name="IceHogsFan"]



The ultimate FU from Niemi would be to hear of him signing with another with another agent![/quote]



Nice too see you are taking this better. I'm surprised Tony is not as he was a huge Turco supporter at the TDL. I'm sorry I would lose NO MORE players off lines before Niemi, knowing Turco is the replacement. None.



Kopecky.... Nope, from the Olympics on he was probably in the top forwards on this team.



Brouwer.... Nope, he makes 800k and is good for at least 25 goals.



Anyone else.... Nope.....



Zito just walked his client out of a job. Why? Because it's all about the Money? I hate that. It's not always about the Money. Skille and now Turco just proved that flat out!

 

[bubbleheadchief]

All I have to say is, thank god, we finally know who their #1 is. No more fricking guessing games and getting all pissy with each other arguing over we can/cant keep Niemi, Theodore sucks, Turco is over the hill.

Turco is in the Indianhead at $1.3M, which is a fucking steal......if he stands on his head, he makes bank on his next contract, if he sucks a big terd, he is in another sweater next year.

Zito/Niemi gambled, and lost. Good luck with whomever you sign with Annti, I hope for your sake, you dont have a sophmore flop.

 

[LordKOTL]

[quote name="R K"]



Well if Toews and Kane didn't get 4.4 mil in bonuses we'd not have been nearly as screwed. I'm sorry but having Turco, excites me. If Khabi had this team in front of him years ago when he was first signed we'd have won the Cup then too.[/quote]

Bingo. In my mind the only remaining question is for the bottom 5-6 on forward and the bottom 2 on D step it up and play beyond their salaries?



Unlike a lot of people i've seen on other boards, I don't think it's too far out for a possibility.



Oh, and an homage to Espo? I'd like to see that.

 

[Larmer83]

[quote name="R K"]



Well if Toews and Kane didn't get 4.4 mil in bonuses we'd not have been nearly as screwed. I'm sorry but having Turco, excites me. If Khabi had this team in front of him years ago when he was first signed we'd have won the Cup then too.[/quote]

Excite you as in a potential line of Makarov , Kane, and Toews?

 

[Guest]

[quote name="nana"]



You can definitely make arguments for Buff, for Versteeg, etc., but I agree with this and already miss Ladd. He just seemed to do so many of the little things consistently well and gave 100% effort, all the time. If he came back at some point, I would be thrilled!



Turco, with these quotes, is getting an early start trying to rival his former teammate Madden's amount of man love in Chicago at the beginning of last year. Niemi played an absolutely critical role in the Cup win and I wish him the best wherever he ends up... and please for the love do not boo him when he comes to the UC! It didn't work out with him, so I am excited to have another Wolverine here and am loving his excitement to be with the team. Go Blue! [/quote]



I take my stand on Ladd because of the role he played. He and Bolland shut down the Best the NHL had this year. Hands down, two way players in Bolland and Ladd together. Sedins, Thornton, Heatly, Carter, and Richards. They will certainly miss Buff and Versteeg but their roles can be replaced IMO. Ladd's role will be much harder to fill.





Ironic you bring up Madden because his agent is Zito. Just as Burrish's agent is Zito.





The Hawks made an offer to both, with the Salary Cap in mind. Maddens wife loved living in Chicago. Burrish, well we all know how attached he was here.

 

[Guest]

[quote name="Larmer83"]

Excite you as in a potential line of Makarov , Kane, and Toews?[/quote]



Close. I so hope Makarov does not disappoint and gets a valid shot. First Russian I've ever been excited about.



I've watched Turco for a long time. He is an amazing puck moving goalie. Add that to Campbell and Keith and holy ****. Hawks have an amazing core of players. Quality shots and Quantity against will be much different than in ANY time in Dallas. Least IMO.

 

[IceHogsFan]

[quote name="R K"]



Nice too see you are taking this better.

[/quote]



I would not say that but maybe reality is a little clearer. I still think this is an epic

**** up on the behalf of the Blackhawks. Zito is second in line to that title IMO.



If I was an arrogant ass I would say that I hope Antti goes somewhere and lights it up and then when we have an extra $4 M sitting around next season and no starting goalie and say, "See, told you so!" To be an ultimate ****** I would say that I would boo Antti when he makes an appearance here with another team.

 

[Guest]

We won't have an extra 4 mil sitting around next year because we have a guy named SEABROOK to resign. And if you say you'd take Niemi over Seabrook, I'm going to thump you at training camp after I send you a pic with me holding the CUP over my head!

 

[E Runs]

[quote name="nana"]



You can definitely make arguments for Buff, for Versteeg, etc., but I agree with this and already miss Ladd. He just seemed to do so many of the little things consistently well and gave 100% effort, all the time. If he came back at some point, I would be thrilled!



Turco, with these quotes, is getting an early start trying to rival his former teammate Madden's amount of man love in Chicago at the beginning of last year. Niemi played an absolutely critical role in the Cup win and I wish him the best wherever he ends up... and please for the love do not boo him when he comes to the UC! It didn't work out with him, so I am excited to have another Wolverine here and am loving his excitement to be with the team. Go Blue! [/quote]

Not that surprising seeing they were both under the tutledge of Red Berenson.



I'm predicting Turco will have 10+ Assists this year.

 

[Guest]

how awesome would that be. 10 assists LOL!

 

[The Count Dante]

[quote name="R K"]



Close. I so hope Makarov does not disappoint and gets a valid shot. First Russian I've ever been excited about.



I've watched Turco for a long time. He is an amazing puck moving goalie. Add that to Campbell and Keith and holy ****. Hawks have an amazing core of players. Quality shots and Quantity against will be much different than in ANY time in Dallas. Least IMO.[/quote]



Just the extra movement on the PP alone! Turco is MADE for this team.



I wont lie though, I am a little worried about the adjustment the D will have to make and Turco will need to earn trust quickly from his D. But once the D adjusts to how he plays? You wanna talk about movin a puck... MAN it is gonna be fun to watch.

 

[Guest]

To be honest I don't think our team was confident in front of either goalie for quite a while last year. Especially not Huet. I do believe the confidence grew as the year went on with Niemi and rightfully so, but it was clearly not there by MANY all the way up to the TDL. Most of the so called "experts" in the NHL as well.



Turco and his experience will bring some confidence. I can say for FACT there was more confidence in front of Khabi by most of these guys that any goalie they've played in front of.

 

[E Runs]

[quote name="R K"]how awesome would that be. 10 assists LOL![/quote]

I also think we'll all have 8-12 mild heart attacks when he's cough out between the hask marks. It'll be fun either way.

 

[Guest]

[quote name="E Runs"]

I also think we'll all have 8-12 mild heart attacks when he's cough out between the hask marks. It'll be fun either way.[/quote]





Yea but how many of those have we had the past two years we've actually been a legitimate team.



Again I'm sorry but I like the shake up some after winning the Cup. It will keep it interesting for the players as well. This will give Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, Sharp, Bolland and the rest AMMUNITION to continue on.



I mean shit, Gold Medals, Stanley Cup, Con Smyth, Norris... You'd have to think they were all pretty god damn satisfied. Now they have something to prove all over again.

 

[bookjones]

[quote name="noon"]



If Niemi is in shock over this, he's got no one to blame but Zito. Again, the fact that Niemi asked "Now what does this mean?" after the award -- plus allegedly being "in shock" at the outcome here -- strongly suggests Zito did not inform Niemi how arbitrations work and what were the possible outcomes. I smell malpractice.[/quote]



Eh, I am totally on the Zito is a ****** who fucked Niemi's Chicago shit right the hell on up bandwagon but IMO Niemi is equally to blame for not knowing and handling his business. At 27, when it comes to the very matter of your pro athlete career, you'd better have a vested goddamn interest in knowing what is clearly going on or you reap what you sow. Now he's reaping. If he still wasn't clear what the arbitration amount "meant" then that tells me he's probably been working with a Zito endorsed and paid translator and at 27 if you can recognize that you still aren't clear about what's going on then you naturally need to think to yourself, hey maybe I ought to get a translator myself who explains everything pristinely as many times as it takes until I finally *do* understand and until all my questions are answered. I feel for the kid because on the matter of the Hawks it sounds like he's been hoodwinked but I shed no tears for grown ass adult athletes in any sport who take no control over or maybe even especial interest in their career, financial, and legal situations.

 

[Pez68]

[quote name="Larmer83"]

What Pez wrote was that if not for the Niemi arb, the Hawks would be able to keep Ladd. Even if Niemi took the same $ as Turco, with Ladd's $2.35 Mil it would be a 20 man roster with Toivenen as back up and 470K in space.[/quote]



Who is to say Ladd wouldn't have taken less than the 2.3M he got in ATL to play for us again? Noone knows that. All he signed was a one year deal there, and those are almost always higher than a multi-year deal. We never negotiated with Ladd, just qualified him at 1.815M. Obviously he's worth more than a one year deal at 1.8M, so he declined, and we were forced to trade him. Noone knows that Ladd wouldn't have signed a three year deal at 2M or less per season, do they? Regardless, I think the Hawks were planning on a certain amount of money for Niemi, and moved players that didn't accept their offer sheets, planning for that.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

I wonder how many of these guys we might see back in Chicago down the road...

 

[Guest]

I'd say more than probably anyone thinks. All of them have deep connections in Chicago now. They all understand the Salary Cap and exactly why they aren't here any longer.