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Goalie Situation In Chicago
by Paul on 07/02/08 at 07:19 AM ET
Comments (4)
from Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun-Times, ‘
‘Huet was the No. 1 goaltender in this [free-agent market],’’ Tallon said. ‘’We like Nik, but we wanted to make sure we were good in the net. Khabby’s contract is up at the end of the year, and we’ve got a lot of young goalies who aren’t ready yet.’’
That’s not the stance Tallon took after last season, when he declared that Corey Crawford ‘’deserves a shot’’ after two good seasons in the minors. And Finland’s Antti Niemi came with rave reviews when Tallon signed him in the offseason.
More to the point, the Hawks probably couldn’t find a taker for the last $6.75 million on Khabibulin’s contract. They might find one as the season winds down, though, and by then Huet will be the solid starter and either Crawford or Niemi the up-and-coming backup.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Doesn’t he have to get rid of “The Bulin Wall” before the seasons starts? All this surely has to have them over the cap, especially with the concern of not being able to defer bonuses this season.
If not him, they’ll have to drop another salary, and I don’t think they want to lose any of their great young D.
Makes you wonder if they have had enough with Havlat’s injury problems and are considering cutting him loose.
Obviously, that’s just me taking a wild-ass-guess… and I’d never charge you $20/month for this kind of analysis.
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 07/02/08 at 07:57 AM ET
I read somewhere (maybe Spector?; definitely not Mr. $20/month) that Tallon may try to unload Havlat on one of the “losers” in the Hossa sweepstakes. RE: Khabibulin—the same source (I smite myself for not remembering who!) speculated that Chicago will try to move him during the season to a team that finds it needs help in net.
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 07/02/08 at 09:01 AM ET
On TSN yesterday one of the talking heads said they got an email from Tallon and he said “Keep ‘em both. It’s a great tandem.” *shrugs*
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 07/02/08 at 10:16 AM ET
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For whatever reason, Tallon clearly intends to get rid of Khabibulin.
The guy is a proven great tender, so I wonder if there are issues off-ice?
Posted by w2j2 on 07/02/08 at 07:46 AM ET