FanHouse ChicagoBlackhawks

Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like an American bank. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.

I hope everyone out there had a great holiday, whichever one you choose to celebrate. If it was Christmas, I hope you don't have too bad of an egg nog hangover this morning! Today in Buys and Sells we're going to take a look at which NHL teams are contending and which are pretending. We're nearing the midpoint of the season and the end of the year, so I think it's a great time to take a look at the first half surprises and decide who will be sticking around come playoff time and who will be heading home early. As you've probably surmised from the picture to the right, Jon Toews and the Hawks are the first topic of discussion today... Right after the jump. As always disagreements and your own picks are welcome in the comments.

It doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "A Christmas Story," but it will have to do for now. There really isn't an easy way to put into words the tale of the Chicago Blackhawks' Thanksgiving. In a world where the media and the folks who digest the content media produces have a penchant for the negative and controversial, this story about the Blackhawks is one that needs to be written about.

All too often you can turn on the television or open a newspaper and see images of war, murder or worse. All too often we write and talk about people like Sean Avery until we're blue in the face. That's why today, we've got something a bit more heart-warming.

The Chicago Blackhawks are one of the youngest teams in the NHL and they're on the up-and-up. They have made the playoffs once since 1997, and that was in 2002, when many of the guys on this team were still in school. The Hawks have an average age of 25.5 years, lowest in the league, but they showed compassion beyond their years. I apologize for largely paraphrasing this story, but it's really not something that needs to be re-worded or given a new "spin." It simply needs to be read and taken for what it is.

Today at Wrigely Field, the NHL and Chicago Blackhawks held a press conference to pump up the upcoming Winter Classic. Smack in the middle of July, it made all kinds of sense (not really). Anyway, we got a glimpse at what the NHL was planning for January. In the picture above, you can see a mock up of the rink that the NHL set up at Wrigley today. As you can probably tell, the sight lines are going to be weird. It might be something akin to watching football in a baseball stadium whose seats don't fold out nicely -- think Shea Stadium.

My point -- there's a lot of open space on the field out there. Hopefully that gets filled in with seats (How cool would that be??) because otherwise people with "front row" seats are going to be sorely dissapointed. Seats on the rooftops though, should still be freaking awesome. Just make sure you're not sitting behind home plate. You might not see a lot.

After the jump, a couple more shots from today's presser.

After years of play that can really might be best described as 'skating around' it looks as thought the NHL career of enigmatic winger Sergei Samsonov may be coming to an end. After being acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks from Montreal during the summer, the Hawks put Samsonov on the waiver wire tonight. If he goes unclaimed, his next gig will be for the Hawks' AHL affiliate in Rockford, Illinois.

Originally, Samsonov was the 8th pick in the 1997 draft, selected by Boston. Along with Joe Thornton, Samsonov was part of a Bruins duo that was supposed to lead the team back to the promised land. That never materialized, despite Samsonov putting up two 70+ point, 29 goal seasons at the beginning of the millennium. After a few mediocre and injury plagued seasons, he was let go. Prior to last season, he ended up signing a two-year deal with Montreal valued at approximately $7 million. In Montreal, Samsonov never regained any of the form he had in Boston and was frequently a healthy scratch, finishing the year with nine goals in 63 games. This season, Samsonov had a grand total of zero goals and four assists for the Hawks in 23 games in addition to a -7 rating.

It's really quite amazing that despite the Blackhawks recent resurgence, Samsonov didn't benefit from it in the least. With kids like Jon Toews and Patrick Kane firing on all cylinders, Samsonov didn't even find the net. Not once. It's highly unlikely that any team will claim Samsonov, who at this point appears to have completely lost his scoring touch. The next stop for him will almost certainly be the AHL, and after that it is anyone's guess. How about a reality show on VH1? Those folks can make a show about anything.

In today's visual media age, it seems utterly insane that a major sports franchise would not want to have their team's games televised. Getting eyeballs to view the product is key to opening their minds to the wonders of advertising, product placement, and brand loyalty.

Well, as we all know, it has been the long-running joke that the Chicago Blackhawks, under the late Bill Wirtz, refused to televise their home games, expecting that more people would show and shell out $100 for a ticket if they couldn't watch it for free at home.

Well, after a string of incredibly bad seasons, trades, and drafts, Hawks fans just plain stayed away, regardless of whether the games were on TV or not. A whole generation of potential hockey fans was basically sacrificed for Wirtz's bottom line, with most existing Hawks fans seemingly of the older variety. Playing in one of the world's best markets for sports certainly doesn't guarantee success, and the Hawks may be paying for their short-sightedness for many years to come.

Now, The question we all had when Dollar Bill kicked the bucket: Will the Hawks finally join the rest of us in the 21st century and put some games on TV?

The answer: A resounding YES!

In his first major move with the Blackhawks, Rocky Wirtz is trying to do what fans long have asked for: televise the team's home games.

In a Monday memo, Wirtz told employees that Blackhawks representatives met with Comcast SportsNet executives last week about getting some home games on the air during the current season.

A source within Wirtz Corp. says up to a half-dozen home games may be broadcast this season, the majority of them coming by the end of this year. The first game most likely will be Nov. 11 against the Detroit Red Wings.

Wirtz also said the team is working on a "long-term strategy" for televising more home games in future seasons.

A half-dozen isn't much, but it is certainly a good start, especially given how this is essentially a last-second deal. The NHL badly needs Chicago to be a successful market, and giving the fans easier access to the product is an easy first step in repairing the relationship the NHL and the Blackhawks have with the sports fans of Chi-Town. With Patrick Kane and Jon Toews looking like stars-in-the-making, Hawks fans certainly have reason to come out of the woodwork and start cheering again.

Jonathan Toews, the 3rd overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, was recently signed by the Chicago Blackhawks and induced to leave the NCAA frat parties behind.

Well, with the big contract and big bucks comes the big pressure. Toews will be expected to, somehow, lead the Hawks to their first playoff dance since 1997.

No pressure, kid!

After playing well for Team Canada in the World Championships, it seems both Toews and the Hawks believe the kid is ready to bypass the AHL and go right to the NHL.

Toews signed a three-year contract Wednesday and both general manager Dale Tallon and coach Denis Savard have Toews penciled into the lineup come October, despite the fact he's just 19.

[Coach Denis]Savard said Wednesday he wouldn't hesitate to put Toews on the first line as Martin Havlat's center.

"If we don't do anything else [in free agency or via trade] and from what I saw in the World Championships, I don't see any reason why he can't play with Havlat," Savard said. "He has to play with good players and he will."

How will Toews adapt to the NHL, playing on a bad team, in front of just 10,000 fans a night, while being expected to lead a moribund franchise into the playoffs.

Talk about putting just a wee bit too much on the kid. How do we know he'll even adjust well to the NHL right off the bat? Perhaps the Hawks ought to shut up a bit and let things happen naturally? Maybe Toews will be a low-scoring 3rd liner for the first few months?

If you are a team trying to build, don't start putting the vise on your top prospect. It's not smart.

Kyle Turris of Burnaby (BCHL) and Russian sniper Alexei Cherepanov are the #1 ranked North American and European skaters, respectively, in the final CSS rankings released by the NHL.

Turris was a surprise #1 over London's Patrick Kane, who held that spot previously, and slipped to #2.

Cherepanov is the definite gem of the draft in terms of skill, but is certainly a risk at 5'11", 165lbs. Alexei broke the Russian Super League rookie goal-scoring record with 18 in 47 games, and recently led the Russians to a gold medal win in the recent world Under-18 tournament in Finland.

You can find the lists here:

North American Skaters
North American Goalies
European Skaters
European Goalies

The Chicago Blackhawks won the draft lottery and will have the #1 selection, but there are rumblings that they may be very willing to deal the pick for some immediate help. The Hawks already have enough prospects, and may want to finally make the playoffs some time this century.

The current Top 10 Order
1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Phoenix Coyotes
4. Los Angeles Kings
5. Washington Capitals
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Columbus Blue Jackets
8. Boston Bruins
9. St. Louis Blues
10.Florida Panthers

It looks like the Blackhawks have found a backup goaltender they are comfortable with, after having to go through the disaster that was Brian Boucher. Go figure that the Blue Jackets went and claimed Boucher ... What the hell? Doug MacLean's last laugh? 0.o

Anyhoo, The Hawks have signed Lalime to a 1-year deal, allowing him to continue to reclaim an NHL career of some sort.

From the official Blackhawks website:

Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the Blackhawks have agreed to terms with goaltender Patrick Lalime on a 1-year contract.

Lalime, 32, 6'3", 189 pound netminder appeared in 12 games with the Blackhawks this past season posting a record of 4-5-1 with one shutout, a 3.07 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.

After suffering through a miserable post-lockout season with the Blues, Lalime started the year on the sidelines as he was recovering from a herniated disc and shell shock. I was at the game where he staged his comeback and shut out the Canucks at GM Place. He looked to have his agility back, and was hardly rusty behind a poor Hawks defence.

While he is highly unlikely to ever return to the level of a #1 goaltender, as he was with the Ottawa Senators, Lalime should provide the Hawks with a good backup to Nikolai Khabibulin, who has been fighting inconsistency and aches and pains during his tenure with the Hawks.