Hola amigos, I know it’s been a while since I rapped at ya, but things have finally slowed down for the summer in Blackhawk Nation, one that has worn us all the fuck out to this point. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s been totally dead around here, so let’s get to the few things that have been happening lately.
- Nick Boynton and Jordan Hendry have been officially re-signed, at $500K and $600K respectively, both one-way deals. While it was widely reported last week, it’s now been confirmed. There’s your third pairing, juggalos. Get used to it.
- David Haugh gives us another Pulitzer piece, this time lamenting the miscalculation of Antti Niemi and agent Bill Zito. Haugh actually manages a quote from the muted Finn, which is somewhat impressive. Though, fittingly, the most telling sign is his declining to comment when asked if a 3-year, $8 million dollar deal was indeed offered. If it hadn’t been, he would have said so. If he confirms it, he and Zito look even more bumbling than they already do. But Haugh again panders in painting Niemi as the sympathetic figure here; this was a cash grab, and a poorly-timed one at that, given the saturation of the goalie market. Niemi has no one to blame but himself (or Zito) for being a man with out a team right now.
- THIS is the Kaner we all know and love. Prior to the Cup win, Sam and I frequently joked that should they win, 20 Cent would pretty much just put the Cup in the middle of the intersection of Clark and Addison, drop trou and yell “Line up”. Seems that’s not far from what actually happened.
- Buff rocked the Thrash threads during his day with the Cup. Not sure how I feel about this, though he was likely just as conflicted. I’d say go neutral and no jersey, just to spare yourself any controversy from the Hockey Gods.
- Finally, single-game tickets went on sale today and promptly sold the fuck out. Particularly ridiculous are the prices for the Banner Raising in the secondary market. While it’s unfortunate that a lot of very dedicated Hawks fans are now getting priced out of games, make no mistake, this is far more preferable than what was going on just four years ago.
That’s all we’ve got for now, but rest assured, we’ll soon start looking ahead to some training camp and season preview stuff. Tickets just went on sale today, the real deal is not that far off, even though a two-month priapism is going to be mighty difficult to endure.