John Madden adds solid veteran presence to Chicago Blackhawks

More evidence of the belief around the NHL that the Blackhawks are on the cusp of winning a Stanley Cup can be found in the signing of John Madden .

[paully boy]

great signing of madden, he will be a step up from sammy paulson. With him as your third line center, the hawks are loaded on there top three lines!!!

[Mike]

It's a good thing they signed Madden to replace what they thought they were getting in Sammy Pahlsson. Pahlsson for Wisniewski was a bad trade for the Hawks although I know why Tallon did it. They will need to replace Walker as well.

[BFM]

The Madden signing, to me, is the first real indication that players around the league recognize the Hawks as Cup contenders NOW. You could reasonably assume/argue that the Hawks offered more $$$$$ to Campbell, Huet and Hossa than any other team, which means their talk about wanting to play in Chicago for the Hawks could be, to a certain degree, PR motivated. Madden, a respected, proven winner, turned down years and money (assuming you believe what you read) to be here. I can't believe I'm saying this but I can't wait for the end of summer!

[rick]

if we could only land defenseman francois beauchemin from anaheim.that would be a marked replacement for walker.duck gm bob murray owes the hawks big time for his ethan moreau and dan cleary to edmonton for boris mironov fiasco

[A Michaels]

I heard he has a strange infatuation with Brett Favre.

[Remembers the Roar]

A Michaels wrote:

I heard he has a strange infatuation with Brett Favre.

We have a winner!

[Steve]

rick wrote:

if we could only land defenseman francois beauchemin from anaheim.that would be a marked replacement for walker.duck gm bob murray owes the hawks big time for his ethan moreau and dan cleary to edmonton for boris mironov fiasco

Beauchemin will be too expensive, seeking a multi-year deal. Any d-man will come via trade, due to our surplus of forwards (Toews/Kane/Sharp, Hossa/Ladd/Bolland, Madden/Buff/Versteeg, Eager/Burish/Kopecky, Fraser/Brouwer/Skille, Beach/Aliu/Dowell, etc.) We have two extra lines.

Calgary needs offense, so does NJ. Preferably we'll send people out East, so someone like Versteeg (who's an RFA and will command some dough) doesn't hurt us six times annually.

[Great White North Fan]

Hard to believe what I'm reading - players turning down better deals elsewhere to play for the Hawks. Who would have thought this possible even a year ago? All those years in the desert, wondering if this day would ever come. Only one thing left on this team's to do list.

[nova0311]

Great White North Fan wrote:

Hard to believe what I'm reading - players turning down better deals elsewhere to play for the Hawks. Who would have thought this possible even a year ago? All those years in the desert, wondering if this day would ever come. Only one thing left on this team's to do list.

Yep, just need a goalie now. Sorry, no offense to Huet, but if we can get a dependable guy in net, it's going to be a very long playoff run this year.

[olduffman]

nova0311 wrote:

<quoted text>
Yep, just need a goalie now. Sorry, no offense to Huet, but if we can get a dependable guy in net, it's going to be a very long playoff run this year.

Huet will be fine he walked into a very tought spot last year and still had a good season.It took Khabibulin a couple years to get it together.Huet but a lot of pressure on himself and the media did not help lets get behind the guy and cheer him on

Crawford also realy deserve a chance with the big team he has paid his dues & more in the minors
I hope they don't go spend money on another goalie GO HAWKS & Huet !!!!

[nova0311]

olduffman wrote:

<quoted text>Huet will be fine he walked into a very tought spot last year and still had a good season.It took Khabibulin a couple years to get it together.Huet but a lot of pressure on himself and the media did not help lets get behind the guy and cheer him on
Crawford also realy deserve a chance with the big team he has paid his dues & more in the minors
I hope they don't go spend money on another goalie GO HAWKS & Huet !!!!

We'll see. Huet seemed to be getting his act together toward the end of the regular season. I'd still like to see one of the veteran free agents on the team just in case.