Hockey on Fourth of July weekend? You bet. I love Rocky Wirtz.
I need the Blackhawks chairman’s chief head hunter, Stan Bowman, to do me a solid. As free agency begins, I need Bowman to make a splash before I make my annual pilgrimage to northwest Ontario next week.
There, the locals will be waiting to talk trash about the Hawks getting bounced by the Canucks in the first round. They’ve already started, assigning me cabin No. 8 and boat No. 8.
Eight, as in the seed the Hawks had to scramble for on the heels of their Stanley Cup championship season.
Whatever verbal abuse I take from fishing guides, dock boys or bartenders, I earned it. After more than 15 years of enduring their garbage for the Hawks’ 49-year title drought, I probably went a little too far giving it back last summer.
I thought these Flames fans would appreciate the gesture of their own freshly printed championship T-shirts and a peek at my photos of a special Wednesday night in Philadelphia just a month prior. They didn’t.
If the Hawks don’t have the trump to sign Stars sniper Brad Richards, who appears destined for the Rangers, they should grab rugged winger Erik Cole. The 32-year-old had 26 goals and 26 assists last season for the Hurricanes, for whom he has played in all nine of his NHL seasons.
Cole is the player Troy Brouwer, moved to the Capitals last Friday for a draft pick, couldn’t quite become. The Hawks need to get better on their second and third lines.
It also makes sense for Bowman to get Andrew Ladd back. The Hawks missed the defensive-minded forward more than any of the many departures from the 2010 title team.
We all knew a roster purge was coming with the Hawks in salary-cap hell. But the continued dismantling of that ol’ gang o’ mine stings just a little, doesn’t it?
Brouwer gone. Tomas Kopecky gone (for an exorbitant price of $3 million per year, courtesy of … Dale Tallon). Brian Campbell gone.
Give us one back, Stan. Yeah, the core remains, but fans who appreciated Ladd’s contributions would sing “Chelsea Dagger” all weekend if he and the Hawks reunite.
The Hawks also need to beef up on the blue line. Campbell’s departure is a blessing (thanks again, Dale) because he didn’t play to the level of his contract, but his open-ice burst and marksmanship on the power play will be missed.
Maybe Steve Montador, most recently a Sabre, can fill that void. Montador is 31, physical and can play on the wing in a pinch. He was a career-best plus-16 with the Hurricanes last season and led them with 136 blocked shots. Niklas Hjalmarsson was the only Hawks defenseman who consistently gave up his body to stop the puck last season.
“Monts,” as I’m sure he’ll be called, began his career with the Flames. That gives me more ammunition for the friendly verbal fire I’ll exchange with my one-week-a-year pals at Eagle Lake, a short poke from Chris Pronger’s hometown of Dryden, Ontario.
Get ‘er done, Mr. Bowman. Don’t send me back to hockey country with only old photos.
Dan McNeil hosts “The Danny Mac Show” weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WSCR-AM 670.
