Larry Brown Sports

Phil Esposito is one of the greatest players in NHL history, and he played for both the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins. For that reason, one might assume he would be torn when it comes to choosing a team to root for in this year’s Stanley Cup Final. As it turns out, that could not be further from the truth.

During a recent interview with the Toronto Sun, Esposito emphatically stated that he feels no connection to the Bruins or Blackhawks.

“You want to know the truth?” he said. “This series doesn’t mean s*** to me. I have no feeling for these teams. There’s nothing emotional about it. They both got rid of me, traded me. So screw them.”

Esposito was considered the greatest scorer of his generation, becoming the first ever player to score over 100 points in a season when he recorded a whopping 126 in 1969. He led the NHL in scoring for six straight seasons from 1969-1975, and he and Bobby Orr were the anchors of a Bruins team that won Stanley Cup championships in 1970 and 1972.

Esposito came to Boston from Chicago in 1967, before his career really took off. During the 1975-76 season, he was traded from the Bruins to the New York Rangers when he supposedly made a fuss about having his playing time reduced because of his age.

“I didn’t choose to leave Chicago,” Esposito said. “I didn’t choose to leave Boston. I signed a contract in Boston for less money than I could have gotten from going to the WHA. I could have made millions doing that. And you know how they repaid me? Three weeks later, they traded me (to the New York Rangers).”

The fifth-leading scorer in NHL history went on to coach and become general manager of the Rangers after he retired in 1981. In 1987, the Bruins held an emotional ceremony where they retired Esposito’s No. 7 jersey and had Ray Bourque remove the number from his back to reveal his new No. 77. Esposito was moved by the ceremony and later attended a ceremony in Boston when the Bruins retired Bourque’s number, but apparently he has had no association with the team since then. Talk about a crying shame.

H/T Deadspin

The Chicago Blackhawks pushed themselves to the brink of elimination against the Detroit Red Wings after only four games in the Western Conference semifinals, but they somehow rattled off three straight victories to take the series. Some will argue that they stepped up in a big way with their backs against the wall, but a woman named Shannon would tell you it was her dog Ivy’s bowel movements that sparked the comeback.

Shannon shared her story with the Eric and Kathy Morning Show on 101.9 FM Chicago this week. She said she takes Ivy, her lab mix, for walks in their neighborhood every day. Blackhawks center Patrick Sharp happens to live in the same neighborhood. Simply put, Shannon claims Chicago wins every time Ivy poops on Sharp’s lawn.

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Anyone who knows me knows I have always had an enormous crush on Heidi Watney. The former Red Sox sideline reporter — who is now rumored to have taken a job covering the Lakers — recently broke my heart. Every day it gets a little bit easier. While I have always had a thing for Ms. Watney, I don’t think I would have the stones to tell her that if given the opportunity. Ideally I would try to make some small talk with her and play it cool. Greg from Lemont, on the other hand, seems like more of a “tell it like it is” kind of guy. He has a thing for CSN Chicago reporter Sarah Kustok, and he straight up let her know about it after he participated in the “Shoot the Puck” contest during the Blackhawks game Thursday night. Check out this video that CSNChicago.com passed along:

Homeboy threw his hand on her shoulder and everything.  People have been calling this video creepy but personally I ain’t mad at Greg for this move.  He knew this could be his only chance to let Sarah know how he feels so he went for it.  What other choice did he have?

The Chicago Blackhawks lost their arbitration case with goaltender Antti Niemi and would have had to pay him $2.75 million in salary. They had the option to keep him, trade him or release him as a free agent. Their decision? They let him walk away.

I think this was a horrible decision. I was fine with the team trading Dustin Byfuglien and company to the Trashers, but I am not OK with this.  If it was not for Niemi, the Blackhaws would not have won the Stanley Cup. I’m not saying that the rest of the Blackhawks’ roster wasn’t stocked full of talent– because it was– but if they would have had Cristobal Huet in goal instead of Niemi they wouldn’t have made it past the Vancouver Canucks.

The part that upsets me most about this deal is the fact that they agreed to sign Marty Turco to a one-year deal. First off, Turco is like 100 years old. Fine, he’s 34, but Niemi is only 26, so it seems like he’s much older. Plus, I don’t think Turco has much juice left in him. I mean yes, he’s a three-time All-Star and was once one of the highest-paid goalies in the league, but that was in the past. He did have 30 wins in the 2009 season, I’ll give him that. I just don’t think it’s enough.

The thing that might make this OK is if the Blackahawks start preparing Corey Crawford for his role as an NHL goalie. He saw a little ice time last season, but since Turco is only locked in for a year they should be preparing Crawford for his role as the 2011-2012 starter. You can’t really have a more important role than a goalie. You can score all the goals you want, but if there’s no one there to stop the other team from scoring too, you aren’t going to get too far. I really hope the Blackhawks know what they’re doing but I think that chances of a repeat just went down with Niemi’s release.

Sources:
Blackhawks drop Niemi, sign goalie Turco [Chicago Tribune]
Blackhawks agree to terms with three-time All-Star Marty Turco [Chicago Blackhawks]

Fans of the Chicago Blackhawks are still celebrating. Even though three weeks have passed since they won the Stanley Cup, fans still sport their championship tees and hats with pride. (I know I do.) But fans in Blackhawks nation were shocked on Wednesday to hear that Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and a prospect were traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for two 2010 draft picks and three players. On top of that, Colin Fraser was traded Thursday morning to the Edmonton Oilers for a 6th round 2010 draft pick.

The thing that upset people the most was that beloved Byfuglien would no longer be sporting the Indian head sweater. It was disappointing to see a player who is so talented on both sides of the puck leave Chicago. Big Buff has proved that he not only is a force on defense but that he is a heck of an offensive player too. He was a major factor in the Blackhawks championship run, whether it be his hat trick performance in Vancouver or the three game-winning goals he had against San Jose.

It’s hard news to swallow yes, but should we cry? No. The Blackhawks are running a very smart system; the front office turned the franchise around from having one of the worst records in the league to winning the Stanley Cup. The reality is that when it comes to cap space, some players have to go. I would have rather seen someone like Kris Versteeg, who has a relatively pricey salary, go but hey, that’s why I’m not the Blackhawks GM.

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Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has enjoyed an amazing year to say the least. He won a gold medal in Vancouver with the Canadian hockey team, the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP, and oh yeah, he brought the Stanley Cup back to Chicago for the first time in 49 years.  And things haven’t stopped there. Despite playing the sidekick to Miley Cyrus at the 2010 MuchMusic Awards, Toews still has a reason to smile — he’ll be the cover boy of NHL ’11. (Two Blackhawks in a row, Patrick Kane graced this year’s cover.)

Regardless of all the accomplishments this year, Toews is still not satisfied. In one of the captain’s rare radio appearances, he told Waddle & Silvy on ESPN 1000 that he has no interest in handing over the Cup next year:

“We may not have said that publicly, but amongst each other in the euphoria of winning and celebrating with fans around us, jokingly and seriously we’ve said let’s do this again, and we mean it. The feeling is incredible, but we realize once the puck drops next year it’s back to business, and you have to find a new champion. We don’t want it to be a new champion. We want it to be us again.”

It’s hard for me to refrain from saying “Hell yeah!”…so I won’t. Hell yeah! Of course any team that wins a championship doesn’t want to lose it the next year — that’s just common sense. What I am excited about is that the Blackhawks, amongst their celebrating, are serious about next season. It’s not an easy task to repeat a championship and I’m glad the boys are already getting down to business. After all, their season starts on Oct. 7th in Colorado and that’s only less than four months away. Opposing teams are never easy on the defending champs but something tells me the ‘Hawks can do it again.

Sources:
Blackhawks’ Toews: Let’s Do it Again [ESPN Chicago]
Photo Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup in 49 years on Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. From the start of these Stanley Cup playoffs (granted I’m no Barry Melrose who called it at the beginning of the season), I said that the Blackhawks would reign victorious — and they did. There was no looting last night (Yup, I’m looking at you Montreal), but there were tears shed by Jeremy Roenick and there was a whole lot of cheering in the streets of Chicago.

The last time Chicago had a reason to celebrate was when the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, but only half the baseball fans in the city were happy. Last night however was different; hockey truly unified the city. There was no gloating by Sox fans nor any jealousy by Cubs fans — it was just one huge crowd of happy hockey fans who couldn’t believe what had just happened. No one cared about bandwaggoners or hugging complete strangers. All in all it was a beautiful site.

This team has given Chicago a ray of hope in an otherwise disappointing sports season. There’s nothing to cheer about on either side of town baseball-wise, the Chicago Bears were a bust, and the Bulls …well you all know my feelings about that. I’m glad I don’t have to give a broadcast today because quite honestly I barely have a voice. There was nothing better than watching this team win last night even though there was some confusion over Patrick Kane’s overtime goal.

The Blackhawks’ slogan has been “One Goal” for quite a while. Who would have known that would be all it took to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup? Just one goal and it was all over for the Philadelphia Flyers. Just one goal and a team whose captain, Jonathan Toews, can barely get into a bar would win MVP and make the fans of the Indian head proud. Just one goal and a city became one. So I say thank you Chicago Blackhawks for an amazing season and for bringing hockey back to Chicago. Thank you for giving us a reason to smile and even cry like JR (I cried last night too, don’t feel so badly).