Being Stan Bowman – Blackhawks Trade Deadline Banter

Being Stan Bowman – Blackhawks Trade Deadline Banter

PIB Co-conspirator Christopher Ralph

If you have never watched the “insanely brilliant and brilliantly insane” Being John Malkovich flick circa 1999, check it out. From IMDB:

“A puppeteer (John Cusack) discovers a hidden doorway in his office, which turns out to be a portal into John Malkovitch (the famous actor)’s mind. Upon entering the portal, one gets to be inside Malkovitch’s mind for 15 odd minutes.”

The movie also stars Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener.

Would it not be the ultimate experience for the armchair GM in all of us to find a hidden portal doorway into Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman’s mind? Even if for just 15 minutes on trade deadline day.

The Blackhawks have landed a new goalie, trading another! Not the one we might have expected to be coming to the Windy City, and not quite the one we might have thought would be shipped out. The Hannu Toivenen and Danny Richmond for Joe Fallon was already reported by my colleague, Jim Neveau. Toivenen was a 1^st round pick in 2002, while hometown boy, Richmond, was drafted in the 2^nd round of the ’03 draft. The once promising pair are long shots to make the parent club, but are still young enough to yet be late bloomers.

Bowman already made a nice move before the Olympic break with the now widely reported and analyzed Cam Barker for Kim Johansson and Nick Leddy deal with the Wild.

He’s also keeping himself busy on the trade front, picking up tough blueliner Nick Boynton from the Ducks for future considerations. The ‘Hawks have assigned him to Rockford. I really like this pick up – a nice solid depth defenseman for a deep playoff run.

A sign of things to come heading in to tomorrow’s 3:00 PM trade deadline or has Bowman already played his cards?

Essential Trade Deadline Links:

*Check out Greg Wyshynski’s 10 player shakeup list over at Yahoo Sports where there will be plenty of live blogging commentary tomorrow. (Puck Daddy)

*Blackhawks impending cap crunch (NHL Numbers)

*How is a trade made in the NHL? Here is the complete process. (NHL.com)

Okay…getting back to the theme of the article, Being Stan Bowman.Let’s say for argument’s sake that my co-conspirator Jim Neveau has found a portal doorway in his high tech PIB executive office that allows us 15 minutes inside the mind of one Stan Bowman. Neveau graciously let’s me have first crack and I logically choose the last 15 minutes before the impending trade deadline as my trial run.

Tomas Vokoun {Photo: VanMurph - Flickr}

I’ve done my homework, crunched the numbers, and contacted opposing GMs by any means possible – I-Phone, email, Blackberry, satellite phone, CB, walkie talkie, tweeting, mail, Skype, Morse code and even contacted Islander GM Garth Snow via shoe-phone.

Here’s a look at 10 trade options and my thoughts as Being Stan Bowman:

10. After the clinic Dwayne Roloson put on tonight in a 41 save 5-3 victory against the Hawks, the Isles veteran netminder might be the perfect ‘tender to solidify the goalie for a run at the Holy Grail. No matter what I say to the media (remember I am Stan Bowman for the next 15 minutes!), I am not confident in our French goaltender Cristobal Huet. Antti Niemi – I like. Roloson is perhaps the perfect compliment depending on the price – a soldifying veteran presence.

Dwayne Roloson {Photo: ShutterSpeak - Flickr}

*Tim Sassone notes Huet rumours are running rampant, heading anywhere from the Islanders to the Panthers or Leafs. (Daily Herald)

9. If I could swing a Huet-Vokoun based deal, with us obviously adding to the Huet end, slap my face and call me Scotty! The champagne tastes fantastic from Lord Stanley! Moving Huet should make me GM of the year – accomplishing Mission Impossible. Sources have it as Corey Crawford and Kris Versteeg having to go to the Sunshine State with Huet, but not sure if my counterpart GM Randy Sexton will pull the trigger.

*Bowman calm with trade deadline looming – comparison with pops. (CBC.ca)

8. Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli won’t stop pestering me to take Tim Thomas off his hands. A killer Finnsih combination of Tuuka Rask and Antti Niemi is not going to happen, so I send Chiarelli packing, unless of course he`ll take Huet off our hands.

*Doubting Tim Thomas and the Blackhawks goalie needs (Puck Daddy)

7. I’ll likely just say no to Turco. Having the third defenseman out there, with Marty Turco’s brilliant puck handling would be nice, but can’t see a deal with Turco in the cards. The Stars are likely holding onto him.

*If Turco was a trade target, the terms have changed, as Rosenblog stated. (Chicago Tribune)

Sense a trend yet? Goaltending is the obvious focus heading into the headline. If the move is right for the club, an upgrade is still desired despite a league best goal against average (GAA). The other focus, again only if the right deal comes about, is to possibly add another mobile blueliner with a physical presence.

6. We love JR, but Roenick’s claim that Habs netminder Jaroslav Halak is perfect for the Blackhawks may not that out in left Wrigley Field – however, not likely to happen. Halak’s play might make Carey Price the more expendable of the two for Montreal. (ESPN).

5. GM Garth Snow also managed to return my shoe-phone call and tried to sell me on Martin Biron instead of Roloson. This Frenchman is worst than what we have, Snow-man! Let me make this perfectly clear – no dice!

4. Brian Burke (who else thought he had a twin during the Team Canada – USA gold medal epic game? Ken Hitchcock! Same blue shirt, same stance while watching the game) was reported going to give me the overpaid defenseman Jeff Finger for our overpaid infamous netminder, Cristobel Huet, to maybe help facilitate a Vokoun deal.

*TSN`s Darin Dreger later tweeted away that deal. (My NHL Trade Rumours)

3. I covet Dan Hamhuis. Might be a rental. Not sure I can make it happen, but this young stud blueliner brings an even greater mobile, physical dimension to our blueline. Predators GM Poile already picked up Denis Grebeshkov from Edmonton picked up. I know Versteeg don`t really want to leave town, but he might have to be part of the package I dangle to Poile to get this one done. The Flyers are reportedly heavily after Hamhuis, but maybe I can work some magic. I want to have two Hammers on the blueline – Hjalmarsson and Hamhuis!

*The Dan Hamhuis Derby (On The Forecheck)

2. Before I picked up Nick Boynton, I was looking at other tough blueliners to bring on board. Flames Robyn Regehr – Darryl Sutter not going to part with. He tried to sell me Cory Sarich – not going to do it! Penguins Jay McKee – Neveau explored this option (PIB). His injury-prone history troubles me. Before we let Leafs d-man Jeff “Slip Through Our“ Finger get away in a possible Huet deal, I was thinking of acquiring hit machine Garnet Exelby, but thought better of it.

1. The best damn move I might make – head out to West End sports pub tomorrow afternoon, sit back, relax, have a few cold ones and watch my Blackhawks hammer the Oilers. No more moves might just be the best move I could make Being Stan Bowman.

Lastly, check out NHL Trade Rumours, 21^st century style – a great rumour generator, reported to be nearly twice as accurate as Eklund! (On The Forecheck)

*Follow Paint It Blackhawks on Twitter for all the latest breaking Blackhawks trade news. (Twitter)

Tags: antti niemi, Brian Burke, Chicago Blackhawks, Cristobal Huet, Dan Hamhuis, Darryl Sutter, Dwayne Roloson, kris versteeg, Marty Turco, niklas hjalmarsson, stan bowman, Tomas Vokoun, Trade Deadline, Trade Rumors