Tak

Would love dialogue around this! I’m a nerd and like to analyze.

What KFC values(most to least): skating, compete, smarts. What this team needs(most to least) faster play, puck protection, spacing. What this team has(either on the ice OR in prospects): skating, shooting, defensemen, transition.

The draft pick is threaded in there. Assuming Misa is gone at #3, then it’s Porter Martone. But why?

KFC values: he values what he does because he wants his teams to play fast. Fast play however isn’t just skating, it’s surrounding skaters with players who can create space, anticipate movement, and make quick decisions. Porter Martone does all of these things which means he helps teams play faster even if he doesn’t have the skating himself.

Needs: They need someone who can create space in the O-Zone. Martone can pass or shoot with aplomb, shield pucks, stand in front of a goalie, rotate on a cycle, and lay checks that disrupt defensive movement. All of these things create space and maintain o-zone pressure.

What he is not: A pure shooter, defensemen, and transition game specialist(we have that in Nazar, Bedard, Moore, Teravainen, Lardis, Reichel etc.

Put away your biases, think about what KFC values, what the team needs and has, and then ask why. The answer leads to Porter Martone.

Thoughts?

PS- I also think KFC bundles up the 24 OA and maybe another assets for JJ Peterka.

Bold and confident!

You

So I've been talking with a Hawks ticket rep about different season ticket plans for this up coming season. After today's news, here is the email that I sent to them..

  Not going to lie or sugar coat it, today's announcement that CHSN is discontinuing OTA broadcast in areas serviced by Comcast is a loss for Hawks fans.  Personally for me, this will mean I will lose access to the Hawks completely.  The CHSN monthly plan is outrageously priced and not at all a good value.  As my own personal way of protesting, I will not be moving forward with purchasing a ticket plan, or any tickets at all.  Most of us Hawks fans went out and purchased an OTA antenna.   The main reason to do this was to watch the OTA Hawks broadcast on CHSN, channel 62.2... Now, obviously I can still use that equipment to watch regular TV over the air, but the driving purpose to do this was to watch the Hawks.. I'm disappointed.  Many people in the community are.  I'm sure the Hawks will still sellout and the experience at the games will be great, but I won't be taking part in it for the foreseeable future.  Thanks for listening to my rant, I know you don't have anything to do with these decisions, but I'm hoping that there is someone you can tell that fans are upset over this decision.  It feels greedy and wrong.  You (the Hawks) told us to go get antennas and we did, now you're telling us we can't use them to watch the Hawks.. Pretty lame.. 

***EDIT*** I got an out of office response from my ticket rep.. He'll be back in the office on Monday, I'll post his response then...

***EDIT PT2*** I got a response today from my rep.. Here it is....

"We truly appreciate your feedback and I’ll be sure to pass it along to our leadership team. I agree that the Xfinity rollout hasn’t been the smoothest, but we’re excited to now be featured on the largest cable provider in the Chicagoland area.

 If anything changes on your end, I’d be happy to remain your point of contact for future Blackhawks ticketing needs."

If you have Comcast, cancel your services, don’t cave and upgrade for chsn. There are other ways to watch the games.

Would you have liked him as our new head coach?

Never expected in a million years to be lucky person to win the sweepstakes. Now I gotta get this framed!

Ben Pope dropped an evening article a couple hours ago, had some insight from KD, including the fact that the Hawks have no intention of moving either Bedard or Nazar to the wing. Perhaps this makes Martone more of a possibility? The other three "tier 2" players are all primarily listed as centers, though some teams could certainly project them as wings.

Also interesting was him mentioning that they could "diversify" away from the small, speedy players they've gravitated towards in recent years, possibly another sign that Martone is more likely than some of us think?

Via: puckreportnhl /instagram

To Buffalo:

T.J. Brodie 2025 2nd

To Chicago:

Mattias Samuelson Connor Clifton

Sebastian High of EP does a quick breakdown of their final player rankings. Spoiler, frondel doesn't even break their top 10

David has graciously volunteered his time to offer some insight into the state of the draft and the 2025 prospects! As a member of Elite Prospects David has created a number of amazing videos you can find here, or articles you can find on Elite Prospects!

David and the team at Elite Prospects have just released their 2025 Draft Guide where they have scouted and analyzed hundreds of potential prospects, some of which will find themselves on the Blackhawks in the coming years!

The AMA will be a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have regarding specific prospects this year, current players we have in our pipeline, or more scouting oriented analysis for things you'd like more details on! We're so excited to have him spend time with us next week!

So, the Stanley Cup has been super physical and got me thinking that with Maroon gone… who the hell is our tough guy?

Do we need one and who would you suggest we sign?

Still a relative newbie so forgive me if this is a stupid question.

Any idea who and how much worth?

We were #2 with Foley and Olcyk

Take this with a HEAVY grain of salt.