Some Corrections...

Okay, hideously bad error. Nikolai Khabibulin was signed to a FOUR-year deal for $15M. I thought that $15M was a little steep for one year. However, this makes the Blackhawks inability to sign him seem quite a bit more unacceptable as well.

Also, I was very down on the ownership yesterday. I think after I've had a day to soak it all in, I feel a little bit better. I also think that I understand the moves they made a little better too.

Havlat got hurt all the time.

Two years ago, we were all wondering where Havlat was. He never seemed to be around long enough to make any considerable goal production. And when he was around, he just wasn't always at his A game. You'd always hear Blackhawks fans say, "Havlat would be good if he wasn't hurt all the time." This is why the Blackhawks considered dealing him at the trade deadline two years ago.

Last year was the first time in a long time that he actually stayed healthy for a large part of the season. He was only out for a few games, and BOOM! look what happened, he was an awesome player. I don't really blame Dale Tallon for not wanting to offer Havlat more than a one-year deal. He was too risky.

Marian Hossa--on the other hand--has been a pretty solid player who seems to stay healthy. Here's to you, buddy! Hope things work out better.(Havlat was signed by the Wild to a six-year $30M deal today.)

In other news...

The Blackhawks didn't really try too hard to re-sign their trade deadline acquisition, Sami Pahlsson. This is because they have now picked up two decent centers in free agency--Tomas Kopecky and John Madden (formerly of the Devils, not the former football coach/announcer). I'm good with this. Pahlsson was a decent face-off winner, which is what the Hawks wanted, but otherwise wasn't too flashy. These guys aren't either, but they're decent enough that I've heard of them before. So, kudos.

The Blackhawks let Matt Walker slip through their fingers. I don't like that. He was a pretty good defenseman who didn't get very much credit. Plus, he could kick ass if needed. Who's our enforcer now? Adam Burish? I don't know. I thought trading James Wisniewski was a bad idea too. We need good defensemen. Plus, he was like a discount player since no one had really heard of him. Tampa Bay signed him to a four-year deal for $6.8M.

We re-signed Dave Bolland. I thought that was a good move. He was selected to play in the Young-Stars game this last year--which is the equivalent of the All-Star Game for rookies. Bolland wasn't really all that flashy, but he seems to be somewhat promising.

We re-signed Antti Niemi. He's a goalie we drafted last year. He turned out to be pretty decent and apparently Tallon has decided that he wants him to be Huet's back-up. I might bet that he becomes the new starter. We'll see.

That's really about all for now. We'll stay tuned to the free agency, though.