Dustin Byfuglien:
And I had just learned how to spell his name dammit! We'll always have Vancouver and San Jose Big Buff. Too bad there's not much else to celebrate. You were one of the most frustrating players on the team - so good when you were on, but you'd disappear for seemingly months at a time. The potential is there, sure. But part of me wonders in a southern market where hockey is an afterthought, if Dustin really will disappear. Or perhaps he'll be more consistent, wanting to show the Hawks they made a mistake trading him. Two things I do know: I laugh now at all those folks with freshly minted Byfuglien jerseys/shirts bought during this year's playoff run. And I don't think there is anybody more happy than one Roberto Luongo that Buff is now in the Eastern Conference.
Ben Eager:
Not too broken up about losing Eags - although I will miss his glorious lumberjack playoff beard. Eager filled a role - one that he often didn't do well. He took a lot of bad, bad penalties and really wasn't that great of a fighter. I will always cherish his GWG in Game Two of the SCF and the way he nearly ran over Toews celebrating afterward.
Colin Fraser:
Not the Frazz Fro! *weeps* Oh dear Colin, I'll so miss you injuring our opponents' hands with your face. Getting traded will probably be the best for Frazzle in the long run, as I'm sure he'll get plenty of playing time now in Edmonton. Unfortunately for him - it's Edmonton. Colin seemed like such a funny young guy - I'm sure he'll be missed in the locker room.
Brent Sopel:
If you'd had told me six months ago Sopel would be the one I'd miss the most of the four, I'd tell you to stop smoking banana leaves. But honestly, he is. Sure he skates like he shat his pants and I could probably run faster than him skating at full speed. But he is a shot blocking machine and gives everything he has on the ice. You could tell winning the Cup was so, so special for him. I think I'll miss most what a genuinely kind and all around great man he is off the ice. Seeing him at the Gay Pride Parade this weekend with the Cup (which he volunteered for - I'll have a post about that and the parade in general this weekend) will be bittersweet. And of course, I just started following him on Twitter.
I can't say I am angry about any of the deals. We cleared a ton of cap space needed to sign Nemo and Hammer. We received three draft picks (one in the first round) in this year's draft which will help the Hawks continue to develop home grown talent. And we also got a veteran center and two prospects. As with anything, time will tell us who won this one.
I will miss all four of these guys. They will always be Blackhawks, no matter where their careers take them. They will have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup for eternity. I wish them all the best - well, except when they play us of course.
Ok, as to not make this post a complete bummer:
CONGRATS to Duncan Teeth (seriously, look at those new choppers!) for winning the 2010 Norris Trophy! Dunc won the award with 1,096 votes compared to Mike Green's 831 and Drew Doughty's 662. Which is a bit surprising considering Doughty was seemingly the late fave to win, and Green should have been DQ'ed simply for having to endure those awful Geico commercials for the last six months. By the way, from all reports this year's award show was way better than last year's. Seeing as this was the first year I watched it, I shudder to think how bad it was. I watched the weather radar for half of it (air raid sirens in Chi-Town! Wooo!) because the damn thing was cringe inducing.
More this weekend! I've had our annual inventory this week at work, which has made me even more anti social than usual in addition to hating life in general.
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