Why Was Tallon Fired as Blackhawks GM?
July 15, 2009 by Jeanne Dupuis
Filed under Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, NHL coaches, News
Of the thirty teams in the league that, I felt, had earned respect and wouldn’t likely make changes at the administrative level, the Chicago Blackhawks seemed safe. I thought they did extremely well last year for a team with such a young, less experienced roster. Apparently, something was clearly wrong.
I think that general manager, Dale Tallon, was excellent and I really admired the relationship he had with the team. I believe that he had a lot to do with them making the Western Conference Finals and I think that it was foolish to get rid of him (and to let Martin Havlat slip away) when they came so close last season.
If you follow Havlat on Twitter, you probably saw some of his cryptic messages.
- I guess everyone saw what happened to Dale….yes, the story is starting to come out but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
- Lot’s of people are telling me to stay quiet but shouldn’t the fans know the truth? It’s your loyalty, season ticket money and emotions here.
- Just so everyone begins to understand, Dale was like a 2nd father to me.
- By telling truth, don’t want people to think I’m bitter. Everyone in Minn has been awesome, they believe in me and I won’t let them down.
Havlat hints at the fact that fans don’t really know what happened with Tallon and feels that they deserve to know. I’m not surprised, therefore, that he spoke to TSN’s Darren Dreger about it. He said: "My negotiation with Chicago was not between Dale and my agent, it was between Dale and McDonough," Havlat said "Why? Because McDonough couldn’t stand that Dale was so successful and getting the credit for building the Hawks from a last place team to making the Conference Final in three short years. Remember, we were also the youngest team in the NHL last year" (read more on the TSN website).
What do you think? Should Havlat keep quiet? Do you believe his explanations for why Tallon was fired?
image: TSN
