John McDonough Archives

Enlightened NASCAR officials set the pace for the other pro sports earlier this month when they recognized that internet bloggers can maximize their ability to reach out to as many fans as possible.
NASCAR used a lengthy review process to determine that 28 independent websites deserved by their serious attention to the sport to apply for media credentials and have access to the same interviews behind the scenes with drivers and NASCAR personnel that the traditional media does.
"As traditional news coverage continues to decline across the board for all sports, it is important to recognize the emerging media sources that provide unique points of view to growing audiences," NASCAR said in a statement released July 17.
Can you hear that, NHL? Are your ears open to change, Blackhawks? NASCAR has beaten you to the punch by acknowledging the shifting tides of media. They have burned rubber while your judgment again has been as incisive as a block of ice.

Here it is almost August and the final echoes of the Blackhawks season, and their second straight year of being major players in the unrestricted free agent gold rush, are only now melting away.

Even if the many conspiracy angles of how, where and when John McDonough chose to rub out general manager Dale Tallon in a broad daylight hit on West Madison Street will never evaporate. I wish Chicago mafia newsman John "Bulldog" Drummond, former TV treasure, would have been around to give the story its true Joey The Clown flavor.

Before digressing further, which is my only specialty, let me state up front that I fully intend to make the serious argument here that adding Jerry Reinsdorf to the NHL still gives Chicagoans and hockey fans everywhere something to cheer for this summer.

Before I delve superficially into his bid to be Phoenix Coyotes owner and thus elevate the NHL ownership circles to new heights, I should share my latest info on my Blackhawks movie proposal. What the hell, it is summer. Give me a break.

Marketing 101. Be honest. Be truthful. Be upfront with your audience. Don't look like you're hiding anything or trying to cover up.

The Blackhawks marketing geniuses have failed Marketing 101 in summer school. All month, president John McDonough's crew have been out of step and looking awkward during a jittery July with the erratic ways their news has been disseminated, including this latest leak that Marian Hossa may miss the start of the season if he needs shoulder surgery.

Of course, as McDonough says, the responsibility falls on him. So let's be honest, frank and truthful here about a series of snafus. There seems no one to blame but McDonough for the devious, disingenuous performance from Hawks management in the last couple weeks.

Good news writes itself. No need to get in the way. Bad news should be how marketing geniuses earn their money. You have to get in front of it and be the one that drives it. Do not let it catch you hiding in the bushes.

That's not been the case with the Bad News Hawks, and somewhere Martin Havlat must be experiencing a real itchy Twitter finger, although he probably is laughing too hard to post for a while.

When the Blackhawks visit Pittsburgh on Dec. 5 to take on the defending champs, they really should insist on Bobby Hull being part of their traveling party.

Especially after Hull indicated last weekend when interviewed on WGN-AM (720) from the Blackhawks convention that the Pittsburgh Penguins would have been no trouble at all for the Hawks if they'd managed to beat Detroit in the Western Conference finals.

Dispose of the Red Wings, find a way past their old, pesky nemesis, and the Stanley Cup championship would have been brought back to Chicago at long last, Hull implied to the convention faithful. That's how close the Hawks came to winning it all, Hull believes: a Red Wing upset away from the Cup.

Joel Quenneville needs another assistant coach since Marc Bergevin was moved upstairs to be player personnel director. Why not Hull? He'd be a lively quote, willing to dismiss the champions as damn lucky to have missed Chicago in the title round and the coaching staff could use a loose cannon to fire up the troops and dying newspapers everywhere.

I only point out this scenario that would never happen, because it's an example why team president John McDonough loves free spirits like Hull to be entertaining from a distance with their observations, but prefers to put his team in the hands of efficient, businesslike types such as new general manager Stan Bowman and Quenneville.

If these guys were a color, they'd be beige. If they were a vegetable, they'd be peas. If they were a car, they'd be a Prius. If they were a president, they'd be Calvin Coolidge.

It won't create as much buzz and bother around the beleaguered John McDonough as Martin Havlat claiming that he and some current Blackhawks players "know a phony when they see one."

That's a concise zinger, right to the point and leaving a bruise on the old ego.

But another Dale Tallon friend, former assistant Hawks GM Rick Dudley, basically challenged McDonough's contention this week at the press conference in which he introduced Stan Bowman as Tallon's replacement that he stays out of the player personnel decisions.

"I know John was becoming more and more involved in the hockey operation of the team," Dudley told Toronto radio host Bob McCown on The Fan 590 this week.

Dudley didn't elaborate and wasn't asked to. But that opens up more questions about McDonough's self-described role.

It took less than two months to prove that Blackhawks president John McDonough might not always mean what he says. Shocking, I know, but please try not to faint on me here.

What about the rumors that you and Dale Tallon have conflicts and he could be replaced as general manager?

"There is no reason to characterize that as an issue," McDonough told ChicagoNow as June began, obviously believing no one reads the damn thing, anyway, and I'll humor the idiot.

The biggest lack of depth on the Blackhawks prospects chart appears to be at center. With that as my only compass entering the tangled forest that's called the 2009 National Hockey League mock draft, I choose center Drew Shore as Chicago's first-round draft pick.

The Hawks get the frightening chance to agree with me on Friday when the two-day draft begins in Montreal.

Shore is an all-American boy from Denver with an altar-boy face that will look perfect next to Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Shore, 18, has been playing on the U. S. National Team's Development Program and is headed for Denver University. He had 14 goals, 23 assists in 54 games in 2008-09.

Since budding pro athletes are now critiqued for how adeptly they crawl out of the cradle, Shore has already received his share of criticism. Too soft. Not fast enough as a skater. Is deceiving us all by looking like a player when he really isn't. Really should have been named for Dinah Shore. All that in a few short years.

At 6-foot-2, 190 lbs., Shore has the size if not the physical presence to be considered a guy who could mature into a more impact player than you see now. Shore says he believes that he can emulate San Jose's Joe Thornton, who has 265 goals, 577 assists over 836 games and 12 goals, 41 assists in 76 playoff games.

I say, buddy, I'd sure like to see that. Come on over to Chicago and prove it. I'll even tell you who Dinah Shore was.

Blackhawks president John McDonough issued assurances on Monday afternoon that all the conspiracy theorists percolating out there that see a management rift developing between him and general manager Dale Tallon can put down their speculation and move on.

He stressed that Tallon's job is not in jeopardy, as some critics have suggested it might be. As organizational meetings convene Thursday and Friday to break down what worked, what's needed and what stays put, no one need fear that the opening salvo will be a different voice in the player evaluation seat.

The plug will not be pulled on Tallon, who has a year left on his contract.

"There is no reason to characterize that as an issue," McDonough said.

But McDonough suspects he knows how all the underyling talk got started that Tallon might be expendable. Since Denis Savard got the quick hook as coach early in the season, there has been a death watch on the next body to fall.

McDonough blames his reputation as "Dirty Harry," ready to gun down any obstacles to get where he wants to go.

"Any time a new president comes on the scene, it can happen," McDonough said. "Maybe my reputation of being very aggressive and very assertive added to it. Dale's approach is a little different, but he gets the job done."

McDonough obviously needed to explain what "a little different" meant before the conspiracy theorists attacked on a new front.

"Dale's laid back and an easy-going guy," McDonough said, pointing out without saying so that no one has ever accused him of harboring those characteristics. "So I think some misrepresented it as a rift in the organization when there wasn't.

"My coming to the Blackhawks was a shock to some. It was a different way of doing things, a change in the playbook. Not being patient, but being very aggressive."

He obviously needed time to watch Tallon at work, but likes what he sees.

McDonough wouldn't engage in the specifics about whether Nikolai Khabibulin has to be cut loose for salary cap reasons, among other reasons, and Cristobal Huet anointed as the No. 1 goalie. But whereas Tallon said no drastic changes were required, McDonough gave his view of the offseason to come a different spin.

"I would think the franchise is not going to stand pat," he said. "I don't think an overhaul is needed, but more than a tweak We are going to hear from a lot different voices Thursday."

That will give Hawks fans hope for a substantial change or three. More experience seems to be needed, be it on offense or defense. Let's hope the additions are impact players, not just add-ons.

"Less than an overhaul, more than a tweak," McDonough repeated, warming to the idea. "If that makes sense."

It will, as long as more than a tweak becomes reality and not just a lost slogan. McDonough has given the Blackhawks more than a tweak so far. There's every reason to trust he will do more.