Blackhawks Fire Tallon

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jul 14, 2009 2:20PM

No harm, no foul... right? Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon took some heat recently for not sending the team's restricted free agents their offer sheets by the league-designated deadline. The team eventually signed all eight players to contracts anyway and the players' union withdrew its complaint. But the issues isn't over, as reports suggest that the team is expected to announce that Tallon has been fired on Tuesday. He will be replaced by Stan Bowman, who had been assistant general manager under Tallon.

The departing GM, who had served in the role since 2005, built the Blackhawks into Stanley Cup contenders through the draft and through free agency during his tenure. But his paperwork snafu did embarrass the team, and did cost the team extra money to re-sign some of the affected players. Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker ended up with three-year deals worth over $3 million/year instead of 10% raises from last season. While the team didn't lose any players or harm their chances to contend for the Cup next year, the financial consequences were apparently too much for John McDonough and Rocky Wirtz to forget about.