Blackhawks Making Moves

They're signing big names. They're spending big money. They're making the moves just about everyone said they needed to make this off season to maintain the momentum for the Cup. The old man might be spinning in his grave, but Rocky is repairing the Wirtz legacy in ways Bill could never have done.

We question this latest move though:

• More evidence of the belief around the NHL that the Blackhawks are on the cusp of winning a Stanley Cup can be found in the signing of John Madden.
  
  The veteran center's agreement to join the Hawks after nine-plus seasons with the New Jersey Devils was all but lost in the hoopla of Marian Hossa signing a 12-year, $62.8 million contract Wednesday.
  
  Madden, who is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and former Selke Trophy winner (awarded to the league's best defensive forward), turned down multiple offers for more money and more years from other teams to sign a one-year, $2.75 million deal with the Hawks. He did it for one reason.
  
  "For how good the hockey team is and I really believe it has a chance to win the Stanley Cup," Madden, 36, said Thursday.

We always thought Madden was a football guy. And get this - he played for New Jersey last year! We had no idea.

In all seriousness though, Rocky Wirtz and Dale Tallon are making Blackhawks hockey fun, exciting and worth watching again. One, maybe two more moves and this team is the odds on favorite to win it all for the first time in almost 50 years.