Blackhawks President Passes the Buck

The last 36 or so hours have been quite interesting for the Chicago Blackhawks. It started early Tuesday, when word got out that general manager Dale Tallon was fired (he was actually re-assigned) and replaced with assistant GM Stan Bowman.

When former Blackhawk star Martin Havlat got word, he used Twitter to express his frustration with Tallon's removal. He then spoke (thus avoiding that darn 140-character limit) to TSN's Darren Dreger. When he did that, he chucked Blackhawks president John McDonough under the bus. McDonough got his chance to respond Wednesday.

In an appearance Wednesday on 670 The Score in Chicago, McDonough tried to defend his decision to re-assign Tallon and elevate Bowman to general manager. He noted that Tallon's contract has been extended, and he will continue to work for the Blackhawks as a senior adviser.

"Dale's contributions here were significant," McDonough told the radio station. "He's a terrific guy. Been with organization for approximately 30 years. Simply, it was the right thing for us to do."

Hosts Matt Spiegel and Barry Rozner laughed about a report out of the Boston Globe that McDonough "had a hand in delaying the mailing of the offers". McDonough said the report, and any insinuation that he would be involved in such a thing, was simply wrong. He also decried the notion that he had any influence over Tallon's decision to sign defenseman Brian Campbell and goalie Cristobal Huet last summer.

"For me to weigh in on Huet or Campbell, that's why you have hockey operations people," McDonough said. "They recognize what the salary cap is, they recognize our resources. Specifically, the players that are involved, absolutely not."

The hosts did allow McDonough to respond to Havlat's assertion that he (McDonough) was a "phony". McDonough went out of his way to say he liked Havlat, that he was "a classy guy", but that "he must be mis-informed". He was also asked about Havlat saying that the negotiation about his contract was really between Tallon and McDonough.

"Where that came from, I have no idea," McDonough said. "I have never talked to Marty Havlat or his agent about an extension. For anybody to intimate or infer that I, a civilian, would be making decisions on Marian Hossa over Marty Havlat, it's preposterous."

Actually, McDonough was pretty clear in his buck-passing throughout the interview. He took the blame for demoting Tallon, but called the qualifying offer fiasco an "organizational mistake" and made sure everyone understood that hockey operations was separate from what he was doing.

The hosts failed to ask him about the rumors that senior adviser Scotty Bowman has had a lot of influence over the hockey operation during his time in Chicago, and McDonough didn't help himself by playing along with the hosts' joking about the qualifying offer fiasco.

In the end, Chicago should still be able to field a successful team, and it really doesn't matter to the players who the general manager is once they lace up the skates. However, McDonough's actions -- and lack of any answer for what Tallon did wrong to deserve this demotion -- put a stain on the image of the organization.

In McDonough's defense, there's no doubt this organization is much better off now than it was before he was hired.