We all knew this salary cap bomb would go off sometime. The fuse was lit with the qualifying offers mailing snafu last summer. And it’s really a good thing the Chicago Blackhawks did win the Stanley Cup last month because we knew their window would close soon, as they would have to begin a veteran fire sale in the very near future. That sale continued today as the Hawks let Adam Burish, BY FAR the most interesting guy on the team to talk to, go and sign with the Dallas Stars today. And when I say by far I mean BY MILES AND MILES.
The former Wisconsin Badger’s candor has made him easily one of the top 5 most written about athletes here at The Sports Bank, so it’ll be really sad to see him go. I’m not sure we’ll be writing about him too much anymore.
By Paul M. Banks
In other words, today isn’t exactly the brightest day for TSB. And when you add Burish to the Salary Cap slaughter, the so-called “fourth-liner” now increases the body count to 6 (Buff, Eager, Sopel, Versteeg and Ladd are the previous five). But hey, I’m sure within the collection of draft picks, prospects, and obscure players with little to no NHL experience that GM Stan Bowman has acquired these past couple weeks, at least one of them will have no problem telling the media about hockey groupies, how awful his teammates’ haircuts are, make fun of how dead the United Center was before 2008 and make hilarious politically incorrect jokes about Canada. And maybe even tell us what a douche juice (hola! Buzz Bissinger) the Flyers’ Chris Pronger is.
Ok, probably not.
According to ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers:
agreed to terms on a two-year deal with unrestricted free-agent forward Adam Burish and will pay him $1 million in 2010-11 and $1.3 million in 2011-12…..”There was a bunch of teams interested,” Burish said. “It was a little overwhelming. I’ve never gone through this before. I was in the gym kind of working out and by 11:20 [a.m. CT] teams had been calling my agent. There were like five or six.”
Burish had mixed feelings about leaving Chicago but getting more of an opportunity in Dallas.
“It’s both,” he said. “You have that understanding going into it that it’s going to happen but every time a guy gets moved or traded everybody texts each other. It’s hard, and it’s sad. It’s a special place where you get your start.”
Burish isn’t shy about mixing it up on the ice, and he’s already targeted some of his old friends on the Blackhawks.
“[Patrick] Sharp and [Patrick] Kane. I’m going right after them,” he said.
Burish will get his first chance when the Stars travel to Chicago for a game Dec. 8.
Read the whole piece here
I’m going to miss Burish so much as an interview subject that I’m going to mourn his departure today by listening to this song on repeat for about five honors. Yes, Hawks front office, it was you who broke my heart today ;(
From the bottom of my broken heart, even though time may find me somebody new…..
Written by Paul M. Banks, President and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank and @bigtenguru