With Hawk formula in hand, Tallon ready for rebuilding
SAN JOSE, Calif. - As emotional as it was for Dale Tallon to hear his former players such as Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Brian Campbell express their loyalty and speak of how his imprint still was all over this Blackhawks team, it didn't surprise him.
A big part of Tallon's blueprint for building the Hawks was collecting players with the kind of character that oozes from the dressing room.
"I've said it before, I've never been involved with a better group of people in my life," said Tallon, who after 33 years with the Hawks formally left the organization on Monday to become general manager of the Florida Panthers.
"It's vital to have people like that in your organization. Those kids are class, class, class. That's the kind of players we brought to Chicago and that's what we hope to do here," Tallon said, speaking from Florida. "I'm really proud of those guys and nobody is pulling harder for them to win the Stanley Cup than I am."
Tallon leaves the Hawks bearing no grudges against anyone, including president John McDonough, who fired him as GM last summer after five seasons on the job during which he built a powerhouse of a team.
"This is not a bittersweet moment for me," Tallon said. "I wouldn't be where I am without the Chicago Blackhawks. There are no hard feelings. I want to get the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Finals and play the Blackhawks someday."
It's not going to be an easy rebuilding job for Tallon in Florida in a non-hockey market. The Panthers are an average team that finished 14th in the Eastern Conference, 11 points out of a playoff spot.
Tallon inherits a few solid assets in goalie Tomas Vokoun and forwards Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss and David Booth, but he said he plans to go about retooling the team much the same way he did in Chicago.
"We've got to get depth at all positions and have people start competing for jobs," Tallon said. "We've got to build a good foundation through the draft. We've got the third pick overall this year and three second-rounders. It's going to be the same blue print we had in Chicago."
It's a blue print that has the Hawks with a chance to win a Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years.
"We've been preaching it does take time to do it the right way," said present Hawks GM Stan Bowman, who took over for Tallon. "Looking at our team here we've tried to focus on building from within. I think most teams would like to do that, but it's not easy to do.
"You have to have the right mixture of people in place and you have to have patience with your fan base because it does take time to do it. I think we did it the right way and we're happy to be where we're at right now."