Tallon's take on demotion: 'It's about the team'

If Dale Tallon is bitter over his demotion from general manager to senior advisor with the Blackhawks, he is hiding those feelings well.

"I'm in a good place, still working with the Chicago Blackhawks, an organization that's deep in my own blood," Tallon said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. "To have an opportunity to help this team win a Stanley Cup, I feel very fortunate.

"It's not about position or title. It's about the team. It's about the Chicago Blackhawks, period. I'm comfortable with the decision. I'm still with a very good organization."

A day after Hawks chairman Rocky Wirtz and president John McDonough made the GM change from Tallon to Stan Bowman, it was a somber Tallon speaking about the situation for the first time.

While McDonough said at Tuesday's news conference that he wished there had been better communication between himself and Tallon, the ex-GM called his relationship with McDonough "good, open and honest."

"We're both different and we have different styles, but we're both open and honest with our opinions," Tallon said. "We know exactly where each other stands and respect the other's ability.

"We have a good relationship and our goals are the same. We look forward to winning the Stanley Cup, that's our goal."

Tallon did admit there were breakdowns in communications with McDonough at times.

"Obviously there was, but there was no intent," Tallon said. "Sometimes it just happens, when you're traveling a lot and you're on the road a lot and you have a lot of things on your plate, sometimes things slip through the cracks. There was never any intent, but sometimes that happens."

Tallon offered little new insight into the qualifying offer fiasco with the restricted free agents that McDonough said ultimately led to Tallon's demotion.

"As I said last week when I discussed this and put this to bed, we filed the paperwork later than we normally do," said Tallon, who claimed the offers were faxed and not mailed. "We should have filed it sooner as we have in the past. I take full responsibility for the lateness of it. That was on my watch."

Tallon dismissed a report of a stormy meeting with McDonough on Monday.

"It was a situation where we both agreed that this was best for the franchise," Tallon said. "We had a cordial discussion, John and I. He wanted to take the team in a different direction and I was fine with it. We feel this is the best strategy."

Tallon has worked closely with Bowman, his former assistant, and believes the club is in good hands.

"I've been with Stan for a long time and he's more than qualified," Tallon said. "He's very intelligent and a very knowledgeable guy in all aspects of the game. He's a good judge of talent and he's very good with the numbers and the comparables and the CBA."

Tallon, whose first love always has been scouting, will do a lot of that in his role as senior advisor.

"I will be scouting and helping Stan out in every possible way to make sure the Blackhakws reach their goal of winning the Stanley Cup," Tallon said. "I will do whatever is asked of me. I very confident that I can still give them some valuable insight and make this team better.

"I'm proud of what we've done here and it's only going to get better. I look forward to the challenges of helping this team get to another level, and I'm confident that's going to happen."

As for Wirtz's comment from Tuesday, comparing Bowman's age (36) to Tallon's (58) as a factor in the front office change, Tallon took no offense.

"I was never offended. I am 58," Tallon said. "I have a very young mind and am very agile and very fit. I love the Wirtz family. They've been great to me. I still have some fight in me."