The real hero of the Stanley Cup saga

All the way up to the moment they made their first pick in 2006, Dale Tallon was arguing with his own Blackhawks people.

The Hawks had the third selection and Jonathan Toews - as expected - was still on the board.

Most in his group wanted Phil Kessel. Tallon insisted on Toews.

The Hawks took Toews and Chicago took home the Stanley Cup on Wednesday night.

If that were all Tallon ever did here, that would be enough, but he ought to be revered for putting in place most of the pieces to a roster that won it all.

Revered is one thing. Martyrdom is another.

It's at best revising history and at worst pandering to meatballs to suggest Tallon was perfect at his job, because like all GMs, Tallon has his faults.

He was not good with attention to detail or handling money and contracts, he constantly overspent and sometimes on terrible players, and the Hawks' cap situation speaks to that.

While a fabulous talent evaluator overall, once a player was here, Tallon became blind to any of his faults, because the players were his friends and he didn't hesitate to take care of them financially.

He also didn't delegate enough because he was insecure in his power, and while rarely sharing credit, he often passed on the blame.

After Trent Yawney had spent years in the minors developing players like Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, Tallon fired Yawney as coach in Chicago only because Tallon had completely misjudged the NHL at the end of the lockout.

He spent tens of millions on awful free agents and a year later when the Hawks were brutal, he fired Yawney to take the heat off himself, and he hired Denis Savard to curry favor with the fans and media.

If that's your idea of professional management, good luck with that.

In the process, he ruined the coaching careers of both Savard and Yawney, but you see no tears for them as you do for Tallon.

The good news is many of Tallon's teams were so bad that the Hawks got to draft high for several years. In the parity conscious NHL, bad management gets you high picks, and a salary cap means great teams lose players and can't remain great forever.

Tallon did some fabulous things and he earned his championship ring, but others did a lot as well, and rarely do you hear their names.

Guys like Mike Smith, Marshall Johnston, Bill Lesuk and Mike Dumas found Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Dustin Byfuglien and others.

Guys like Al MacIsaac and Stan Bowman did a tremendous amount of heavy lifting - Bowman's been here nine years - but they weren't buddies with the media so they never heard their names on the air.

In fact, the real hero of the Stanley Cup championship is Rocky Wirtz, who hired John McDonough, who hired Scotty Bowman, who took control of a messy coaching situation and brought in Joel Quenneville.

That's a change Tallon never would have made because Quenneville immediately became more powerful than Tallon, who previously had complete control over Savard's coaching on and off the ice.

And if you think the Hawks would have won without Quenneville, you've probably never been in an ice rink in your life.

"He's the best I've ever seen,'' said three-time Cup winner John Madden. "There were things he did during the postseason when I said, 'I never would have even thought of that.'

"Like when he put (Ben) Eager out there for (Patrick) Kane and Eager scores the winning goal (in the Finals Game 2). He's an amazing coach."

Quenneville will say it's the players who win, but these players say it's the coach who made it happen. And when you think about the razor-thin margin for winning in the postseason, don't underestimate great coaching.

"You know, he got a lot of credit for the things he did in the postseason and in the Stanley Cup (Finals), and it was great, but I've seen it for two years,'' said Patrick Sharp. "You just have no idea from the outside looking in how good he is at his job.

"You see the adjustments he makes on the ice, and it's amazing, but what he does with guys, the way he instills confidence or takes pressure off them, or breaks them down and builds them up.

"He's just amazing. Great teacher, motivator, instincts - great coach."

Had Tallon been in charge of the coaching decision when Quenneville was installed, Quenneville would not have been installed.

"That's all true," Rocky Wirtz said on the ice postgame Wednesday night. "That was all part of the process of bringing in John and Scotty, and this night doesn't happen without Joel behind the bench."

So, yes, believe it or not, there are two sides to the Tallon story, though it's not easy to find or to hear.

Nevertheless, Tallon deserves a great deal of credit for this victory, but he is not the hero.

If you want to send thank you notes, if you understand the real story, send your gifts to Rocky Wirtz.

He's the real reason the Hawks are the Stanley Cup champs.

brozner@dailyherald.com