Granted, he did forget to mail offer letters to his team's potential free agents this offseason—he's only the general manager, for Pete's sake!—and nearly lost them all on a technicality, but that's water under the bridge. The speculation is that John McDonough, the president of the club, wanted his "own man" running the organization. So Tallon (who has been associated with the Blackhawks since the 1970's; first as a player, then a broadcaster) had to be "re-assigned" and replaced with Scotty Bowman's son. This despite the fact that Tallon took a perennial basement dweller to the Conference Finals in just four years is clearly beloved by his players. (Remember the Canadian wilderness field trip?)

Even Martin Havlat, a player who Tallon let go of this offseason, is defending his old boss with shady threats of revealing THE TRUTH. (Was the offer letter fiasco just a frame up?) Always a good sign for your organization.

So where did McDonough learn these top flight management strategies? His last job was president of the Chicago Cubs. Would you like to take the cyanide now, Blackhawks fans, or would you prefer a revolver?

Blackhawks fire Tallon: Why fix something that's not broken? [Chicago Tribune]
Havlat Uses Twitter to Go After Blackhawks Over Tallon Firing [Fanhouse]
Dale Tallon's dismissal a heartless move [ESPN]
Dale Tallon conspiracy theory in Chicago [SI]

Everyone is talking about it now. It's been passed around through emails and blog posts and now pretty much everyone who covers hockey these days has at least given it a mention. (I didn't notice it on ESPN yet, but that doesn't make the previous sentence untrue.) Even Keith Olbermann mentioned our barely fact-checked report on his show last night and then added a few embellishments himself.

By the time this story gets to Oprah, they'll be riding sled dogs into the Yukon to rescue Dale Tallon from a snowbank. (Why must I make snotty comments like this on such an innocent story? It's a sickness. Seriously, it's a nice thing.)

Blackhawks pull together for Tallon [AP]
‘What the guys did was really special' [Globe and Mail]
Blackhawks Notes: A Tale Of Team Unity and The Return Of The Wiz [Bleacher Report]
Blackhawks in Canadian Hinterland: Millionaires behaving properly [Canada Free Press]