How can a GM who has done with a team what Tallon has done with the Blackhawks get gunned down so suddenly?
We asked John McDonough, the chief axe-swinger being credited with the rebirth of the Chicago Blackhawks, only 72 days ago, about the rumour that would not go away in Chicago.
The interview came as the Blackhawks' second-round series shifted from Vancouver -- a series from which Chicago would emerge with flying colours. Emphasis on the flying.
Despite the fine team then-general manager Dale Tallon has built during four seasons in charge, we continued to hear that his days were numbered. That he and McDonough, the former Chicago Cubs president who crossed the street to preside over the Blackhawks, just could not see eye to eye.
"No, it's not true," McDonough said that day, as the Blackhawks prepared to play a Round 2 series for the first time in 13 springs.
"Any time that somebody new comes in to run an organization, and you're getting to know people's styles -- and their styles are different than yours -- that's probably going (to be perceived) that there is friction between the president and the general manager," McDonough said. "Dale is more of a laidback, casual, get-it-done (guy), but in a different style. Mine is more aggressive. It's everyday aggressive. So, we're learning more about each other.
"I have great respect for Dale. He is the architect of this team. He has a year remaining on his contract. So, he will be here."
Well, McDonough was telling the truth. Tallon is still "here" in Chicago.
He is just not the GM anymore, fired from the post and booted upstairs on Tuesday in a move that has McDonough's fingerprints all over it.
This move is testimony to the old cliché, where there is smoke there is fire. We heard rumours of this for months, just as the news smouldered of Brent Sutter landing in Calgary, Brian Burke taking over in Toronto, and Mattias Ohlund being a goner in Vancouver.
If you've ever been in a situation like Tallon was in, you can relate: When your boss is actively searching for reasons to justify your firing, there is no possible way to avoid the inevitable.
On the surface, people will point to the recent fiasco in which six Blackhawk restricted free agents were late in receiving their qualifying offers from the club. The NHLPA was ready to argue that the players should all become unrestricted, until Tallon acted quickly to sign them all, including Calder candidate Kris Versteeg.
The fact that Tallon's replacement as GM is Stan Bowman didn't get in the way of McDonough's freight train. Even though Bowman's previous responsibilities were described in Tuesday's press release as "the day-to-day administration of the Blackhawks' hockey operations department with his primary responsibilities including all CBA-related matters such as contract negotiations, free agency, etc..."
Call us crazy, but doesn't that job description sound like the guy who was supposed to tell the GM when and how to get the contracts out on time? On many teams, the GM doesn't even deal with qualifying offers. The assistant GM or cap guy qualifies the RFAs, and the GM deals with hammering out the deals afterwards.
Not to say that Stan Bowman isn't a most worthy candidate. He's a smart, deserving hockey man who has crawled up the ladder while battling cancer along the way.
Bowman has earned a GM's post, in Chicago or elsewhere, and isn't getting his shot because his father's name is Scotty.
But we're still a little bit stuck on how a GM who has done with a team what Tallon has done with the Blackhawks can get gunned down the summer after icing the most successful Blackhawks team in 14 sad sack years in the Windy City.
Frankly, the move smells. Tallon deserves much, much better.
But having sat down with McDonough, he does not leave you with an impression that taking a team to the Conference final equals job security. The cold-as-ice president was no doubt more focused on the Brian Campbell signing -- eight years, $56.8 million -- which made the Blackhawks' third best defenceman its highest paid blue-liner.
Or the fact that, because of the long-term deal given to Cristobal Huet -- four years, $22.5 million -- the Blackhawks lost their "A" goalie, Nikolai Khabibulin, on July 1.
Both deals -- particularly the Campbell signing -- were believed to be at the urging of McDonough, who had built some momentum in Chicago and demanded his GM keep the ball rolling. Details, details.
Now, as they have turned a tad sour, he washed his hands of the signings and the man who made them. It holds true to the business principles McDonough outlined back in May.
"We're not going to accept anything less than excellence. And that dreaded E-word ... expectations? There are going to be expectations," he said. "There are going to be expectations on me (too). But if I hire someone, give them responsibilities, I expect them to be great at their job.
"I'm not real patient," he added. "I have a tendency to call people on things. Because to me, once is a trend."
If once is indeed a trend, I'd watch my back if I were you, Stan Bowman.