There's a Chill In The Air...

It was a bit chilly outside this week, but that's not why I titled this post what I did.

Chicago's winter teams, the Bulls and Blackhawks were both in the news this week as free agency began in the NBA and the NHL.

The Hawks signed 3 free agents this week, and none of them were on the Hawks last year. It was believed that both sides wanted to bring Martin Havlat back, but they couldn't agree on terms. So the Hawks went out and got Marian Hossa to sign a 12 year deal, worth upwards of $62 million. Hossa scored 40 goals last year, but sort of disappeared in the playoffs. I think he's a similar player to Havlat, but Havlat is injury prone. I think the Hawks were lucky to have him on the ice as much as they did last year. The contract is also quite a bit frontloaded so they will have the option to move him later in the deal if he becomes unproductive.

They also signed Tomas Kopecky and John Madden, both centers. I think Madden will be a bit more productive. He's a seasoned vet and he knows what it takes to win a Cup, having won two with the Devils.

On the Bulls' front, it wasn't so much who they signed (in fact they haven't signed anyone), but who they let get away. GM Gar Forman had said that re-signing Ben Gordon was a priority, but he ended up signing with the Detroit Pistons on the first day of free agency. Gordon said yesterday that the Bulls didn't even make him an offer.

Interesting.

The Bulls now need a scorer. They do have John Salmons, which may be why they let Gordon go. But Gordon has been such a great closer during his time with the Bulls, I find it hard to believe that they didn't even give him a contract offer.

I also would have liked the Bulls to sign Charlie Villanueva, who also signed with Detroit. It's long been known that the Bulls need a big man who can score. Villanueva would have brought that to the table. He's listed at 6'11", scored 16.7 ppg and brought down about 7 rebounds. Great pure big men are becoming harder and harder to find, so they're going to have to find a guy like Villanueva.