OK, this was the one I kept saying wouldn't happen.

The Hawks dealt Andrew Ladd to Atlanta for minor league defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a 2011 second round draft pick. I'm sure Stan didn't want to make this trade, and nobody wanted to see it happen.

Unfortunately, after the piles of money being thrown at piles of shit all day yesterday, the price for Ladd undoubtedly escalated outside of the Hawks' budget and cap space. Hell, the Jokinen and Boogaard deals alone mean Ladd should make a damn good buck. Good on him - the guy was an iron man and hard worker every minute he wore a Hawks sweater.

Speaking of good on him, congratulations also are due Adam Burish. He managed to get over $2 million out of the Dallas Stars over 2 years. Now somebody else is overpaying for fourth line forwards. I know Burish is popular here, and he was actually one of the smarter players on the Hawks, but his value to the franchise was unmistakable in the fact that he spend the Blackhawks' biggest game in nearly a half-century in street clothes.

The Hawks did manage to sign one free agent. Not a big name, but a big man. They signed defenseman John Scott away from the Minnesota Wild for two years, with a cap hit of a little over a half million a year. A bargain. There are two things I can tell you about him. He's the size of a glacier, and has the speed of one. At 6'8 and around 250 pounds, he will be an effective policeman on the ice.

The question with Scott will be, can he bring his game up to the Hawks' level? When he dresses, he'll have to fill third-pair minutes. Granted, that's around ten minutes a night. But he'll also be required to kill some penalties. If he improves his positional play, he can be a real asset here. A Giant with a massive wingspan, he can take up an awful lot of real estate out there during a PK.

The other thing is, I'm pretty sure he was hired for his fists. Losing Burish and Ben Eager meant losing the two guys most willing to drop the gloves. Scott can pummel guys. In fact, I expect CT to use him in this week's Friday Night Fight.

The first time he beats the ever-loving shit out of someone he'll be a Chicago Blackhawks legend.