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Tuesday, July 14, 2009 1:18 AM

Are Tallon's Chicago days numbered?

Eric Duhatschek

Is Dale Tallon on his way out as the Chicago Blackhawks’ general manager? Seems implausible, given that the Blackhawks just completed their finest season in a decade, largely with a team that Tallon built, but two sources indicated Monday night that a change could come as early as this week; that Tallon was never president John McDonough’s first choice to run the team; and that last week’s problems filing offer sheets to six of the team’s restricted free agents was a turning point in their relationship.

Tallon, it is said, will be offered another position in the organization, but that a new GM would be appointed in his place. The two primary candidates for the position would be Stan Bowman, son of hockey legend Scotty Bowman, and Al MacIsaac, the team’s senior director of hockey administration and assistant to the president.

Tallon has been GM of the team since June, 2005, and this past season, it managed 104 points, most since the 1992-93 season and advanced to the Western Conference final, where it lost to the Detroit Red Wings. Tallon drafted, among others, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews and made one-sided deals to acquire Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg for the team.

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Globe On Hockey Contributors

David Shoalts

David Shoalts, a native of Wainfleet, Ont., joined The Globe in 1984 as a layout and copy editor in the sports section. He attended the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College. After graduating from Conestoga with a journalism diploma in 1978, Shoalts worked at the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, and later the Toronto Sun.

In 1986, Shoalts went back to the writing side of the business. He was the CFL reporter for The Globe for four years and then switched to hockey. He has covered the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL ever since and became a hockey columnist in 2003. Among the most memorable events Shoalts has covered are the final hockey game at the old Chicago Stadium (between the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks) and the men's and women's gold-medal hockey games at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He is also the author of a book of humour, Tales From The Toronto Maple Leafs, and co-author with retired Globe columnist William Houston of Greed and Glory, The Fall of Hockey Czar Alan Eagleson.

 
Allan Maki

Allan Maki

Allan Maki joined the Globe in 1997, after spending 19 years as a reporter and columnist at the Calgary Herald. Born in Thunder Bay, Ont., Maki graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 1977.

A past president of the Football Writers of Canada, Maki has covered every Grey Cup since 1980. He's been to seven Olympic Games and covered everything from rodeos to the World Series to the Super Bowl.

A regular commentator on radio and television, Maki hosted a sports program for two years on CBC Newsworld. He has won several awards for his writing and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award in 1995.

 
Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek was the winner of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's Elmer Ferguson award for "distinguished contributions to hockey writing" in 2001. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario's grad school of journalism, he began covering hockey in 1978 and after spending 20 years covering the NHL and the Calgary Flames, joined globeandmail.com in September, 2000, where he writes a five-time-a-week NHL column.

A frequent contributor to Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove segment, he has covered four Winter Olympics, 19 Stanley Cup finals, every Canada Cup and World Cup since 1981, plus two world championships. Most recently, he was appointed as the newest member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's annual Selection Committee.