Blackhawks Top 100- #65 Dale Tallon

We’re heading into the dog days of the offseason, counting the days until the Chicago Blackhawks 2014 Season kicks off. We’re going to do a Top 100 list of all time Chicago Blackhawks. It’s a fun way to pass the time and take a stroll down Memory Lane

Dale Tallon- Playing Career 1973-1977 Broadcast 1982-1998 GM 2004-2009

Games-325

Goals-44

Assists-112

Points-156

-13

Penalty Minutes-296

Game Winning Goals-10

Playoffs

Games-29

Goals-2

Assists-10

Points-12

Dale Tallon arrived in Chicago after getting traded from the Vancouver Canucks in 1973 and he would remain with the organization except for 2 year in Pittsburgh until 2009 in various positions. First off he was a pretty good defenseman for the Blackhawks in the mid 70’s. Tallon ranks 17th all-time in points as a defenseman in Blackhawks history. He played on some good Blackhawks teams in that era but as we all know they never could win the Stanley Cup. Tallon was a good puck moving defenseman and a solid point man on the powerplay. He made it to the ice for a very respectable 642 games in his NHL career.

When I was a kid Dale Tallon was the Blackhawks color guy along side Pat Foley. In an era of pretty good color guys in Chicago (Steve Stone, Johnny Morris) Tallon was a very good announcer with a players perspective and a very good 2nd person in the booth with a much younger Foley. If I really think about it I can still hear Foley and Tallon covering the Hawks on the radio.

The Hawks made Tallon the GM in 2004 and things began to change for the Hawks mired in one of their worst era’s in team history. Tallon made some great moves including drafting Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews and making very skillful free agent acquisitions, but he did struggle with the salary cap and sending out qualifying offers which seems like the true demise of Tallon’s tenure in Chicago as GM, but let’s never forget that it was Tallon that laid down the foundation for the present day Blackhawks Golden Era and that Stan Bowman took the keys and ran with what Tallon had started.

Tallon is now in Florida and seems to be starting the Chicago Blackhawks South which is fine for the Hawks anytime they need to drop some salary.

Tallon had a great career as a Blackhawk and the totality of his career lands him #65 in our countdown. What do you think? Too High or Too Low?