Mitch Trubisky was going to be the answer at the quarterback position, the position the Chicago Bears have had problems with since the 1940’s. The days of Sid Luckman. The Bears General Manager, Ryan Pace, put all his eggs in one basket & bet the house on Mitch Trubisky as the solution to this long term problem in Chicago. Ryan Pace was so sure about himself that he bypassed a sure thing in DeShaun Watson. Did Ryan Pace even do enough research on Patrick Mahomes, who might be the best quarterback in the league today? In 2017, Pace moved up one spot in the draft to grab Mitch Trubisky while giving up draft capital to the 49ers. Trubisky’s Bears career would end last season. Trubisky was always a stand up guy and you can say in his career, he’s been OK. Definitely not like Watson or Mahomes. Trubisky would sign with the Buffalo Bills this off-season and made his way back to his old kind of stomping grounds for a pre-season affair on Saturday afternoon in Chicago. Trubisky gets his revenge against his former team as Buffalo demolishes the Bears on the lakefront. The crowd mostly cheered for their former quarterbacks. Some boos were heard. Some will say it’s only a pre-season game. Is it really just a pre-season game if you are Mitch Trubisky?

When head coach Matt Nagy simplified his playbook in the very first year with Mitch Trubisky, the Bears did well, made the playoffs, and lost to the Eagles. Only to blame the kicker for that loss. Last season when Mitch Trubisky was inserted back into the starting role, Mitch Trubisky did well and helped the Bears get back to the playoffs. You ask if the NFL expanding the playoffs is the reason why or did Arizona have too many injuries which helped the Bears get in and have a date with New Orleans? A team who pretty much manhandled the Midway Monsters that day. When head coach Matt Nagy tailored the playbook around Trubisky’s strengths, he was pretty good. Last season, Trubisky was 6-3 as the starter for the Bears. Overall in Trubisky’s entire career with the Bears, he has a winning record of 29-21. Trubisky has 64 touchdown passes to 37 Interceptions in his career. Again, Trubisky was the first quarterback picked in that draft in 2017, & will always have DeShaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes lurking in the shadows as they are elite and Mitch is just an average arm.

Mitch Trubisky signed with the Buffalo Bills to be Josh Allen’s back up. Trubisky plays a similar style behind center as Josh Allen. What’s the best way to improve your own game is work with one of the best offensive minds in the game, Brian Daboll, and watch Josh Allen continue to make strides. Mitch Trubisky looked very comfortable in the Bills offense as he torched his former team on Sunday. Trubisky was 15-21 for 157 yards with 1 touchdown pass & no interceptions. Trubisky had a passing rating of 108.6 on Saturday. Let’s not forget about the 11 yard runs with his feet and the two point conversion he tossed to Jacob Hollister. At halftime, it was 28-0 Bills. The final was 41-15 Bills in a laugher.

Here’s what jumps out at me about the Bills and Bears game. Mitch Trubisky was protected very well and had time to throw the ball. Bills used a running game to go along with Trubisky in the game plan. Andy Dalton’s numbers look better than they actually were. Take away the 73 yard touchdown Dalton threw to Rodney Adams, which was kind of lucky how he had to pretty much catch the ball through the defender, as the Bills corner-back fell to the ground, he was off to the races. Dalton finished 11-17 for 146 yards with the touchdown pass and a interception. Dalton had an 86.9 QB Rating. Then Justin Fields, who looked pretty good in the first pre-season game, did not look good on Saturday. Same old Bears expecting good quarterback play with a sloppy offensive line. One play Fields was mugged back there as he lost his helmet.

Fields’ day ended with a sigh of relief from fans that he got up. Behind center, Fields went 9-19 for 80 yards, no touch down passes or interceptions, with a QB rating of 59.1 yikes.

Who knows if Mitch Trubisky will ever face the Bears in a regular season game. I know it’s only a preseason game, but the eye test shows me Mitch Trubisky looked better than he ever did in a Bears uniform. Meanwhile the Bears are trying to figure out their offensive line as both Andy Dalton and Justin Fields were pressured all day. Nick Foles probably thanked God more than once that he did not get into that game. Many want to put the blame game on the GM of the Bears’ Ryan Pace. Don’t get me wrong… he is the problem as well in not getting the offensive line help that this team needed years ago. How many different quarterbacks does Matt Nagy need to get one to take control of this offense he has laid out. If Justin Fields turns out to be a lemon, after Matt Nagy all this time was the problem. Remember Matt Nagy did not draft Mitch Trubisky; he was not there at the time. Many think Nagy all along hoped Trubisky would fail so they could have one of his own guys in there. Nick Foles was going to be that guy. Now Andy Dalton will be that guy even though he will have a very short leash because the team traded more draft capital to get Justin Fields. Fields could be the savior in the long run. Will it be Matt Nagy who develops Justin Field, or some other coach? My gut tells me this will be the same ole Bad News Bears. I don’t think Mitch Trubisky will ever lead a team to the Superbowl. I can see Mitch Trubisky getting better. This game also shows you the Bills coaching staff and brain trust in the front office, are on a higher level than the Bears. Head Coach Sean McDermott challenges a play where the Bears receiver caught the ball using the ground to control it. That play was overturned. Then Matt Nagy challenges a play thinking the Bills receiver was out of bounds. This when you can clearly see he dragged his feet on the field before going out of bounds. Nagy was wrong. Play stands. Right now Trubisky has the last laugh.

Last season, the Chicago Blackhawks were in the thick of things most of the year, tailed off, and missed another post-season. The Blackhawks goalie situation looked grim especially after the first couple weeks. The NHL realigned all the divisions so teams could play in their own stadium. The Blackhawks had to play the bad Detroit Red Wings multiple times. The team still had to play the Lightning multiple times who have won back-to-back championships. The Blackhawks were without their captain the entire season, Jonathan Toews. Cory Crawford retired. A young goalie named Kevin Lankinen took the net and showed the league he can play inside the pipes. What if the Blackhawks Corey Crawford played last season and stayed healthy? Would the team have made it to the playoffs? Lankinen was pretty good, but if Crawford had been at his best and healthy, Blackhawks would have gotten to the post-season. This off-season there is finally a move by Stan Bowman the General Manager that I can applaud. Blackhawks land veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade.

At first this move of landing the veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, looked very Blackhawk-like. The 36 year old Fleury, a three time Stanley Cup winner, liked living in Vegas and his family thought about just hanging up the skates for good. Then a few weeks later, the former Penguins goalie decided he wants to play in Chicago. The deal was simple; the Blackhawks gave the Golden Knights minor league forward Mikael Hakkaraainen, a center born in Finland and Chicago, who has a veteran net presence next season. If you recall, the Golden Knights had one of the best goalie tandems in the league last year with Robin Lehner, a former Blackhawk himself. It was the Blackhawks that traded Lehner in 2020 in a three team trade that involved the Golden Knights and the Maple Leafs. Blackhawks got the Golden Knights back-up goalie Malcolm Subban in that trade. We’ve seen enough out of him as he was horrible. The Golden Knights needed to clear some salary cap and one of the goalies had to go. Fleury makes sense having only one year left on his deal.

Marc-Andre Fleury is the reigning Vezina trophy winner which means he was the top goalie last season in the entire NHL. In 36 regular season games last year for the Golden Knights Fleury went 26-10 in the net. Fleury had a save percentage of 928 for the year only allowing 1.98 goals a game. Plus, Fleury had six shut-outs. Fleury won all three of his cups in a Pittsburgh uniform. Fleury has also helped the Golden Knights make it to their first cup and he helped the team get deep into the playoffs this past season. Fleury ranks third in all-time wins in regular season with 492. Fleury is a for sure Hall of Famer when he hangs up the skates for good.

I like this move a lot by the Blackhawks. I know its a seven million dollar hit on the cap. It’s only a one year hit as Marc-Andre Fleury will become a free agent if the move does not work out. I think this move can benefit your young goalie Kevin Lankinen who should get some games in as the back up. Lankinen can learn from a future Hall-of-Famer. The Blackhawks would have a solid 1-2 punch in the net which they lacked last season. Plus they would have a guy who has been there and done that in the playoffs with Fleury helping the team get back to the post-season. In the NHL it takes a hot goalie and an all-star like Patrick Kane to lead your team past the first round and beyond. I like Jonathan Toews returning. The Blackhawks did well without him as they hung in there most of the season. With a healthy Toews, the Blackhawks will be better. The Blackhawks added Center Tyler Johnson from the Lightning who adds post-season experience which will improve this team. I don’t agree with the money they will be paying or what they gave up to land the defenseman Seth Jones from Columbus. Seth Jones will be a upgrade over an aging Duncan Keith who was dealt to the Oilers. The biggest reason this may work out for the Blackhawks is because Fleury has an axe to grind with the Golden Knights for trading him. Plus, Vegas found his replacement in 2020 with Robin Lehner. In 2021, Fleury showed Vegas he was still the guy. Fleury still has that passion, and he may want another contract after this year. Might not be with the Blackhawks, but we may go down that road when the time comes. Right now Stan Bowman can breathe a sigh of relief that he’s not being dragged out of the United Center by fans with pitchforks and torches.

Will San Jose Sharks left-winger Evander Kane be lumped on the same list as Pete Rose and the 1919 Black Sox scandal? Kane last year filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy as he lost 1.5 Million dollars due to gambling. Kane’s contract with the Sharks is a 7 year deal worth 49 Million. In which Kane still has 4 years remaining on his contract. Some will wonder how in the world does somebody lose this amount of money gambling. Kane obviously has a problem. What happened to the rest of the money he has made over his 12 year career in the NHL to have him file for Chapter 7 in the first place? How does a person rack up a debt of 26.8 Million? Kane is under investigation by the NHL for some comments his wife made. “How they can let a player gamble on his own games?” The sickness Kane has is like a boxer taking a dive in round two to pay off the bad element in the sporting world. Evander Kane’s teammates on the Sharks don’t want him back on the team for disrespecting the rules of the locker room. The team rules. Kane denies all allegations made by his wife.

Evander Kane made his NHL debut with the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2009-10 season. Kane showed that he had a knack for getting the puck in the net as he scored 14 goals his rookie season with 12 assists for 26 points. Kane’s numbers in his second year with the Thrashers went up as he became a now permanent player in the NHL. The Thrashers would leave Atlanta and head to Canada. Then the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets as Kane would thrive on the Canadian ice and score 30 goals that year with 27 assists for 57 points. Kane’s numbers dropped the next two seasons in Winnipeg. Kane moved on and played in Buffalo where he found his old form and started to put up solid numbers once again. San Jose Sharks came calling for his talents and made a trade with Buffalo to get him. It’s been four years in San Jose and Evander Kane has done well and earned himself a seven year contract.. Last season, Kane scored 22 goals while dishing out 27 assists which is good for 49 points. Due to Covid, it was a shortened season as Kane played in 56 games. Kane had two game winning goals. On those nights, did he win money with the bookies? Kane’s career numbers are very solid with 264 goals, 242 assists for 506 points. Kane has 37 career game-winning goals.

Who do you believe in a situation like this that could bring dark clouds to the NHL. Evander Kane, who sounds like a compulsive gambling addict? Could this be the wife’s way of getting redemption who is about to be the X for all the things her husband did to the family. I remember when Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman had to get away and went to Vegas as the Bulls were playing the Jazz in Utah. Rodman resurfaced and played well in that series despite gambling in Sin City that weekend. Evander Kane in 2019 when the Sharks played the Golden Knights in Vegas did the same thing Rodman did. For Kane, he racked up a 500,000 debt from one of the casinos in Sin Town. Later on that casino sued Kane for the money. Anna went on a rant about Evander and his episodes on social media. How Evander ditched the family to go to Europe. While over the pond their house was being taken away from the bank. Sounds like Evander Kane likes to live the high life blowing his money on expensive dinners like surf and turf and nothing but the best. Kane likes the fancy hotels and throwing money away partying. Anna went on to say she had to hock her wedding ring. Then there is always a kid involved in these sloppy dramas. Evander Kane won’t buy formula for his own kid. Now Evander Kane has come out, defended himself, and denied all these allegations that the wife spewed out on social media.

Who do you believe? We know that Evander Kane has a problem with gambling which is public information with the filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and being sued by the casino. Kane has probably bet on sports. I’m sure he’s not playing just the slot machines or high stake poker games. I’m sure the NHL will do a intense investigation on Evander Kane throwing games for money, a very serious crime for the sport of Hockey. The league has to think about the purity of the game. If the league finds something that would end Kane’s hockey career which has been pretty good to this point. Whenever there is an airing of dirty laundry, I find half the stuff is over blown & the other half has some truth to it is my opinion. Even if Anna is seeking revenge due to the marriage falling down the tubes, there still is a kid involved. Which they should both be thrown under the bus. The thing that sticks out the most to me is Evander Kane’s teammates. The relationship in the Sharks locker room has soured. How Evander Kane has been late for games and practices. Are the Sharks brass giving Kane a slap on the wrist for disrespecting team rules? Are the Sharks trying to trade Kane? Who would want him with this entire mess reeking out of the man’s pores with the gambling problem and the X wife on a tirade?

Evander Kane is going to be like Pig Pen from the Charlie Brown cartoon with his life drama following him around like dust clouds. Every player & every teammate will eye ball Evander Kane thinking the same thing. What’s he doing today for his side hustle? Kane’s life now is under the microscope. If you’re the San Jose Sharks, you have to get out of this contract with Kane. Cut ties with him. Has to be some loop hole in the contract to make those 4 years void. If Kane’s drama spills on to the ice, this upcoming season will not go well for the team in teal. Plus Kane takes a chunk of the salary cap. If the Sharks can get that off the books, then you can find a few options of replacements for Evander Kane. This is another story of a person with so much talent to play a game and get paid so much, only to see a vice take over your entire life. To see your story come crashing down to the ground is shameful. Especially with a kid involved.

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Looks like the General Manager, Stan Bowman of the Blackhawks, took some tactics out of the same book as other GM’S working the Chicago Sports landscape in his latest trade. These tactics I would not recommend. Blackhawks land defense-man Seth Jones from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a hefty price. Bowman sent the Blue Jackets young defense-man Adam Bogvist. Bowman took a page out of the Chicago Bears playbook and unloaded draft picks like confetti at a parade down Michigan avenue. Bowman way over-paid for Seth Jones throwing away two first round picks with a second round draft pick. Bowman also landed Seth Jones’ brother Caleb in a trade that sent Duncan Keith to the Edmonton Oilers. Sounds like GM White Sox Rick Hahn’s method of madness. Signing Manny Machado’s inner circle to land the slugger and bring him to Chicago which did not happen. However Bowman got his guy and now the Blackhawks have the Jones brothers. The icing on the cake is Stan, who aint the Man in Chicago anymore, had given Seth Jones an 8 year extension on his contract which will be worth a few of those Brinks trucks.

How long did it take the Blackhawks to get out of their salary cap issue.? Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw had to walk away from the game due to injuries. Cory Crawford retired. Duncan Keith may have been squeezed out of the organization as he wanted to be closer to home. Sure sounds close to the old school excuse my dog ate my homework, when it comes to sports. Patrick Kane is still a super star and deserves to be paid what he gets. Jonathan Toews missed the entire season last year from an undisclosed illness and will still get paid. Seth Jones has not played one game wearing the Indian head sweater and the Blackhawks pay him like some kind of ransom.

Blackhawks giving up on the kids too fast. Adam Bogvist, a young defense-men from Sweden, is only 20 years old and has two seasons under his belt in the NHL. Last season, Bogvist had 2 goals and 14 assists in 35 games for the Blackhawks which is good for 16 points. His first season Bogvist played in 41 games and 4 goals and 9 assists which is good for 13 points. It takes time to learn the the speed of the NHL as Bogvist is from Europe. Bogvist was learning, making adjustments, and getting better. My prediction is you just watch & Bogvist will be anchoring one of those defense positions for years to come in Columbus. For years, Blackhawks had to wave goodbye to many young players like Artemi Panarin because of salary cap issues & not being able to pay them. During those Stanley Cups the Blackhawks won, tough decisions were made over and over. Since that last cup, the Blackhawks have hit skid row. The Blackhawks finally with some money to spend and they are putting all their eggs in one basket with Seth Jones. Look at teams like the Kings and the Sharks paying big money for a defense-men. Sharks paying Erik Karlsson a king’s ransom and they did not make the playoffs. Same goes for the Kings with Drew Doughty.

Seth Jones I know is only 27 years old. You can say that Jones had not hit his prime yet. Jones has 8 years already logged in the NHL. Jones at one time was one of the best defense-men in the NHL. Can you still say that now? That was three seasons ago when Seth Jones had one of his monster years. It was the 2018-19 season where Jones had 46 points and tallied nine goals with 37 assists. The year before, Jones was even better with 57 total points which he had 16 goals and 41 assists. Since 2018-19, Jones’ numbers have been on a steady decline. I know for defense-men in hockey, it is not just about goals and assists when it comes to being that guard dog by the net. If Jones is going to be my highest paid player in a few years, I want goals. I want him dishing out assists. I want my my cake and ice cream. I do not like the long term deal of 8 years either. These contracts never get finished and always come back to haunt the team. Plus, what about the young players on the rise that need some extra scratch in their bank accounts? Kirby Dach and Dominic Kubalik are due for extensions. Alex DeBrincat will be due for a contract extension after this upcoming season is played out. I see the Seth Jones move as “Hey, we are back in the post season.” I do not see this signing with the big money as the Blackhawks have created another dynasty and will win three more Stanley Cups. Those Dach’s, you need a Kubalic, a great goalie, DeBrincat, and other young players with some good role players to win at least one cup. If the Blackhawks have to trade these guys and not get what they should get back in draft capital or a quality player, this franchise will not land on their feet. The Seth Jones deal will be the one signing they got torpedoed by. Stan Bowman, be aware your nine lives are running out. It seems like you also used all your life lines as well.