WHAT!

Denis Savard is gone?

This has to be one of the most surprising and premature firings that I can imagine and Dale Tallon would be asking to wear this for a long time to come. Firing a coach who has done a great deal to revitalize the team since coming in two seasons ago barely a week and a half into the season is ludicrous. Throw in the fact that the team is probably still gelling around its new acquisitions of Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet and you can't help say the Savard deserved more time. And he does or did as is the case now. And after a win?!

The only, and only by the barest of slivers of credibility, saving grace here is the fact that Joel Quenneville brings the experience and reputation that he has behind the bench. It remains to be seen if the team will respond to Quenneville given these circumstances.

This might prove to be a bad move for Tallon. If the season does not go as well as expected Tallon's neck ought to be on the block. He has failed to resolve the goaltending situation by keeping Khabibulin on the payroll and the Huet signing might look bad if Khabby continues to outplay is netmate. Apart from that the firing will only unleash a lot of second-guessing in Chicago about a variety of Tallon's recent moves, even including giving the captaincy to sophomore Jonathan Toews.

The temperature just went up in Chicago.