It Takes Tootoo to Tango

Over the offseason, the Chicago Blackhawks did some major re-tooling of their roster, as is required, every so often, with the hard salary cap in place for the NHL.  As a result, Windy City hockey fans were forced to say good bye to mainstays, such as Bryan Bickell, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw, for the sake of creating cap space.  Roster turnover in the National Hockey League is a necessary evil.

You just can't afford everybody and this cap is rigid.  There will be no "plié," or bending, of the rules.

In turn, some new names were inked and traded for to fill these gaps.  Among those new faces was a veteran right wing by the name of Jordin Tootoo:

Okay - full disclosure - I may have done a TAD bit of Photoshop editing to that card.  What can I say, I'm a child and that's exactly where my mind goes when I hear Jordin's surname.  I am what I am.

Anyway, the Manitoba native of Inuit and Ukranian descent has been in the league since 2003, when he became the very first Inuk athlete to compete in the league.  Jordin is often valued for his ability to agitate his opponents - he has nearly 1,000 penalty minutes in 703 career games.  Either Tootoo is a vintage hockey goon or he's sick and tired of jokes based on his last name being made and he's been letting people know it.  Maybe I should watch out, just in case.

The other day, I stumbled across the above single out of a "petite" dimebox at my LCS:

Here it is, without my junior high-esque alterations.  The card hails from Panini's 2012-13 Rookie Anthology release, which, as you might have guessed, spotlighted the rookie seasons of players around the NHL.  However, while the write up on the back talks about their first year, the picture on the front did not - Tootoo came into the NHL with the Nashville Predators and had just "pirouetted" and signed with the Red Wings.  That's a weird dichotomy.

Anyway, if and when Tootoo should have a Blackhawks card released into the market, this card will hold down his spot in my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection binder, just fine.  I'm not going to "dance around" this issue though - seeing as Tootoo has no points, 16 PIM and rates at a -2, I'm not too optimistic about that happening.

Tootoo scrapping with Pitt's Tom Sestito, pre-season

Image courtesy of AP and the Chicago Sun Times

That about does it for today's edition of Wrigley Roster Jenga - honestly, it was mostly just an excuse to show of the juvenile Photoshop alterations that I made at poor Tootoo's expense.  Sorry, Jordin!

Well, it was that and to notate the fact that I was able to cross another name off of my "need" list for the Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection.  As of today, I have acquired 324 of all 907 men to suit up for the Chicago Blackhawks, since they were founded back in 1926.  This leaves me with a 35.72% completion rate - not bad for a collection that I started only a little more than a year ago.

Hopefully you found today's "routine" to be, at least, slightly amusing!