Dale Tallon

Dale Lee Tallon (born October 19, 1950) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and current general manager of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is an NHL All-Star.

He began his career as a junior ice hockey player with the Oshawa Generals and later, the Toronto Marlboros, both of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). Drafted in the first round, second overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, Tallon spent parts of his ten-year NHL career with the Canucks, the Black Hawks, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also suited up for the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central Hockey League (CHL) and the Syracuse Firebirds of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Playing Career
Tallon was the Vancouver Canucks' first-round selection and the second player chosen overall (behind Gilbert Perreault) in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. In his rookie season, he scored 14 goals and recorded 42 assists. His 17 goals for Vancouver in 1971–72 was a career high. Tallon appeared in the 1971 and 1972 NHL All-Star Games.

In 1972, Tallon was selected to Team Canada's roster for the Summit Series, though he never appeared in a game.

Tallon was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks on May 14, 1973. His best season in Chicago was in 1975–76, when he scored 15 goals and a career-high 47 assists. In five seasons with the Blackhawks, he scored 44 goals and added 112 assists. On October 9, 1978, Tallon was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a second-round choice in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He played two seasons with the Penguins, scoring 10 goals with 33 assists.

In his ten season injury-plagued NHL career, Tallon scored 98 goals and had 238 assists for 336 points in 642 games played. He retired following the 1979–80 NHL season, after which he went to work for the Blackhawks as a broadcaster. Tallon spent 16 seasons as an analyst for Blackhawks radio and television broadcasts. Tallon also served the same role in the 2002–03 NHL season, between his two stints in the Blackhawks front office.

Front Office
Tallon was named the eighth general manager of the Blackhawks on June 21, 2005. Tallon had served as the assistant general manager since November 5, 2003, assisting then general manager Bob Pulford. Tallon had previously served as the director of player personnel for the Blackhawks from 1998 to 2002.

Tallon's first season as the Blackhawks general manager was a busy one. The 2004–05 NHL season was lost to a labor dispute, and the new collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players was signed in July, 2005. Between the new financial structure and many rules changes intended to produce a higher scoring game, Tallon was challenged to build a new team. Tallon signed many free agents, including Nikolai Khabibulin, Adrian Aucoin, and Martin Lapointe, which led to raised expectations. The Blackhawks finished Tallon's first season with 26 wins, 43 losses, and 13 overtime losses, for 65 points, ranking the Blackhawks 14th in the 15-team Western Conference, and with the third least points in the NHL.

He has since turned the Blackhawk franchise around by drafting young talents Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and with the acquisitions of Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg, among others. He has also brought in free-agent defenseman Brian Campbell to improve the teams powerplay. For the 2008-2009 season, the Blackhawks finished the season with a 46-24-12 record for 104 points to finish 4th in the 15 team Western Conference. The team made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they were eliminated in 5 games by the Detroit Red Wings, which then went on to lose in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Since then, Tallon has added to the team by signing star winger Marián Hossa and Selke Award-winner John Madden.

In early July, Talon and the Blackhawks management came under fire when the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) claimed the team did not submit offers to their restricted free agents before the deadline. In the worst case scenario, the team's unsigned restricted free agents at the time, including Calder Memorial Trophy finalist Kris Versteeg, would have become unrestricted free agents. Despite the commotion, the Blackhawks were able to sign Versteeg and all of their restricted free agents before the NHLPA could take proper actions.

On July 14, 2009, the Blackhawks demoted Tallon to the position of Senior Adviser. Stan Bowman, son of Scotty Bowman, was promoted to to general manager.

Awards

 * 1971 – Played in NHL All-Star Game
 * 1972 – Played in NHL All-Star Game