from Barry Rozner of the Chicago Daily-Herald,

The Blackhawks needed a player like him, a player with heart.

But it's not like he has an abundance of talent. From a skill standpoint, frankly, there's nothing he does all that well.

His best attribute might be that he's willing to fight for space in front of the net and can tip pucks past goaltenders with virtually any part of his anatomy.

The truth, however, is that Shaw is a mediocre talent and the Hawks couldn't afford his asking price.

He was a fan favorite on a small, soft team that had few gritty players, and Shaw -- despite being only 5-foot-11, 180 pounds -- played like one of the Hawks' biggest players.

And Hawks fans will miss him.

GM Stan Bowman tried to sign him, but Shaw thought he was worth more than the Hawks were willing to pay, and that's why he's in Montreal today, in part because he was a victim of the salary cap, but also because he put too high a price on his limited ability.

Joel Quenneville will not be happy that Bowman could not retain one of the coach's favorite players, though they did trade Teuvo Teravainen in hopes of having enough cap space going forward to keep Shaw around, and they did about all they could to keep Shaw in Chicago.

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