Last week, the Chicago Blackhawks signed free agent winger Fernando Pisani to a 1-year deal.TSN reported this signing on August 18, and pretty much every article has pointed back to TSN’s report–even NHL.com, who you think would really be in the know on these things. The Blackhawks have yet to mention Pisani anywhere on their website. It’s almost been a week, and yet nothing concrete.
Some of you may remember Pisani’s inspired performance during the 2006 playoffs, when he became the first player to score a shorthanded overtime goal in Stanley Cup Finals history.
In 2007, Pisani was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC). I won’t bore or disgust you with details about the disease (see the Wikipedia entry for that), but it did cause him to miss 26 games that season.
Other injuries have limited him to 23 points in 78 games over the past two seasons, but he did appear in this commercial about ulcerative colitis. I’ve seen it like 100 times last year when watching Judge Judy with my Grandma.
Due to his diagnosis and injuries, the last 3 seasons have been lackluster for Pisani. His (alleged) 1-year deal with the Blackhawks was for the league-minimum $500,000 salary. Being the lowest-paid ‘Hawk, and with no job security past this season, Pisani has a lot to prove.
But at only 33 years of age, there is potentially a lot of hockey left in him. Let’s hope that this is Pisani’s breakout year.
Update:On August 24, the Blackhawks finally announced Pisani’s signing on their website. It is funny that they were the last to announce this bit of news.