Dale Tallon’s best wishes for Blackhawks

Reporting from Philadelphia -- Former Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon, architect of the team that went into Wednesday’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals holding a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, said he still roots for them but wasn’t sure how he would react while watching them in person for the first time.

Tallon, demoted by the Blackhawks last summer to senior advisor of hockey operations and replaced by Stan Bowman, was appointed general manager of the Florida Panthers two weeks ago. He was in town Wednesday to attend general managers’ meetings and stayed to watch Game 3 at the Wachovia Center.

“I’m going to my first game tonight. I’ve been watching them on TV. I haven’t been to a game. So it’s going to be interesting to see how I feel tonight,” he said.

“But I’m excited for them and I wish them all the best and I hope they go all the way. I’m really proud of everybody involved. They’ve done a tremendous job of building this team.”

Tallon won’t be part of the ceremonies should the Blackhawks win the Cup for the first time since 1961, and he has come to accept that.

“That’s just the way it is. I’ve got my position in Florida because of it and I’m moving on, going and try to duplicate that feat in Florida,” he said.

“They gave me every opportunity. I’ve been 33 wonderful years with that organization and I’ve got nothing but great things to say about them all. I wish them all the best.”

Asked if it might have been easier for him to break from the organization had the team been eliminated early in the playoffs, he said he wouldn’t have wanted the Blackhawks to fail.

“I’m happy they’re doing well. It’s great. It’s not me,” he said of the possibility he might be vindictive.

The team’s success, he said, “raised my stock and I was able to get another position. That’s the way it is. I’m happy that they’ve done well. It would have been tougher probably if they hadn’t done well, as far as my future is concerned, but the fact that they’re winning has been a plus for me.”

He said he’s most proud not of any single draft or player but of the team’s unity.

“How they act off the ice and how they get along. It’s a great character group, and that’s what I want to build in Florida, the same type of group,” he said. “They really support each other and they’re still a young team too, by the way. They’ve got a bright future.”

GMs agree on penalties for head shots

NHL general managers agreed to support a plan in which players would get a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct for lateral or blindside hits to the head. However, it must be approved by the competition committee — and could be amended — before it reaches the Board of Governors. The GMs’ plan would also subject players who deliver illegal head shots to supplementary discipline.

Head shots became a hot topic last season, and the league took the rare step of massaging its rules in midseason to allow suspensions to be imposed against players who delivered dirty, blindside blows to the head.

“One guy said we’ve got to make sure we get this right so we don’t have that stuff like we did with the foot in the crease stuff,” Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi said, referring to the league’s having changed its position several times on whether to allow goals scored while a player had his foot in the crease.

The group also discussed possible revisions to current overtime and shootout rules after Detroit’s Ken Holland proposed that overtime be extended and played four on four or three on three so games would be resolved in overtime rather than in shootouts.

“I know fans like it but it’s a skill competition that decides games and more games are being decided by shootouts than any of us envisioned when we voted for the rule,” Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke said. “I don’t know what the answer is to that.”

The assembled executives also honored Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes with the first GM of the year award. Maloney’s team set franchise records for wins and points despite a turbulent season that included the resignation of coach Wayne Gretzky shortly before training camp and ongoing uncertainty over the club’s future.

The league purchased the Coyotes out of bankruptcy and operated the team all season but is seeking a buyer. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said he wants the team to remain in Glendale, Ariz., but it could be moved to Winnipeg, Canada, if no local buyer emerges.

Maloney’s work would have been outstanding in a normal season, but this was anything but a normal season for the Coyotes. After responding well to Coach Dave Tippett they lost to Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.

“I hope nobody has this experience,” Maloney said. “I wouldn’t say nightmare.”

Lombardi said he voted for Tallon for the new award.

“Tell me who’s done a better building job than him the last six years, and if GMs are builders I think that’s a phenomenal job he’s done,” Lombardi said.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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