For 4 years, I watched this forum denigrate Quenneville...

[ChiHawk21]

There’s a number of pro Q people talking out of both sides of their mouth. This roster is trash because of Bowman and JC is a trash coach because they’re not winning. Also Q wasn’t winning because the roster was trash.

Pick a lane.

havnt seen a lot of people killin JC. starting to come out tho in his deployment of the younger guys.

 

[nmgrbhfn]

waiting and judging the the success of SB in the upcoming months being dependent on acquiring another 1st rounder. well if SB do move some secondary players for additional picks, most importantly 2nd rounders. those picks can really help as well.

My point about getting another first rounder is that such a move would be an "above replacement level" NHL executive result if it was accomplished through an addition-by-subtraction trade. Getting a couple of second round picks for the right trash as you suggested may also be an "above replacement level" NHL executive result. Signing Mark Stone in the off season without doing much else may be a "replacement level" (or below) NHL executive result - any slob can see Mark Stone is at the top of the UFA class next off-season.

 

[Blackhawks]

A lot of things had to have gone right in order for this team to just make the playoffs. I don’t think many rational people thought this team could compete for a Stanley Cup.

The simple answer for Bowman essentially doing nothing in free agency is he didn’t believe it would matter because this team is too far away from competing.

Anti-Stan agenda folks choose to look at his FA moves and use them as evidence for his incompetence.

There is no such thing as “anti-Stan” there is such thing as you are blind if you don’t see that this guy is completely clueless in everything minus drafting. I can also say the “pro-Stan” agenda folks only talk about drafting and ignore how horrendous he is at everything else. Also btw Stan has never really been a guy to get UFA’s, he destroyed this team not by UFAgecncy but by trades and overpaying his own guys.

How are people still giving this guy is a pass is beyond my ******* understanding...

 

[LDF]

My point about getting another first rounder is that such a move would be an "above replacement level" NHL executive result if it was accomplished through an addition-by-subtraction trade. Getting a couple of second round picks for the right trash may also be an "above replacement level" NHL executive result. Signing Mark Stone in the off season without doing much else may be a "replacement level" (or below) NHL executive result - any slob can see Mark Stone is at the top of the UFA class next off-season.

i wasn't being critical nor blustering that you were wrong. actual you were correct in your post. i was adding that 2nd rounders in this draft can help out as well.

 

[Robsker]

question, if this roster is trash, how can JC, let alone any coach win with this roster.

Depends upon what you mean by "wins." I cannot imagine any coach taking this roster and doings with it something meaningful. No coach could make this team competitive for a deep playoff run. In fact, i doubt any coach could make this a playoff team. That said...

JC has been mighty non-impressive. He still plays players who should not see the ice. He under uses players who should be used. The systems and/or personnel for the PP and PK have not been successfully modified to be improved (in fact, both units under JC are actually diminished relative to the same units under Q --- it was bad under Q and now worse under JC). The team under JC has not gotten better. By now, some evidence of the arrow pointing in the right direction under JC should be there - at least a glimmer of getting better. However, if anything, the arrow is pointing in the wrong direction - this team is getting worse.

Sure, this is a bad roster. But should the Hawks be the worst team in hockey? Almost certainly not. Should the Hawks be getting better, rather than worse? Yes. So... thus far, JC has shown nothing to suggest that he can be a long-term answer. It is early, and maybe things will change. His roster sucks, yes... but it is not as bad as what we are seeing. The context for his taking over was not ideal, sure --- but what JC has accomplished so far is... bad.

No, no coach can "win" with this roster --- but at the same time, it is pretty unimpressive that under this coach the team is getting worse.

 

[LDF]

nice post. what i see is the present coach trying to put out a dumpster fire and failing. the domino effect of loosing is really controlling the team outlook.

 

[BK]

i too am at a lost on the moving pieces that SB has acquired and not concentrating on the actual problems of the team.

i am just going to wait and see.

This season was never going to be a playoff season. Just look at who they signed. Anyone with a brain knows that 1-2 FAs were not going to fix this team until the young kids are ready to go.

Boqvist, Mitchell, HJ, etc. are going to be what drives the rebirth of this team along with this upcoming 1st rounder and then the FA the sign this coming summer. I will go on the record today and say next year the Hawks are going to try and out score everyone while letting Boqvist, Mitchell, HJ, and Forsling continue to grow. This was similar to the 2010 team that was just a wagon then the 2013 team and 2015 teams had 4 stud D that carried through the playoffs. The plan is just like it was in 2008 & 2009. Panarin can be the Hossa type signing that gives the team a big punch.

Next year's team could look like this. For assumptions lets pick Kakko. This is not a contender but is would have solid chance of making the playoffs.

20-19-12
72-17-88
Kakko-64-95
40-EB-11

2-28
42-AB
5-IM
7

50
CD

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

havnt seen a lot of people killin JC. starting to come out tho in his deployment of the younger guys.

There’s not enough evidence to “kill” JC. If you haven’t seen people question his use of Joki you aren’t paying attention. I’m included in that.

 

[nmgrbhfn]

i wasn't being critical nor blustering that you were wrong. actual you were correct in your post. i was adding that 2nd rounders in this draft can help out as well.

I understood your post as positive and helpful as well to the point I was trying to make. I'm more concerned about the future than the past, and am really interested in the moves that SB makes in the near future. His head will ultimately be on the chopping block too if he doesn't get the Hawks moving in the right direction. At the same time I hope I am detached enough to be able to appraise the quality of the moves he makes - both individually and taken as a whole.

 

[ColdSteel2]

I think the team would be doing a lot better with Hitchcock.

JC needs to figure things out, we shouldn’t be losing so much at home, even getting smoked in a few games.

As for the roster, I like what Bowman has done to get younger and agree with @LDF that he needs to get another high pick for this draft. I also agree with @RayP that while Crawford had a nice start, he hasn’t been playing well for awhile, very few impressive saves lately, just average goaltending overall. I would not invest big money in free agency if we have problems in net.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

There’s not enough evidence to “kill” JC. If you haven’t seen people question his use of Joki you aren’t paying attention. I’m included in that.

Yeah, I have a problem with that too. I was a huge "trash Q" guy but JC's treatment of Joki is baffling. This is the reasoning between my indifference on Bowman/Trash Q stance: I could at the very least understand the logic behind what Bowman was doing with his roster moves. I could not understand the logic behind Q's coaching decisions. It is that simple. The roster was going to get crappy at some point, they had to get out of cap hell, and Bowman always was going to have to build it up again. It's up to him now to build it while 19/88 have some time left.

 

[x Tame Impala]

In the offseason I had this team pegged as an at best bubble team with a healthy Crawford and a bottom 5 team without him. Definitely didn’t expect last in the league.

The roster isn’t good enough and that’s on Stan. The team wasn’t coached well enough and that was on Q, now he’s gone. The team currently is not being coached well enough and that’s on Colliton. Admittedly I’m a little happy to see them in last because our only real chance at another Cup in the near future is with drafting another franchise player, but it is really disappointing to see the Hawks seemingly get even worse after the coaching changes.

I’m perfectly content giving Stan one more full season with JC, a high draft pick, and cap space in free agency this upcoming offseason to see how things work out.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

This season was never going to be a playoff season. Just look at who they signed. Anyone with a brain knows that 1-2 FAs were not going to fix this team until the young kids are ready to go.

Boqvist, Mitchell, HJ, etc. are going to be what drives the rebirth of this team along with this upcoming 1st rounder and then the FA the sign this coming summer. I will go on the record today and say next year the Hawks are going to try and out score everyone while letting Boqvist, Mitchell, HJ, and Forsling continue to grow. This was similar to the 2010 team that was just a wagon then the 2013 team and 2015 teams had 4 stud D that carried through the playoffs. The plan is just like it was in 2008 & 2009. Panarin can be the Hossa type signing that gives the team a big punch.

Next year's team could look like this. For assumptions lets pick Kakko. This is not a contender but is would have solid chance of making the playoffs.

20-19-12
72-17-88
Kakko-64-95
40-EB-11

2-28
42-AB
5-IM
7

50
CD

I still want to see DeBrincat-Toews-Saad as well.

Panarin-Strome-Kane should be a fun line. I want to see Kane line up with Strome now and start building that chemistry, but I guess we’ll need to wait until Anisimov is traded.

Like Hayden and Perlini as your big 4th line wings as well.

The forwards aren’t going to be the problem next year, imo.

 

[Hawkaholic]

The roster is trash, JC is not off to a good start as of yet but should be given some rope, and Q got a little more backlash than he deserved. That's where I am at.

 

[Pez68]

Again, it was always going to get worse before it got better. If where the Hawks are right now surprises you, I would suggest you watch more hockey.

 

[BK]

Again, it was always going to get worse before it got better. If where the Hawks are right now surprises you, I would suggest you watch more hockey.

There are a lot of people here that would rather be what Detroit was than go through 2-3 years of rebuild.

 

[Hawkaholic]

There are a lot of people here that would rather be what Detroit was than go through 2-3 years of rebuild.

Well, if we were like Detroit 5years after their last Cup (2013) we would be taking the best team in the league to Game 7 in the 2nd round...yeah, I'd rather be there.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

There are a lot of people here that would rather be what Detroit was than go through 2-3 years of rebuild.

Some people love living in their delusions. The Hawks didnt end up with those Stanley cup winning teams without a whole bunch of sucking.

Bobby and his posse can come back to the sane ones in three years when they’re back to being competetive instead of being the Minnesota Mild 2.0.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Some people love living in their delusions. The Hawks didnt end up with those Stanley cup winning teams without a whole bunch of sucking.

Bobby and his posse can come back to the sane ones in three years when they’re back to being competetive instead of being the Minnesota Mild 2.0.

What about the Pens? Years of being average and then winning back to back and being a contender again without the tanking part. What if we wanted to be like them?

 

[ColdSteel2]

Can’t get mad at people for being disappointed in the results even if it leads to a top pick.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

What about the Pens? Years of being average and then winning back to back and being a contender again without the tanking part. What if we wanted to be like them?

Come back to me Kane and Toews become Crosby and Malkin. There’s a bigger gap there than people are willing to admit.

And the underrated component of this. This team went to s**t when Hossa left. He was the glue of this team. Not someone you can just replace.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Come back to me Kane and Toews become Crosby and Malkin. There’s a bigger gap there than people are willing to admit.

And the underrated component of this. This team went to s**t when Hossa left. He was the glue of this team. Not someone you can just replace.

We had an amazing D Corps though, Pens did not.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

We had an amazing D Corps though, Pens did not.

Which is why Malkin and Crosby had to carry that team a lot more. Kane and Toews aren’t capable of that. And Keith and a Seabrook got old. Seabrook was a bit inconsistent regardless and Keith sacrificed everything he had for that 2015 run.

The dcore is no longer amazing, which Bowman is now addressing. This is why rebuilding is important, trying to hold on to the past leads us to this unfortunately. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[LDF]

I understood your post as positive and helpful as well to the point I was trying to make. I'm more concerned about the future than the past, and am really interested in the moves that SB makes in the near future. His head will ultimately be on the chopping block too if he doesn't get the Hawks moving in the right direction. At the same time I hope I am detached enough to be able to appraise the quality of the moves he makes - both individually and taken as a whole.

well with ref to SB and his trade, i have been on record stating that he is piss-poor in his trades. when SB made his last trade, yeah i was the first to state that he was fleeced. then with the scoring of Strome, i was momentarily excited that i was happy with the trade. now comes that hang-over symptom and realize that yeah i was wrong and SB did get fleeced. the Bhawks traded for 2 players who could become a viable player.....

now that is not the only bad trade he has done. i am still with the impression that he is very good at scouting and yes, imho the systems as a good selection of prospects.

but people need to look at the state of this team now..... this team is showing signs of neglect and not properly continue in supplying players esp at key positions, like defense and goal-tending. he was too worried about loosing players to the expansion draft.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Which is why Malkin and Crosby had to carry that team a lot more. Kane and Toews aren’t capable of that. And Keith and a Seabrook got old. Seabrook was a bit inconsistent regardless and Keith sacrificed everything he had for that 2015 run.

The dcore is no longer amazing, which Bowman is now addressing. This is why rebuilding is important, trying to hold on to the past leads us to this unfortunately. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

My point is, I would be happy with a team that competed like Detroit well past their glory days. I'd much rather take an eventual Stanley Cup champion to Game 7 in the second round than rebuild with a small chance of being that in the future. Edmonton has been rebuilding for how long? Buffalo? 2-3 years is absolute best case scenario.