Joel Quenneville...

[hockeydoug]

That's like praising someone who his dad handed him ten million dollars and all he had to do was grow it a little bit and just cruise, when you fall on a pot of gold it's not that hard to control it and work with it a little bit. Q was handed this amazing team that has unmatched tallent in this league for the past so many years. He was the reason they lost the cup last year with his bone headed roster and he seems to be going for a repeat this year. LA was not a better team than the Hawks last year.

Q hasn't been the only coach to get handed outstanding talent and depth in the cap era many years over. He's the only one that has been able to repeat the results with more than half the roster turned over. We just watched Sutter burn out/lose a group, Julien choked on the turnover, Babcock managed to go 6 years without overachieving in the postseason, Ruff couldn't take the next step, etc.

Ignoring all the postseason stuff, as much of it should be ignored because of chance, he's been able to withstand mid season storms time and time again too.

He's not a great in game coach in my opinion, but even that is hard to make a strong argument about when comparing what he does or doesn't do compared to all the rest of the better coaches in the league like Claude, Barry, Babs, etc. When looking at what's accomplished from September through the end of seasons, he's been outstanding compared to the rest of the league.

Way too much tunnel vision on the little things that look bad compared to the dozens of little decisions that work out very well. They're never going to all be the best decision, and they should all be put into context with all of the other decisions he makes before calling him average or below average.

 

[Fortyfives]

I've been out of the country so I've missed this series, but saw the updates on the roster changes and just shook my head.

People seemed to have finally woken up about Qs incompetence. He might have lost the series by giving away game 3. Add to the lineup decisions he made in last years WCF.

 

[zac]

Hey Q...go **** yourself.

Too stubborn and stupid to put TT on PP1 and even dumber for not dropping Bicks to the 4th line. How are you going to defend that you festering fool?

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Weren't people complaining about Q breaking up bottom 6? Now they are upset he didn't do it?

 

[Ace Rothstein]

Q is still a bonehead for his game 3 antics as well as not utilizing Teuvo on the PP.

 

[Kurtosis]

Weren't people complaining about Q breaking up bottom 6? Now they are upset he didn't do it?

Great call bro. I think most of the ire about the bottom 6 was Q actually subbing out 2 guys that were in a lineup that had previously won.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Weren't people complaining about Q breaking up bottom 6? Now they are upset he didn't do it?

They were upset that he ****** with it for no reason.

 

[zac]

Weren't people complaining about Q breaking up bottom 6? Now they are upset he didn't do it?

Not me.

If he was dumb enough to have Bicks start the game there is NO WAY he could keep giving him the minutes he was after the first period. If not after the first, after the 2nd. If not after the 2nd, well...you get the idea.

 

[zac]

Great call bro. I think most of the ire about the bottom 6 was Q actually subbing out 2 guys that were in a lineup that had previously won.

This.

Not sure where BHWC comes up with his revisionist history sometimes.

 

[Kurtosis]

Not me.

If he was dumb enough to have Bicks start the game there is NO WAY he could keep giving him the minutes he was after the first period. If not after the first, after the 2nd. If not after the 2nd, well...you get the idea.

He's playing dumb right now. He knows exactly why people didn't want to break it up before.

 

[Blackhawks]

Freshlegs/Pickell/Slowminnen uniting to lose the series nice!

FOR ****S SAKE, PUT ANYONE BUT TIMMONEN IN THERE, THATS IT, NO MORE TIME TO WASTE!!!!!!!!

 

[1420]

The questions to Quenneville tonight -

2 questions on whether the team can get momentum from the comeback
1 question on what worked in the second period
1 question on whether he was impressed with TT's maturity
1 question on whether he was impressed with Toews's 2 goals

That's the Chicago hockey media for you.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Weren't people complaining about Q breaking up bottom 6? Now they are upset he didn't do it?

You can't be serious.

 

[Kurtosis]

The questions to Quenneville tonight -

2 questions on whether the team can get momentum from the comeback
1 question on what worked in the second period
1 question on whether he was impressed with TT's maturity
1 question on whether he was impressed with Toews's 2 goals

That's the Chicago hockey media for you.

Those are some real hard-hitting questions right there. McD really has all these guys under his thumb.

 

[Pez68]

Bickell has been the worst player on the ice, yet, gets to play with Toews/Kane when the lines are shuffled. If you could send him to the ECHL right now, that's what I would do. He's that bad.

All he has to do tonight is chip the puck into the zone. Instead he tries to crank a slapper from outside the blue line... Vintage Bickell. Dumb as a box of rocks. With the way he played in this series, I'm not sure how he is even dressing for the games, let alone taking the ice in OT.... AND HE IS STILL GETTING PP TIME! WHILE TT IS NOT.

Q gonna Q.

 

[Pez68]

The genius that is Q played Bickell more at ES than Hossa, Shaw, and Richards. He only played a handful of seconds less than Sharp and Saad. He got more PP time than TT and Sharp. He played just a few seconds less than Toews on the PP.

Q strikes again.

Q also thought that playing the Bickell/Richards/Kane line with Cumiskey or Timonen, or a couple times BOTH of them, was a great idea.

 

[JaegerDice]

The performance of the 3rd line and Teuvo in particular only shines a harsher light on Q's Game 3 idiocy.

There is simply no excuse.

 

[JaegerDice]

The genius that is Q played Bickell more at ES than Hossa, Shaw, and Richards. He only played a handful of seconds less than Sharp and Saad. He got more PP time than TT and Sharp. He played just a few seconds less than Toews on the PP.

Q strikes again.

Q also thought that playing the Bickell/Richards/Kane line with Cumiskey or Timonen, or a couple times BOTH of them, was a great idea.

He did that because he wants to start Timo as far away from the Blackhawks net as possible.

The Kane line, the whole lot, are a dumpster fire, so he always starts them in the offensive zone too.

Eventually the two are going to line up.

 

[Nothingman*]

Starting OT with that line I was in bed watching and though...why? Then Bickell goes Bickell and it is over. This team wins DESPITE Q. Not because of him. Game 3 scratches also are quite the head scratcher.

Just think he is past his use by date.

 

[Backyard Hockey]

The play of TT is what people are bringing up to question the game 3 decision. The larger story is the decision to not play Vermette.

Going into that game, Vermette was the leader in faceoff wins. In both goals against in game 3, the Hawks lost a face off in their zone and got scored on. In both instances, Nordstrom was on the ice.

Nordstrom was the player that replaced Vermette.

Yes, Vermette got the game winner in Game 4, but he also was 14 of 19 at the dot.

THAT is a crime.

 

[Backyard Hockey]

Let's also analyze the moves:

- Obviously 86 and 80 for game three.

- Bickell and his insistence not only playing him, but keeping him on the same line as the most dynamic player in the league and effectively having him serve as a boat anchor. Not to mention his pathetic efforts in the D zone as part of that second line

- Not putting TT on a struggling power play. Then again, PP went 0-5 in game 3. Hard to put TT in on the PP when he's not in the line up.

- D - Playing Rumblad in game 1 cost the Hawks the game. I suppose I can't fault him for Timmonen. His limiting his minutes as much as humanly possible. TVR most likely isn't healthy. Johns got hurt. Is putting in a player who has never played a minute of NHL hockey the answer? Hell, we saw what Clendending did against Vancouver one of his first games up (cost the Hawks a game).

- His matchups. I've said this multiple times on the game threads. We see MULTIPLE times where that horrific second line is in the defensive zone and 44 is ALSO on the ice. Unforgivable. We've also seen multiple times each game in which Anaheim's first line (one of the best in the NHL) is in against the Hawks fourth line. THAT is coaching.

Q has one last test in a do or die game. I'm not sure they have a choice with 44. They are stuck. The top 4 will be asked to play 60 minutes! The key is 29. No way in Hades he should see the ice. Versteeg at last has given the Hawks points and had a touch of magic at one point of the series. Vestige should be in for Bickell, but he should play limited minutes. Kane has done zero in the defensive zone so he shouldn't be too tired. Versteeg plays limited minutes and Kane and TT double shift.

 

[Hawkscap]

Can't say this enough. Q's mistake was not finding out what the D prospects could do during the season.

 

[hawksfan50]

So I think there is consensus we cannot win if Timonen plays again..Time to try Svedberg...If he goes -2 it cannot be worse than Timonen's -2...If seriously doubt Svedberg will go -3 or worse..so why not try it? 1. Size got a help...2. Fresh legs...3. He had very few bad games in Rockford this year...4. We would not be asking him to be top pair shutdown guy like he finished with Johns in Rockford...so I think he could handle 3rd pair duties here...5.We gotta try something ...Svedberg is an SAH dman...not going to get much offers. ..but if he can just eat minutes and play steady defense and proper clears without turnovers then why not do it..Q is an idiot at this point for not making the change...Admit Timonen was a mistake by Stan and just trust that S edberg will give at least EVEN hockey and can provide more minutes on younger and fresher legs than past it Timonen can.

 

[Backyard Hockey]

Can't say this enough. Q's mistake was not finding out what the D prospects could do during the season.

That's a very good point. His reluctance to play the young D guys in regular season games piled up minutes on his top guys and left what we have now.

The TVR injury should have changed the way this team was handled. It didn't and that is manifesting itself now.

 

[thelos]

- Bickell and his insistence not only playing him, but keeping him on the same line as the most dynamic player in the league and effectively having him serve as a boat anchor. Not to mention his pathetic efforts in the D zone as part of that second line

- .

As an outsider, even Kane looked visibly frustrated with Bickell yesterday. There was one play where Kane and Richards were speeding through the neutral zone, and Kane passed it to Bickell and he just froze with the puck at the line and they lost all their speed and all he could do was dump it in.