Thoughts on the Chicago Blackhawks?

[Aerchon]

The West, especially the central, is going to be extremely tough to make the playoffs.

I would put Chicago as just barely over a 50/50 chance to make the playoffs.

I personally would love to see Winnipeg take a big step forward and make the playoffs and for them to do so they need a declining team like Chicago to take a step back. No Hossa is a massive loss and the rest of thier moves sideways at best.

 

[ChiHawks10]

The West, especially the central, is going to be extremely tough to make the playoffs.

I would put Chicago as just barely over a 50/50 chance to make the playoffs.

I personally would love to see Winnipeg take a big step forward and make the playoffs and for them to do so they need a declining team like Chicago to take a step back. No Hossa is a massive loss and the rest of thier moves sideways at best.

How sideways?

Saad is a mini-Hossa. Has always been compared to him as far as "play style", at least when he was a Hawk previously. He replaces a big chunk of what they lost in Hoss in two-way play, PK'ing, etc. Not quite the offensive player Hossa is/was, but still pretty damn good. If he can put up anywhere from 50-70 points he'd be a more-than-adequate replacement for Hossa. And he may spark Toews back into better production.

Loss of Panarin is meh. Loved him, but he became one-dimensional. Particularly last season after he signed the contract... Not to mention Kane makes mediocre players into 40-50 point players when they're on his line... He can produce with anyone. Was never a product of Panarin.

Losing Hammer hurts. But maybe Murphy comes in and surprises us all. He's young, and has a lot of upside and potential. That's a step back, IMO, unless Murphy plays really well.

So..... not as bad as many seem to think. From a Hawks fan's perspective.

 

[Hawkaholic]

This is a fragile roster in comparison with Edmonton or Nashville. Pittsburgh wins because Crosby, Malkin and Kessel is an unmatched trio. Their star power is just overwhelming. Chicago's potential for success is based on unknown quantities. Yes, the young players are likely to improve. I don't think they're ready to fill the void left by Hossa and Hjalmarsson.

Says who? You?

Chicago has Kane, Toews, Saad, Keith, and a pretty damn good goalie in Crawford. Those 5 players stack up pretty well with the best of most other teams top 5 players.

So Kempny is going to get better, but he's the reason for Seabrook's poor performance? Which one is it?

I wouldn't say he's the reason for Seabrooks performance. But he was new to the league, a rookie, and Seabrook probably couldn't play his game that he wanted to with an unknown player beside him that had never played in the NHL before.

Your comment doesn't even make sense.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Sorry but you fail...neither Svedberg nor Gustafsson played a single minute in the NHL last season. And before you try to defend misdirect or whatever...your comment reads that he had to babysit the last 2 years and had to play with svedberg, gustafsson and kempny and tvr in 15-16 meaning tvr 15-16 and the others in 16-17.

Face it the guy has been old for more than the last 2 years and if it weren't for the name he would've been gone or at minimum not gotten the idiotic contract that he currently has. He' slower now than in the past, but he was slow then also, and "babysitting" has nothing to do with it.

Svedberg and Gustafsson played 2 years ago with Seabrook. So you are the one that failed.

And what I meant by TvR 2015-16 is that the TvR in 15-16 was a train wreck compared to TvR 2016-17.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Reminds me of all these Hawk fans who think they know how Murphy plays. The idea that he is some kind of speedy outlet specialist is a joke. The guy is good for a blueline offensive zone turn over once every three games and plays average defense the rest of the time. For the majority of last season Luke Schenn and Deangelo out played him for the RHD top 2 spots. Murphy could never gel with the talent of OEL, he just mentally isn't on the same page. Not a good sign for all this growth people are still expecting of him.

He's what, 24? No defensman ever has improved after that age. And no defenseman has got better after going from the worst team in the league to an actual playoff team either.

 

[Hawkaholic]

The West, especially the central, is going to be extremely tough to make the playoffs.

I would put Chicago as just barely over a 50/50 chance to make the playoffs.

I personally would love to see Winnipeg take a big step forward and make the playoffs and for them to do so they need a declining team like Chicago to take a step back. No Hossa is a massive loss and the rest of thier moves sideways at best.

I would say Saad is better than Hossa at this stage of their careers. So if we take that, yes, a huge loss of Panarin offensively replaced with Patrick Sharp who is better defensively at least. And the loss of Hammer to Murphy, which can't be really discussed until we see how Murphy performs over the next year in a new uniform.

 

[Aerchon]

How sideways?

Saad is a mini-Hossa. Has always been compared to him as far as "play style", at least when he was a Hawk previously. He replaces a big chunk of what they lost in Hoss in two-way play, PK'ing, etc. Not quite the offensive player Hossa is/was, but still pretty damn good. If he can put up anywhere from 50-70 points he'd be a more-than-adequate replacement for Hossa. And he may spark Toews back into better production.

Loss of Panarin is meh. Loved him, but he became one-dimensional. Particularly last season after he signed the contract... Not to mention Kane makes mediocre players into 40-50 point players when they're on his line... He can produce with anyone. Was never a product of Panarin.

Losing Hammer hurts. But maybe Murphy comes in and surprises us all. He's young, and has a lot of upside and potential. That's a step back, IMO, unless Murphy plays really well.

So..... not as bad as many seem to think. From a Hawks fan's perspective.

See and I was thinking Hossa is a pure loss. Where Saad/Muphey/Dauphin is sideways at best to Panarin/Hjalmarsson.

Seems significant from the outside.

 

[ChiHawks10]

See and I was thinking Hossa is a pure loss. Where Saad/Muphey/Dauphin is sideways at best to Panarin/Hjalmarsson.

Seems significant from the outside.

No one is saying it's not significant. The Hawks need some of their young players from last year who showed promise(Hartman, Schmaltz, Hayden) to take the next step into better players/better producers. Not impossible, by any means. Especially seeing how they played late in the season, after they got a good string of 40 or 50 NHL games under their belt. And they need a couple of the new, young players, to come in and have an impact on the team. And they need a couple of the acquisitions/trades to pan out. This is not unlike any other team in the NHL at any given time.

I'm a more optimistic, than pessimistic person by nature. So I look at the upside/potential, and see something similar to what the Pens did a couple years ago. Did they not have some random young players come in(not highly touted picks/prospects is more what I mean by that), and get coached up to playing very well, resulting in at least one cup? Then they developed and picked up a 2nd Cup this past year, right? And it's not like Q is exactly a slouch in the coaching department.

Honestly, I think the Hawks will surprise some people this year. Call me a homer for it or whatever. It's just my belief based in the knowledge I have of this team.

And you have to compare the players and their deployment to what they're replacing. The Hawks are banking on guys like Schmaltz and Hartman to take the next step in development to make up for some of the loss of Panarin's offense. Not out of the question. Would you rather have Panarin putting up 70 points, or Schmaltz and Hartman both putting up 50 or 60, if they take that next step? I'll take the latter. As 100-120 points is better than 70, and both of them are better two-way players than Panarin. Saad is being banked on to replace Hossa's deployment. A rookie, or one of Dauphin/Bouma/Wingels/Jurco/Hino, or whoever, is being banked on to replace Kruger. And from what I hear, Dauphin has a lot of Kruger-esque, in him. And a combination of Murph/Rutta/Kempny is being banked on to replace the loss of Hammer, overall.

Not the greatest things to hope for going into the season, but definitely a lot of positives/potential/upside involved in it all. But people speaking in absolutes like "The Hawks miss the playoffs" because they watch 6-10 games a year are reaching. Far. Which is the issue I have in the thread.

But their best argument will be "You're a homer." So I typically ignore them and move on.

 

[Aerchon]

No one is saying it's not significant. The Hawks need some of their young players from last year who showed promise(Hartman, Schmaltz, Hayden) to take the next step into better players/better producers. Not impossible, by any means. Especially seeing how they played late in the season, after they got a good string of 40 or 50 NHL games under their belt. And they need a couple of the new, young players, to come in and have an impact on the team. And they need a couple of the acquisitions/trades to pan out. This is not unlike any other team in the NHL at any given time.

I'm a more optimistic, than pessimistic person by nature. So I look at the upside/potential, and see something similar to what the Pens did a couple years ago. Did they not have some random young players come in(not highly touted picks/prospects is more what I mean by that), and get coached up to playing very well, resulting in at least one cup? Then they developed and picked up a 2nd Cup this past year, right? And it's not like Q is exactly a slouch in the coaching department.

Honestly, I think the Hawks will surprise some people this year. Call me a homer for it or whatever. It's just my belief based in the knowledge I have of this team.

And you have to compare the players and their deployment to what they're replacing. The Hawks are banking on guys like Schmaltz and Hartman to take the next step in development to make up for some of the loss of Panarin's offense. Not out of the question. Would you rather have Panarin putting up 70 points, or Schmaltz and Hartman both putting up 50 or 60, if they take that next step? I'll take the latter. As 100-120 points is better than 70, and both of them are better two-way players than Panarin. Saad is being banked on to replace Hossa's deployment. A rookie, or one of Dauphin/Bouma/Wingels/Jurco/Hino, or whoever, is being banked on to replace Kruger. And from what I hear, Dauphin has a lot of Kruger-esque, in him. And a combination of Murph/Rutta/Kempny is being banked on to replace the loss of Hammer, overall.

Not the greatest things to hope for going into the season, but definitely a lot of positives/potential/upside involved in it all. But people speaking in absolutes like "The Hawks miss the playoffs" because they watch 6-10 games a year are reaching. Far. Which is the issue I have in the thread.

But their best argument will be "You're a homer." So I typically ignore them and move on.

Chicago has been building a playoff team for a long time based on internal growth and savy trades/signings. Not sure if anyone can say Chicago will miss the playoffs just more likely than previous years.

I hope the Oilers can have half the success/hardware the Hawks have had over the last ten years or whatever its been.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Chicago has been building a playoff team for a long time based on internal growth and savy trades/signings. Not sure if anyone can say Chicago will miss the playoffs just more likely than previous years.

I hope the Oilers can have half the success/hardware the Hawks have had over the last ten years or whatever its been.

Sure is a lot of that in this thread though, isn't there? Not speaking of you. But there's a lot of it, nonetheless.

 

[JaegerDice]

The West, especially the central, is going to be extremely tough to make the playoffs.

I would put Chicago as just barely over a 50/50 chance to make the playoffs.

I personally would love to see Winnipeg take a big step forward and make the playoffs and for them to do so they need a declining team like Chicago to take a step back. No Hossa is a massive loss and the rest of thier moves sideways at best.

Yeah, 50/50 sounds about right. They'll either just scrape in and get butchered in the first round again, or just miss the cut.

 

[axecrew]

Svedberg and Gustafsson played 2 years ago with Seabrook. So you are the one that failed.

And what I meant by TvR 2015-16 is that the TvR in 15-16 was a train wreck compared to TvR 2016-17.

You can spin doctor it all you want...but the way you said it reads that he babysat tvr in 15-16 and the others last year.
And if they did play with him in 15-16 then all that does is go to show that the hawks have no clue what they are doing because they both suck bad...what the hell are either of those 2 doing on a 2nd pairing??? Svedberg especially??? He can't skate, he can't move and can't think the game...yup prototypical 2nd pairing guy.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

be logical. it's summertime and the offseason. people are actually out doing ****. especially if they're in Chicago. fun, young scene there.

as for the Hawks, I'm always in wait and see mode. seems I can never predict what will happen with these changes. I trust Stan though. he and his scouts see things that are beyond me. sometimes they turn out (Panik), sometimes they don't (Ladd). makes the season fun, tbh. I'm secure with 3 Cups in my lifetime. if they never win another, what a ****ing ride that was.

nonsense a bunch of people with thousands of posts during the last couple years did not stay off the internet because it's so "fun" in chicago during the summer

they are gone because their team is no longer close to being top dog, they were all over the place 2 summers ago, gee i wonder why...

and chicago is no more "fun" than most cities

 

[CraigsList]

For me, I think Chicago made those trades to perhaps take a step backwards, to try and move 3 steps forward with the youth. With the additions of Sharp and Saad, they are bringing back familiar faces who love the franchise and are probably willing to help the youth out get accustomed to playing tough minutes. Not sure if what I think is true, but that's how I feel. Chicago struggles for the next couple of seasons so that they can get back on top as the top team yet again.

 

[axecrew]

nonsense a bunch of people with thousands of posts during the last couple years did not stay off the internet because it's so "fun" in chicago during the summer

they are gone because their team is no longer close to being top dog, they were all over the place 2 summers ago, gee i wonder why...

and chicago is no more "fun" than most cities

Here here...the truth has spoken...that sound you now hear ...that click is the last person on the wagon turning off the lights. These fans are some of the biggest bandwagon fans in the world...I live here so I should know. Funny how many Cub fans there now are in the city as well...like I said Band-wagoners at their finest. Been a Cubs 51 years of my 53 year old life and now there are all these people talking about how they are huge Cub fans...kinda like hawk fans...been hawks fans for about 7 years now and think the league started in 2010.

 

[Mikeshane]

Donezo.

They haven't restocked properly, they're just kinda withering away. Still capable of a good run but they aren't a cup contender anymore.

 

[ThirdManIn]

Still legitimate cup contenders. Crawford should have a bounce back year.

"still"

Yeah I think you're wrong, but we'll see.

 

[dk2k]

"still"

Yeah I think you're wrong, but we'll see.

I think you are wrong, but we will see.

 

[SoCalFan]

nonsense a bunch of people with thousands of posts during the last couple years did not stay off the internet because it's so "fun" in chicago during the summer

they are gone because their team is no longer close to being top dog, they were all over the place 2 summers ago, gee i wonder why...

and chicago is no more "fun" than most cities

if we're using your asinine logic, you just joined HF in 2016 when your team became a "top dog". so far you're no better than the Hawks "bandwagoners" you so disdain.
we'll make sure to monitor your post counts once the Pens are back to mediocrity and it's the offseason. you know, cuz post counts and timing of said posts are the true determining factor of a person's fandom. /s

it's the offsesaon, of course people are posting less. and that's across all fanbases otherwise we wouldn't be reading the same **** for the last month. give me a break. use your brain.

and I never said Chicago was "more fun". I said "especially" b/c the city is ****ing gigantic, there are 50 million things to do and millions of people to see. if you can't find fun summertime activities there, you have a problem.

now if you'll excuse me and my ****** fandom, I'll be washing my car and NOT posting during today's offseason b/c the Pens won the cup and I'm scarred for life.

 

[Pez68]

Here here...the truth has spoken...that sound you now hear ...that click is the last person on the wagon turning off the lights. These fans are some of the biggest bandwagon fans in the world...I live here so I should know. Funny how many Cub fans there now are in the city as well...like I said Band-wagoners at their finest. Been a Cubs 51 years of my 53 year old life and now there are all these people talking about how they are huge Cub fans...kinda like hawk fans...been hawks fans for about 7 years now and think the league started in 2010.

For living in Chicago, you sure don't know much about the city or it's fanbase. I guess all those people go to Bears' games because they hopped on the 85 bandwagon and forgot to jump off?

The Cubs have been huge forever in this city, mostly because they were the "lovable losers" and Wrigley is known as "the biggest bar on earth". The Blackhawks were huge until Bill Wirtz screwed over the entire fanbase. He died, his son took over and made changes, and the team was popular again. They had already started filling the building before they won the first cup in 2010...

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

The death of the Blackhawks has been predicted since 2011. Team is still very good. They took a step backwards this year to take two or three forward.

They won the west last year. A fifteen point drop in the standings is still a playoff team. Very top heavy team with plenty of young talent. I think we'll be alright.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

they'll get embarrassed in the playoffs again.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

if we're using your asinine logic, you just joined HF in 2016 when your team became a "top dog". so far you're no better than the Hawks "bandwagoners" you so disdain.
we'll make sure to monitor your post counts once the Pens are back to mediocrity and it's the offseason. you know, cuz post counts and timing of said posts are the true determining factor of a person's fandom. /s

it's the offsesaon, of course people are posting less. and that's across all fanbases otherwise we wouldn't be reading the same **** for the last month. give me a break. use your brain.

and I never said Chicago was "more fun". I said "especially" b/c the city is ****ing gigantic, there are 50 million things to do and millions of people to see. if you can't find fun summertime activities there, you have a problem.

now if you'll excuse me and my ****** fandom, I'll be washing my car and NOT posting during today's offseason b/c the Pens won the cup and I'm scarred for life.

i just made an observation, i have no disdain for hawks fans

you getting all salty tells me my observation is mostly correct

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

The death of the Blackhawks has been predicted since 2011. Team is still very good. They took a step backwards this year to take two or three forward.

They won the west last year. A fifteen point drop in the standings is still a playoff team. Very top heavy team with plenty of young talent. I think we'll be alright.

keith was younger in 2011

hossa was still playing

sharp was still good

toews was at the top of his game

sorry but your run is over...

 

[HisIceness]

Call me crazy if you wish but I think they win the Cup next season. I said sometime last calendar year that I thought the Hawks would get one more Cup before the end of the decade, so I'm going to stick with that prediction.