TheRealPepman
Registered User
- Jul 8, 2018
- 87
- 63
What do you guys think? I came up with this question while reading an article from The Athletic (Oral history: Joel Quenneville, Denis Savard and the...). Good stuff, I tell ya.
It's hard to say, but Savard did have the young Hawks trending in the right direction in 2007-08.
He took over for Trent Yawney in 06-07, and the team struggled to a 71 point season.
In 07-08, the Blackhawks improved to 88 points with a rookie Kane and Toews in the lineup. The team did well despite injuries to Martin Havlat (played in only 35 games) and Nikolai Khabibulin (50 games, missed a month of action, replaced by Lalime). The Hawks finished three points behind Nashville for the final playoff spot. Had these guys been healthy, who knows, maybe Chicago squeaks in for a first round matchup against Detroit? Even if Quenneville is available, if they put up a good fight against the Wings, or maybe even upset them, would Savard had been fired four games into the next season?
Savard has never had another head coaching job, I'm not sure if that's by choice, or if he has never been offered another job. The playoffs are a lot different than the regular season when it comes to coaching and he never had the opportunity in his brief head coaching career. But he did do a great job in 07-08 and set the foundation for the successes of the franchise after Q took over.
If Marc Crawford and Bob Hartley can win Cups with Colorado............
I believe Savard was content to fill a less prominent job in the Blackhawks front office. I could be wrong, but I never had the impression he was interested in coaching somewhere else.
Yeah, I always wondered why he didn't get another gig. He seemed to know what he was doing. Loved his hyper rant behind the bench that first season (I think).
Almost certainly not. Savard has many gifts, but X's and O's weren't one of them--his system was BAD. Defense was pretty much just passive man coverage and other teams just ate the Hawks alive there. The raw talent of the young guns was good enough to spot a decent record, but its hard to see the team ever seriously contending. It's hard to understate what a stark difference there was between Savard's Hawks and Quenneville's Hawks.
Frankly, you or I could have won a cup with the 2010 and 2013 Blackhawks teams.
And any coach that put player performance over loyalty, probably could have done better in 2014.
2015, Q did a good job.
Frankly, you or I could have won a cup with the 2010 and 2013 Blackhawks teams.
And any coach that put player performance over loyalty, probably could have done better in 2014.
2015, Q did a good job.
Phil, I'm sure you're right.It was something along the lines of:
"I don't know why our guys aren't working hard because the last time I checked they were being paid very well to do so."
I am paraphrasing, but you get it.
I know that Bill Wirtz loved Savard. He always kept him on staff even after a head coach was let go. Maybe it was because of all his contributions to the Hawks those years. Either way, we all know how talented of a player he was, but this could be a knock because sometimes a player of that talent has a hard time relating to the players that aren't performing as well because skill came so easy to them.
I just enjoy coaches going on rants!
Oh, Jeez- I guess it's something of a public service to be reminded that there are still people out there who think this way. For those here who believe that they could have won a Cup with the 2010 BlackHawks [Your starting Goaltender: Antti Niemi- how soon we forget], my advice would be to start applying for Head-Coaching positions soon. This Cup run redefined for history the level of minimum expected value goalie quality permissible to still have a Championship Season.Frankly, you or I could have won a cup with the 2010 and 2013 Blackhawks teams.
Yes, Sir- that appears to be what's in play here. I dealt with the "stacked team-multiple Cups expected" narrative here:As usual the people who hate Q rewrite history and give him no credit
As to this issue as to whether Savard could have gotten the 'Hawks to the pinnacle- I suppose it's not mathematically impossible- but I'd assert that the Odds are very much again' it.Anyone who saw this coming 7 or so years ago would be a lot wealthier, if they matched their lucre to their instincts. (composed Midsummer 2015)
Frankly, you or I could have won a cup with the 2010 and 2013 Blackhawks teams.
And any coach that put player performance over loyalty, probably could have done better in 2014.
2015, Q did a good job.
Phil, I'm sure you're right.
I just enjoy coaches going on rants!