Blackhawks Crash Back To Reality In St. Louis
After a lovely, nice win in Edmonton against an Oilers team that cannot get their act together despite having arguably the two best offensive players in the NHL on their roster, the Blackhwaks headed to St. Louis.
And got waxed.
David Perron and Dakota Joshua scored in a first period that saw the Blues out-shoot the Hawks 9-5. Perron’s goal came on the power play and Chicago was trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes.
There were moments in the second period where the Blackhawks looked like they were going to hang around. Dylan Strome scored a power play goal early in the period and Chicago was at least fighting back.
But, in hockey, more times than not the team that has more skill and a solid identity wins. The Blues know who they are and how they want to play and they continued to impose their will on a Blackhawks team that has been better lately at times but still has too many mismatched pieces. Vladimir Tarasenko scored a back-breaking goal with 41 seconds left in the second period to make the score 3-1.
The Blues out-shot the Blackhawks 13-2 in the third period (yes, two shots on net) and scored two more goals to win 5-1.
Strome and Patrick Kane were the only forwards to finish the night credited with more than one shot on net; they were each credited with three on net.
Marc-Andre Fleury allowed all five goals against 31 shots on net. When the skaters with you only put 16 shots on net in the entire game, it’s hard to stand on your head and pray for a win. He deserves better than this.
Strome’s good play continues. He won nine of 15 at the dot and has started to look like the player we’ve been begging to see since his terrific post-trade season with the Blackhawks. If he can continue to be a viable center at the dot and produce, he’s a bona fide top-six center. But the times when he’s getting crushed at the dot and disappears offensively make these terrific offensive stretches so much more frustrating. He’s been consistent over the past few weeks, however.
Omb ..first comment …will be erase.
Hope we can Soderblom next game . Rockford won again 2 in a row against a top seed .
Did the Hawks played tonight ?
Would be nice to Win the lottery .
Strome has been consistently good on FOs since at least the mid point of last season – this is not a 2 or 3 week blip – he’s now a good FO guy
Good for him for showing well again – if he keeps this up you resign him at a fair number and move Reichel or Dach to wing next year unless Toews retires
I guess we’re stuck with McCabe but I wish we weren’t – he made two glaring errors on the 3rd STL goal and that was game
And he does that consistently – he’s easily the worst passer on the Hawks back end – de Haan can sometimes give him a run for his money but taking his whole body of work it’s McCabe hands down
And why was he even on the ice? – Murphy was there and his partner was Caleb who was moving the puck pretty well this night – so King puts stone hands Jake out in the last minute instead
A coach should know who to put out in key situations like late in the 2nd down a goal based on how they’re going – Q was great at that not King though
Looking forward to not having to watch Carpenter anymore after TDL – he generally works hard but there is not a lot there
Didn’t watch the third but for 2 periods Dach has another solid game
The Hawks have no potential offense after the first 2 lines the way the lines currently are
Why not Kurashev Borgstrom and Entwistle as your third- at least it’s an attempt at a third line instead of having 2 4th lines
Lafferty Slavin Carpenter/Connolly can be your 4th
Tab, I think you summed up this team perfectly. Under Stan Bowman, this team never had a direction. He just drafted players. There was no strategy and, under Colliton, and now King, this team has no real identity. During the championship years, the lines were configured a certain way. They had an identity and they dictated how the game was going to be played. This team? It’s a hodge podge.
Tonight? Yes, Strome and Kane were the most productive forwards. DeBrincat was uncharacteristically quiet. Borgstrom, Carpenter, Slavin, and Hagel had 0 SOG and for some unknown reason, Entwistle only had 9:16 TOI. That’s ridiculous. That kid plays hard and deserves better. King shows very little feeling for the coaching aspect of the game.
Defensively, McCabe had a horrible statistical night. I don’t know where his head was. S. Jones was blocking shots. He and de Haan led the team with 6 and 5 BLK’s respectively. Galvas was quiet. Murphy was the physical presence with 5 Hits.
This was a really poorly played game. Players and Coaches were just outplayed.
Maybe Reichel will get called up. I would like to see lines, looking like this:
DeBrincat-Reichel-Kane
Kubalik-Strome-Dach
Hagel-Toews-Entwistle
Lafferty-Slavin-Carpenter.
Give Kurashev and Borgstrom the night off. I know it won’t happen. I would just like to dream out loud. The TDL should be interesting.
Lastly, Dylan Strome has been outstanding the last month. His FO% is more than noticeable. It’s a revelation. The one thing left to work on is his mental strength. He gets thrown off his game by things than don’t really matter. When that happens, he is noticeably poorer in his playing. Hopefully, that too will come around. He’s only 24 y/o. He can be a great #2 Center. The question remains, who will be #1? Reichel? It’s not Dach. Nor is it anyone else that is currently at Rockford. The team desperately needs that role filled by next year.
Hawks 2010– my first thoughts this am… I will check the Hawks score– 100%– forgot they played last nite… too bust watching Hogs/Bulls/ Lebron losing ( yeah!!!!)- completely forgot they played!
Pretty much a Blackhawks loss rather than a Blues win. Thought playing Strome and Kubalik with Kane was likely to try and draw some trade interest, working out good for Strome but sounds like the conversation around him is switching a bit lately. Kind of a head scratcher because you would think if they wanted to move him, this is results they were looking for to get a return they couldn’t garner earlier this year or end of last. Two things from Kane’s statements, he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and seems to like playing with Strome, although pretty tough for him to give a much different answer to that question. Assuming Dach likely gets a 2 year deal similar to one Strome is just finishing, if a little less caphit great. Would you offer him a one year 3.6m deal, his qualifying offer and say prove your for real this time or offer a longer term one, I like the first option but could cost more in another year to go that route. If Hagel went back with Kane and Strome, don’t see Kubalik around much longer, that could be one line, then Cat with Dach and Reichel give you a 2nd line, where Dach or Reichel can each play some center and be taking fos. The 3rd line be depending on Toews decisions on his future, they could easily sign a khl fa to entry level deal or younger Dach making the roster as possible options there without giving away any future for next year or eating up capspace. Tyler Johnson still be around as C or wing for bottom 6 next year/ post tdl options too on 3rd line plus whoever else stays. Lots of 4th line options available. Won’t be a contending year but certainly a good chance to see some good prospects drafted or acquired, get some keepers developing at Nhl level and the system producing more.
This team has regressed from mediocre to poor. Things have to go perfectly for them to compete with a good team. When they get outplayed and help their opponent with poor decision making, there is no chance. Olczyk was rightfully roasting Hagel for not shooting the puck. He went easy on DeBrincat who was doing the same thing. I guess we can blame coaching for bad decisions, but King has been quoted as saying it “drives him crazy” when DeBrincat passes up shots. Yet DeBrincat passes up shots over and over. Coaches fault?
It is getting harder to be a Strome detractor. He still has some proving to do, but what to do with Strome at the TDL is now very interesting. Two months ago, it seemed like a pretty easy decision to take a 3rd or 4th for him and be done with the exasperation. Now he has 6 goals in 9 games. We have to remember that Perlini had the same kind of streak once. The question is whether this is the real Strome or whether he will be soft again once he gets a new contract. At least there is a decent amount of time to decide.
Someone please explain what Kurashev brings.
Playing Fleury every night is not making any sense. Why do you want to “showcase” a guy that everybody already knows intimately? Your team is not going to the playoffs. When he gets lit up for 5 a night, is that helping anything? Of course, maybe one of the rookies would get lit for a snowman given this defense.
We might have to accept that Toews won’t ever play again. This is a long concussion protocol. It is getting to the same point where it was with Shaw when he made his smart but difficult decision. If that is the case, it will leave only Kane from the glory years.
Did not make it through the entire game last night. It was pitiful. At least there was the funnest hole in one ever seen to enjoy earlier in the day.
With a little over a month left before the TDL, we still see our team: leaderless and rudderless. We’ve heard of people including a baseball guy get interviewed for the position but still we’ve not heard nothing about a potential candidate rising above the ashes to get the job. I can only imagine what “exercises”, Danny and the “team” perform until they finally get off their duffs to hire somebody. Other teams have fired and then hired their new personal to run their respective clubs already while ours still spin their wheels in this exhaustive search that to date has produced nobody. They still can’t even announce yet the new play by play guy because our brain trust is just going thru the motions with “exercises”(please don’t hire the guy that did the last 2 games, sounds like he has a permanent head cold. Hire Vosters and get it done). People still laugh at our organization and the proof is what we see every day here. Meanwhile for $50 you can get 2 beers and a nosebleed seat to see empty seats and a team that is going nowhere fast. Season ticket holders must be pulling their hair seeing this wreck of an organization. At least there’s golf and a football game today to watch.
Wrap agree McCabe puck handling is?atrocious, good thing with some retained salary or even a buyout friendly, he can moved if so wished. Right now he can plsy shutdown or give S. Jones somebody yo pair with until youngsters are ready for that role without rushing them. We get caught here flipping from don’t rush them to play them, move the vets to make room, play somebody that youngster us a bust etc., finding that happy medium is what’s needed.
Definitely need a different approach on the pk. At first of season with 19-38, 12-77, 22-16 as their go to pairs, they were aggressive and having some success with a pk % in high 80s at one point, actually creating alot of scoring chances with their aggressive pk play. Then started thinking about offense too much and forgot to play smart pk, things started going south. Maybe Kings influence or not but now they seem to stay back in a non aggressive box trying to protect slot, allowing easy entries and puck movement and eventually lanes open up and quality scoring chances happen. Time to rethink their approach, hopefully something they address as rest of this year progresses.
Hammer, I think everybody feels your frustration this year, hopefully as you say a Gm is named sooner than later and some stability from top down gets things started in right direction.
Drew Commesso at Olympics so far, 2-0 with 1so, 1.00gaa and .964 sv.%, not too shabby. Tougher games coming in medal round likely though.
Ian – King’s inability to get a better PK does not look good on his resume
Highly doubt he’ll be permanent coach here once new GM has chance to hire his own
Interim Coach King seems to know that he will not be offered a job. His post-game comments seemed to be a surrender to repetitive mistakes and poor play,he knows that he can staple players to the bench doesn’t he? It should be 1 short mid 1st period order to Debrincat and Hagel to shoot the damn puck. After that 2nd period they should have both received minimal 4th line minutes. McCabe should have joined them. It looked like Strome,s line,Dach,Entwistle,Slavin,and Lafferty were the only competitive forwards. They are going to get waxed in Manitoba tomorrow night. If it solidifies King,s exit then it’s worth the beating.
Robert Thomas is a helluva player. He made some great passes last night.
Blues are a better team, obviously.
Don’t shoot, no chance.
Thought it was interesting that Eddie mentioned Kubalik on the PP, and that he had talked to Colliton about Kubalik’s role there. Said that Colliton didn’t appreciate the suggestions.
Kane lobbies a bit for Strome long term with the Blackhawks. I’m wondering if he’s not moved, though, still. His value has increased.
I’m not a fan of the Hawks selling guys off this year unless it frees up space on the blue line in the short term.
Unless a team throws an unbelievable package for Strome (top prospect, multiple picks etc…) then the Hawks get more value by bringing him back next year and seeing what his value is then.
The other consideration is that next years draft is supposed to be much better than this years. I would rather the Hawks have multiple first round picks in a good draft and no first rounders in a bad draft (this years.
The only people I would consider moving are Gus, Fleury and Dehan. I would only move MAF for a 1st rounder or top tier prospect(s). I would move DeHaan for anything as I think the Hawks have enough in Rockford right now that the drop off would not be so great. I would cut Gus if no one offers anything, he is addition by subtraction.
Regarding Strome, I think his qualifying offer is 3.6mil, which is a bargain for how he is playing right now and still a good value for the trade deadline next season. Keep Strome for one more year as a short term placeholder and move him during a better draft year than the current one. Honestly if Dach panned out like the Hawks were banking on, Strome becomes expendable in the short term. But that did not happen, no one stepped up other than Strome, so he is useful for now.
Miroslav, signing Strome for qo of 3.6m is not a given either. I forget when i mentioned it earlier, he has right to refuse and ask for arbitration, which could make keeping him a bit stickier too if he continues to produce the rest of this year. Hopefully the new Gm is in place before that decision is made.
wrap & edman
the hawks top six forwards are such only because they don’t have really good top six forwards and this is what we are left with. someone has to be top six. doesn’t mean they are quality.
de brincat is a scorer only who does not make his linemates better. brings no defense or physical presence.
strome is currently the best of the centers, but has only been good recently and still does not bring a defensive aspect to his play or toughness. and does anyone trust him to play the way he has the last three/four weeks with a three year contract in his back pocket?
kane is a good scorer who makes his linemates much better offensively, but his defense and effort on defense is worse than it’s ever been.
dach has middling third line right wing stats for a guy who is supposed to be a top six center. i believe he is not smart enough to play center. too many options for him to consider being in the middle of the ice. too many decisions to make on the fly. he has to think too much and thus plays without spontaneity. put him on the right side where his responsibilities and options are minimal and let him play hard up and down the ice and let what physical skills he has hopefully thrive.
kubalik is a mystery. perhaps he just needs to be playing with better players. sort of like saad with toews and hossa. saad was awfully good when he was the third player on his line to have to be accounted for.
hagel is way above his pay grade in the top six. he i a wonderful third line wing ….. likely one of the best in the league, but he does not have the shot nor a scorer’s shooting instincts to be playing top six.
hard to expect much production from your bottom six when the above is your top six. at least three of the current top six should be third liners.
cannot evaluate reichel yet, but he is going to have a very difficult time surviving over the course of an 82 game schedule if he doesn’t put on 10/15# of solid muscle. he might be a good prospect, but we likely are not talking about the second coming of johnny goudreau.
Miro – What’s the benefit in keeping Fleury till the end of the year? You think he really wants to play another year in Chicago with the team in almost no chance to be in a Cup hunt? Playoffs and 1 and out? He can’t make a difference to get us there this year. If we get a 2nd for next year, I agree it’s better than a 2nd this year. But I’d be happy to move him for whatever it really takes. I doubt we can get a 1 without some major luck and a 3-way trade.
I think moving Fleury to open up a spot for a goalie to develop currently and next year is a must. We already blew a chance for Lankinen to develop this season. He showed enough last year on a very porous defensive team to earn a chance this year – and we denied him that shot. If I am him, there would be no way I re-sign here if I don’t play the rest of the year.
So next year we would need a new prospect to come up. Soderblom has how many games in the NHL? Commesso? Who takes the reigns next year? 2 RAW prospects?
Next year is a development year, despite whatever Kane is saying about being close. He either sleeps through the film sessions or is working hard to stay on the good side of some mates.
We simply have no skilled 2-way players on this team. Hossa and Hossa-lite (also known as Saad) are gone. We need to find a couple of scoring grunts.
The only problem with Strome is that he didn’t play well last year and didn’t play well first part of this season and now in past 10 games he is showing up .will it last ?
Will he sit and do nothing after he sign?
It’s a big mystery what will hapend iff he get signed by the Hawks .
Flip a coin .
Fleury will be move in a few weeks and just hope many teams wants him so we can get something interesting in return.
Cross finger that he doesn’t get hurt .
Is Strome going to be a game changer, the difference in winning a cup or not at some point, not likely. Yes he can be probably their best offensive C for time being and win some fos, but his cost is getting high. Right now a hot power play that will cool off again is padding his offensive numbers considerably. A decent return would be hard to pass up. Hawks29 agree work is needed. A coach to have confidence in the youngsters and allow them to build some chemistry with each other and an approach they all can buy into could be a good start. At some point a couple of game changers will need to be added by, fa, trade or draft. Obviously sticking with youngsters and developing the needed support players to make the roster whole is key, confidence and chemistry to bring out the best in the current young talent is one thing i want to see going forward. Your top 6 fwds or top 4 D can often be found outside 1st round with patience and good development.
interesting to see no defense, no contact kane singing the praises of no defense, no contact strome. will tomorrow bring his endorsement of no defense, no contact de brincat? maybe kane should reflect back to the three stanley cup winning rosters he was a member of and realize he was the only important player on those teams who was a no defense, no contact guy. several guys of that ilk is not a good recipe for a successful hockey team.
Well stated hawks29.
There were a lot of unsung heros on those teams. As is typical, the blue collar guys didn’t get the credit they deserved, while the white collars got the glory. Capsulizes life.
Having nine fourth line forwards and and one of the worst farm systems in the nhl while trading away pretty much every first round pick in the last ten years and no first round picks in the upcoming draft is not a good recipe or success.
Holding on to aging veterans who’s trade values continue to plummet and making these guys untouchable is not a good recipe for success.
Let’s add some game changers through free agency or trades or the draft. Who in there right mind would sign with the Blackhawks as a free agent unless they will be receiving $$ Jones money.
Very few hawks player have any trade value. Let’s trade our fourth line forwards for your top prospects.
Let’s draft some top six forwards and also add a couple of top four defenseman with late round picks…Now that sounds like a really solid plan.
HAWK29
I agree with your assessments. During those cup years, Hossa and Toews were great 2 way players. Saad too is a top two way guy. The bottom 6 included Andrew Ladd. That’s how deep those teams were. The first cup had John Madden. A veteran center who was a defensive stalwart during the NJ Cup runs. Kane didn’t have to worry about it. He just had to score. Now? Well, much like Steve Yzerman, he has to either adjust and be that two way threat or he better score and do so often.
As for Strome. My opinion, he will be a solid 2nd line center. Especially if he keeps working on his FO%. Put him with the Dach bros. on his wings and that’s a big line with scoring potential. That top line center is what concerns me. Reichel needs to put on some solid muscle. He does train hard, but he has to add weight. If he is the 1C then he can be paired with Kane and DeBrincat.
The third line could have T. Johnson with Kubalik (if he’s here) or Hagel and Entwistle. I’d rather have Slavin at 3C as T. Johnson is just not a good fit. The 4th line has a myriad of options. So, I’ll just let that be. I do hope that Lafferty is part of the team. I like his speed and hustle.
Defensively, I would not mind moving de Haan, McCabe, and Gustafsson. That leaves S. Jones, C. Murphy, and R. Stillman (I like him for 3rd line pairing with C. Jones). That leaves 3 slots open. It also gives options for the TDL. Is Beaudin in the mix anymore? Who, from Rockford, are being looked at? Kalynuk, Mitchell, Galvas, Phillips, and Regula are all there. The kids, in the pipeline, can then fill up the Rockford roster.
I’m paying attention to Drew Commesso at the Olympics. He’s showing very well. That’s a big plus for the future of the team.
Who will be GM? Who will be HC? Will someone please pick a team philsophy and build around it accordingly? That would be great.
Stape showing your usual insight of twisting what somebody posted around. Checkout Tampa Bay history of developing last decade, worked pretty good for them with only a couple of mid to late 1sts drsfted and alot of as you say late round picks. Then theres Vgk.
Agree and said that before there needs to be a group more ready to compete assembled and only likely be a handful of current roster are around in a few years. See how the new Gm does at getting some young prospect forwards throughout the system in next next couple of years and how good they develop them.
Kane likes/lobbies for Strome… is a nice way of saying- ” I don NOT want Dach on my line”!
Riechel- gaining 10-15 lbs would help… but honestly – I think he just plays a ” win the puck- maintain the Puck game” Kinda like Kruger with skills. I don’t know if its about getting stronger for Reichel… more about choices of when to take the foot off of the gas- kid is relentless like Hagel-
Difference is Reichel has better handles to hold and carry the puck- leaving him even more prone to the big hits.
Hawks 29-agree with some of what you say but the below comment I don’t-
debrincat is a scorer only who does not make his linemates better. brings no defense or physical presence.
He’s worked hard on his defense, and is probably one of the few guys that uses his smaller body to disrupt the play, and player. By putting the puck in the net he does make his line mates better-especially in the pocket book, and he is an underrated passer. (sometimes careless yes)
But again he’s used to being evaluated as a one trick pony.
@Ian, Miroslav, Stape, Hawk –
Great posts! I just wanted to add that if you look at Dylan Strome’s brother, Ryan. You will see that it took him some time to get established as a solid NHL player. While at Edmonton, Ryan’s career progression was in the the same downward spiral as Dylan’s. So, we should feel somewhat fortunate that Dylan has figured it out just like his brother did. I don’t have a problem giving Dylan a short-term deal with $3.5+M to see if he continues with his growth progression. Actually, he, Hagel, and Debrincat have been our most impressive offensive players, besides Kane when his injury actually allows him to play! I say keep him for one more year – unless someone makes you an offer you can’t refuse!
I should have added that I would move Fleury if the price was right. However, if the Hawks can’t get more than a 2nd rounder for him (like what happened with Lehner) than I would rather the Hawks keep MAF and finish higher in the standings to potentially worsen the value of the pick they are going to lose.
Starting a rebuild in a year where you don’t control your 1st round pick is not ideal.
Nice comments everyone!!!!
But until the Hawks figure out who the new GM is all talk is
just talk. Re-signing Strome(the one trick pony) who can’t play
defense is a big mistake.
Top centers in this league need to be 2 way players or you
aren’t going to get close to winning the Cup.
Regardless of who the new GM will be a total rebuild needs to
get started pronto. Not having a 1st round choice should not
be a factor whatsoever.
Trade MAF/deHaan/Kubs and whomever else that might be wanted by
other teams for draft choices both this and next year is needed.
As a new GM I would consider everyone to be tradeable if the price
is right.
But as a start I’d keep Soderblom/Lanks and Commesso because we have
to see what they bring to the table. The rebuild starts from the net out
for me.
I can understand there is concern with Strome in terms of his consistency and I think the concerns are valid. All this leaves a big question mark as to what should be done with him.
I guess it comes down to risk management. How much risk are the Hawks willing to take with him? Arbitration is a risk. His history of inconsistent play is a risk. His trade value is a risk…
I am not sure there is a “right” answer when it comes to Strome. A case can be made for just about any possibility with him. I have my thoughts which I stated above, but it is just one fans opinion…
I think how the coaching staff under JC handled him didn’t help his situation. If King did one thing well in his short stint it was to get Strome to be effective again, I hope it sticks…
strome isn’t going to win the club 7-10 games per year with GWG or hustle. watching him skate with lead in his skate is mind blowing on how he was 3rd pick. his wellness to go to the corners and just “bump” a person is limited and i do believe he is just playing for a paycheck and not championship.
both him and dach do not have the killing factor like so many other young hawks in 2007-2012. to build around these players will be worst than building around former hawks like Bell, Zhamnov, baker, and etc.
Miro it really doesn’t matter what number pick Columbus gets. 3 or 8 not much difference. It is how good their scouting is. One reason I like getting prospects instead of picks is you had an opportunity to look at a body of their work against better completion. Picks are more of a crap shoot.
Guys I just don’t believe in quiting, if there is a will, there is a way. Need the new Gm to have the will and freedom to do it. Until they get a clear picture of what they have with their goalies and defense, a tear down there is unlikely for now, maybe an add or 2 that just can’t be passes up or something
Obviously the forward group is not matching up well, with pipeline needed to be restocked, Hawks29 raises some interesting points about why our forward group doesn’t matchup. Everybody says trade Kane, if the plan of organization is to keep him, maybe look at moving Debrincat. Wonder what a team in a dire win now mode like Oilers trying to keep Mcdavid happy would offer to be able reunite them. Even Strome might fit in there too. Probably get a good choice of young players and picks if they were interested. Just a thought.
Strome did not play well at the beginning of the year because Coach and Mgt did not play him…..PERIOD
They are giving him the opportunity now, and he is performing.
the largest indictment of all about the hawks is that so many of us present so many different solutions. there is no dead nuts core of this team to move forward with. there are not one or two obvious weaknesses that can be strengthened which will make this team competitive. there is a shit show up and down the lineup.
when you think of toews, kane, hossa, sharp, keith, seabrook, hjalmarsson, and crawford as the previous core who on this team would fit into that core? i would offer only hagel and as a support player, not part of the main core. maybe kubalik would be a strong third line winger on those teams.
i do not dislike de brincat and it would be quite interesting to see him line up with a toews type center and hossa type right wing as his support group rather than who he currently plays with. perhaps then his number of assists and +/- number would be significantly better. but i do not see him as a player who drives a line.
truth be told there is no solid core of young guys to build around on this roster. all of the young players are trying to find their way. there is nothing but support players on the hawks now. rough position for a new gm to start from, but this is what baby bowman left us with.
Exactly, how the new Gm approaches this tdl and off season will have a huge impact on this franchise. Until that happens no indication of where he sees things going. I like the Lightning/ Penguins approach of finding talent and develop, some key acquisitions road to success. Others think the Oilers/Leafs 2.0 of stock piling lotto picks route is the only way, time will tell, only right way is success through winning.
Hawks29: Agree totally.
If we trade MAF – which now I think we should. I want to see Soderblom and Commesso get an opportunity!
I have seen enough of this team. TRADE anyone that can get us draft picks. Bring up the kids from Rockford and make some assessment on our youth. I have seen enough of Kirby Dach. He’s nothing more than a big kid with a long reach that was a first round pick. I’ll take a bag of pucks and a skate sharpening machine. See ya later.
We have to trade MAF!! Why keep him? We ain’t goin’ anywhere!! Get a 3rd rounder for him, or better. Colorado and the Oilers will pay for him.
Toews is DONE!! Kane is either hurt or just doesn’t care!! Get whatever you can for them.
This team had a GREAT run, possibly the best run by any Chicago professional team, ever! (Bulls?) I wouldn’t trade 2008 – 1017 for anything. BUT, it’s over. We’re done!! We need to get a GM that played the game at the NHL level and a coach that has a vision for what the NHL is today AND the next 10 years.
Thank you Tazer and Kaner, Q, Talon, Seabs, Duncs, Crow, Shaprie and all the boys who sacrificed their bodies and their families to give us 9-10 years of great hockey AND 3 Cups. THANK YOU.
Now, let’s move on……………………………..
reg dunlop
absolutely. the team goes on. the players do not. i hope the next gm has ice water in his/her veins and no qualms whatsoever about moving a fan favorite if that is the move needed to be made. that idiot mc donough thought toews, kane, etc. sold tickets and hawks stuff. winning hawks teams, no matter the names on the backs of the sweaters, will sell out the u.c. and the merch to go with it.
Toffoli just brought back 2 players a 1st and a 5th. Thinking the market is going to be good for returns.
This isn’t a team that is likely to luck out and draft a Toews and Kane in back to back drafts, who are superstars out the gate, living up their hype, plus alot more. Players like Hossa signed the year they won first cup and Hammer first full year in Nhl was the year they won the cup, Campbell brought in the year before that and Crawford a couple of years later, nowhere near Nhl at this point in of development . A new Gm is not going to walk into a situation where everything falls into place for the next dynasty like that again, in reality we were very lucky it happened once. Fact is the youngsters have goal tending looking like it will continue to be a strength for sometime. Defense with potential in the system and S. Jones to build around looking like blueline will be a strength in few years too with with whats available, tweaking at most anyways. Thats a long ways from bkeak black hole some are going on about here. Yes the forwards need work, from nhl through the unsigned prospects. Being a playoff team who can compete with other and be a legitmate contenders, a number of years of extended playoff runs and maybe a cup or 2 if lucky is alot to hope for. There is no magic formula to become a dynasty again yesterday, it takes a little time, luck, chemistry and yes finding the right talent to develop or acquire when time is right.