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. . . Same as the old boss?
There is no disputing the fact that Rockwell Wirtz has had a transformative effect on hockey in Chicago, and really indirectly on the NHL. The 2010 Stanley Cup champs have not only become the darlings of the nation's third largest media market, but they have helped create a lot of excitement around the NHL brand throughout North America.
At the same time, with Rocky Wirtz, another side of the coin has to now be be at least considered.
Let's go back in time to, say, 2003, when the Blackhawk front office was a snake pit of politics and conflicting agendas—Bill Wirtz, Bob Pulford, Mike Smith, Dale Tallon, Bryan Sutter, Peter Wirtz. Part of an ongoing soap opera of stupidity that had reduced one of the proudest logos in pro sports to a perennial laughing stock.
And the man at the top, Bill Wirtz, was to blame.
When Rocky came on the scene a few years later, it was like a refreshing zephyr. John McDonough was hired to help rebuild the brand and a string of smart moves were made—re-hiring Pat Foley, bringing Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito back into the family as ambassadors and creating a link to the Hawks' past glory, and more. The team, through two smart high draft picks and a couple of very shrewd trades by Tallon, began to roar back. The rest is history.
However, success has its price. And in the case of the Hawks, that price might have been some organizational hubris.
With each passing year, it seems the Hawk front office has grown—in terms of both business and hockey functionaries. Sometimes, the hires seemed like real head scratchers. McDonough, at one point, apparently felt the need to "promote" former AHL GM Al MacIsaac to the newly created role of "personal hockey adviser" to the President.
What happened next, and maybe not too surprisingly, seems to have been the development of "camps" within the organization.
When popular GM Dale Tallon was "reassigned," this was clearly evident.
Less than a year later, in the spring of 2010, when it appeared the Hawks were about to sweep the Sharks in the Western Conference Finals, I received a call from a hockey media source, detailing a conversation he'd had with a Hawk player where it sounded as though the organization was rife with infighting and subterfuge—front office and coaching staff completely on different pages.
If you took this at face value, it sounded an awful lot like the Hawks of 2003. Could it be that Rocky Wirtz' apple maybe didn't fall that far from Bill Wirtz' tree? Really?
At that time, I considered that said player was pretty much on his way out of Chicago and wrote it off as sour grapes or things getting exaggerated in translation. After all, the team was rolling.
However, not long after that, it was rumored that Scotty Bowman intervened with lineup changes during the Cup Finals against Philadelphia. I never heard whether that was requested or resented by Joel Quenneville and the staff.
In 2010-11, I heard a whisper once or twice, allegedly coming from players, that Quenneville and Stan Bowman were not always on the same page in terms of their messages to players on certain subjects. The dressing room itself that year, I was told, was deeply divided over the work and play habits of a couple of players.
This past summer, Eklund blogged that Quenneville would the fall guy if the Hawks failed to meet expectations.
Many, in Chicago at least, scoffed. I felt, and said at the time, it was possible. I had just heard too much vague noise out there (see above) that indicated all was not "perfect" in the organization.
This past season, I raised here the spectre of Hawk player development director Barry Smith, a longtime close associate of Scotty Bowman, becoming more involved in the Hawks' on-ice decisions. Sure enough, within a few weeks, Smith was appearing in the press box with Stan Bowman and then on the ice, working on the team's dreadful power play.
What supposedly happened as a result of this was a conflict between Quennevile and the staff and Smith. By the time the playoffs rolled around, Smith was rumored to be off "scouting." In the midst of a playoff race, with the team rebounding, Quenneville might have won—at least temporarily. Because my latest information is Smith is not going anywhere and might be destined for "a larger role" next season.
During a nine-game tailspin that in some ways might have doomed the Hawks' season, team functionaries made "appearances" at practice— getting media attention and, I'm told, the resentment of key players.
The Blackhawks might be the only team in the NHL, if not pro sports, where a team executive— who is not also a former player—has his own commercial as part of the team's marketing.
And now, as Hockey Night In Canada's Elliote Friedman put it over the weekend, the front office battles in Chicago are "the least well-kept secret" in hockey.
Something else I have heard of late is that Rocky Wirtz himself is going to orchestrate some significant changes to the Hawk front office. As he should.
But he should also maybe try not to repeat history.
My belief is the Blackhawks should emulate the Detroit model, not just on the ice, but off it as well.
1) They need to streamline their organization
It makes sense to have a lot of scouts, but you need few decision-makers, or "special assistants" to decision-makers. You need hockey people making hockey decisions, without the influence of marketing people.
2) McDonough needs to get out of the spotlight.
I don't know for sure whether the resentment of McDonough is entirely fair. But whether it is or not, his being the focal point of so much attention creates the perception at least that the Hawks' hockey people are perhaps not empowered enough to make smart hockey decisions. And that perception can hurt the team in a variety of ways.
3) If there is a conflict between Stan and Scotty Bowman and Joel Quenneville, it needs to be resolved immediately.
And just telling everyone to "play nice" will likely not be enough.
4) Pro scouting needs a serious upgrade, if not an overhaul.
Hawk amateur scouting has been pretty good of late, evidenced by Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw among others. Pro scouting has been pretty poor.
I just heard Norm MacIver has been promoted to assistant GM, replacing Marc Bergevin. Seems like a solid, no surprise move. MacIver recently headed up the Hawks' more successful amateur scouting group.
That's all I have for now. More soon.
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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