In a game that didn't mean anything other than pride, the Hawks came out on top with a 3-2 SO win over the Senators.
With the Blackhawks all but out of the playoff race (even though Patrick Kane "still believes"), there will be a few things that I will be looking for and analyze in upcoming blogs as we look ahead to how this team could look next year:
1) System – I can't imagine much will change at this point in the season, but changes should be executed to see if there can be a positive shift on how this team plays from start to finish. I know advanced stats are in the Blackhawks favour and that could lead some to say that there shouldn't big changes to the style the Hawks, but I would disagree. For 2 years now, this team has been underwater on most nights and it clearly wasn't sustainable.
2) Young Guys – how are they playing in larger roles and who appears to be a fit with this "new system" of the Blackhawks hockey. For example, Carl Dahlstrom playing more than Connor Murphy - do they hate Murphy that much or really value the young Swede that much.
3) The Bowman/Quenneville Battle – it will be interesting to see who Bowman deals out of town (not that he has a lot of options) and more intriguing to see who gets the call up if roster spots open up and subsequently, Quenneville utilizes them.
For example, if Bowman has big plans for John Hayden to play a bigger role next year and calls him up after a Bouma and/or Wingels trade but Quenneville isn't budging on moving him off the 4th line.
I will use point #3 to segue into a brief management power struggle chat. It's no secret that Bowman and Quenneville haven't seen eye-to-eye in the past.
There were multiple discussions last night on Sportsnet's coverage of the game on this Bowman/Q struggle. Doug MacLean stated that before the Hawks attempt to fix this roster, they need to fix the management. He's hearing it's 50/50 at this point of who will be the odd man out (I'm hearing it's more like 80/20 that Quenneville will be fired).
Elliotte Friedman followed up with his take on the situation saying that this Blackhawks organization, even under this new regime, is not a patient one. He cited how Dale Tallon was doing a lot of good things steering this franchise in the right direction and they still moved him out.
Anyway, I will get into a deeper discussion after the season of which one I think is leaving town and what should be, but for now, I just want to quickly discuss how to read the tea leaves at this point in the season.
If Rocky and John McDonough have made up their mind, here's what to look for:
John to Stan: "Stan, you're on thin ice, but Rocky wants to give you one more shot to turn this season around. Only thing is, you have to fire Joel and his staff"
This will be difficult to predict in the remaining games as Joel still runs this team, so the on-ice product should be similar.
What I would look for is if Rocky and John are planning to go forward with Stan at the helm, then they will give him full reigns to make "bold moves" like trading a Hartman or Anisimov.
Those higher-ups will also be challenging on "how" Bowman will fix this team, which will lead to "who"(ie. the right kind of players on and off the ice). I know Duclair isn't getting much love from the fans so far, but I believe Bowman is doing the right thing by acquiring fast, young players which will change "how" this team plays Blackhawks hockey.
Rocky to John, "John, I've seen enough, we need to fire Stan after the season is up. Joel can stay if the new GM is on board… I mean, we do owe him a lot of money still"
If it's Stan that is getting the ax, then McDonough will be even more of a micromanager leading up to Monday. I can't see a big move happening if this is the case.
These are the kind of things that go through my brain as Monday's deadline approaches. There is a good chance that no decision has been made on who the odd man is (heck, maybe it's both), however, as mentioned above, this is not a "patient organization" and John McDonough might be ready to drop the guillotine sooner than later to make a statement. It's definitely something to keep an eye on.
See ya out there.
JL
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Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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