JJ, I'm a Bolt's fan but I always read your posts. I grew up watching the Hawks battle the Bruins, Keith Magnusson is one of my favorite all time players to this day. I love this tough love blog but the gist of everything is dead on. It isn't so much the talent the Hawks lost after the dismantling of the cup team but the charachter. Witness Ladd being Captain of the Jets and Brouwer on the first line in Washington. Campbell helping lead an underwhelming Panthers team into the post season and Niemi playing well for the Sharks. The Lightning went through the bad drafting for years, in fact it was so bad that for a number of years they had no AHL affiliate because they lacked legitimate prospects to stock the team. That began to change under the "Cowboys" ( a term John Tortorella coined to describe Oren Koule and Len Barrie ) who drafted very well under Jim Hammett and which has continued under Steve Yzerman and Daryl Plandowski.

Neil , Eagle , :

The fans want results. Since the Cup was raised in 2010 the Hawks had the sell off (Which I have stuck up for Bowman many many times because he had to do this) , then in the 2010-2011 season the Hawks only made the playoffs because Dallas couldn't win a road game on the last day of the season against Minnesota... SO we're all feeling good and lucky , almost a little confident because at that point in time the Hawks owned Vancouver. We all know how the Hawks went down in 7.

Then in 2011-2012 the Hawks continues to sell off guys. The one that hurt the most was Campbell because the Hawks netted about $4,500,000 on that deal and Bowman proclaimed that now they had wiggle room to add if the Hawks needed to add. Well the Hawks needed a real Center like nobodies business last year . The Hawks didn't get a real center. The Hawks again were embarrassed in the 1st round of the playoffs mostly because of terrible goaltending , being owned by Phoenix at the dot and poopty special teams.

If the Hawks don't make a Center or Goalie upgrade this season and happen to be bounced earlier than the conference finals its going to get even worse for Bowman on these message boards and in real life.
- mrpaulish

I am a fan and I want results too, but at times I feel that our expecations are somewhat ridiculous! As JJ has said, perhaps Stan and the Hawks management knew there was going to be a lockout well in advance of this summer, and perhaps they were proactively positioning themselves to compete long after last year, this year, or next year! That said, by all accounts it seems they were trying to get both Parise and Suter, but think of the cap hell we'd have been in had they chosen to come to the Hawks. The team as we know it would have again had to be blown up.

As I said, I'm not an apologist by any stretch for Bowman, but I'm also not as negative as some as to what he's done, or hasn't done, based on "rumors" from un-named sources, which seem to get many on here's panties in a bunch...It seems he's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't, when in reality we don't truly know all that goes on behind closed doors! How much fun is poked at Eklund all the time after all? This isn't meant to be a dig on JJ, as I appreciate his insight and hockey knowledge very much. I simply wish we'd focus more on the positive, and less on the "gloom and doom" before anything has been seen on the ice yet! I'm thinking our PP and PK will improve...simply because it couldn't get much worse than what it was last year! Right? (fingers crossed!)

All this said, I'm hoping for a strong showing from our boys, and think the lockout will actually help guys like Kruger, Leddy, and Saad be better now, then they would have been had the season opened in October. I'm also anxious to see a healthy and hopefully in control Carbomb, Shaw, and Bollig...Two of those three weren't on the roster til January, and their auditions last year were pretty good and they, along with Brookbank, should add some "grit" to this team that was sorely lacking the past two years.

Stan is dreaful. He's an middle of the class accountant from the U of Dayton born to a successful father. I don't know is Sam Pollak had a son but they wouldn't have turned over the Canadiens to him just because of shared DNA.

He has never replaced any of the key players he got rid of with a comparable player.

First, if Bowman's going to dump Campbell's salary, and he does it after the cup, he really doesn't have to get rid of anyone else. Notice what our power play has looked like since he's gone and how the "Jammer" has been exposed now that he has to manage the puck more (how badly did Stan get schooled by Doug Wilson?)

We have never replaced our "tough to play against" guys.........Ladd and Buff (who nobody knew would be good unless you happened to be watching our Cup run) and Brouwer (who didn't want to leave) pounded the opposition defense most nights and created space-------it's not about dropping the gloves like Carcillo, it's about wearing down the opposition defensemen and winning 3rd periods and overtimes and keeping guys off Hossa and Kane and the captain.

Would anyone suggest that Stan will ever be a GM with another franchise? It's nonsense. Obviousely, it's part of a deal to keep his father around but there is no evidence that Scotty is the Scotty that used to be. The franchise is totally dependent upon the core group chosen by Tallon.

Did we get lucky with the Finn........maybe.......I hope so.......but until he scores a few NHL points, I'm not quite ready to call him the 2nd coming of Savard (who we only got becasue we couldn't get Wickenhauser) or Kane for that matter.

Is there a non-Tallon player on this roster that we think will be asked to play for any country in the next Olympics.

We are a couple of concussions away from being Columbus and we likely don't have a playoff goalie in the system. It is tragic that they took the best young team in hockey and blew it up.

Finally, Mr McDonough.......... there has never been an unsold blackhawk seat in this town with a team that was even close to decent.......and if you'll look at the true historical figures, the Cubs attendance began climbing when the neighborhood changed and Towne Hall ceased to be the crime ridden area that it had been....the guy has done a faboulous job of falling up the steps..........but he's never filled a stadium

I can't wait for the season to begin and I hope the guys can play 13/ 14 games a month and maintain the quality and their health

Go Blackhawks

JJ, I'm a Bolt's fan but I always read your posts. I grew up watching the Hawks battle the Bruins, Keith Magnusson is one of my favorite all time players to this day. I love this tough love blog but the gist of everything is dead on. It isn't so much the talent the Hawks lost after the dismantling of the cup team but the charachter. Witness Ladd being Captain of the Jets and Brouwer on the first line in Washington. Campbell helping lead an underwhelming Panthers team into the post season and Niemi playing well for the Sharks. The Lightning went through the bad drafting for years, in fact it was so bad that for a number of years they had no AHL affiliate because they lacked legitimate prospects to stock the team. That began to change under the "Cowboys" ( a term John Tortorella coined to describe Oren Koule and Len Barrie ) who drafted very well under Jim Hammett and which has continued under Steve Yzerman and Daryl Plandowski.
- Don in St. Pete

Campbell is the only one that really irks me , because of Tallon's GM flop the HAWKS HAD to dump salary after the 2010 season. Campbell would have really helped the dismal PP last year.

Great teams are built through the middle not on the outside. Until the hawks fix that they will continue to fall short of one goal.

Campbell is the only one that really irks me , because of Tallon's GM flop the HAWKS HAD to dump salary after the 2010 season. Campbell would have really helped the dismal PP last year.
- mrpaulish

Campbell didn't play all that much on the PP if I remember right...

Ladd is the one I thought we'd miss the most! I remember sitting in the UC, and you could honestly tell if we were going to win night in, night out, with how Ladd played. When he was flying around hitting people, and using Kesler's face as a punching bag, you could sense from the rest of the team's play what the outcome was going to be. To me, letting Ladd go was a HUGE mistake by Stan! Big Buff, not as much. Yes he was dominant in the playoffs, but "lazy" in the regular season, and he was our most tradeable asset then. The return for that trade hasn't materialized, but Stan and the Hawks were in a very difficult spot after the Cup win. Every GM knew the position the Hawks were in, and getting anything back for any guys moved would have been tough!

As good as that Hawks team was, everyone annoints Tallon as the architect of that team, but nobody seems to give him any blame for the forced dismantling of that team as well. It's easy to operate from hindsight being 20/20, and under that hindsight I would have preferred to see Sharp and his $3.9M cap hit go that summer instead of Ladd and eventually Brouwer, (or Niemi) but....

>>>What Bowman got back in these deals was cap relief and cap space that has largely gone unused for nearly two years, and, on the (hopefully) plus side, prospects like Philip Danault, Adam Clendening and Kevin Hayes. On the middling side, prospects like Justin Holl, Phillippe Paradis and Jeremy Morin. And on the disappointing side, Ivan Vishnevskiy, Chris DiDomenico and Rostislav Olesz.<<<

He and the team were in a tough place and everyone in the NHL knew it. Yet it would be nice if at least one or 2 of these guys become a NHL producer for the Hawks. Other wise it was "money for nothing"....

Another A+ blog JJ....

The point about Stan's head growing exponentially after the Leddy trade is well-taken. If Stan is universally despised by the rest of his colleagues it's no surprise. What did Jr. ever do to earn a shot as an NHL GM ? The silence should be deafening. And as others have said...name one other team in the National Hockey League that would employ this singularly, unpleasant bozo as its GM. Again, the silence should be deafening.

Then Stan says...no one, including himself...can rest on laurels ?


What laurels ? A final day, lucky entry entrance into the playoffs 2 years ago, and then a first round flame out last year.

Stan...you and your laurels can go PHUCK YOURSELF.
- philco28

ahhh Philco..always in midseason form.

Yeah the spin..and "we like our team" mantra is really stale.

Should be a fascincating 48 game marathon here. But it's still an asterik season and in my view another transition year for the Hawks. The question what are they transitioning to?

Question: how will the goaltending be around the league for the first week or to. I suspect not so good but will it be off set sloppy offensive play?

ahhh Philco..always in midseason form.

Yeah the spin..and "we like our team" mantra is really stale.

Should be a fascincating 48 game marathon here. But it's still an asterik season and in my view another transition year for the Hawks. The question what are they transitioning to?

Question: how will the goaltending be around the league for the first week or to. I suspect not so good but will it be off set sloppy offensive play?
- bogiedoc

SPRINT!!!!!!!!

Campbell didn't play all that much on the PP if I remember right...

Ladd is the one I thought we'd miss the most! I remember sitting in the UC, and you could honestly tell if we were going to win night in, night out, with how Ladd played. When he was flying around hitting people, and using Kesler's face as a punching bag, you could sense from the rest of the team's play what the outcome was going to be. To me, letting Ladd go was a HUGE mistake by Stan! Big Buff, not as much. Yes he was dominant in the playoffs, but "lazy" in the regular season, and he was our most tradeable asset then. The return for that trade hasn't materialized, but Stan and the Hawks were in a very difficult spot after the Cup win. Every GM knew the position the Hawks were in, and getting anything back for any guys moved would have been tough!

As good as that Hawks team was, everyone annoints Tallon as the architect of that team, but nobody seems to give him any blame for the forced dismantling of that team as well. It's easy to operate from hindsight being 20/20, and under that hindsight I would have preferred to see Sharp and his $3.9M cap hit go that summer instead of Ladd and eventually Brouwer, (or Niemi) but....
- nelli312

This.

100% This.

This.

100% This.
- Ogilthorpe2

Ogi, when Sharp scores a clutch goal do you feel all of our collective brains think about you at the same time?

If we don't mess up the qualifying offer situation in the summer of 2009 we have some millions of dollars to extend guys like Ladd or Hammer in the middle of the season for MUCH better cap hits than they eventually received; thereby retaining at least one other player.

Ogi, when Sharp scores a clutch goal do you feel all of our collective brains think about you at the same time?


- nathanjf

If that ever happens, I'll let you know.

Anyway, when can we finally stop talking about the 'blow up'? Haven't we been collectively sick of it for long enough?

Nice article jj and i think you were too generous with the grades.

I'm now beginning to believe coach Q is trying to get bowman and mcdumbo fired for their interferance in on ice personnel moves along with their lack of stones to make moves

This should be a year to make a couple moves and go all in to win the stanley cup and I hold only bowman responsible if the hawks dont go far in the playoffs

In the end if I am rocky I fire bowman Q and Mcdumbo if the hawks dont go to the stanley cup

Good Luck gents. Hope it is an entertaining season.

If we don't mess up the qualifying offer situation in the summer of 2009 we have some millions of dollars to extend guys like Ladd or Hammer in the middle of the season for MUCH better cap hits than they eventually received; thereby retaining at least one other player.
- nathanjf

Yup. Tallon =Fail (at Paperwork)

However , excellent NHL talent evaluator

StanBo=FAIL AT NHL TALENT Evaluation , good drafter. Probably they were such a good team.

Too bad so sad

Good Luck gents. Hope it is an entertaining season.
- VANTEL

Same to you, VANTEL. This season will be a sprint...should be fun.

ahhh Philco..always in midseason form.

Yeah the spin..and "we like our team" mantra is really stale.

Should be a fascincating 48 game marathon here. But it's still an asterik season and in my view another transition year for the Hawks. The question what are they transitioning to?

Question: how will the goaltending be around the league for the first week or to. I suspect not so good but will it be off set sloppy offensive play?
- bogiedoc

Interesting ? Bogie....but seeing as the core is still locked up for many more years...i expect more of the same, finesse based, fly by, just good enough to lose...hockey team.

JJ, I told you back in 2010 this was going to happen. Rocky will not do a damn thing to make any of this go away. To put it simply, as long as the money comes in McD will be his guy. Stan isn't going anywhere anytime soon because McD loves parading Scotty around plain and simple. Q will probably be done after this year since McD and CO. basically set him up to fail.

Good Luck gents. Hope it is an entertaining season.
- VANTEL

Amen to that !!!

JJ, I told you back in 2010 this was going to happen. Rocky will not do a damn thing to make any of this go away. To put it simply, as long as the money comes in McD will be his guy. Stan isn't going anywhere anytime soon because McD loves parading Scotty around plain and simple. Q will probably be done after this year since McD and CO. basically set him up to fail.
- tokked

Probably pretty accurate. Too much "Committee" Bull s hit going on.

Rick is right...Gomez will wind up back with "Uncle Lou!" your move Stan!??????
- wonthecup10

Even Uncle Lou wasn't willing to extend an job interview to Gomez. I forgot Lou and Gomer weren't happy with each other when they split a few years ago.

This +1000.....you don't PHUCKING TRADE THE MOJO MAN DIC K HEAD

- philco28

+1

Watching the Rockford game tonight...amazing how great the flow is now that the lockout is over...wide open, fun to watch hockey