Hawks have the same team as they did last year with the same problems. There core is just going to get older and slower. Q hasn't really done any great coaching. I think he's been over rated as a coach. The first two cup teams were loaded the last one he made some brilliant moves. Having Jamie kompmon and Mike kitchen as assistants has also been a minus. This team needs a new coach someone to light a fire up there asses. Let the tough guys play there game and not play neutered. Protect your star players the last couple of games teams have gone after kane quite a bit and no one has done anything about it. They've played like panzys.

As Hawk Harrelson says "Its not who you play its when you play them." Both Washington and Minnesota are hitting on all cylinders at this point. We're not.

That said, our problems seem to be mainly on offense. With greater depth on D and in goal, it would seem that a move to bolster offense at the expense of goaltending or D would be in order.

It'll get better but Stan has to ruffle some feathers yet again.
- Hawkshead

Well said. I 100% agree. Let them be on fire now, when it doesn't matter. I'm counting on our team to upgrade the roster and play their best hockey when it matters most.

Hawks have the same team as they did last year with the same problems. There core is just going to get older and slower. Q hasn't really done any great coaching. I think he's been over rated as a coach. The first two cup teams were loaded the last one he made some brilliant moves. Having Jamie kompmon and Mike kitchen as assistants has also been a minus. This team needs a new coach someone to light a fire up there asses. Let the tough guys play there game and not play neutered. Protect your star players the last couple of games teams have gone after kane quite a bit and no one has done anything about it. They've played like panzys.
- vandymeer23

LMAO

LMAO
- kwolf68

I'm with you!

Well it IS January...

That said...My perception of this season so far is about the same as the last. This is not a team built to contend, or even make it to the conference final, without miraculous goaltending. The hawks TEAM defense is poor, and without that, they are sunk. All 3 cup winning seasons were won with very strong play from the top 4 defensemen, sure, but more importantly, it was commitment by the forwards to help out and get the pucks going the other way. Even then, 2015 was a pretty rough ride until Darling saved their bacon in Nashville.

What has worked so well for this team so far under Q, is speed, skill, and commitment to TEAM defense. 5 men hounding the puck. Support along the boards. Ferocious backchecking (thanks to Hoss, Kruger, Frolik, Bolland, Saad, and formerly...Toews). Quick, accurate passing from the defense. Aggressive penalty-killing. SWAGGER.

Two seasons now I watch and wait for them to emerge from their coccoon. Put a whallopping on the opposition. Smell blood, attack and go for the jugular. Too often it's bungled leads and close calls brought about by a goalie practically pulling his groin saving chances he shouldn't have to. I used to joke about Crawford's deficiencies to my friends by saying "it doesn't matter if he's not that good, he's got the equivalent of the secret service clearing out his crease for him." No longer. No one is willing to pay the price except the rookies and Hossa, the old pro. Ugly to watch.

First two months of the season were really encouraging. I saw a focused team supporting each other. Hard work paying off. Not a dominant team by any stretch but they still looked like contenders. It's been a good long while since I've watched a convincing 40 minutes, let alone 60, from this group. They miss Shaw every game.

If you get paid 50k a year, and you show poor effort week after week, you're going to get called into the manager's office sooner or later. Why the hell should't these fellas? A job is a job. Even if your job is to play a game.


Edit: Forgot to include Hjalmarsson with Hossa. He almost always brings it.

blows now 8 pts behind the hawks..the hawks keep this luke warm poop or worse the blows will catch'em...

lost 8 strt to wild over the last 3 seasons...give me a break...

In my opinion, It is time for the Blackhawks front office to seriously consider a coaching change. Not in mid season, but next year. They need to get younger, bigger,
faster and more physical. The Stanley Cup teams were amazing, but the cap and the coaching style has not only taken away the depth of the team, but the aggressivenss and the entertainment factor are gone too. Continually watching games where the Hawks don't hit anybody, don't have a net presence, have passive special teams, and continually play around the perimeter have stopped producing not only wins but excitement. As a fan, for four years now I have been bored watching our guys pass up opportunities to make a hit or defend each other in fear of taking a penalty. Why is Duncan Keith STILL on the powerplay ? The times his shot isnt blocked he misses the net by ten feet. Most NHL goals are scored with grit, net presence, and desire. I see very little of this as the team has grown older and more complacent under Quenneville. The United Center is like a morgue.....no cheering, no yelling, no reason to get out of your seat.....Even Jim the anthem guy needs to go, its not about him, its about the moment. Hockey is a mans' game , with speed, scarifice, and contact as well as skill. Right now, there are few examples of any of this from Quenneville's team. Trade Crawford, Keith, Toews, and Seabrook if you can. This team needs a new infusion of youth and heart and coaching..........

blows now 8 pts behind the hawks..the hawks keep this luke warm poop or worse the blows will catch'em...

lost 8 strt to wild over the last 3 seasons...give me a break...
- bogiedoc

It really doesn't matter if Hawks finish 2nd and Blues 3rd, or vice versa. Bigger concern is whether Nashville (12 points behind Hawks but with 3 games in hand) can catch them. Preds have been playing better, and will be really dangerous when they get the injured Subban and Neal back.

Dubnyk was the difference tonight. Crawford should not have gotten beat short side by Stewart.
- etchtech

This. The Hawks played fairly well tonight but their goaltender was just better than ours.

In my opinion, It is time for the Blackhawks front office to seriously consider a coaching change. Not in mid season, but next year. They need to get younger, bigger,
faster and more physical. The Stanley Cup teams were amazing, but the cap and the coaching style has not only taken away the depth of the team, but the aggressivenss and the entertainment factor are gone too. Continually watching games where the Hawks don't hit anybody, don't have a net presence, have passive special teams, and continually play around the perimeter have stopped producing not only wins but excitement. As a fan, for four years now I have been bored watching our guys pass up opportunities to make a hit or defend each other in fear of taking a penalty. Why is Duncan Keith STILL on the powerplay ? The times his shot isnt blocked he misses the net by ten feet. Most NHL goals are scored with grit, net presence, and desire. I see very little of this as the team has grown older and more complacent under Quenneville. The United Center is like a morgue.....no cheering, no yelling, no reason to get out of your seat.....Even Jim the anthem guy needs to go, its not about him, its about the moment. Hockey is a mans' game , with speed, scarifice, and contact as well as skill. Right now, there are few examples of any of this from Quenneville's team. Trade Crawford, Keith, Toews, and Seabrook if you can. This team needs a new infusion of youth and heart and coaching..........
- Gary0301

Yeah, bring back Bob Pulford! Or Mike Keenan! Then we can have that old time hockey again. And a half-filled Stadium with the excitement you're missing.

No GM is stupid enough to take on Toews' anchor of a contract, at least not at this TDL.

In addition to the career AHLers on the current roster there are 2 d-men who are over the hill and completely done. Plus TvR just isnt that good.
- DarthKane

Go Johnny Go is my guy win lose or draw. That said even if he gets back to 70 points, he's ONLY ever been there once y'all, nobody is taking that contract.

Dubnyk was the difference tonight. Crawford should not have gotten beat short side by Stewart.
- etchtech

I'm 15 years late on this but man play the sport on your feet. No need to slide from side to side on your knees on that play, it's at the circles. Crow down, puck up, dig puck out.

You could see his shoulders slump. He knew he shoulda been up.

A modern day dynasty falls out of first place for the first time in months.......and "its time for a coaching change" LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Look, i completely agree that we aren't all that good right now and this is certainly a team that needs adjustments/additions before the playoffs roll around. Maybe not our best team in the Toews-Kane era, but man oh man this place never ceases to disappoint when it comes to the ridiculous comments made during a bump in the road in the regular season.

Good stuff. Thank you as always for the laughs.

Go Johnny Go is my guy win lose or draw. That said even if he gets back to 70 points, he's ONLY ever been there once y'all, nobody is taking that contract.
- Mr Ricochet

Toews is not the same player. Everyone can see that. One of the greatest winners and leaders the Hawks have ever had didn't suddenly lose his competitive fire. He has to be injured -- in all likelihood it's his back. Hopefully, it's not a chronic condition. If it is and his play continues at the current diminished level, the only way the Hawks will lose that contract is if he retires.

Yeah, bring back Bob Pulford! Or Mike Keenan! Then we can have that old time hockey again. And a half-filled Stadium with the excitement you're missing.
- BMWChiFan

Maybe some people like you are satisfied with the style and results produced by Quenneville and the core the last two years, but I am not.

A modern day dynasty falls out of first place for the first time in months.......and "its time for a coaching change" LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Look, i completely agree that we aren't all that good right now and this is certainly a team that needs adjustments/additions before the playoffs roll around. Maybe not our best team in the Toews-Kane era, but man oh man this place never ceases to disappoint when it comes to the ridiculous comments made during a bump in the road in the regular season.

Good stuff. Thank you as always for the laughs.


- SimpleJack

This has been three years in the making if you have been paying attention, not 1week.......

Maybe some people like you are satisfied with the style and results produced by Quenneville and the core the last two years, but I am not.
- Gary0301[/quote

The salary cap, and Toews' apparent back problems, have clearly hurt this year, but firing Q and/or trading the Hawks' stars will reduce the Hawks to the irrelevancy of the Dollar Bill years.

Go Johnny Go is my guy win lose or draw. That said even if he gets back to 70 points, he's ONLY ever been there once y'all, nobody is taking that contract.
- Mr Ricochet

JT's point are relative...should really look at points per game.

2010-11 80 games played...76 points
2011-12 injuries cut him off at 59 games...57 points
2012-13 lockout shortened season. 47 games...48 points
2013-14 76 games played...68 points
2014-15 81 games played...66 points

Last year he hit 58 points and this year he may not reach 40.

The trend is downward.

Toews is not the same player. Everyone can see that. One of the greatest winners and leaders the Hawks have ever had didn't suddenly lose his competitive fire. He has to be injured -- in all likelihood it's his back. Hopefully, it's not a chronic condition. If it is and his play continues at the current diminished level, the only way the Hawks will lose that contract is if he retires.
- BMWChiFan

And with current CBA I don't think retirement offers much relief (not that that's gonna happen). Isn't there a nasty recapture penalty?

Last year at this point we all had Crosby written off as done
Years of concussions had caught up to Crosby and his career was essentially behind him
Not so much
Toews will be back

Unless there is s more serious condition like MS

blows now 8 pts behind the hawks..the hawks keep this luke warm poop or worse the blows will catch'em...

lost 8 strt to wild over the last 3 seasons...give me a break...
- bogiedoc

Except for that 4 game win streak the Hawks had when it actually mattered, of course. I never understand caring about streaks against teams while excluding the playoffs.

That's Bowman's job.

I just don't want assets squandered for a deadline 2 month acquisition. The loss of Danault pisses me off more with each passing day.
- ArlingtonRob

You need to understand the Danault situation. He wasn't just traded for nothing. He was not going to resign here. He wanted to be in Montreal - and Bowman chose to get something for him - instead of losing him in the offseason.

Either way - he was not coming back.

No GM is stupid enough to take on Toews' anchor of a contract, at least not at this TDL.

In addition to the career AHLers on the current roster there are 2 d-men who are over the hill and completely done. Plus TvR just isnt that good.
- DarthKane

You are badly mistaken. No less than 27 NHL teams would line up and offer at least four players and draft picks for the chance to acquire Jonathan Toews.

All the hate on this site is just silly. You all sound like fantasy players - points are the only thing that matter to you - and that just proves you don't know this game.

Please keep all this trade Toews nonsense to yourself - it's not going to happen. He will play this contract out as a Hawk - number 19 will never be worn again for this franchise, and at some point, there will be a statue of him outside the UC.

This has been three years in the making if you have been paying attention, not 1week.......
- Gary0301

So we're hoisting the Cup in June of 2015......now its barely a few weeks into 2017 and "its been 3 years in the making".

You are badly mistaken. No less than 27 NHL teams would line up and offer at least four players and draft picks for the chance to acquire Jonathan Toews.

All the hate on this site is just silly. You all sound like fantasy players - points are the only thing that matter to you - and that just proves you don't know this game.

Please keep all this trade Toews nonsense to yourself - it's not going to happen. He will play this contract out as a Hawk - number 19 will never be worn again for this franchise, and at some point, there will be a statue of him outside the UC.
- dahawks8819

Post of the month
Well

said