If StanBo adds a legit 18-20 minute NHL #4 Dman, the Hawks have as good a shot at a Cup as any team. If they don't add a Dman to slot Forsling and Kempny appropriately (on the 3rd pair), I foresee a team fighting for a playoff spot all year.
- EnzoD

Very much in agreement that THIS is the #1 priority with the Hossa $$$$. Find a middle grouping D-man!

I used to sit in the UC with 5000 people, the place was empty. Now the Hawks have led the NHL in attendance (because we have the highest seating capacity) for how many years?
Maybe they are having a harder time selling corporate boxes, but I will bet anything that every game this year will be sold out.

The sweet smell of the Hawks is certainly gone. But EVERY TEAM goes into the next season with question marks and "ifs". Don't forget that they were the number one team in the conference, so regular season good ... playoffs bust. It happens to other teams in a life time. Still have veteran leadership in the core, some kids emerged last year, need more to emerge this year. Coaching staff cannot coast into the playoffs. Must keep the edge going in the later half of the year. Forwards are more deep this year and this is more speed and jam in the line up. Defense has more question marks, but I am hoping that new assistant coach, in charge of the defense, can help some of the kids and maybe even some of the veterans. Hoping for a bounce back year from Seabrook. Don't think he is old but maybe could loose some weight and be quicker. Just look at some veteran defensemen in the playoffs, that are same age or close to Seabs age .... Marc Methode ... Ron Hainsey .... Dioin Phanuef ...... Seabs is better than those guys .... you know it ! Still hoping for Fortin to make the jump this year, and an improved Hinostroza, more jam at the bottom of the forward groupings, return of Saad ..... Hawks will be ok. Also hoping they continue to improve through out the year and show it in the playoffs

The Cubs are the toast of the town right now, and with the expectations of the Hawks pretty low, people are bailing out. I've had full season IHL tix, and it is a grind to go to every game. I know people with Hawks tix, and they sell between 15-25 games a season if not more. If you can't sell them, you don't want to just eat them. I'm hoping it's easier to get some better tix for single games on Monday.

As they are built right at this moment, they are a bottom-tier playoff team. Nashville and Dallas will probably battle for the division. The Hawks and Wild for 3rd place. Now, if Bowman can make a shrewd move or two to shore up the D and PK, who knows how much that would improve them from where they are.

Very much in agreement that THIS is the #1 priority with the Hossa $$$$. Find a middle grouping D-man!
- hawk35

Offense should not be an issue with the addition of Saad to the Toews-Panik line as long as there is continued development from Schmaltz, Panik and Hartman. Throw in 15 goals from Sharp (if Healthy and playing with Kane that should be no problem) and I really like the forward scoring depth. There is simply too much inexperience past Keith, Seabs and Murphy. Murphy, while unproven playing on the worst team in the NHL for his whole young career, has talent and 250+ games of NHL experience. I want Kempny or Forsling to emerge as a Legit 4D, but nothing from last season showed me they have the complete package to be that guy on a Cup-Contender. Hopefully they prove me wrong. But, given Vegas' Dman surplus, if I were a betting man I'd bet (hope) on a trade going down between Bowman and McPhee shortly after Hossa's LTIR cap space is available.

Offense should not be an issue with the addition of Saad to the Toews-Panik line as long as there is continued development from Schmaltz, Panik and Hartman. Throw in 15 goals from Sharp (if Healthy and playing with Kane that should be no problem) and I really like the forward scoring depth. There is simply too much inexperience past Keith, Seabs and Murphy. Murphy, while unproven playing on the worst team in the NHL for his whole young career, has talent and 250+ games of NHL experience. I want Kempny or Forsling to emerge as a Legit 4D, but nothing from last season showed me they have the complete package to be that guy on a Cup-Contender. Hopefully they prove me wrong. But, given Vegas' Dman surplus, if I were a betting man I'd bet (hope) on a trade going down between Bowman and McPhee shortly after Hossa's LTIR cap space is available.
- EnzoD

What would the Hawks have to give up to get a legit 4D?

I thought the title was about Hossa.
Blatant case of false advertising.
- Fenrir

Does that look like a Mile of Cars to you ??

Where marketing and the on-ice product merge - Kane, Toews, Keith, Crawford, and Seabrook. The "older" core. A bounce-back year for 19, 2, and 7 would go a long way for helping both improve.

I also hope this means that we're going to see some more moves that position the club for cup runs this year and into the future: another Dman or two, top 6 LW, center depth, etc.

He's not gonna play again. And with that, the allergy issue goes away too.

Great player, great career, good human being, 500+ goals, 1000+ points, 3 Cups, lovely wife and children, $70 million or so in the bank.

Slovakia, here we come.

Hope not, except for the off-season. What a great coach Hoss could be here.

Any update on the pursuit of Will Butcher, the soon to be free agent Dman

Any update on the pursuit of Will Butcher, the soon to be free agent Dman
- ksilvy58

The only person in Chicago talking about him is BarstoolChief. Here's what he said on twitter:

Based on conversations that I have had about Will Butcher with people I would say that the Blackhawks are NOT a favorite to sign him. "Long shot" per a source.

https://twitter.com/Barst...status/897165698623000577
https://twitter.com/Barst...status/897230662587101184

Also, tomorrow is the day Butcher can sign, not today. NHL teams hold NCAA players' rights "through and including" Aug. 15 so midnight tonight is the first time other teams can express interest.

Any update on the pursuit of Will Butcher, the soon to be free agent Dman
- ksilvy58[/quote

bar stool sports said it does not sound like we are the leader. No idea if its accurate.

I used to sit in the UC with 5000 people, the place was empty. Now the Hawks have led the NHL in attendance (because we have the highest seating capacity) for how many years?
Maybe they are having a harder time selling corporate boxes, but I will bet anything that every game this year will be sold out.
- Boisy12

The real number to look at is percent of seating capacity, which exceeds 111% since 2008-09, inclusive. Molson Centre seating is 21,273 and they have no SRO. Having been there only once (like here, I enjoyed the old place better) there is literally no significant SRO room like UC.

I used to sit in the UC with 5000 people, the place was empty. Now the Hawks have led the NHL in attendance (because we have the highest seating capacity) for how many years?
Maybe they are having a harder time selling corporate boxes, but I will bet anything that every game this year will be sold out.
- Boisy12

yeah, they when they started sending us the surveys about what was good or bad inside the building.

I agree with you...they are gonna have no problem selling tickets....they loudly reached a thunderclap of noise and everybody becamea Blackhawks fan and after that crescendo, there is going to be a continued group of average joes who in the frenzy thought scooping up four seson tickets for the family was a great move and selling off the unwanted or last minute unable to attend tickets was gonna be so easy...and it wasn't and the ate more than a couple $100 dollars worth.

The season ticket holder turnover will cotinue but the three Cups has created a new market that will be willing to pay to attend to see the Likes of Kane, and the spectacle.
(all the arenas now have almost every timeout choreographed with noise, visuals, and music, and as much as those TV cutaways that always are shots with people on their franking phones, they aren't more bored, just different than the non cell addicted crowds.)

I am in complete agreement that those las Vegas oddmakers get paid to set odds and the fact the hawks are still considered in high regard is the first clue that there is much respect in the knowledgable quarters that this team is still pretty good,
but I too think that the continued success will be a result of the growth of last years newbies and new additions who ALL have to be relentless and undaunting 60 minutes for the first 84 games and take that into a playoff run.

I think the mistake was that there should have only been 3-4 core players. Teows, kane, Keith (contract) and Hossa (contract) and every other player should have only been offered contract with the ability to be able to trade them if they needed to. When you gave contracts to Craw, Seabs, Bickell, Roz, all had bad contracts and then those contracts forced you to trade leddy for nothing, Sharp for less then nothing and then forced you to trade TT, Johns, Danult ETC trying to plug holes. They seemed to pick rewarding players over the health of the team. which I guess is OK. But being competitive in sports in a cap environment you need to ruthless and Bowman was not. This team hypothetically could have JOHNS, DANULT, LEDDY, SAAD and PANARIN, HAMMER, DARLING on it and you would only have to remove CRAW, AA, SEABS. Murphy,

Roz should have never gotten a 2 year deal at 2.5 at his age. should have been 1 year deal and then the 2nd year you can decide
Craw being a goalie should not have been given a LNTC that makes it basically a full no trade clause.
Seabs did not deserve a raise and no one should ever be signed long term till 39 with a NTC.
Bickells contract should have been heavily front loaded to make him easier to trade instead of back loaded (kruger was front loaded)

I know there are allot of could would a should a but we should have looked at this team and say our window is Teows and Kane till 32-33 and all other contracts should be based on that.

Also in regard to falling demand the ticket prices are sky high now so that is also an effect. I think 300 level tickets AVG $75 for season ticket holders, 200 level $150 and lower level $150 + when you get closet to the ice or in the middle. so if you have 4 300 level tickets you might be in for $15000 for the year plus more money for playoffs and its harder to get your money back on the secondary market since to break even you need to get 20% more.
- kmw4631

Agreed on most of this......... our pricing though for 100 level center ice row 12 is 241.25 per ticket or 965.00 per game. The NHL has priced itself out of the market over the years and it is virtually impossible to take a family of 4 to a game without spending 1200.00 or so...... especially for a mediocre product, which I fear we're at. We split the tickets amongst a few other friends and we will decide after this year's product performs as to what we will do next year. It will be decision time after 53 years as a STH, unfortunately....so if you've got that money tree in your yard and want to be a STH, get on the list. You may have some great seats to choose from soon.

We are all thankful for the great last 10 years or so and the 3 CUPS, but it's a crying shame that the CBA/Salary cap era has forced this team to re-tool 3 different times now, and we've had to lose quality home grown talent because of it. I think we all fear another lockout coming soon to hopefully address the issues but by that time, our run will be over.

Let's hope that management can find a way to add the 2 or 3 players this team will need to be in the mix to compete in June.

and on another note, John I tried googling but what is STH

that moved out of Chicago?

I tried googling with no success.

Hey them snickers is good!

If you want more confirmation that the marketing machine is revving up, Tommy Hawk was on my wife's Metra this morning, handing out Hawk jerseys (sticker price $215!) to the commuters. My wife got a Kaner jersey, as we didn't have that one yet.

As for the theory of STH leaving Chicago, makes some sense. Boomers are retiring, and often they go to warmer climates after that. That means tickets to Hawks/Coyotes games there should be even more expensive.

and on another note, John I tried googling but what is STH

that moved out of Chicago?

I tried googling with no success.
- wiz1901

Stiff Tanqueray Hangover.

Agreed on most of this......... our pricing though for 100 level center ice row 12 is 241.25 per ticket or 965.00 per game. The NHL has priced itself out of the market over the years and it is virtually impossible to take a family of 4 to a game without spending 1200.00 or so...... especially for a mediocre product, which I fear we're at. We split the tickets amongst a few other friends and we will decide after this year's product performs as to what we will do next year. It will be decision time after 53 years as a STH, unfortunately....so if you've got that money tree in your yard and want to be a STH, get on the list. You may have some great seats to choose from soon.

We are all thankful for the great last 10 years or so and the 3 CUPS, but it's a crying shame that the CBA/Salary cap era has forced this team to re-tool 3 different times now, and we've had to lose quality home grown talent because of it. I think we all fear another lockout coming soon to hopefully address the issues but by that time, our run will be over.

Let's hope that management can find a way to add the 2 or 3 players this team will need to be in the mix to compete in June.
- Hawkytalk

Like you, I need to keep an eye on tickets, attendance, secondary market, dynamic pricing, etc. While I don't foresee a lot of turnover down in the lower level corner, a poor showing this season will open the floodgates. Majority in attendance are not diehards, they're bandwagoners. Hence the promo's you hear spoken of at the beginning of the blog.

Ticket demand will vary year to year and obviously losing the way the Hawks have hasn't helped, but I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the rising ticket prices. Average price has what? Doubled in the last 10 years? I think the Hawks have a long way to go to be in trouble selling tickets, but no surprise the demand may have peaked a couple years ago. The Hawks have arguably been considered a dynasty (not debating, but saying it has been argued) over 2009-15 and no doubt some of that shine has worn off. There are die hard fans that will appreciate the cup wins of 2010/13/15 but sports is all about "what have you done for me lately?"

Hope not, except for the off-season. What a great coach Hoss could be here.
- blackhawk24

Amen and amen.

Ticket prices are just to darn high for a family of four like mine, will stay home and watch on tv with beers and nachos.

Very much in agreement that THIS is the #1 priority with the Hossa $$$$. Find a middle grouping D-man!
- hawk35

I'm going to disagree here. This seems to be the consensus by everybody but I'm still going to maintain that Kempney will be a good #4. IMO, the priority lies in either a strong #2 LW for Kane and AA, or a strong faceoff center for L2 and move AA to 2LW. I see a significant decline in Kane's numbers without one or the other, and plugging in Schmaltz, Hartman, or anybody else is looking for trouble. Hopefully I'm wrong here but with the question mark still on 19, even with Saad back, we can not afford to lose significant offense from Kane's line as well. Panarin's finesse and chemistry with Kane can not be denied and he will be missed.

Any update on the pursuit of Will Butcher, the soon to be free agent Dman
- ksilvy58

I heard he cuts the meat.