ummm yeah...after a week off??? they have been their worst after multiple days off...

one look at the standings...playing with 2 goalies with their first regulation NHL in the last months....

my guess is they might say..."who gives a poop"....Q's agent should start checking out the rollodex
- bogiedoc

I completely expect a very high scoring affair that the Hawks find a way to win. The Islanders are a lot worse off than the Hawks defensively, especially in the month of January. They've allowed 34 goals in 8 games this month. My bet is the Hawks win this one 6-3 or 6-4.

I completely expect a very high scoring affair that the Hawks find a way to win. The Islanders are a lot worse off than the Hawks defensively, especially in the month of January. They've allowed 34 goals in 8 games this month. My bet is the Hawks win this one 6-3 or 6-4.
- Hawks_49

Or the game could be 1-0, because hockey

You need to take a walk around the block and relax. Disclosing injuries in sports is not the same stipulations as releasing preexisting medical conditions and history.
- Stan_Bowman

When it's in the collective bargaining agreement to protect players privacy - it actually is.

You should know better - or are you too busy forgetting to fax in qualifying offers and getting your boss fired......

All of this!!!!!!!!Hawks are going to win so much that we are all going to get tired of winning.
- eagle50

Yes, let's make the Blackhawks great again.

See you boyz Saturday, cannot wait.

Yes, let's make the Blackhawks great again.

See you boyz Saturday, cannot wait.
- savvyone-1

Nothing we can do as fans so we might as well try to enjoy and hope for the best.

Nothing we can do as fans so we might as well try to enjoy and hope for the best.
- eagle50

Very true.
If all the tires "blow" on the Blackhawk-mobile, it will be quite interesting to see Stan and Q's reaction.

Will Stan pull out the jack and ask Q to turn the wrench or will Stan direct Q to get under the car and subsequently lower the jack on him?

Could also see Q try to call TripleA for a tow but gets told all trucks are busy.

Yes indeed, I am going to enjoy the ride, whatever happens.
Since Q's handing of the reins, nothing quite like this has happened.
Might be a case of eating your own young, IDK.

I completely expect a very high scoring affair that the Hawks find a way to win. The Islanders are a lot worse off than the Hawks defensively, especially in the month of January. They've allowed 34 goals in 8 games this month. My bet is the Hawks win this one 6-3 or 6-4.
- Hawks_49

i have thrown in the towel with this team....since clinching the WC in late march....

they are a marginal .500 team that can't compete and win in their division and WC....their record vs teams ahead of them (11 and counting now) is awful...

i have documented their inability to get leads let alone win vs the better teams...

1. they don't show up for most games
2. for 2 years it was pick a name for toews LW; now its pick a name for RW
3. young d guys are getting great exp; look good sometimes and then terribly exposed other times
4. two inexp goalies...
5. its win 3, lose 2, win 1, lose 2...one more lose 4 of 6 and they are burried...

play the kids...move bouma and sharp...i like wingels...and see if this core has any leadership left with out craw; from what i have seen...my guess is no...

something is off with keith...i suspect at somepoint he is going to let lose publically...

living or dieing game to game with this team is over for me...

the detroit game spoke volumes of where they are at and where they are going...and thats NOWHERE

Scotty Bowman was on a lengthy interview yesterday on Sportsnet AM 590 - Prime Time Sports. If you can access, it is still available to listen to. He said specifically that it isn't vertigo as being reported, Cro has post concussion syndrome. He also spoke about him and Zdeno Chara having a conversation about his friend Marion Hossa. FWIW.
- RickJ

He prefaced it with "I'm just guessing here, no source for this."

i have thrown in the towel with this team....since clinching the WC in late march....

they are a marginal .500 team that can't compete and win in their division and WC....their record vs teams ahead of them (11 and counting now) is awful...

i have documented their inability to get leads let alone win vs the better teams...

1. they don't show up for most games
2. for 2 years it was pick a name for toews LW; now its pick a name for RW
3. young d guys are getting great exp; look good sometimes and then terribly exposed other times
4. two inexp goalies...
5. its win 3, lose 2, win 1, lose 2...one more lose 4 of 6 and they are burried...

play the kids...move bouma and sharp...i like wingels...and see if this core has any leadership left with out craw; from what i have seen...my guess is no...

something is off with keith...i suspect at somepoint he is going to let lose publically...

living or dieing game to game with this team is over for me...

the detroit game spoke volumes of where they are at and where they are going...and thats NOWHERE
- bogiedoc

Well there isn't much to respond with here if you're done with the team. I guess I'll just leave it at that.

Well there isn't much to respond with here if you're done with the team. I guess I'll just leave it at that.
- Hawks_49

Some people take things very seriously I guess. If we aren't making the playoffs (which isn't for sure either way yet), I'm still gonna watch how the young guys progress and see how the team is going to gel for next season. Bottom line, Hockey is entertainment and I like watching it.

Well there isn't much to respond with here if you're done with the team. I guess I'll just leave it at that.
- Hawks_49

some clarification is in order...

1. I will continue to watch and enjoy the games and pull for wins not losses...
2. My expectations have bottomed out; I want to see continued development of younger players and if forsberg can play to the level of 1B competent back-up...i think he can...but the skaters have generally been not good in front of him
3. the growth of smaltz and ADB have been huge positives...

some clarification is in order...

1. I will continue to watch and enjoy the games and pull for wins not losses...
2. My expectations have bottomed out; I want to see continued development of younger players and if forsberg can play to the level of 1B competent back-up...i think he can...but the skaters have generally been not good in front of him
3. the growth of smaltz and ADB have been huge positives...
- bogiedoc

Okay, that makes more sense than "thrown in the towel."

Okay, that makes more sense than "thrown in the towel."
- JRoenick97

I am not a doom and gloom guy to say the least .But if Q remains behind the bench picking cards from a hat for who plays and with who, I would expect more of the same . And if we become mathematically eliminated from the playoffs ,meaningless wins are just that as we hurt our draft position . If we get a good start after the break Great !! ,if not we may as well look to the summer ..GO HAWKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ummm yeah...after a week off??? they have been their worst after multiple days off...

one look at the standings...playing with 2 goalies with their first regulation NHL in the last months....

my guess is they might say..."who gives a poop"....Q's agent should start checking out the rollodex
- bogiedoc

yep, that's the risk. and the recent history. it'd be nice to see something else, something positive and hopeful. I'm not optimistic, but it'd be nice.

I am not a doom and gloom guy to say the least .But if Q remains behind the bench picking cards from a hat for who plays and with who, I would expect more of the same . And if we become mathematically eliminated from the playoffs ,meaningless wins are just that as we hurt our draft position . If we get a good start after the break Great !! ,if not we may as well look to the summer ..GO HAWKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- oldduffman

no towel throwing for you......YET! BUT you are warming up...

some clarification is in order...

1. I will continue to watch and enjoy the games and pull for wins not losses...
2. My expectations have bottomed out; I want to see continued development of younger players and if forsberg can play to the level of 1B competent back-up...i think he can...but the skaters have generally been not good in front of him
3. the growth of smaltz and ADB have been huge positives...
- bogiedoc

Understandable. I'm just not sure the level of negativity is necessary. And that's not in reference to you specifically, but as a whole in the fanbase. The Hawks are a team in transition and a lot of players are still adjusting to their roles, especially on defense.

But there are very clear reasons for optimism with this group:

1. The possession game is returning, and so is 5-on-5 scoring, which were two major downfalls last year.

2. The defense has allowed a lot of shots, but have also shown flashes of great potential. Forsling, Oesterle and Murphy have all shown that they have the potential to be top 4 defensemen.

3. The young forwards are very dynamic and will ease the transition for veteran players into less minutes and less taxing roles.

4. They're still in this thing.The positives have outweighed the negatives for the month of January until the Detroit game. 1 goal losses to Minnesota and Vegas are not bad losses. Those are tight games against good hockey teams. It's part of the growing pains for young players. Expecting the Hawks to be immune to that kind of thing is odd.

5. Their Rockford development is working and it's working very well. Guys that are getting sent down are fixing their games and when they come back, they're contributing. This is by far the most important positive, because this is a team positioned for Cup contention for the next few years even if they miss the playoffs this year. There won't be a big time rebuild here. The team will rely upon restocking from within and becoming cost controlled.


There are negatives too, most of which will likely be solved by a fresh voice in the room. I love Quenneville and always will, but it may be time to shake things up if they don't make the playoffs this season. The PP, as you say, has been a complete disaster for a long time. If they were a top 5 PP team in the league this year, we wouldn't be talking about whether they could get back in the playoff race. They would likely be leading the division. That is how volatile the conference is right now.

Anyways, I went on for longer than I anticipated. I should probably look like I'm doing some work for awhile haha.

- DarthKane

i took it back...grudgingly

Understandable. I'm just not sure the level of negativity is necessary. And that's not in reference to you specifically, but as a whole in the fanbase. The Hawks are a team in transition and a lot of players are still adjusting to their roles, especially on defense.

But there are very clear reasons for optimism with this group:

1. The possession game is returning, and so is 5-on-5 scoring, which were two major downfalls last year.

2. The defense has allowed a lot of shots, but have also shown flashes of great potential. Forsling, Oesterle and Murphy have all shown that they have the potential to be top 4 defensemen.

3. The young forwards are very dynamic and will ease the transition for veteran players into less minutes and less taxing roles.

4. They're still in this thing.The positives have outweighed the negatives for the month of January until the Detroit game. 1 goal losses to Minnesota and Vegas are not bad losses. Those are tight games against good hockey teams. It's part of the growing pains for young players. Expecting the Hawks to be immune to that kind of thing is odd.

5. Their Rockford development is working and it's working very well. Guys that are getting sent down are fixing their games and when they come back, they're contributing. This is by far the most important positive, because this is a team positioned for Cup contention for the next few years even if they miss the playoffs this year. There won't be a big time rebuild here. The team will rely upon restocking from within and becoming cost controlled.


There are negatives too, most of which will likely be solved by a fresh voice in the room. I love Quenneville and always will, but it may be time to shake things up if they don't make the playoffs this season. The PP, as you say, has been a complete disaster for a long time. If they were a top 5 PP team in the league this year, we wouldn't be talking about whether they could get back in the playoff race. They would likely be leading the division. That is how volatile the conference is right now.

Anyways, I went on for longer than I anticipated. I should probably look like I'm doing some work for awhile haha.
- Hawks_49

i agree with all this...January was better...but with all that they still can't compete vs the better teams...

look at that division...every team at least 5 games above .500...aves on roll


stars on a roll
preds continue to play well
jets are much improved
blues stumbled of late but they will get a top 3 spot...

this is what we foresaw a few years ago...the hawks would peak and the other teams would get younger and better...

Understandable. I'm just not sure the level of negativity is necessary. And that's not in reference to you specifically, but as a whole in the fanbase. The Hawks are a team in transition and a lot of players are still adjusting to their roles, especially on defense.

But there are very clear reasons for optimism with this group:

1. The possession game is returning, and so is 5-on-5 scoring, which were two major downfalls last year.

2. The defense has allowed a lot of shots, but have also shown flashes of great potential. Forsling, Oesterle and Murphy have all shown that they have the potential to be top 4 defensemen.

3. The young forwards are very dynamic and will ease the transition for veteran players into less minutes and less taxing roles.

4. They're still in this thing.The positives have outweighed the negatives for the month of January until the Detroit game. 1 goal losses to Minnesota and Vegas are not bad losses. Those are tight games against good hockey teams. It's part of the growing pains for young players. Expecting the Hawks to be immune to that kind of thing is odd.

5. Their Rockford development is working and it's working very well. Guys that are getting sent down are fixing their games and when they come back, they're contributing. This is by far the most important positive, because this is a team positioned for Cup contention for the next few years even if they miss the playoffs this year. There won't be a big time rebuild here. The team will rely upon restocking from within and becoming cost controlled.


There are negatives too, most of which will likely be solved by a fresh voice in the room. I love Quenneville and always will, but it may be time to shake things up if they don't make the playoffs this season. The PP, as you say, has been a complete disaster for a long time. If they were a top 5 PP team in the league this year, we wouldn't be talking about whether they could get back in the playoff race. They would likely be leading the division. That is how volatile the conference is right now.

Anyways, I went on for longer than I anticipated. I should probably look like I'm doing some work for awhile haha.
- Hawks_49

This can't be overstated. Rockford was a place where draft picks went to die for the past 3 seasons. now guys are coming up and contributing and the Hogs are looking good. The Colliton hire was a great move.

i agree with all this...January was better...but with all that they still can't compete vs the better teams...

look at that division...every team at least 5 games above .500...aves on roll


stars on a roll
preds continue to play well
jets are much improved
blues stumbled of late but they will get a top 3 spot...

this is what we foresaw a few years ago...the hawks would peak and the other teams would get younger and better...
- bogiedoc

That was inevitable with the cap. That's kind of the point. The NHL wanted parity. it's here. No team is just going to be a shoe in for contending every year anymore. it's gonna be retooling years on the fly and come back. Look at LA, they are just coming back in to relevance after 2 bad seasons.

i agree with all this...January was better...but with all that they still can't compete vs the better teams...

look at that division...every team at least 5 games above .500...aves on roll


stars on a roll
preds continue to play well
jets are much improved
blues stumbled of late but they will get a top 3 spot...

this is what we foresaw a few years ago...the hawks would peak and the other teams would get younger and better...
- bogiedoc

They're all playing well. Absolutely. But if any of those teams do not sustain their play, they're going to plummet down the standings real quick.

I don't want to downplay the fact that the Hawks haven't played well against their own division. That needs to improve. I just think it was a lot of settling into roles as the season went on, and figuring out their team game.

It has improved. Dating back to mid-December when the team finally started showing signs of life against Winnipeg and Minnesota, they're 3-2 against the Central. Very small sample size, but two of those wins were against the best team in the division. Gotta take the positives out of that and keep pushing forward.

I am not a doom and gloom guy to say the least .But if Q remains behind the bench picking cards from a hat for who plays and with who, I would expect more of the same . And if we become mathematically eliminated from the playoffs ,meaningless wins are just that as we hurt our draft position . If we get a good start after the break Great !! ,if not we may as well look to the summer ..GO HAWKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- oldduffman

If the coach has too many toys to play with and can't make up his mind, its the job of the GM to remove those extra toys. Remember when Q kept trotting John Scott out there, just because he could. And then he was gone because somebody had seen enough. First thing Bowman needs to do is ditch one of the 8 defenceman on this roster. And then he can look at removing at least one forward so that Hayden can be recalled. If that means dumping Bouma or Jurco or Sharp so be it.

The standings tell everybody that there's no 'tomorrows' left, they need to decide on their best 20 guys and run with them every night and hope the team gets hot and start pealing off wins.

That was inevitable with the cap. That's kind of the point. The NHL wanted parity. it's here. No team is just going to be a shoe-in for contending every year anymore. it's gonna be retooling years on the fly and come back. Look at LA, they are just coming back into relevance after 2 bad seasons.
- JRoenick97

For LA, it really helps that Dustin Brown re-emerged as a strong player. That partially happened after the Kings took the "C" off Brown's jersey. I think the Hawks might do something similar to Seabs. That would really light a fire under him.

At the end of the day, your best players have to be your best players.

For LA, it really helps that Dustin Brown re-emerged as a strong player. That partially happened after the Kings took the "C" off Brown's jersey. I think the Hawks might do something similar to Seabs. That would really light a fire under him.

At the end of the day, your best players have to be your best players.
- TexasHawk

I think players performance while wearing the "C" or "A" is overrated. Seabrook was a leader on the team before he wore the "A", take it away and he'll still be a leader. If he's the type of guy that plays better because he's officially an alternate captain then he's really not a leader at all. I don't think that's the case with Seabs. But I agree that something needs to be done. Maybe some off ice work (physical or mental), and maybe Q deploys Seabrook differently until he finds his game again.