John Jaeckel: That soft, squishy sound

First

Just going back and reading the comments from the last blog.

Jayzuz.

Couple of things:

1) I want to be really clear. I don't have a hard and fast opinion on what kind of pro Debrincat will be. My opinion is he has some obvious high end skill in a couple of areas and he has a couple of deficiencies that in my opinion will require some work to overcome. i don't think he is going to be a plug and play NHL regular right out of junior like Kane was, FWIW. But because of his "mixed bag" of attributes and skills at this point, it's kind of hard to say when or how good a pro he will be. My only statement in the last blog was, I think the rush to anoint him an answer for the Hawks this year is just that—a rush. Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see soon enough.

2) Please let's keep the political poop off of here. There are lots of channels and venues for that elsewhere on the interwebs. Most of you guys sound smarter talking hockey anyway.

Can't believe through all that you didn't mention the yuuuge elephant in the room??

If your biggest $ co-earner can't fire on all cylinders, then things will get real very quickly in my opinion. If he can get it cooking again then I think you will see progress. If he can't, I expect your GM to be looking for another job sooner rather than later & the organisation in crisis (well maybe crisis is too harsher word), or at minimum some Mr T special - PAIN.

Great blog and nice timing too. What you hear gels with what I personally know o be true. I have been on the season ticket wait list for years and have also been good about checking in every year. This year was different from the last 5+. My ticket rep talked differently. And I got a 9 game package. I think it started a bit of softening last year tho due to the early exit. The high price of tickets mean that most season ticket holders are dependent on resales to help off set prices. If they can't resell their tickets they can't afford them. And there are a lot of good and getting better sports teams in the city right now too.

It seems the Hawks are in no mans land right now and by that I mean they may not be good enough to be considered a Cup contender but on the other hand are not a bad team either and do have enough talent to make the playoffs and win a round or two. This poses a problem for the marketing department because they don't have many up and coming prospects like the Cubs did a few years ago or as the Sox do now or even the Bears with Trubisky so they can't sell hope and say wait until this prospect or that prospect gets here and we'll be really good. They also can't sell themselves as being a team on the verge of winning another Cup either. Now maybe they exceed expectations and Bowman can make a couple of moves to get them back into the Cup conversation but as it stands right now I think most of us would be surprised if the team constructed as it is right now goes deep in the playoffs.

Great blog and nice timing too. What you hear gels with what I personally know o be true. I have been on the season ticket wait list for years and have also been good about checking in every year. This year was different from the last 5+. My ticket rep talked differently. And I got a 9 game package. I think it started a bit of softening last year tho due to the early exit. The high price of tickets mean that most season ticket holders are dependent on resales to help off set prices. If they can't resell their tickets they can't afford them. And there are a lot of good and getting better sports teams in the city right now too.
- Marlowe

If they are getting humble behind the scenes down there it's about (frank)ing time.

Great blog and nice timing too. What you hear gels with what I personally know o be true. I have been on the season ticket wait list for years and have also been good about checking in every year. This year was different from the last 5+. My ticket rep talked differently. And I got a 9 game package. I think it started a bit of softening last year tho due to the early exit. The high price of tickets mean that most season ticket holders are dependent on resales to help off set prices. If they can't resell their tickets they can't afford them. And there are a lot of good and getting better sports teams in the city right now too.
- Marlowe

Right, and the emails last year with all the "customer satisfaction surveys" . . .

I cannot believe that people haven't drawn the obvious conclusion that this is a direct result of the beverage tax in Cook County!

But in all seriousness, these tickets have never been cheap. The cost of a Hawks game keeps getting more and more expensive for me to take my kids to, which does pull away from the "experience" of the game that the NHL pushes. I'm just glad that they don't only get to see away games on SportsVision like I did, or pay for HawkVision for home playoff games!

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

JJ mentioned Apple's resurgence in the early years of the century, attributing their success to improved product.

Along with IMPROVED products came new, bold innovative products - iPod, iPhone, iPad....

Aggressive moves that really drove the resurgence.

Do the Hawks have the necessary foresight - and skills - and guts - to make similar bold moves, on ice and off, if (and, probably, when) necessary?

Can't believe through all that you didn't mention the yuuuge elephant in the room??

If your biggest $ co-earner can't fire on all cylinders, then things will get real very quickly in my opinion. If he can get it cooking again then I think you will see progress. If he can't, I expect your GM to be looking for another job sooner rather than later & the organisation in crisis (well maybe crisis is too harsher word), or at minimum some Mr T special - PAIN.
- Aussiepenguin

Funny Rocky 3 quote and yeah. I think this is spot on.

Hence the Saad-Panarin deal. The calculus was, I'm 99% sure, get Toews back on track with Saad ion his LW, and kane will be productive with Anisimov and whoever.

Of all the offseason "gambles" the Hawks took this summer, IMO, that's the one that really makes the most sense as far as likely success. Time will tell, of course.

If Toews/Saad/Panik is even close to what Toews/Saad/Hossa was in 2015, then the Hawks should have two really strong scoring lines and more firepower across two lines than most teams have (except the Pens and a couple of others). It's a lot to equate Panik with Hossa, but that was 36 year old Hossa, not 26 year old. And Panik showed enough last year to say he can play with those guys.

But Toews and Saad complement eachother very well, proven. And Kane has shown over and over he can score with guys like Handzus and Bickell and a completely done Brad Richards on his line.

The big ? is on defense, IMO, also the penalty kill. Bowman will make at least one add there when Hossa's $$ free up. But it's a lot of change and it should take some time for things to settle and the team identity to emerge (good or bad).

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

Poor taste, but kinda funny.

Poor taste, but kinda funny.
- John Jaeckel

I really hope he pulls through this, even if he never plays again. That's just awful.

I really hope he pulls through this, even if he never plays again. That's just awful.
- Fenrir

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.

Just going back and reading the comments from the last blog.

Jayzuz.

Couple of things:

1) I want to be really clear. I don't have a hard and fast opinion on what kind of pro Debrincat will be. My opinion is he has some obvious high end skill in a couple of areas and he has a couple of deficiencies that in my opinion will require some work to overcome. i don't think he is going to be a plug and play NHL regular right out of junior like Kane was, FWIW. But because of his "mixed bag" of attributes and skills at this point, it's kind of hard to say when or how good a pro he will be. My only statement in the last blog was, I think the rush to anoint him an answer for the Hawks this year is just that—a rush. Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see soon enough.

2) Please let's keep the political poop off of here. There are lots of channels and venues for that elsewhere on the interwebs. Most of you guys sound smarter talking hockey anyway.


- John Jaeckel

And for many others, even talking hockey can result in not sounding too bright!!!

John Jaeckel: That soft, squishy sound
- John Jaeckel

https://www.youtube.com/w...RU&feature=youtu.be&t=10s

Along with it, some officials at the Hawks have attributed these “softenings” in demand to things like STH’s moving out of Chicago, or natural attrition, not a weakening of the draw of the brand.


Not thinking too clearly this morning, what is STH?

As far as the line-up is presently, I am not OVERLY concerned. All teams have holes, we surely have 3-4 spots that could be improved on...BUT, with the 5 million freed up in October Stan can surely help find a Band-Aid or two.

Worse case....
Saad - Toews- Panik.......should be an OK line 1
Schmaltz - Anisomov - Kane.....ideally Sckmaltz replaced, but still OK
Sharp- Dauphin - Hartman....good speed line 3
combo of...Kero/Wingles/Jurco/Hayden/Hino/TooToo

So, up front...could use a Top 6 piece....but even if not there is some potential there. And Debrincat or Fortin not included as expect development time needed.

It is defense we need an upgrade more.

Keith - Seabrook - Murphy.....all ok

4-6 all questionable. Forsling, Kempny, Rosavil, Gustafsson.....not liking too much

A decent #4 D-man would help slot those guys much better.

Grab a decent D-man outta that 5 million, and we are at least a pretty decent team going into the season. Of course, the piece(s) that leave in any deal also are a factor, but with 5 million Cap space we should be able to move a pick or two and a prospect or two and net ourselves a LW and a D-man , or even 2 D-men and really add to the depth. Adding a Top 6 LW would also allow us to strengthen the BOTTOM 6 by slotting Schmaltz down there.

So much can change with that 5 million, I don't think the team we have in front of us now will be the same after the trade-deadline. I see a Top 6 with 1 or two different players, and a bottom six strengthened with the shift downward of a couple of guys. Equally so on defense, where I see at least ONE addition to the Top 4, and re-slotting the 5-6 guys to strengthen us as well.

At least, that is my hope for Stan moving forward. That 5 million is GOLD. We haven't had the flexibility before and I believe it will help LOADS going forward!!! Maybe a stud (like Duchesne or E. Kane) but more likely in the form of 2-3 solid parts worth 2-3 million each and plugging into the middle of our forward and defense groups.

Along with it, some officials at the Hawks have attributed these “softenings” in demand to things like STH’s moving out of Chicago, or natural attrition, not a weakening of the draw of the brand.


Not thinking too clearly this morning, what is STH?
- boilermaker100

Season Ticket Holders

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.

I buy group tickets every year for the past 10 years and this year I was only able to get rows 16-17 at 95 a ticket. Every other year, I had no higher than row 13. So perhaps they are allowing more 9 games packages.

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.

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.
- John Jaeckel

Yeah, the Hawks had the good Hossa, while we had Marcel.
Good a time as any to walk away with all that, being set for life and all.

I'm down with the "softening" of ticket sales.

That means I can afford to go now