This fan base has a tendency to over value their past d prospects: Clendening, Johns, Lalonde, Paliota, Dahlbeck, etc
- JRoenick97

Ehhhhh

Johns is 6'4 225 and can skate real good. Probably not too different from Murphy. all the tools, may or may not figure it out. Would still probably have a spot on this roster if was here.

Ehhhhh

Johns is 6'4 225 and can skate real good. Probably not too different from Murphy. all the tools, may or may not figure it out. Would still probably have a spot on this roster if was here.
- fattybeef

Did he ever actually have a spot here? He never played a game for Chicago in the NHL and the Hawks sent him out the door to Dallas where they had one of the worst D core in the league. Maybe he will solidify his spot, but how long were we gonna wait?

Interesting article on the Captain, echoing what many (some?) on here think

https://twitter.com/vanco...status/917992681254608896
- Hawkjet

He's kind of giving it to everyone now (well Saad is anyway) so there's that.

Anyway - team has gotten shelled in 2/4 games. Crow has been great. The shot differential is uglyyyyyyyy.

Hopefully they figure out the odds and ends as the season progresses. Also, don't need to see Keith skating more than 22 minutes until the spring.

Did he ever actually have a spot here? He never played a game for Chicago in the NHL and the Hawks sent him out the door to Dallas where they had one of the worst D core in the league. Maybe he will solidify his spot, but how long were we gonna wait?
- breadbag

He was going to be on the team the year he got traded if Dallas didn't take him back in the Sharp deal.

The kid may never be a star but a very large man with a lot of mobility and half a brain is going to be useful especially with the diluted talent pool in today's NHL and the way the playoffs have been officiated the last few years.

He was going to be on the team the year he got traded if Dallas didn't take him back in the Sharp deal.

The kid may never be a star but a very large man with a lot of mobility and half a brain is going to be useful especially with the diluted talent pool in today's NHL and the way the playoffs have been officiated the last few years.
- fattybeef

Maybe he would have stuck that year, but it is hard to say. He only got 14 games with Dallas that year. It still doesn't look like much of a loss until he does have some level of success.

@Blackhawk_Up
Patrick Sharp now has assists on Patrick Kane's and Alex DeBrincat's first NHL goals... 10 years apart!

I like him for that 4th line. His skating and now with Wingels' improved play gives us a nice 4th line that will be hard to play against.
- 67hawks

Agreed. Lets hope Bouma is the ofd man out

Sounds like it is going to be a slow news day and the recent post have have dealt a lot with some of the moves Stan Bowman made the last several years — both good and bad.

Let me throw out a topic for discussion along the trade lines: Should a GM always try to “win” a trade or is it in his best interests to try to match value to value with his trading counterpart?

The Hawks beat the snot out of the Pens on opening day. Great and entertaining game for us BH fans. Despite the lopsided ness of the game, we know the Pens must show up (at least physically) at the next game. I expect the Pens to be fully motivated and ready to play that game.

Instead of the hockey game however, let’s say Stan Bowman “won” a similarly lopsided trade against the Pens GM. Would Stan ever be able to trade with that GM again? Could this come down the road long term and hurt the Hawks in the future by possibly eliminating a trading partner they might need as some future time?

I never stated we got better because Kruger moved on. My point still stands. Kruger was replaceable at his price. As long as the fourth line plays well, kills some Penalties and creates havoc (which they've done, irrespective of the system), Kruger's 5 points a year won't be missed.
- kwolf68

You know that Kruger only had less than 10 points once (season he got injured and only played half the games) and had a .26 PPG / would have averaged about 21-22 points per season, right? If he'd played all games last year, he'd have gotten 20.

Kruger is a luxery player than cannot be afford by cap strapped team, that I agree with. But replacable is not the right word because Kruger still hasn't been replaced really by anyone. Kero is taking some of the PK, but none of the 5v5 responsibility, for example. Maybe if Kero had better linemates at 5v5, but then, Kruger had some lugs as well and Q still gave him heavy assignments.

Edit: should have finished reading the thread where the points was already disucssed but ah well.

So far through 4 games the hawks have been overall ok 2 really good games then then 2 games where they were outplayed for most of the game. To me the biggest problem, and this is just my observation, faceoffs are big problem and the biggest problem, the d is a work in progress, kane misses smaltz and franson and seabrook are pylons only thing going for seabrook is his hockey IQ. Once smaltz comes back AA along with other forwards will be sloted where they belong. And the hawks don t need Duchene think again or a player like him alone his faceoff ability and speed will help in more ways than one. The more time the hawks spend in the opposing team d zone is pressure off the our d and goaltending. So I propose Hartman + forsling and 2019 1st for duchence and lindholm or money retained.

So far through 4 games the hawks have been overall ok 2 really good games then then 2 games where they were outplayed for most of the game. To me the biggest problem, and this is just my observation, faceoffs are big problem and the biggest problem, the d is a work in progress, kane misses smaltz and franson and seabrook are pylons only thing going for seabrook is his hockey IQ. Once smaltz comes back AA along with other forwards will be sloted where they belong. And the hawks don t need Duchene think again or a player like him alone his faceoff ability and speed will help in more ways than one. The more time the hawks spend in the opposing team d zone is pressure off the our d and goaltending. So I propose Hartman + forsling and 2019 1st for duchence and lindholm or money retained.
- Scott1977

Seabs has been fine so far. The whole D itself hasn't been remarkable, but they've got the job done. Keith and Rutta are the best 2 so far, but Rutta gets easier assignments than Keith and Seabs.

You know that Kruger only had less than 10 points once (season he got injured and only played half the games) and had a .26 PPG / would have averaged about 21-22 points per season, right? If he'd played all games last year, he'd have gotten 20.

Kruger is a luxery player than cannot be afford by cap strapped team, that I agree with. But replacable is not the right word because Kruger still hasn't been replaced really by anyone. Kero is taking some of the PK, but none of the 5v5 responsibility, for example. Maybe if Kero had better linemates at 5v5, but then, Kruger had some lugs as well and Q still gave him heavy assignments.

Edit: should have finished reading the thread where the points was already disucssed but ah well.
- L_B_R

My take is basically that, if you have the horses at the top half of your lineup, you can survive not having a guy like Kruger on the 4th line. The Hawks obviously have that.

If you don't have that though, you need to have a guy like him to ease some of the matchup problems you'll inevitably face.

He can make up for having some weak players in your lineup, but if you're a real top-heavy team anyway, you can get away without him.

My take is basically that, if you have the horses at the top half of your lineup, you can survive not having a guy like Kruger on the 4th line. The Hawks obviously have that.

If you don't have that though, you need to have a guy like him to ease some of the matchup problems you'll inevitably face.

He can make up for having some weak players in your lineup, but if you're a real top-heavy team anyway, you can get away without him.
- BINGO!

Having Saad really helps fill the void defensively. If he gets injured, the hawks go down in flames.

JJ,
Hear any more on whether Hawks still have interest in Galchenyuk? Wasn't it AA for Galchenyuk?

Sounds like it is going to be a slow news day and the recent post have have dealt a lot with some of the moves Stan Bowman made the last several years — both good and bad.

Let me throw out a topic for discussion along the trade lines: Should a GM always try to “win” a trade or is it in his best interests to try to match value to value with his trading counterpart?

The Hawks beat the snot out of the Pens on opening day. Great and entertaining game for us BH fans. Despite the lopsided ness of the game, we know the Pens must show up (at least physically) at the next game. I expect the Pens to be fully motivated and ready to play that game.

Instead of the hockey game however, let’s say Stan Bowman “won” a similarly lopsided trade against the Pens GM. Would Stan ever be able to trade with that GM again? Could this come down the road long term and hurt the Hawks in the future by possibly eliminating a trading partner they might need as some future time?
- Spec41971

I'm not sure you can answer this question as it is worded. It depends on what you mean by "win". If you mean always getting the perceived better player, then no. If winning means you add pieces that add to the overall goal then yes.

Did the AZ GM lose when he took on the Datsyuk contract for a switch in picks? If Bowman made that trade, yes it is a huge loss. In AZ it is a win because it furthers their plan.

Might be a little behind on this, but did Nashville have a banner ceremony for Conference Championship!?!?!?!?!

Might be a little behind on this, but did Nashville have a banner ceremony for Conference Championship!?!?!?!?!
- nickmo2699

Yes....

Might be a little behind on this, but did Nashville have a banner ceremony for Conference Championship!?!?!?!?!
- nickmo2699

VopatsRash was the guest MC!

He was going to be on the team the year he got traded if Dallas didn't take him back in the Sharp deal.

The kid may never be a star but a very large man with a lot of mobility and half a brain is going to be useful especially with the diluted talent pool in today's NHL and the way the playoffs have been officiated the last few years.
- fattybeef

How do you know he was going to be on the team? I mean, at some point, Clendening was "definitely" going to be on the team. So was Dahlbeck. So was Morin. etc etc.

I think Johns probably would have made the team, but there's no way to really know. Q loved him some TVR that year, who's to say TVR wouldn't have displaced Johns? They wouldn't have carried 5 RD / guys who played the right (as Hjammer did).

Might be a little behind on this, but did Nashville have a banner ceremony for Conference Championship!?!?!?!?!
- nickmo2699

Remember when they didn't mind losing James Neal? I imagine there's a different opinion now.

Remember when they didn't mind losing James Neal? I imagine there's a different opinion now.
- JRoenick97

Shipyachov is training on his own and technically in the AHL (not playing for their AHL team though) due to waiver issues with Vegas. Adding Shyachov to the Hawks (if Vegas retains 25% Salary) would be interesting. If not Shipyachov, then I hope Bowman is trying to acquire one of the surplus Dmen currently rostered in Vegas.

VopatsRash was the guest MC!
- BGKarras

Might be a little behind on this, but did Nashville have a banner ceremony for Conference Championship!?!?!?!?!
- nickmo2699

Copied Vancouver's 2011 banner

Shipyachov is training on his own and technically in the AHL (not playing for their AHL team though) due to waiver issues with Vegas. Adding Shyachov to the Hawks (if Vegas retains 25% Salary) would be interesting. If not Shipyachov, then I hope Bowman is trying to acquire one of the surplus Dmen currently rostered in Vegas.
- EnzoD

Absolutely not. Why in the hell do we need a pouting Russian? Whether or not he deserved to be sent down, he groaned about it, resisted going. I think McPhee is trying to polish his knob to repair his hurt feelings, but we don't need this player. If anything we need a D-man or "maybe" a bottom 6 center who can win draws with some solid offensive upside and I doubt the entitled Russian would enjoy playing a checking role in Chicago (because he sure as hell won't slot on line 1 or 2). Hard. Pass. Theodore or Schmitt would work for me.

Absolutely not. Why in the hell do we need a pouting Russian? Whether or not he deserved to be sent down, he groaned about it, resisted going. I think McPhee is trying to polish his knob to make repair his hurt feelings, but if anything lets get a D-man instead.
- kwolf68

I would have to strongly disagree with your view of the situation. As far as his Agent and Vadim have said, he is not pouting, he came to the NHL to play in the best league in the world and I completely understand why he would be frustrated considering he is by far the Top Center on that team and belongs in the NHL. McPhee overplayed his hand regarding the roster and how much he will get back via a trade so now he is playing hardball and it forced him to send two NHL quality players in Theodore and Shipyachov to the AHL. He sent down Shipyachov (who is their #1 Center) bc of Cap reasons and his 2-way contract, not attitude or performance. Shipyachov is a heck of a player when I saw him in the Preseason and over the years in International Tourneys.