Fallin , Fallin, Fallin,

I am knocking on your door Rocky!
The team is running through the jungle helplessly.
It is time for a change. Stan needs to go , McD needs to stick to selling tickets. Bring in a quality new GM and a true hockey operations VP.
Up and around the bend..all I see is a bunch of "Suzie Q's"NHL pretenders.
Someday will never come until we breakup the core and bring in a true experienced and successful GM and scouts that will make the Hawks viable again.

LOL you're making my point for me. GM's assemble teams, not coaches.
Q, one of the best coaches in the league, cant win with a crap roster.
- tompo1015

Q up had a big part in assembling line-ups ,that was the problem ...

Q up had a big part in assembling line-ups ,that was the problem ...
- oldduffman

I see the same line ups, post Quennville. No change in results. So that means the problem wasnt the coach. Infact, I see less team preparation NOW.

I see the same line ups, post Quennville. No change in results. So that means the problem wasnt the coach. Infact, I see less team preparation NOW.
- tompo1015

Two games in a row essentially lost in the first 10 minutes...scratching Jokiharju, their most reliable defender all year IMO, is complete nonsense. Scrubs like Gustafson, Manning and Rutta have nearly 10 years on the kid and are far worse at playing defense.

I see the same line ups, post Quennville. No change in results. So that means the problem wasnt the coach. Infact, I see less team preparation NOW.
- tompo1015

Sure the kid was going to change the team in two weeks . Little premature to be judging that .. Q was here for 11 years, many of the core barely played for any other coach as a pro . Lot of thing to be reworked ,I give the kid a year or more . I see some small changes .Things will improve

Sure the kid was going to change the team in two weeks . Little premature to be judging that .. Q was here for 11 years, many of the core barely played for any other coach as a pro . Lot of thing to be reworked ,I give the kid a year or more . I see some small changes .Things will improve
- oldduffman

Scratching Jokiharju seems counterproductive given the other options, but you are half right.....this team’s failures lie in the roster construction, not the coaching. That goes for both Q and Colliton.

this is bizarro world....Just the opposite is true. So the first line getting housed in first period, was their frustration message to the organization and fans?

NHL forwards, what is that eye test for us novices? Kane has not produces in last handful of games....
- TrueGrit

I'm not talking about the first 10 minutes in isolation but in the larger scheme of things. No doubt some good players for the Hawks made mistakes early tonight. For the most part JC rides the top guys and the other guys fail to generate much of anything.

JC is now the front man for the front office who delusionally believe they have a competitive team among this group. Q took the first fall for McD, and after it is apparent to even McD that there is not a competitive team to be found among this group, Bowman will take the next fall for McD who will say “we need a new direction in how we construct a team.”

Then McD will retire because the emperor will be exposed as having no clothes.

Only then will the true rebuild begin.
- Return of the Roar

It's not just the roster. It isn't nearly so black and white. Q wasn't perfect and his assistants...unimpressive lately. I think the one thing is clear...we downgraded (so far) in the coach department. The Hawks look like a rudderless ship lately.

Well a tough loss again . But have seen thing to like in the last couple games .Making very good teams work till the end .HAWKS core and kids have to find some consistency .Not ready to play at the start of the game .Maybe JC is not use to motivating players ,as I assume players in the A are already motivated to get to the show .
Anybody that thought this team would shake off the last 3 years of Q stink in a week or two was dreaming .Long year HAWKS may or may not get in ,but starting to move in the right direction . GO HAWKS !!
- oldduffman

wow...yeah proud of the team for hanging in there after getting blitzed 3-0..

right on cue here is da man blaming Q

thank you for the memories toews line for wonderful display of horsepoop defense

Can we send Jeremy Colliton back to the AHL for more seasoning? Seriously not impressed with him so far. Johnson, Hayden, Martinsen, Fortin can go back down too; not playing like NHL forwards. I think the core of this team is frustrated.
- breadbag

I get the feeling JC will be a really good NHL coach one day. People have compared him to the Pens Mike Sullivan and I think that might be what it is like. He'll coach the Blackhawks for the rest of this year and probably all of the next. Then he'll get fired by the new GM. He'll be an assistant for a couple of coaches on different teams over the next eight seasons or so, then get another chance as a head coach and he'll do really well.

I expected playoff elimination by thanksgiving...and indeed it is...

they will battle the blues, kings and yotes and most likely the nucks and oil for the bottom dwellers in the west..

they have 19 games straight ahead with the preds, jets, aves and stars...38 pts...they might get 12 of those...

last 13 games 2-8-3 and given up 3 or more in 9/13 games and scored 3 or more in 4/19

so wave those pom poms for the occasional win and all those "moral" victories against the better teams

Scratching Jokiharju seems counterproductive given the other options, but you are half right.....this team’s failures lie in the roster construction, not the coaching. That goes for both Q and Colliton.
- EnzoD

Scratching Jokiharju may seem counterproductive ,but in the long run it will be a wise move . It is all a process ,
Q would not work with his GM and FO that was his downfall ,there is no I in team . Bye Q you were given to many chances ,that was the FO biggest mistake . It will take time to clean up his mess ,and some players bad habits ..

Scratching Jokiharju may seem counterproductive ,but in the long run it will be a wise move . It is all a process ,
Q would not work with his GM and FO that was his downfall ,there is no I in team . Bye Q you were given to many chances ,that was the FO biggest mistake . It will take time to clean up his mess ,and some players bad habits ..
- oldduffman

The only positive in scratching, arguably, your best Dman all year (at 19 years old) is another loss closer to top 5 odds in the draft lottery

I expected playoff elimination by thanksgiving...and indeed it is...

they will battle the blues, kings and yotes and most likely the nucks and oil for the bottom dwellers in the west..

they have 19 games straight ahead with the preds, jets, aves and stars...38 pts...they might get 12 of those...

last 13 games 2-8-3 and given up 3 or more in 9/13 games and scored 3 or more in 4/19

so wave those pom poms for the occasional win and all those "moral" victories against the better teams
- bogiedoc

Winnable game tm against the last place Panthers, but can’t bet on this team to beat anybody.

I think the biggest issue with this team is a lack of fight. In Fight I mean sticking up for teammates. This team will never defend a teammate when any adversity rises. Again tonight Crow hits the ice from contact, and there is not 1 player to defend him.

Maybe it's time for Scotty Bowman (and coach Smith) to go. They are a cancer, much like Pully has been. Members of other Original 6 franchises that were hated.

For every gripe about Gus and Schmaltz, there is at least 1 if not more errors for Toews and Keith. That info is censored with Foley and Edzo....Been that way for years...
- TrueGrit

Amen

Another bone of contention is this:

Perhaps misinterpreted to some degree by myself, the Rocky loyalty to the old core players like Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Kane and Crawford is hogwash. Go pick a different adjective if you like; it stinks and is the price for the glory years and Cups. Bownan justvtri d to tweak out some playoff runs since the last Cup. But the team was finished being good, as it began to unravel some us us lambasted shortcomings from talent to coaching and all the way to Bowman's litany of more bad than good transactions......... excuse me. Maybe I am more to the point if I say transgressions

Anyway, look at what we have and what will become of these former core players (Justin ought to blog on this):

KEITH bad attitude. Lost a step, but still skates well. Will never be a top dman again, can be pretty good in stretches if he has motivation...which means he requires a proper good partner and descent team. For that to happen, look for a trade maybe later than sooner. Because this defense needs him until if and when some youngsters become up to par. How many gp/years away? For the fabulous four (the latest positive rub I have seen on Justin blog).

SEABROOK. Supposedly in better shape, he has been much better. Sometimes he gets off a lot of shots. But fact is that his skating still is lacking and he never had been a QB on defense. An early xmas ho ho ho is neither had Keith been a QB. You will witness, however, real deal offensive talent when the kids fit in on the blueline

TOEWS Goodness gracious the new Toews has 11 goals. Could finish with 30 conceivably. Now conceive this: he is not anywhere near the same force or valuable as he once was. His and Seabrook salaries hold Bowman back if he could willingly part ways with them. So Toews and Seabrook are like faded politicians living off their former productivity and as such are perceived as caretakers for sub .500 teams. Until someone can replace them. Newsflash' do not put your faith in the less than tough enough Schwartz.

KANE I would like to think of how two years ago Karlson was the driving force that the rest of the Ottawa team fed off of. Well not exactly but you get the idea. Kane needs to be the big star and driving force. And until the team is better, I would have an enforcer on his wing or just playing that role if not on his wing. Like Gretzky had in Edmonton.

The future of this team should be three sets of mobile dmen with a Gilbert and Hillman type balancing out. There should be two offensive lines; one with Kane and the other a more physical type line. The Penn State kid who is lighting it up this year but is maybe more a Burrish type (?) PLUS some size please (can Knott advance) is my hope for a fourth line. I don't know how Sikura fits/do you?

The only positive in scratching, arguably, your best Dman all year (at 19 years old) is another loss closer to top 5 odds in the draft lottery
- EnzoD

Joki's play has fallen off of late. Maybe he just needed a mental break.

4th in the tankathon race.

Joki's play has fallen off of late. Maybe he just needed a mental break.
- EbonyRaptor[/quot

Play has fallen off worse than Keith who was directly responsible for how many goals against this year (again tonight)?? Or every other Dman in the lineup minus Forsling who’s looked solid.

2+7 aren’t great anymore so might as well play them together to make them play for pride/each other.

2-7
42-28

That should be the Top 4 Gustafson sucks

For every gripe about Gus and Schmaltz, there is at least 1 if not more errors for Toews and Keith. That info is censored with Foley and Edzo....Been that way for years...
- TrueGrit

Please TG what games are you watching? NoTouch Gus and FlyBy Schmaltz are awful. They not only never engage but never even try to engage. Schmaltz never tries to confront an opposing player from the front. Never. Also gives up the puck so easily it is mindnumbing. Gus in the D-Zone does nothing. He is totally lost and stands still like a highway cone. A D-Man cannot choose to do nothing.

Next you’ll be saying that Fortin has scoring touch.

Please TG what games are you watching? NoTouch Gus and FlyBy Schmaltz are awful. They not only never engage but never even try to engage. Schmaltz never tries to confront an opposing player from the front. Never. Also gives up the puck so easily it is mindnumbing. Gus in the D-Zone does nothing. He is totally lost and stands still like a highway cone. A D-Man cannot choose to do nothing.

Next you’ll be saying that Fortin has scoring touch.
- Z3Hawk

Interesting to cull what the path had look like since Fortin turned pro.

I read junior clipping that said he was was undersized if he was to play a prototypical power forward game. So how did he put up points in junior?

Well after showing some flash in NHL exhibition games he goes to Rockford. Coach had to figure roles, decide how to shape roster. Fortin to work on all around game, but had injury issues. Don't know that the kid has a scoring touch. Might one day become a descent scorer, but for now he isn't much at NHL level.

Agree with that perspective on playing man-to-man versus zone defense which is why some of the players (maybe many or most) are liking this new system. As Manning said, he likes the fact that if there's a loose puck then he can just go get it rather than worry staying in a certain zone.

One thing that does concern me and may just be part of a learning curve to adjust to a new defense system is that there are many times at even strength when there will be a board battle with 3 Hawks and 2 opposing players meaning someone is not covering his man.
- AEL_Fox

Under man to man you don’t just throw out what side of the ice the D-Men play on. Man to man may allow more agressive stepping up and puck challenges deep. However, this isn’t done in a vaccum. You don’t want a D-Man caught up-ice nor do you want both D-Men caught on the same side leaving the front of the net or the far post open.

And Gus has been notably worse than Keith?
- TrueGrit

I would say keith knows what to do but his body cannot do anymore and he need to adjust.

Gus just seems clueless.

Both rolling like a regular blue flame special back there

Justin any trade rumors read on on seabrook to Edmonton anything to that.
- Scott1977

Did not hear anything on Seabrook at all.

Sounds like there are more whispers than normal though about somenmoves coming. I haven't heard any specifics though.

Interesting to cull what the path had look like since Fortin turned pro.

I read junior clipping that said he was was undersized if he was to play a prototypical power forward game. So how did he put up points in junior?

Well after showing some flash in NHL exhibition games he goes to Rockford. Coach had to figure roles, decide how to shape roster. Fortin to work on all around game, but had injury issues. Don't know that the kid has a scoring touch. Might one day become a descent scorer, but for now he isn't much at NHL level.
- jhawk59

The problem with Fortin is he has not earned it. He hasn’t scored at all since playing in the Q. Should have had to prove he could score at Rockford before being given an NHL chance. Speed is a great asset if it is combined with other assets but he seems to only have speed.