Musical Interlude...sorry, no Blackhawks or hockey references so scroll past if you'd like.

Been watching Jeopardy and the original bass player from the all female group Runaways, Jackie Fox (Fuchs) is on and has won four straight days. Fun. Carry on.
- HawkintheD

Nice back story. Makes it doubly sad she didn't know the Beatles played Hamburg before hitting it big.

He’s a guy though that someone may like at the TDL if they are looking for some O on their D line.

The corpse of Kimmo got 2 seconds from Stan. Gusto should fetch 3 first rounders...or maybe just straight up for Dutch.
- HawkintheD

Ott is not in contention to be a buyer at the tdl. Nice valuation of Gus though, haha.

Nice back story. Makes it doubly sad she didn't know the Beatles played Hamburg before hitting it big.
- Beaver-Warrior

But I doubt she could give it the ole Alex Trebek proper pronunciation.

I thought he likes Buffalo chips?
- BlackhawkMike

Well, then Shuffle off to Buffalo.
Sorry, music references are still going strong!
Maybe Buffalo Gals, to keep in the Christmas spirit of things.

Yes Tallon and Smith had a large part in drafting many good and great players for the hawks. I'd argue a blind man with no understanding of hockey would have drafted the most important pieces Toews and Kane. Many of the players drafted in later rounds while attributed to the GM were pure luck. Just like Bowman selecting Shaw late in the draft was good luck over good Management. Tallon's trade for Sharp was brilliant.

Bowman didn't have the clean slate Tallon and Smith had. He had to retool on the fly with his hands tied with salary cap issues from day one. He made a brilliant move in keeping Oduya over a younger Leddy ensuring a cup win, There is no chance the Hawks win with a defensively inept Leddy making high risk passes and offensive zone forays.

Yes the Hawks are in a mess today. Yes Bowman has to take some blame. And yes Bowman has made some questionable moves. But where is your lord Smith today? He bounced around all over the place and his genius never amounted to him staying anywhere for long. I guess you are a fan of Anton Babchuck, Alexander Karpotsev or ALEXI Zhamnov? Or how about the great Tallon? His Florida team flop between decent and mediocrity each season. How do you like Kyle Beach, Jack Skille or Cam Barker all Tallon chosen first round flops? I would think a "student of the game" would look at the accomplishments of everything a GM has done, not just cherry pick to further their narrative.
- paulr

Well speaking of narrative, it was NOT Oduya OR Leddy. Bowman was hoping to retain Leddy, but was unable to get anything done financially and had to MOVE Leddy. The not-so-brilliant move of trading him the day before the season was to begin when he has ZERO leverage and thus had to trade a talented young puck moving D-man for absolute garbage.

I am so not sure where the Oduya or Leddy thing came along, but whatever.

"Some" of the blame? This jalopy is his, period. Some "questionable" moves? He gave away quality resources for Dale Weiss, Kimo Timmonen, think it would have helped to have Danaut and THREE 2nd round picks right about now? The idiocy of trading for Rundblad, again TWO more 2nd round picks, one of those picks turned into Christian Dvorak, not a bad young piece. Toss in the bloated salaries and NTCs, I will give him a pass on 19 salary, hell if you want give him a pass for 7s salary, but the NTCs is mildly absurd, NTCs to depth players.

We've beaten the bowman horse to death, each side has taken their stance, I get it.

Bowman's good moves that I see?
--Trading FOR Leddy (move sorta negated by how Leddy was shipped out)
--Trading for Oduya, Frolik, late season acquisition in 2015 of Vermette. Imagine had he moved for Vermette one year sooner? You probably have four Cups in Chicago
--Draft picks of Shaw and Saad were good, Jokiharu looks promising

Generally speaking the Hawks won Cups pretty much totally because of a core group of players gifted to Bowman, he had nothing to do with Sharp, Toews, Kane, Hossa, Seabs, Keith, Hammer, Crawford. Sure, adding Oduya and a couple other depth pieces along the way "helped" (in some way), but the Cups really are the result of what happened before Bowman got there.

Well speaking of narrative, it was NOT Oduya OR Leddy. Bowman was hoping to retain Leddy, but was unable to get anything done financially and had to MOVE Leddy. The not-so-brilliant move of trading him the day before the season was to begin when he has ZERO leverage and thus had to trade a talented young puck moving D-man for absolute garbage.

I am so not sure where the Oduya or Leddy thing came along, but whatever.

"Some" of the blame? This jalopy is his, period. Some "questionable" moves? He gave away quality resources for Dale Weiss, Kimo Timmonen, think it would have helped to have Danaut and THREE 2nd round picks right about now? The idiocy of trading for Rundblad, again TWO more 2nd round picks, one of those picks turned into Christian Dvorak, not a bad young piece. Toss in the bloated salaries and NTCs, I will give him a pass on 19 salary, hell if you want give him a pass for 7s salary, but the NTCs is mildly absurd, NTCs to depth players.

We've beaten the bowman horse to death, each side has taken their stance, I get it.

Bowman's good moves that I see?
--Trading FOR Leddy (move sorta negated by how Leddy was shipped out)
--Trading for Oduya, Frolik, late season acquisition in 2015 of Vermette. Imagine had he moved for Vermette one year sooner? You probably have four Cups in Chicago
--Draft picks of Shaw and Saad were good, Jokiharu looks promising

Generally speaking the Hawks won Cups pretty much totally because of a core group of players gifted to Bowman, he had nothing to do with Sharp, Toews, Kane, Hossa, Seabs, Keith, Hammer, Crawford. Sure, adding Oduya and a couple other depth pieces along the way "helped" (in some way), but the Cups really are the result of what happened before Bowman got there.
- kwolf68

Or he could have MOVED Oduya and kept Leddy, no?

Or he could have MOVED Oduya and kept Leddy, no?
- paulr

what we should have done is traded Roz and or not given Roz a 2 year deal at 2.25, then we could have kept leddy 1 more year and then traded him or resigned him ETC, instead of being forced to trade a young top 4 d man for What my dog does every morning.

what we should have done is traded Roz and or not given Roz a 2 year deal at 2.25, then we could have kept leddy 1 more year and then traded him or resigned him ETC, instead of being forced to trade a young top 4 d man for What my dog does every morning.
- kmw4631

(Polka?) Ville Pokka.

He’s a guy though that someone may like at the TDL if they are looking for some O on their D line.

The corpse of Kimmo got 2 seconds from Stan. Gusto should fetch 3 first rounders...or maybe just straight up for Dutch.
- HawkintheD

Too bad Stan can't trade with himself

Too bad Stan can't trade with himself
- vabeachbear

"He can think about it, but don't do it. It wouldn't look nice on my highway."-Smokey and the Bandit.

Oduya had a broken foot and had one year left on his contract. He was not tradable at the time.

I read a little about the WJC: sounded like enwistle looks solid but maybe more of a 4th line center that is good on the PK. Mtichell was not mentioned much good or bad which means he was fine. probably a middle pairing guy with Med OFF upside. Kurashev scored a goal and sounded like he was one of the best swiss players.

I'm a season ticket holder and what Some of the hawks mangment might not understand is at this point there are allot of big Hockey fans in Chicago. I would rather watch Dahlstrom and Murphy then Keith and Seabs, I would rather watch Kampf then AA. Delia over ward ETC. anybody that is older then Teows and Kane and not going to be contributor's on a team that is going to win rounds in the playoffs. I know Seabs is untradable but AA and Keith would seem to have some value. if we are going to lose and we have been lets lose with the young guys. I don't buy that young guys need to learn from Vets by watching. What are they learning right now. They need to play and be coached. that was one my one problem with Q is he seemed like he did not want to teach the young guys. IE not a great communicator with the younger players. Benching a guy and not speaking ot him makes no sense to me for a 21 year old. a 29 yes but he rarely did that with his older players. if they could have had Q embrace the youth movement and Start really teaching the game he would have had a lot of credibility.

Gus in his own zone is hilarious. His scoring is mehhhhhhh. Shooting a pretty high percentage for a defender right now. Should probably be closer to 6ish%.

For every nice pass or bomb of a shot you get a handful of mess.

Fine for a place holder but if someone threw a pair of seconds or a first out for him I'd bite on it. Too many guys coming up with a lot more talent and i think Dahlstrom showing competence kind of makes him superfluous since Murphy can play that side as well.

Same for Forsling. Maybe flip the pair for another cost controlled middle six guy.

Re Leddy: also include Sharp.

Wasn't dealing those guys, it was waiting until the midnight hour and getting bent over that was the problem.

That is why I really liked the Strome deal. That was more ruthless and i think they should be more aggressive with the assets they have.

Why are the Hawks adding a sweetener? Especially for a guy with 32 points in 89 games? And on a team that has some cap trouble looming.

Also, I highly doubt anyone would sign him for 6.5 at this point of his career.
- Elbows15

I would go for Kap in the offseason and sign him to an offer sheet. Something like 3 years 3-4M per "prove it" kinda deal. Get some speed in this lineup and add more depth. Would only cost the Hawks a 2nd Rd pick (which will likely be very high up) but it would be for someone who can help this team win right now and going forward.

Does anyone know much about or even watched Blackhawks D prospect Jake Ryczek? The Rink seems to be talking him up quite a bit in their weekly prospect reports.

He was selected in the last round of the 2016 draft out of the USHL (played for Sioux City then Waterloo). He's in his second season with Halifax in the Q.

In addition to Ryczek, the Rink has also been focusing a lot on his Halifax teammate Alexis Gravel. After two so-so seasons, Gravel seems to have elevated his game in net for the Mooseheads.
- AEL_Fox

I noticed the same. Haven't heard anything about him the past few years and it seems like he's starting to develop a bit more now. Idk what his ceiling really is. I think he is kinda going from Hawks prospect in Juniors to possibly Icehog depth guy and work his way up from there. Like I said, I don't know much about him other than that seems to be what his trajectory is currently at

Gus in his own zone is hilarious. His scoring is mehhhhhhh. Shooting a pretty high percentage for a defender right now. Should probably be closer to 6ish%.

For every nice pass or bomb of a shot you get a handful of mess.

Fine for a place holder but if someone threw a pair of seconds or a first out for him I'd bite on it. Too many guys coming up with a lot more talent and i think Dahlstrom showing competence kind of makes him superfluous since Murphy can play that side as well.

Same for Forsling. Maybe flip the pair for another cost controlled middle six guy.
- fattybeef

You had me until the last part. We haven't seen the shot from the point and especially the one timer from Forsling since he got back from injury. Maybe because it was his wrist that was injured. But he has a wicked shot and I'd like to see more time given to him as I think he might be worth it.

Re Leddy: also include Sharp.

Wasn't dealing those guys, it was waiting until the midnight hour and getting bent over that was the problem.

That is why I really liked the Strome deal. That was more ruthless and i think they should be more aggressive with the assets they have.
- fattybeef

With the Strome trade, Bowman had leverage. When the Hawks were always under seige because of the cap Bowman had no leverage. I want to see what Bowman can do without all the restrictions he had when he made previous trades. Lets see if he can scam a team who are in cap hell and need to move a body(s). Also we'll see if he can take on a bad Bickell like deal and get the team to include a good young prospect.

For me at least, it's not just adding a sweetener but why does Sikura seem to be the sweetener in this and other proposed deals? The Hawks need more youngsters of his skill set and ceiling given that you can count on less than one hand how many top 6 forward talent there are in the pipeline. If you're going to trade for another forward prospect, why not give the other team one of the D prospects that the Hawks have a collection of and can afford to give up.

Plus it wouldn't be good to suddenly trade a college player who could have gone the route that Hayes, Vesey, Butcher, etc. took by forgoing a contract with the team that drafted them to pursue signing on with a team that may have been a better opportunity to not only make the team out of camp but also be a playoff team. It wouldn't set a good precedent for current NCAA players like Mitchell, Krys, Barratt, Wise, Krys, etc.

Anything can happen with Sikura's development but I am optimistic that he will be part of the solution to help the Hawks evolve back into a contender.
- AEL_Fox

I agree with you on that. It sends a bad message to any of College Draft Picks if you trade one of the guys you just signed away. Doesn't leave for much hope that they team would do you right and give you a fair shake.

I think the reason why most people throw in Sikura is due to the fact that he's the best prospect we have currently that is/or near NHL ready currently and thus would entice teams. I would like to keep him. At some point it'd be good to see what he could do playing with like Toews and Saad, but if he ended up as a 3rd or 4th line energy guy who can play solid defense and help produce some offense I'd gladly take it on this team to add the depth we desperately need.

One thing I have noticed in Sikura's 4 games this season and 5 games last season is that he is quite similar to Schmaltz in that he's very good at stripping the puck away from the other team. Unlike Schmaltz, though, Sikura can generate takeaways in any zone not just in easy areas of the rink.

Also, unlike Schmaltz, Sikura doesn't bail on plays. Sikura isn't going to throw his weight around (he's only 160 something anyway) and he will side step certain hits if he can (all players do that to some degree or other) but he isn't shy to fight along the boards, go to rough areas, and take a hit to make a play.
- AEL_Fox

I though the same thing watching him, but he seems to play more fearless like you mentioned. Not being afraid to jump into plays instead of bailing on them like Schmaltz did often.

With the Strome trade, Bowman had leverage. When the Hawks were always under seige because of the cap Bowman had no leverage. I want to see what Bowman can do without all the restrictions he had when he made previous trades. Lets see if he can scam a team who are in cap hell and need to move a body(s). Also we'll see if he can take on a bad Bickell like deal and get the team to include a good young prospect.
- paulr

You make an excellent point. Lotta people give Bowman crap for making bad deals, but who was really trying to help the Hawks get out of cap hell when we finishing in the Top 3 of the league EVERY year and contending for Cups EVERY year. He tried to do the best he could given the circumstances he was in having no leverage. Unfortunately they did not work out for him. Also, I think what is missed with the Panarin and Saad trades was the fact that Bowman was trying to prevent that from happening again to him and jumping out ahead on making deals he felt would be good for the team. Unfortunately they have not brought the return that he and Hawks fans have hoped.

You make an excellent point. Lotta people give Bowman crap for making bad deals, but who was really trying to help the Hawks get out of cap hell when we finishing in the Top 3 of the league EVERY year and contending for Cups EVERY year. He tried to do the best he could given the circumstances he was in having no leverage. Unfortunately they did not work out for him. Also, I think what is missed with the Panarin and Saad trades was the fact that Bowman was trying to prevent that from happening again to him and jumping out ahead on making deals he felt would be good for the team. Unfortunately they have not brought the return that he and Hawks fans have hoped.
- Savetheembers33

As much as I loved Brent Seabrook and what he did for the Hawks, Bowman's bloated over termed contract to the declining defenseman is unforgivable. But as you say, many of the other moves were done with the right intent but with not only no leverage but he was behind the proverbial rock and a hard place. I still hate the trade that sent Danault to Montreal but he was trying to get the Hawks over the top. Why Weise and Fleischmann weren't utilized by Q is a question no one seems to really know. That may be on Bowman? The signings this summer for Ward, manning and others are terrible.

Three cups and the way Bowman manouvered around the cap issues to win in '13 and '15 and Mistakes aside (Gus, Ward, Manning etc) I think he has Management's confidence, hopefully with a tight leash.

You make an excellent point. Lotta people give Bowman crap for making bad deals, but who was really trying to help the Hawks get out of cap hell when we finishing in the Top 3 of the league EVERY year and contending for Cups EVERY year. He tried to do the best he could given the circumstances he was in having no leverage. Unfortunately they did not work out for him. Also, I think what is missed with the Panarin and Saad trades was the fact that Bowman was trying to prevent that from happening again to him and jumping out ahead on making deals he felt would be good for the team. Unfortunately they have not brought the return that he and Hawks fans have hoped.
- Savetheembers33

If you look at the return at trades the best return is before the draft and then it falls after and falls again once FA starts july 1st. the offers he got for SAAD, SHARP and LEDDY would have been better after the season but before the draft and before teams spent money on FA's. Its just a fact that between the end of the season and the draft teams have cap space after july 5th most teams have spent it. if you dump sharp for a 5th rounder and keep SAAD would have been way better then trading sharp for 3.3 of salary (who we dumped) and SAAD for AA saving 2.5 on salary. he wanted a 1st for sharp. when he should have just taken the best offer that did not return salary. he got greedy.

Great post but unfortunately it will be lost on many posters who think the Hawks can magically make 4 trades, get rid of washed up players and wind up with McDavid, Matthews, Hedman and Taylor Hall with their old teams eating 80% of their contracts and the Hawk will win the next 10 cups in a row.
- paulr

Do you actually mean this can’t happen? And I suppose Santa’s not real?

Gus in his own zone is hilarious. His scoring is mehhhhhhh. Shooting a pretty high percentage for a defender right now. Should probably be closer to 6ish%.

For every nice pass or bomb of a shot you get a handful of mess.

Fine for a place holder but if someone threw a pair of seconds or a first out for him I'd bite on it. Too many guys coming up with a lot more talent and i think Dahlstrom showing competence kind of makes him superfluous since Murphy can play that side as well.

Same for Forsling. Maybe flip the pair for another cost controlled middle six guy.
- fattybeef

I believe Forsling is the real deal. Unlike Gus he has a full game, D and O and attempts to play responsibly. At the end of the day you want your D-Men to have quiet games. Maybe safely chip in offensively. Play responsible D. Gus is NEVER quiet. There are 2 huge issues with Gus. 1 he is a dangerous key turnover machine on the ice. 2 he affects everyone else on the ice with him. His partner and the other players do not know what he is going to do.

When Colliton said the team could live game to game with Gus turnovers it was insane.

You had me until the last part. We haven't seen the shot from the point and especially the one timer from Forsling since he got back from injury. Maybe because it was his wrist that was injured. But he has a wicked shot and I'd like to see more time given to him as I think he might be worth it.
- 6628

Eh. I think he's more of a defensive guy then a shot from the point guy and hasnt historically scored goals or racked up points from that position. I also dont think his edge work is good enough to be a shutdown type.

Id rather see them make room for Beaudin or have someone competent defensively there. With Mitchell, Boqvist, Jokiharju and Beaudin having more tools - I think they woild be better served selling high on Forsling and Gus while they can.