I love it! After the Leafs won the first 2 games under Keefe coworkers were certain the Leafs would be at the top of the league standings by Christmas. Trouble is they still can't play defense.

Matthews was absolutely brutal on 3 goals against the Flyers. He's always on the wrong side of the puck in the defensive zone or he tries to do fly bys to exit the zone with no regard to his defensive responsibilities. And without upgrading their defense this Leafs team will continue the 52 year slide for the foreseeable future.
- paulr

For those who think the Hawks D is the worst in the NHL, they should watch the Leafs in action - they aren't much better, younger but about equally poor. Saved on most nights by Anderson.

And for those who want Bovqist promoted now to the NHL, think again. Teach him to play defence before he gets turned into Tyson Barrie, completely unable to play in his own end. But he has a price tag of $8M/yr on his UFA tag.

Never mind Toews, I'm more concerned about El Gato.

He is on pace for 15 goals. He has severe contractitis or something. I'd wager we would have at least a few more in the W column if he is playing remotely close to how he did last year.

Could be that Stan isn't a builder. Question, though....how could a GM replace 4 Hall of Fame players drafting at the bottom of each round for a decade, especially given that the UFA market is very unlikely to produce dynamic young players?

Going forward? I don't know if he can do it, but to suggest he can't because he hasn't done it to date is an improper analysis, imo.
- mohel

Correct, until they rid themselves of the "old core" aka cap eaters you don't know what he can do.

On a side note....Watching the Avs on TV the other night, I couldn’t help but remember when MacKinnon signed his 7yr $44 mil contract with $6.3 AAV before the 16/17 season and then he puts up only 53 points in the full season with a -14. There were rumors he was on the trade block with Landeskog. He only puts up 97 & 99 points and has 44 thru 27 games this year.

I’m semi biased....but after seeing what Hextall and his scouting department did in Philly....I can’t understand how he’s unemployed. He stocked the Philly current roster and farm system for years to come. I believe this is what is needed with the Hawks. A complete tear down and rebuild thru draft picks & prospects. I’m not sure how much I trust Bowman & our current scouting doing this though.

I understand that the “core” has NMCs, but if you bring in a new GM that has no real “loyalty” to the players....it’s easier to discuss future plans with the individuals. I would guess the players prefer to have a say in where they play and what teams to play for... vs being a part of a rebuild and not playing in the playoffs for the remaining 3 years (or more) of their career.

Anyway, it’s going to be a long season it looks like, and wildly inconsistent. I’m hoping the ping pong ball falls into a top 5 yet again. This will help start the rebuild process, but it will take 3-4 years in development until these 18 yr olds are In their prime....so it might be some lean years ahead of us...but my opinion is better to rip off the band aid in 1 swipe.

One of the 100 Greatest Players of All Time
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I'm not sure he can rebuild either. We'll see how Boqvist and Dach work out. But odds are they aren't Toews and Keith; those are rare finds, with some luck involved.
- mohel

Many great "statistical" players without cups those guys with the will to find some way to win are rare breeds.

On a side note....Watching the Avs on TV the other night, I couldn’t help but remember when MacKinnon signed his 7yr $44 mil contract with $6.3 AAV before the 16/17 season and then he puts up only 53 points in the full season with a -14. There were rumors he was on the trade block with Landeskog. He only puts up 97 & 99 points and has 44 thru 27 games this year.

I’m semi biased....but after seeing what Hextall and his scouting department did in Philly....I can’t understand how he’s unemployed. He stocked the Philly current roster and farm system for years to come. I believe this is what is needed with the Hawks. A complete tear down and rebuild thru draft picks & prospects. I’m not sure how much I trust Bowman & our current scouting doing this though.

I understand that the “core” has NMCs, but if you bring in a new GM that has no real “loyalty” to the players....it’s easier to discuss future plans with the individuals. I would guess the players prefer to have a say in where they play and what teams to play for... vs being a part of a rebuild and not playing in the playoffs for the remaining 3 years (or more) of their career.

Anyway, it’s going to be a long season it looks like, and wildly inconsistent. I’m hoping the ping pong ball falls into a top 5 yet again. This will help start the rebuild process, but it will take 3-4 years in development until these 18 yr olds are In their prime....so it might be some lean years ahead of us...but my opinion is better to rip off the band aid in 1 swipe.
- DrewDawg

Joe Sakic knows a hockey player when he sees one, no way he was trading MacKinnon unless forced to by some idiot know nothing owner.

And now what the Avs have is 1-2 the best player in the NHL. A right handed shot version of McDavid only stronger and meaner.

“I have a 2-part series beginning on Monday that analyzes two scenarios and how the remainder of this season could play out: 1) Blackhawks flame out completely and management deems this team a lost cause for 2019-20 and 2) Blackhawks catch fire and look like the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues.”

After attending the Philly debacle a few weeks ago, I tried to save my opinion until waiting for 25%-30% of the season had been played.

About that time period I was torn 50/50 for Bowman doing a big trade to try and make playoffs the next 3 years with the “core”. When the Hawks has their Cup run, Keith, Seabrook, and even Hammer & Soup we’re in their prime. Trying to trade for a 21-24 yr old #1 Dman early in the season is almost impossible. Most GMs don’t want to wave the white flag on the season 20 games in.

I thought the Hawks needed 1 and maybe 2 top pair Dmen to slide Keith and Murphy down as #2 pairing. So, for example would Columbus be even willing to trade Seth Jones or Werenski and what would the cost be? Would you accept an “overpay” of 2 1sts and also a mid level prospect (probably at a minimum). We can also debate what other 21-24 yr old Dmen might become top pairings....like Sanheim, Sergachev, Hamilton.

Now after 30% of the season played and watching most of the games, I am leaning on a house cleaning of sorts. This is partly because of the Hawks being 2nd worse in their whole conference and tied for 4th worst in the whole league. I’ll post my current view/opinion shortly.
- DrewDawg

Nobody is going to trade those kind of dmen for anything unless it's a Karlsson type situation and Chicago does not have cap space to resign them after the one rental year. This team has to develop from within until big contracts start leaving.

Ok.

So what is everyone's take on tonight's game? Do the Hawks show some pride and make it a game or do the Bruins show why they only have 3 losses on the season and end up padding individual stats?

Bruins currently sit at 45 pts. Hawks at 25 pts with a game in hand.
- Rota's Rooter

Tonight is another game along the path back to relevance. The ETA is several years from now.

Ok.

So what is everyone's take on tonight's game? Do the Hawks show some pride and make it a game or do the Bruins show why they only have 3 losses on the season and end up padding individual stats?

Bruins currently sit at 45 pts. Hawks at 25 pts with a game in hand.
- Rota's Rooter

8-1 Bruins Lehner's food poisoning flares up middle of first period. I hope I'm not being too optimistic.

One of the 100 Greatest Players of All Time
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
- Za Warudo

I may be bashing him now but 3 cups and one near miss in '14 kind of say yessss! You can put it on the board!

Tyler and chatter on two fronts if mcego and rocky are ready to make a change at gm or coach and any trade chatter including the hawks?
- Scott1977

Haven't heard anything on my end.

I would imagine things would have to get much worse to make a big move.

Last I heard, it may not happen (if it is going to happen at all) until the offseason.

If you're butthurt apply some Prep H then reread what I wrote and you'll find my comment was complimentary towards Crosby and you'll find you never needed to be butthurt or apply the Prep H in the first place.
- paulr

All he did was correct your terrible and inaccurate comparison. Btw Toews sucks😂

Many great "statistical" players without cups those guys with the will to find some way to win are rare breeds.
- rpeters01

Completely agree.

8-1 Bruins Lehner's food poisoning flares up middle of first period. I hope I'm not being too optimistic.
- rpeters01

I see it as more of a 5-2 outing.

Hawks get a fluke goal early.

Bruins score 3 in a row.

Hawks make it 3-2 with 8 minutes left or so. Bruins score 2 minutes later and then get a ENG.

Haven't heard anything on my end.

I would imagine things would have to get much worse to make a big move.

Last I heard, it may not happen (if it is going to happen at all) until the offseason.
- Tyler Cameron

I can't imagine that they would fire another JC mid-season unless they had a really strong idea of not only who they would replace him with, but also that said coach would be willing to take the job. I don't personally buy that they brought in Crawford as a "sequel" to Q to take over for an overmatched young coach. Even if they did, the shine is currently off that penny with the allegations, so they would have to have some big clarifications if they were to go that route.

In the past few days, I keep going back to the fact that JC wasn't going anywhere. If they were going to bring him in anyway, firing Q after the one month of the season was probably one of the worst ways of promoting him. If Q somehow turned the ship around, great, you keep your HOF coach employed and ride that thing out. If he misses the playoffs again, you have all the ammunition you need to get rid of him immediately after the season ends, and you don't throw JC in that crapstorm.

I'm not defending JC for the current product on the ice. I'm simply stating that the situation was handled very poorly.

I may be bashing him now but 3 cups and one near miss in '14 kind of say yessss! You can put it on the board!
- rpeters01

Toews in no world whatsoever is a top 100 player of all time. Laughable how overrated the guy is

Nobody is going to trade those kind of dmen for anything unless it's a Karlsson type situation and Chicago does not have cap space to resign them after the one rental year. This team has to develop from within until big contracts start leaving.
- rpeters01

It really is the only way to go. The UFA path is the road to perdition. They have to find 2-3 great young players who have the drive you wrote about above. And draft and develop some good filler.

Don't feed the trolls.......

Haven't heard anything on my end.

I would imagine things would have to get much worse to make a big move.

Last I heard, it may not happen (if it is going to happen at all) until the offseason.
- Tyler Cameron

Ok thanks just curious.

It really is the only way to go. The UFA path is the road to perdition. They have to find 2-3 great young players who have the drive you wrote about above. And draft and develop some good filler.
- mohel

It seems like they have a decent amount of filler in the pipeline:

Entwhistle
Barratt
Teply
Hagel

All lower line-type guys with the needle pointing up. The D-men have been discussed ad nauseum. I personally think Boqvist will be the goods. From what I've seen, Mitchell looks really good as well, and I'm really interested to see what he can do against the bigs.

I'm banking Toews has a good second half - as is my fantasy

I may be bashing him now but 3 cups and one near miss in '14 kind of say yessss! You can put it on the board!
- rpeters01

I can think of a Russian guy who’s more deserving

What kind of players do you get for 10.5 m a year and compare it to what Toews is giving you right now and what he brings for the next 4 years in regards to what he's costing you. Thats all you need to know.

Simply mathematics, not what he did 3 years ago.

That will tell you his value and and one of the main reasons why tis team is now a bottom feeder.

Seabs, CC and others are also the problems in terms of output versus money being paid ...See line above.

UPDATE: Lehner starts tonight. Strome back in. Maatta is a game-time decision (if he can't go, Gilbert will draw in).
- Tyler Cameron

Maybe there is a flu bug working the roster, unless Maatta is an injury thing. The flu, coupled with the injuries is brutal on a rebuilding, thin team.

If I'm Rocky, it's largely a question of loyalty versus stripping down the team, then rebuilding. Loyalty is the more likely road is my guess. Moving large contracts on players in the decline/twilight of NHL capability is darn near impossible.
This whole Blackhawk thing is now all about long-term scouting, drafting and development.
And I hope long-term is 3 years, as opposed to 5-10 years!