You are spot on 100%. There is a little click on this board of a few guys and their little circle jerk or whatever they do that shoot down everything that doesn’t agree with them, they have their little ducklings that follow them but I am not one of them, and they know who they are , I cannot speak for anybody else but I agree with everything you said there, repeating myself like a broken record but I speak for a lot of other fans that field at United Center that are getting pissed off, guys I talk to at the gym, other people That don’t have access or the know about these different hockey websites But are diehard Chicago Blackhawk fans.Bottom line Bowman was in is an always will be in over his (frank)ing head. He got a pass early in the decade because Dale and Mike Smith put many armor‘s of layer around him with talent. So he got his two cups with a little bit of tweaking in 13&15, But when it came time to fly on his own he fell out of the sky like a pigeon That had one wing shot off, Bad trade after bad trade, yes he is the blind squirrel that found a couple nuts, but more bad than good.
As far as those other people you have listed, that’s on John McDonough, this shows you when you have someone running the show that is on familiar with personnel scattered around the league and in the hockey world. That’s why John may be the greatest marketing and PR guy in the world, but he needs to have someone directly under him not named Stan Bowman calling the shots moving forward.
- wonthecup10

Not sure which category I fall into, but the argument I have is that a rebuild takes time. There are going to be bad/down years. They tried to run out the string a bit longer with the "core" and Stan made some questionable moves (Seabrook contract, Joki trade, Danault, etc). In losing all of those assets, it takes quite a while to build the stable back up.

I'm not necessarily defending Stan here, but it's not like they can just trade a bunch of guys and all of a sudden they are a contender again. He gave out some questionable NMC's but most are connected to the prime players on the team. These are big contracts and thus will largely affect the moves that can be made.

We can't win.

When we buy into them they fall short of being a good team.

When we're ready to sell off and build for the long term they start playing well.

Perhaps this is a byproduct of having a young team and coach who's been unable to live up to the pressure of expectation. Idk with the team any longer...hope for the best and expect the middling worst I guess

I will say that I still believe they are closer to being a Playoff team than a rebuilding team. It will never happen with 88, 19, and 2 on this team and they will all remain on this team until their contracts expire. It's up to the Coach, GM, and the players themselves to hold up to the standards that this organization used to have of expecting excellence from everyone from top to bottom to take the next step and become a better team and be Playoff team.

Not sure which category I fall into, but the argument I have is that a rebuild takes time. There are going to be bad/down years. They tried to run out the string a bit longer with the "core" and Stan made some questionable moves (Seabrook contract, Joki trade, Danault, etc). In losing all of those assets, it takes quite a while to build the stable back up.

I'm not necessarily defending Stan here, but it's not like they can just trade a bunch of guys and all of a sudden they are a contender again. He gave out some questionable NMC's but most are connected to the prime players on the team. These are big contracts and thus will largely affect the moves that can be made.
- Chunk

For making a reasonable statement you're part of the circle jerk duckling club, didn't you know. The whole idea is to demand the team fire and trade everyone without explaining why. Ie: fire JC because he's in over his head. Fire Bowman because, well he sucks. Trade ADB because he's had an off year after scoring 40 goals, oh and make sure you treade him for a 6'5" superstar.

The question: So where does this leave the Hawks?

The answer: In sell mode. Hopefully.

For making a reasonable statement you're part of the circle jerk duckling club, didn't you know. The whole idea is to demand the team fire and trade everyone without explaining why. Ie: fire JC because he's in over his head. Fire Bowman because, well he sucks. Trade ADB because he's had an off year after scoring 40 goals, oh and make sure you treade him for a 6'5" superstar.
- paulr

That is indestructable and will never get hurt.

For making a reasonable statement you're part of the circle jerk duckling club, didn't you know. The whole idea is to demand the team fire and trade everyone without explaining why. Ie: fire JC because he's in over his head. Fire Bowman because, well he sucks. Trade ADB because he's had an off year after scoring 40 goals, oh and make sure you treade him for a 6'5" superstar.
- paulr

The powerful Buffalo Sabres won a game last night. I am expecting some Joki is on his way to greatness' talk soon.

So you are saying the Hawks as currently constructed are ready to contend for the Cup, because Maddon did not take over until the Cubs they were ready, just like Q took over from Savvy.
- LAHawk

Good post.

You are spot on 100%. There is a little click on this board of a few guys and their little circle jerk or whatever they do that shoot down everything that doesn’t agree with them, they have their little ducklings that follow them but I am not one of them, and they know who they are , I cannot speak for anybody else but I agree with everything you said there, repeating myself like a broken record but I speak for a lot of other fans that field at United Center that are getting pissed off, guys I talk to at the gym, other people That don’t have access or the know about these different hockey websites But are diehard Chicago Blackhawk fans.Bottom line Bowman was in is an always will be in over his (frank)ing head. He got a pass early in the decade because Dale and Mike Smith put many armor‘s of layer around him with talent. So he got his two cups with a little bit of tweaking in 13&15, But when it came time to fly on his own he fell out of the sky like a pigeon That had one wing shot off, Bad trade after bad trade, yes he is the blind squirrel that found a couple nuts, but more bad than good.
As far as those other people you have listed, that’s on John McDonough, this shows you when you have someone running the show that is on familiar with personnel scattered around the league and in the hockey world. That’s why John may be the greatest marketing and PR guy in the world, but he needs to have someone directly under him not named Stan Bowman calling the shots moving forward.
- wonthecup10

Good on you man. You wrote two novels and not once mentioned a Tkachuk brother.

The question: So where does this leave the Hawks?

The answer: In sell mode. Hopefully.
- EbonyRaptor

I agree, but we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bath water. We would never get fair value for ADB in a trade, he is still going to get close to 60 points. These type of players who are cost controlled do not grow on trees. Nylander is a work in progress, but i see the talent, he does make some plays that very few on the Hawks can make. To me he looks like someone who is playing timid and paint by numbers because he is afraid of making a mistake and thinking too much.

Strome stats are not far off from Schmaltz who he was traded for. Schmaltz has 6 more years left at $5.85 million per year. He has 8 goals this year. Where does that put Strome as an RFA next year. Also doesn't make ADB's $6.5 million at 3 years more seem like a horrible contract either.

For making a reasonable statement you're part of the circle jerk duckling club, didn't you know. The whole idea is to demand the team fire and trade everyone without explaining why. Ie: fire JC because he's in over his head. Fire Bowman because, well he sucks. Trade ADB because he's had an off year after scoring 40 goals, oh and make sure you treade him for a 6'5" superstar.
- paulr

Darn. I hate those things. The webbed feet always freak me out.

Bad enough we also have to beat the refs recently. Now the Canucks players will all be invoking their inner Sedin bed sharing hugs tonight. Ugh.

Just reading back on yesterdays blog, as someone who has reffed a lot of hockey over the years it gets kind of tiring to hear the BS here about how the Ref's are out to get the Hawks in some way. For anyone who thinks its something by design GO OUT AND TRY REFFING. its not easy the game is fast and mistakes happen. yes calls get blown but in the end the words "lets see how we can screw this team over" have never been said in a ref room in the NHL.

This should brighten up everyone's day:

Ben Pope‏Verified account @BenPopeCST · 3h3 hours ago

Pending UFA Erik Gustafsson has had "no talks at all" with the Blackhawks about a contract extension. He's by far the most likely Hawks player to be traded in the next 2 weeks.

I agree, but we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bath water. We would never get fair value for ADB in a trade, he is still going to get close to 60 points. These type of players who are cost controlled do not grow on trees. Nylander is a work in progress, but i see the talent, he does make some plays that very few on the Hawks can make. To me he looks like someone who is playing timid and paint by numbers because he is afraid of making a mistake and thinking too much.

Strome stats are not far off from Schmaltz who he was traded for. Schmaltz has 6 more years left at $5.85 million per year. He has 8 goals this year. Where does that put Strome as an RFA next year. Also doesn't make ADB's $6.5 million at 3 years more seem like a horrible contract either.
- LAHawk

Strome might pull $4M on a 2 year extension if he does something positive over the last 25 games. I would be inclined to estimate it at even less than that if it was anybody other than Stanbo doing the negotiating. Not knocking the kid, it's just that he still has to demonstrate he can be a productive Top 9 forward either as a winger or center.
And Dach is moving ahead of him on the depth chart and for salary allocation reasons.
Whatever his new contract is, he will be available to Seattle in the expansion draft.

Does anyone see a scenario where the Hawks keep Corey and trade Robin? Then resign 50 on the cheap.

so can someone explain how the officiating could be this bad for 3 games in a row...we had Boston no goal/hand pass debacle....then a few more brutal penalty calls (and non calls) vs WPG....then you got last night...oh brother where to begin....first Toews phantom trip call that led to a PP goal, not sure how the ref standing 20' away staring at the play made that call, it was clearly not JTs stick that caused the trip (was even easy to tell real time on TV when the guy fell and JTs stick didnt even move)...2nd not sure what Justin St. Pierre has against the hawks as he called Smith for a slash for knocking the stick out of a guys hands....yet when the same thing happened to Boquvist right in front of his face he didnt make the call and the ref at center ice had to make it...follow it up with blowing the whistle every time Smith flings his helmet off is a joke...as Eddie O stated..clearly not a rule that play has to be stopped and it cost us a goal when his helmet came off the 2nd time in 2 shifts...tough to win when you cant control when the refs are taking away goals and giving other teams PP chances galore...

however what we can control is our line up and boy what in the heck was that last night....I hope Strome is hurting or else there is no reason for him to be in the press box and Nylander on the ice...think we can all agree that Jokiharju-Nylander trade was a big loss for the hawks and one of many of Stans boneheaded moves...not sure why Nylander gets any ice time with the way he plays...can someone also solve the riddle of why Slater KooKoo still gets into the lineup? Im not big on the stats but the eye test says he's brutal....you finally have D men (just picked up Seeler and Gilbert in the AHL) that are willing to throw the body and clear out the front of the net yet somehow you keep putting Slater out there to try and defend using his purse....

can we finally get a hockey guy/mind in the front office? Its very clear that stan (who probably doesn't even know how to skate) and John Mc D (same here with not being able to skate) have zero clue how run an NHL team....pretty soon (if not already) the PR/Marketing shine will wear off and they are going to need to put a consistently competitive team on the ice (and behind the bench)....i feel like it shouldn't have been that hard to build around the "core" that Stan was gifted but he sure did a good job of turning a "dynasty" into a dump...thank god there are plenty of other good NHL teams out there to watch

Strome might pull $4M on a 2 year extension if he does something positive over the last 25 games. I would be inclined to estimate it at even less than that if it was anybody other than Stanbo doing the negotiating. Not knocking the kid, it's just that he still has to demonstrate he can be a productive Top 9 forward either as a winger or center.
And Dach is moving ahead of him on the depth chart and for salary allocation reasons.
Whatever his new contract is, he will be available to Seattle in the expansion draft.
- RickJ

How much of Strome's issues since coming back from his ankle injury is due to his linemates - playing wing with an under-performing AdB and a 4th line center in Kampf?

Even Kane is having his problems with a scoring Saad, but a not-yet-ready-for-top-line-center-duties Dach.

Just reading back on yesterdays blog, as someone who has reffed a lot of hockey over the years it gets kind of tiring to hear the BS here about how the Ref's are out to get the Hawks in some way. For anyone who thinks its something by design GO OUT AND TRY REFFING. its not easy the game is fast and mistakes happen. yes calls get blown but in the end the words "lets see how we can screw this team over" have never been said in a ref room in the NHL.
- SaskHawkFan

PROVE IT! They do not ever have to face the media.

so can someone explain how the officiating could be this bad for 3 games in a row...we had Boston no goal/hand pass debacle....then a few more brutal penalty calls (and non calls) vs WPG....then you got last night...oh brother where to begin....first Toews phantom trip call that led to a PP goal, not sure how the ref standing 20' away staring at the play made that call, it was clearly not JTs stick that caused the trip (was even easy to tell real time on TV when the guy fell and JTs stick didnt even move)...2nd not sure what Justin St. Pierre has against the hawks as he called Smith for a slash for knocking the stick out of a guys hands....yet when the same thing happened to Boquvist right in front of his face he didnt make the call and the ref at center ice had to make it...follow it up with blowing the whistle every time Smith flings his helmet off is a joke...as Eddie O stated..clearly not a rule that play has to be stopped and it cost us a goal when his helmet came off the 2nd time in 2 shifts...tough to win when you cant control when the refs are taking away goals and giving other teams PP chances galore...

however what we can control is our line up and boy what in the heck was that last night....I hope Strome is hurting or else there is no reason for him to be in the press box and Nylander on the ice...think we can all agree that Jokiharju-Nylander trade was a big loss for the hawks and one of many of Stans boneheaded moves...not sure why Nylander gets any ice time with the way he plays...can someone also solve the riddle of why Slater KooKoo still gets into the lineup? Im not big on the stats but the eye test says he's brutal....you finally have D men (just picked up Seeler and Gilbert in the AHL) that are willing to throw the body and clear out the front of the net yet somehow you keep putting Slater out there to try and defend using his purse....

can we finally get a hockey guy/mind in the front office? Its very clear that stan (who probably doesn't even know how to skate) and John Mc D (same here with not being able to skate) have zero clue how run an NHL team....pretty soon (if not already) the PR/Marketing shine will wear off and they are going to need to put a consistently competitive team on the ice (and behind the bench)....i feel like it shouldn't have been that hard to build around the "core" that Stan was gifted but he sure did a good job of turning a "dynasty" into a dump...thank god there are plenty of other good NHL teams out there to watch
- chihawksallday

Smith jerks his head forward and down and that bucket comes off like a strippers top. The puck never hit it on the first whistle but it looked like a grenade went off inside the the damn helmet. He's on the bullpoop every time the hawks play whichever team he's on at the time.

The only way you move Keith is if you get a King's ransom. He is a top 4 pairing defender on any team in the NHL. He is signed for a very reasonable amount for the next 3 years. Now next year at the TDL if Mitchell and Beaudin (or other prospects) look ready you could revisit the notion. Otherwise you run into the problem that teams like the Oilers, Leafs and Sabres have seen. Selling off vets and rushing prospects. A recipe for long term disaster.
- -Doh-

Is it possible to eat part of his salary when in round numbers his cap hit is $5 but cash payment is $2. How does that work?

"If I'm Bowman, I'm going in to talk to his players before tonight's game with the message of "if you don't win, I can't add to this team."

I hate this idea.

Even if the Hawks beat the Canucks, their playoff hopes are negligible. Stan should only add to the team if he can do so without parting with legit top 6 or top 4 pairing NHL players, legit top 6 or top 4 pairing NHL prospects, or high draft picks. In other words moving Gus or UFAs, bottom 6 or 3rd pairing defenders, career AHL'ers, or 4th to 7th round picks.

Sell wisely Stan.
- -Doh-

Sorry maybe didn't explain properly. That comment about Stan was more of a motivation tactic vs. whether I think he should actually add to this team.

For the record, I would not add any significant pieces.

If they were close, something like a Dylan Sikura for a "guy" would be the only type of adding I'd do.

Does anyone see a scenario where the Hawks keep Corey and trade Robin? Then resign 50 on the cheap.
- TJYTJY

If 50 resigns it will be cheap.

TC, I think your next blog should be JC sucks, only reason Hawks are not a Cup contender, who should be their next coach? Would love to see the responses. and no, coaches that are not available to the Hawks like Trotz cannot be considered.
- LAHawk

I'm due for a coaching blog so you may get your wish soon.

so can someone explain how the officiating could be this bad for 3 games in a row...we had Boston no goal/hand pass debacle....then a few more brutal penalty calls (and non calls) vs WPG....then you got last night...oh brother where to begin....first Toews phantom trip call that led to a PP goal, not sure how the ref standing 20' away staring at the play made that call, it was clearly not JTs stick that caused the trip (was even easy to tell real time on TV when the guy fell and JTs stick didnt even move)...2nd not sure what Justin St. Pierre has against the hawks as he called Smith for a slash for knocking the stick out of a guys hands....yet when the same thing happened to Boquvist right in front of his face he didnt make the call and the ref at center ice had to make it...follow it up with blowing the whistle every time Smith flings his helmet off is a joke...as Eddie O stated..clearly not a rule that play has to be stopped and it cost us a goal when his helmet came off the 2nd time in 2 shifts...tough to win when you cant control when the refs are taking away goals and giving other teams PP chances galore...

however what we can control is our line up and boy what in the heck was that last night....I hope Strome is hurting or else there is no reason for him to be in the press box and Nylander on the ice...think we can all agree that Jokiharju-Nylander trade was a big loss for the hawks and one of many of Stans boneheaded moves...not sure why Nylander gets any ice time with the way he plays...can someone also solve the riddle of why Slater KooKoo still gets into the lineup? Im not big on the stats but the eye test says he's brutal....you finally have D men (just picked up Seeler and Gilbert in the AHL) that are willing to throw the body and clear out the front of the net yet somehow you keep putting Slater out there to try and defend using his purse....

can we finally get a hockey guy/mind in the front office? Its very clear that stan (who probably doesn't even know how to skate) and John Mc D (same here with not being able to skate) have zero clue how run an NHL team....pretty soon (if not already) the PR/Marketing shine will wear off and they are going to need to put a consistently competitive team on the ice (and behind the bench)....i feel like it shouldn't have been that hard to build around the "core" that Stan was gifted but he sure did a good job of turning a "dynasty" into a dump...thank god there are plenty of other good NHL teams out there to watch
- chihawksallday

Oy vey.

TC I have to disagree with your notion about Stan adding to this team. In my view, there is no way that Stan should be giving up any assets to add for the playoffs. If they are playing well and somehow get themselves back in contention, you leave them exactly as they are and let this group build the confidence. Otherwise, it is just setting the team back further.
- Chunk

Sorry this line in the blog was not properly clarified.

See above.

I only added it as if I were speaking from Stan Bowman's mouth... merely as a motivational tactic.