We all know they won’t be the alternate jerseys and if they were to be, who cares?
- paulr

All the prior hawk alternates have been based on jerseys from prior years, my only interest would be if they start floating some rebranding ideas with future alternates.

Absolutely, it's better than a collective few people on this board that don't care if they win or lose.
- BetweenTheDots

I want wins....and improvement from their young players.
Winning AND making the playoffs are two entirely different animals.

Winning has to come, because winning denotes improvement over past seasons, and that improvement must come from not only new additions, but must be from the improvements from the already through into the NHL fire call ups/signings.

I'll give you Colorado finishing above them....

Find me 3 more teams that are trending in that division.

Dallas....sure
Winnipeg.....eh......not sold
STL....just as many question marks as here
Arizona...may finish last in the league
Nashville...trending in wrong direction
Minnesota....not only are they trending in the wrong direction but Guerin just nuked their cap for years.....

Hawks are right there....BTW...I can HEAR this GIF.
- SteveRain

Is that good or bad?

Honestly I hope the Hawks do well but, another new season again with many new faces, some returning ones, some project players. I just don't know. You could be right that they'll be in the hunt for a playoff spot, I hope so.

I'll just be glad when the season starts and I'll watch regardless of performance.

The image of the colorized carbon copies of Kane is a play off of the new Drake album cover Certified Lover Boy.
- Theo Fox

Thanks for the info.

Hope that many of Theo's and all your projections come true and the team makes the playoffs.

One thing that isn't factored in is injuries. Every team has them and I'm sure the Hawks won't be the exception. Aside from McCabe coming off his knee injury and Toews' health/stamina the Hawks should be in good shape heading into camp.

deHaan will probably suffer his annual injury and miss a bunch a games. Murphy's back will probably act up too, so there's a good chance that either Beaudin or Mitchell will be an injury call up. Throughout the season a few players will most likely suffer concussions and be out for hopefully only a few games. Then there's the covid thing which may require a player to sit out a week or so.

Let's hope no serious knee, shoulder or hand/wrist injuries happen to Kane, ADB, Kubalik, Dach, Jones, Fleury, et al making them unavailable for an extended period.

I'll give you Colorado finishing above them....

Find me 3 more teams that are trending in that division.

Dallas....sure
Winnipeg.....eh......not sold
STL....just as many question marks as here
Arizona...may finish last in the league
Nashville...trending in wrong direction
Minnesota....not only are they trending in the wrong direction but Guerin just nuked their cap for years.....

Hawks are right there....BTW...I can HEAR this GIF.
- SteveRain

Central Division Standings

Colorado
Dallas
Chicago
Winnipeg*
Minnesota*
St Louis
Nashville
Arizona

Pacific Division Standings

Vegas
Vancouver
Edmonton
Calgary
LA
San Jose
Seattle
Anaheim

Atlantic Division Standings

Tampa Bay
Florida
Toronto
Boston*
Ottawa
Detroit
Montreal
Buffalo

Metro Division Standings

Carolina
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
Washington*
Pittsburgh
Philly
New Jersey
Columbus

Hope you are well....

This is a question.....is it the GMs job to supply a coach with assets who best fit his/her system to win? Or is it a coaches job to pivot and tweak their system to support what they have in players?

Q had a young team in 2008-09 and won....so the exhaustive narrative of how he didn't like young kids is hilarious to me. NO, he didn't like hockey stupid players.

JC....does his system actually win over the long haul in the NHL?

I'd love to see a chart from the JFresh crowd of how many guys are WIDE open in the hash marks or slightly above or below because the Hawks blow the coverage...not just year 1...but every year....it's remarkable to me.
- SteveRain

So.....the $64,000 (not adjusted for inflation) question is......is the problem with the players or the system?

It's one thing if guys are open because the "system" does not account for them, it's another if they are open because the "system" is not being executed properly.

As many have pointed out, more than a few teams run similar systems and do so successfully. So.....do the Hawks have the skill (and brains) to run it successfully, or would a more vanilla defense be better suited for them....

Time will tell.

Malcolm Subban's new mask honoring Tony O

https://twitter.com/NHL/s...36073189575122944/photo/1

Malcolm Subban's new mask honoring Tony O

https://twitter.com/NHL/s...36073189575122944/photo/1
- LAHawk

Great mask, too bad he won’t be on the team to wear it.

Plenty of new faces for sure and the first thought is for slow start but I'm hoping they can thread water to start the season, then take off more as the season goes on. Best way for Colliton to help this process is to simplify everyone's game. Please no more complex defensive zone coverage .. keep it simple ! Play tighter in the neutral zone ... not trap but slow down zone entries of the opposition. Reduce the shots on goal, high danger chances against .... simply put, instead of bottom third in league defensively, move up to around 10th -12th defensively. Improve special teams play
Top ten penalty kill - top ten power play. Do this and they should see major improvement in team play

Great mask, too bad he won’t be on the team to wear it.
- DarthKane

Ouch

Ouch
- 6628

I wasn’t trying to be mean, it’s just reality. He’s the #3 goalie on the team and I don’t see the Hawks carrying 3 goalies. Lankinen is the goalie of the near-future until Soderblom or Commesso are ready.

I wasn’t trying to be mean, it’s just reality. He’s the #3 goalie on the team and I don’t see the Hawks carrying 3 goalies. Lankinen is the goalie of the near-future until Soderblom or Commesso are ready.
- DarthKane

It is a great mask, but I can't imagine he hasn't read the tea leaves, and is just aceepting he is #3, and would just be in the NHL as an emergency call-up

I wasn’t trying to be mean, it’s just reality. He’s the #3 goalie on the team and I don’t see the Hawks carrying 3 goalies. Lankinen is the goalie of the near-future until Soderblom or Commesso are ready.
- DarthKane

It wouldn't surprise me if a team like Buffalo or Ottawa would trade for Lankinen. Maybe with MAF here they could wait a season or 2 for Soderblom to take the reigns. MAF and Subban already have worked together......

It wouldn't surprise me if a team like Buffalo or Ottawa would trade for Lankinen. Maybe with MAF here they could wait a season or 2 for Soderblom to take the reigns. MAF and Subban already have worked together......
- powerenforcer

Well, Lankinen should be worth a bit in trade for sure.

Well, Lankinen should be worth a bit in trade for sure.
- 35Tony0

I doubt the Hawks got Fleury to make Lankinen trade bait.

I doubt the Hawks got Fleury to make Lankinen trade bait.
- LAHawk

I'm sure you're right, but he makes a point. But MAF better not get injured.

I'll take the over.
- Theo Fox

Me too! Thinking 4 for him and 3 for Kirby

Jurjah is going to be a little better than you think actually
If he's used correctly he is make up as a player is perfect for todays NHL
Going to be smart, mean, and effective for shut down.
- Tom Dusome

The image of the colorized carbon copies of Kane is a play off of the new Drake album cover Certified Lover Boy.
- Theo Fox

Which he stole from Warhol

They will start slow. Continue the trend until making a late push to finish 5th in the divison.

It will be interesting to see what the Hawks get from Kane this year. He is coming off his lowest goal producing season to date (not just because of the short season, but lowest goals/60 minutes)

Last season he was shooting at 7.9% which was a career low as well, so that should ideally improve back to his ~12% which would put him in the ballpark of like 30 goals or so.

It's really hard to tell what will happen, I just think that as Kane will likely get his scoring touch back a bit, I think his assist totals may come back to normal. I don't think he will fall off the map, but I do expect or hope that JC gets him back to playing about ~20 minutes a night and not over 22 minutes a night. He will be turning 33 and they need some other guys to step up and let the Hawks play a more rounded game. I think Kane as a more perimeter player with skill can defy age a bit more but age is a factor for everyone. Don't run him into the ground and he will have gas left in the tank if the Hawks make the playoffs.

BTW, Q's use of fine was an indicator that the player actually was not fine.

Kane will not come close to 40 goals but will put up points.

We will see why Johnson was demoted to the 4th line in TB.

The notion that Kalynuk will be a top pair D-man is absurd. Guess people are forgetting how much his play fell off down the stretch. He will be a NHL player but top pair? I don't see it. 2nd pair and there is nothing wrong with that.

BTW, Q's use of fine was an indicator that the player actually was not fine.

Kane will not come close to 40 goals but will put up points.

We will see why Johnson was demoted to the 4th line in TB.

The notion that Kalynuk will be a top pair D-man is absurd. Guess people are forgetting how much his play fell off down the stretch. He will be a NHL player but top pair? I don't see it. 2nd pair and there is nothing wrong with that.
- Elbows15

I’m not expecting much from Johnson, he’ll be a 4th liner in Chicago too. Maybe 3RW if there are enough injuries.

I think Gaudette will be our biggest surprise this year pushing for a top 6 role .