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Forums :: Blog World :: Justin Lowe: Quenneville was the Last Straw
Author Message
Tyler Cameron
Season Ticket Holder
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Toronto, ON
Joined: 10.31.2017

Dec 12 @ 7:04 AM ET
Justin Lowe: Quenneville was the Last Straw
When I heard the news that Joel Quenneville was fired by the Chicago, I was sad/angry/confused, but when those emotions subsided, I was excited. I was excited for Jeremy Colliton to get in there with a fresh voice and thought that this was the beginning of a new Hawks team.

Maybe not?
Flying Puck
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: IL
Joined: 08.17.2018

Dec 12 @ 7:20 AM ET
Just sad
Z3Hawk
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 05.04.2017

Dec 12 @ 7:32 AM ET
Bowman will be the first to go.

His selection of Colliton could be his downfall. And it's not Colliton's fault. He has been put in a position to fail.
- Justin Lowe


“And it is not Colliton’s fault”? Why isn’t it. I’ve said it before that he applied for and took the position of Head Coach of the NHL team, the Blackhawks, not Head Coach with Training Wheels, not Head Coach in need of Mentoring, not Head Coach in need of Development. Also he is being paid $1.4M. We will never know what would have happened if the Hawks had hired an experienced, respected Coach with a different approach than Q. On a team with players with 3 Cups, 3 Conn Smythes, Olympics, World Cups, an Art Ross, a Hart the Hawks chose the coaching equivalent of a guy walking down the street.

Colliton had exactly 4 years of Tier 2 Swedish Beer League which was enough for Bowman to give him Rockford in the AHL. Won a few play-off series riding veterans dumped to Rockford that had no future and are no longer in the organization. Was not a developmental run based on many young players. Also there were no expectations and consequently no pressure at all.

Not one NHL game, even as an Assistant. If you are going to hire someone like Colliton, with absolutely no experience, he has to be really something, really progressive, a hockey genius. There is NOTHING to suggest that Colliton has any special skills or intuition or knowledge, as a Head Coach setting himself apart. This is not a question of age, it is a question of competence. I believe that someone young can be very special but this is NOT Colliton.

HUGE MISTAKE by Bowman - HUGE!
LeftCoaster
Location: Valley Of The Sun
Joined: 07.03.2009

Dec 12 @ 7:46 AM ET
Oh stop crying, for God's sake...so you have to rebuild again, big deal. Go shine your rings from the last rebuild and try to do it all over again. You guys make me sick!

jam10sugar
Location: FL
Joined: 02.20.2013

Dec 12 @ 7:49 AM ET
One way to look at it is that they knew this would be a lost season, so why waste it on a proven coach. Throw Colliton to the wolves. If he succeeds, maybe they have something. If he fails, you haven't burned time and money with an established coach.

Another way to look at it is that Colliton is trying to implement a new system with young players who aren't that talented, and veterans who have played 10 years in a completely different system and may not be suited for it. In retrospect, Stan and McD probably should have made the change in the off-season and given Colliton the chance to establish his system in camp. They deluded themselves into what they had as a team, OR they knew and deluded fans in order to sell more tickets.

As awful as this season is, it isn't the end of the world. Go full force into the rebuild. Pick up assets in young players and picks. This Cup era is closed. Go create the next one.
Rota's Rooter
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 06.23.2017

Dec 12 @ 7:56 AM ET
Watching a Hawk game has become just laughable. It's to the point I watch to see how bad they can be.

I wonder if, with the dismissal of coach Q, the vets with NMC/NTC's were also told or asked, if you want out we'll try to accommodate you.

I mean, how else to explain it? Diminishing skill set I can understand but, come on. The lack of effort and basic hockey knowledge displayed is astounding.

And for those who are now comparing the Hawks to the 74/75 Caps who had 8 wins, remember there was no OT back then. Those were 8 regulation wins. Hawks are currently sitting at what, 5?
Z3Hawk
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 05.04.2017

Dec 12 @ 7:56 AM ET
Oh stop crying, for God's sake...so you have to rebuild again, big deal. Go shine your rings from the last rebuild and try to do it all over again. You guys make me sick!


- LeftCoaster


The Last Rebuild took 50 years.
Nmbr1
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 01.09.2018

Dec 12 @ 7:57 AM ET
The hawks aren’t blocking shots from the point cause they’re not even covering the points, period. At least 3 times in the past 2 games an opposing point an has been left wide open to blast one past crow, who is usually screened by our #7 or #2. In fact , last night seabs even scored the goal.......for the jets.
powerenforcer
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Wheeling, IL
Joined: 09.24.2009

Dec 12 @ 7:59 AM ET
Let's look at things from a proper perspective. Colliton should not be judged here, Barry Smith and Don Granato SHOULD be!. JC is not coaching this team, he is the Greg Brady of the NHL, the suit fits.

Somewhere, Pulford has a huge smile (while drinking the old man's private stash of booze), and laughing with Scotty as they discuss other ways to kill this organization. Rocky, as soon as Hossa's contract is up, name him President of Hockey Operations!
BluesStrong
Joined: 07.09.2014

Dec 12 @ 8:00 AM ET
Just change the names and you could be saying the same thing about the St Louis Blues.How sad is it to see these two teams hit rock bottom. At least the Blackhawk fans have seen the cup-- 50 plus years in St Louis and we have only seen it on tv.
Bjm84
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 03.29.2013

Dec 12 @ 8:03 AM ET
JL, did you hear specifics on Keith or simply the same superficial rumors that we've heard here?

I would also have to think a guy like AA could be moved as well? He should be able to fetch a 2nd rounder or Shaw type prospect.


paulr
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: YYZ
Joined: 06.26.2011

Dec 12 @ 8:03 AM ET
Bowman will be the first to go.

His selection of Colliton could be his downfall. And it's not Colliton's fault. He has been put in a position to fail.
- Justin Lowe


“And it is not Colliton’s fault”? Why isn’t it. I’ve said it before that he applied for and took the position of Head Coach of the NHL team, the Blackhawks, not Head Coach with Training Wheels, not Head Coach in need of Mentoring, not Head Coach in need of Development. We will never know what would have happened if the Hawks had hired an experienced, respected Coach with a different approach than Q. On a team with players with 3 Cups, 3 Conn Smythes, Olympics, World Cups, an Art Ross, a Hart the Hawks chose the coaching equivalent of a guy walking down the street.

Colliton had exactly 4 years of Tier 2 Swedish Beer League which was enough for StanBo to give him Rockford in the AHL. Won a few play-off series riding veterans dumped to Rockford that had no future and are no longer in the organizatoon. Was not a developmental run based on many young players. Also there were no expectations and consequently no pressure at all.

Not one NHL game, even as an Assistant. If you are going to hire someone like Colliton, with absolutely no experience, he has to be really something, really progressive, a hockey genius. There is NOTHING to suggest that Colliton has any special skills or intuition or knowledge, as a Head Coach setting himself apart. This is not a question of age it is a question of competence. I believe that someone young can be very special but this is NOT Colliton.

HUGE MISTAKE by Bowman - HUGE!

- Z3Hawk



Quenneville looked like a genius between 2009 and 2015. He looked less so from 2016 - 2018. Did Quenneville suddenly forget how to coach? Colliton enters as coach and the team isn't fairing much better in fact it got worse. Coach's fault? I don't think so. A coach is only as good as his players. He gets the best or worst of what he has in the dressing room. The problem with the Hawks starts on the blueline. The Hawks really no longer have a top teir defense pairing. And beyond Keith I'm not sure they have a defender who would have contributed to the Cup winning teams.

Unfortunately it's not only in the talent on the blueline but it seems apathy has set in. Keith, Kane, Toews, Seabrook and Crawford, the core, have all pretty much gone through the motions in the last month or so. It's sad to see a group so reverred, so dedicated and the guys who epitomized the Glory days of this team seem suddenly uninspired, unmotivated and seeming uninterested in earning their paycheques.

Many of Bowman's trades in the past I'd give him a break on because his goal was to keep the Hawks competative or cap compliant. The Seabrook contract was a huge mistake. His free agent acquisitions are curious at best. It seems the Hawks have drafted well but time will test that theory. The question to me do the Hawks want to see what Bowman can do or do they need to move him out and get in a new GM?

Whatever happens I think as much of the core as possible has to moved out. It's time to blow it up and rebuild.

One of the things I hated about the Hawks when they were the best team in hockey was the World Junior Hockey Championships had very few Hawk prospects and the ones they had were almost all support players. I also hated the draft because Chicago was drafting so low. I guess the silver lining now is I can enjoy the WJHC and the draft.
LeftCoaster
Location: Valley Of The Sun
Joined: 07.03.2009

Dec 12 @ 8:09 AM ET
The Last Rebuild took 50 years.
- Z3Hawk

No it didn't, there were multiple rebuilds during that time and some damn good teams. Not every rebuild results in a Stanley Cup. It's hard to win the trophy.

Pulford was a good GM; in 1980 he drafted Savard 3rd overall, then Olczyk 3rd overall in 1984, then Roenick 8th overall in 1988....by 1990 you were in the third round of the playoffs, won the President's Trophy in 1991 and made it to the finals in 1992.

You've witnessed some damn good hockey and some damn poor hockey. It's impossible to stay on top forever. Four years after the dynasty Islanders won their last Cup in 84 they were near the bottom of the league. Stop your f**kin whining.
paulr
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: YYZ
Joined: 06.26.2011

Dec 12 @ 8:16 AM ET
Let's look at things from a proper perspective. Colliton should not be judged here, Barry Smith and Don Granato SHOULD be!. JC is not coaching this team, he is the Greg Brady of the NHL, the suit fits.

Somewhere, Pulford has a huge smile (while drinking the old man's private stash of booze), and laughing with Scotty as they discuss other ways to kill this organization. Rocky, as soon as Hossa's contract is up, name him President of Hockey Operations!

- powerenforcer



Pulford smiling at what? At the fact the mess he left was fixed and the hawks won three cups and his name isn't on one?
paulr
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: YYZ
Joined: 06.26.2011

Dec 12 @ 8:17 AM ET
No it didn't, there were multiple rebuilds during that time and some damn good teams. Not every rebuild results in a Stanley Cup. It's hard to win the trophy.

Pulford was a good GM; in 1980 he drafted Savard 3rd overall, then Olczyk 3rd overall in 1984, then Roenick 8th overall in 1988....by 1990 you were in the third round of the playoffs, won the President's Trophy in 1991 and made it to the finals in 1992.

You've witnessed some damn good hockey and some damn poor hockey. It's impossible to stay on top forever. Four years after the dynasty Islanders won their last Cup in 84 they were near the bottom of the league. Stop your f**kin whining.

- LeftCoaster


Good post!
I Am The Breadman
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Richton Park, IL
Joined: 09.16.2018

Dec 12 @ 8:20 AM ET
Justin Lowe: Quenneville was the Last Straw

When I heard the news that Joel Quenneville was fired by the Chicago, I was sad/angry/confused, but when those emotions subsided, I was excited. I was excited for Jeremy Colliton to get in there with a fresh voice and thought that this was the beginning of a new Hawks team.

Maybe not?

- Justin Lowe


This is beyond sad to watch every night, JL. I honestly can't describe it. I don't understand this team. They are fighting back, it is just never enough. It seems like when the depth guys are scoring, the top guys arent, and vice versa.

I totally agree, team defense is the problem. There might be guys on d that I don't like or guys making mistakes, but they have absolutely zero help. Fleeing the zone for the stretch pass and blindly passing the puck backwards, both have to stop. I honestly think Seabs was the best defender last night. Yeah, a goal deflected off of him, but he broke up passes, checked guys off the puck, did his helicopter sweep successfully almost every time. I thought I was watching the old Seabs, not just an "old" Seabs.

It will be a sad day to see any of these guys in different sweaters, but I'm leaning more towards it has to happen soon after each game we lose. There are bright spots, here and there, players make great plays and show they might be great in the future, but it is not enough to outweigh the season. Hawks tend to win against Pit, that's not a guarantee anymore.
steve-hist-sdc
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 12.30.2016

Dec 12 @ 8:39 AM ET
... hang on a sec - if you are seeing all three forwards leaving the zone - that sounds like drop in hockey cherrypicking.

That is no way to run any sort of breakout -and that is coaching philosophy - which is the coach's responsibility to impart as part of his 'system' ... which makes it sound as if he has no system.

Sure he has been put in a position to fail, but he is also failing on his own merits as well... sort of a failure double play, if you will...
Rota's Rooter
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 06.23.2017

Dec 12 @ 8:55 AM ET
Let's look at things from a proper perspective. Colliton should not be judged here, Barry Smith and Don Granato SHOULD be!. JC is not coaching this team, he is the Greg Brady of the NHL, the suit fits.

Somewhere, Pulford has a huge smile (while drinking the old man's private stash of booze), and laughing with Scotty as they discuss other ways to kill this organization. Rocky, as soon as Hossa's contract is up, name him President of Hockey Operations!

- powerenforcer

Nope. If anything Pully is drooling into a bucket when not coughing up a lung.
paulr
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: YYZ
Joined: 06.26.2011

Dec 12 @ 8:55 AM ET
... hang on a sec - if you are seeing all three forwards leaving the zone - that sounds like drop in hockey cherrypicking.

That is no way to run any sort of breakout -and that is coaching philosophy - which is the coach's responsibility to impart as part of his 'system' ... which makes it sound as if he has no system.

Sure he has been put in a position to fail, but he is also failing on his own merits as well... sort of a failure double play, if you will...

- steve-hist-sdc

No hockey coach anywhere has a strategy of all three forwards leaving the zone early and putting Murphy in a situation where giving up the puck to forechecking pressure is his only option. Every single Pee-Wee player in Nortn America knows you need to transition from the defensive zone. This is on the players, not the coach.
Sn1362
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Chicago, IL
Joined: 07.10.2014

Dec 12 @ 9:07 AM ET
The one thing that I have been wondering and I have heard nothing about, did the players have a closed door meeting to talk about what is going on? This team is not as bad as it’s record. They are not a cup contender but they are not this bad.
Last time I remember them playing like the Savard was the coach and he talk to them about pride and putting on the Blackhawks sweater.
There is a rebuild and I have no problem with it I would just like to see the players like you are saying JL block some shots show something!
bogiedoc
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: VA
Joined: 09.27.2011

Dec 12 @ 9:10 AM ET
Should he grow a moustache?

He could look like these guys and wouldn't make a difference but the sunglasses are not a bad idea.

6628
Joined: 08.24.2009

Dec 12 @ 9:11 AM ET
It's one thing to have a lot of pride after the game in an interview. It's another to have it when the puck drops to start the game. This team hasn't started games with a sack long before Colliton got here.
bogiedoc
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: VA
Joined: 09.27.2011

Dec 12 @ 9:15 AM ET
The one thing that I have been wondering and I have heard nothing about, did the players have a closed door meeting to talk about what is going on? This team is not as bad as it’s record. They are not a cup contender but they are not this bad.
Last time I remember them playing like the Savard was the coach and he talk to them about pride and putting on the Blackhawks sweater.
There is a rebuild and I have no problem with it I would just like to see the players like you are saying JL block some shots show something!

- Sn1362



yes they are this bad...if it wasn't for craw/ward heroics at times they would be blown off the ice with 6-7-8 goals against every other game. Unforced errors, lazy passes, turnover, horrible positioning defensively and offensively. Have they quit...NO. But something is awfully wrong when team after team comes at them hard at puck drop and they just have no response and clue and its just not the young guys: top 6 have been part of the same problems.

no player only meeting has been reported
jmatchett383
Philadelphia Flyers
Location: Newark, DE
Joined: 03.09.2010

Dec 12 @ 9:16 AM ET
I get that it's not pleasant right now, but I think every team aside from Pittsburgh would gladly trade the last 10 years you guys have had and then deal with the eventual fallout.
bogiedoc
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: VA
Joined: 09.27.2011

Dec 12 @ 9:17 AM ET
It's one thing to have a lot of pride after the game in an interview. It's another to have it when the puck drops to start the game. This team hasn't started games with a sack long before Colliton got here.
- 6628


its actually been a problem for years but they had the talent and skill to overcome it..not so much the last 2 seasons.

from the WC first seed to the WC outhouse in less than a 120 games...remarkable!
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