Funny, same thing here.
- Chunk

Yep, to most of us....

Some still cling to the idea that a GM exists with the magical powers to keep the Hawks at the top of the league in perpetuity. Those folks are doomed to certain sadness and anger.

Yep, to most of us....

Some still cling to the idea that a GM exists with the magical powers to keep the Hawks at the top of the league in perpetuity. Those folks are doomed to certain sadness and anger.
- mohel

Doomed to?


There is already too much sadness and anger now. In fact there was sadness and anger after the 2010, 2013 and 2015 seasons. Ya think it would get worse?

Doomed to?


There is already too much sadness and anger now. In fact there was sadness and anger after the 2020, 2013 and 2015 seasons. Ya think it would get worse?
- paulr

Easy there Nostradamus, there is still a chance!!

Easy there Nostradamus, there is still a chance!!
- Chunk

Ooops! If the Hawks were to pull it off this year there would still be a handful of posters who would be angry and sad.

Yep, to most of us....

Some still cling to the idea that a GM exists with the magical powers to keep the Hawks at the top of the league in perpetuity. Those folks are doomed to certain sadness and anger.
- mohel

I'm getting a chuckle out of the conflicting posts. Some say that we need to sell off everything that we have, while others say that we have nothing of value that others would want (or what we do have of value is superfluous - Lehner/Crawford).

I can't wait to see what happens, because regardless of what it is (or isn't) it will ultimately be wrong.

I really hope that Stan stands pat. Then we can get the endless posts about how he missed a grand opportunity and about all of the rumored players/picks that were available for the next 10 years.

Ooops! If the Hawks were to pull it off this year there would still be a handful of posters who would be angry and sad.
- paulr

Because it wasn't done "their" way, or because they are Nihilist and nothing really matters.

Doomed to?


There is already too much sadness and anger now. In fact there was sadness and anger after the 2010, 2013 and 2015 seasons. Ya think it would get worse?
- paulr

Well, to answer the question.....hell yes.

But, I should've added a "continued" in front of "sadness and anger".

Minnesota Wild fire Boudreau.

Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Hearing MIN making a coaching change, Bruce Boudreau is out. Wild making a charge, too. More to come, obviously

Wonder who they will take off the market or if they will promote from within?

Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Hearing MIN making a coaching change, Bruce Boudreau is out. Wild making a charge, too. More to come, obviously

Wonder who they will take off the market or if they will promote from within?
- pdx2ord

@Mario_Tirabassi

#Wild fire Bruce Boudreau and name former #Admirals head coach and current Wild assistant coach Dean Evason as interim head coach
#NHL

Minnesota Wild fire Bourdreau.
- boilermaker100

Sign him now! Got to be better than Colliton!

Crawford has never played 60 regular season games in a year. But he has played 57 to 59 in 6 different years. His injuries were restricted to 2 specific injuries. He has been healthy and played well (probably not elite) this year. .911 save % and 2.89 GAA with pretty shoddy defense in front of him. Lehner is only .921 save % and GAA 2.87. Sure he has the chance of another concussion or recurring symptoms of a concussion. But Lehner or any other goal if they are run over can suffer a concussion too. Or they could get some other type of injury. If he is healthy I think 55 starts is reasonable. Then you get Lankinen and or Delia 27 games as his backup. It is unlikely they are cup contenders next year. anyway If Lankinen or Delia play well in their starts than you have Crow's heir apparent (and probably at a low cap figure). If not you look elsewhere.
- -Doh-

55 games for crow at age 36 is very optimistic. I would argue that if crow is your plan next year then you have to have another veteran on the team in case he goes down for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. And isn’t that just recycling the same plan that blew up in their face last year?
That being said, it’s a reasonable argument that the hawks are not contenders anyway and paying lehner what he deserves doesn’t change that.

In my mind, Blackhawks' braintrust should be and is formulating the pieces of the team going forward. Working to identify the players who will contribute when they are ready to contend again. I would think the NMC players will all be here though their contracts. I would feel confident Dach and Boqvist will soon be mainstays and improve their performance.
Who are the guys getting regular minutes this year they decide to move on from, and what will the return be? How long will it take for chemistry to develop with the new roster? (IMHO, that only sporadically happened this year due to injuries)
And how much of an eye should the braintrust have on the upcoming expansion draft, because they will likely lose a player they do not want to lose.
Still pretty darn confident they'll get back up the mountain during the Kane/Toews years.
- 35Tony0

"Blackhawks braintrust" ??
Now that's funny Jerry.

Sign him now! Got to be better than Colliton!
- Chunk

I don't like replying to my own post, but it was apropos:

Pierre LeBrun‏Verified account @PierreVLeBrun · 11m11 minutes ago

Bruce Boudreau, Gerard Gallant, Mike Babcock, Peter Laviolette all coaching UFAs at the same time. Quite the off-season awaits.

Any GM of this current team is constrained by:

1. Players past their expiration dates on unmovable albatross contracts and upcoming RFA extensions that strongly limit cap space and trade options

2. Weak pipeline of impactful top tier NHL potential in the system

3. Current roster built around a defense be damned poke check machine that only rarely works

4. Weak state of the team and it’s prospects hinders attracting/retaining needed talent without overpaying (see: what will happen with Lehner)

My fear is SB waits too long thinking they still have a chance and gets nothing for guys like Lehner and Saad.

Dach, Kane and Kubalik are the only current roster players who should be retained. Everyone else should be available.

Top of my list to move is Captain Whiner. He is done. Sad thing is everyone else knows it, and won’t take on his contract.

Wave the flag, get another lottery pick, sell players for picks and prospects, wash/rinse/repeat for two more years. Three more good picks and real cap space. Then nuke McD, find a decent GM who brings in a veteran coach, and do the real rebuild.

If Hawks make a coaching change before Colliton's contract expires, that will be the beginning of the end for Bowman. I think there's a better chance that Bowman lets him finish his contract to save face than to admit he made a mistake and try to fix it.

Huh.... This article Jaeckel posted today sounds awfully familiar. 🧐.

https://www.the-rink.com/...an-and-mcdonough-must-go/

If Hawks make a coaching change before Colliton's contract expires, that will be the beginning of the end for Bowman. I think there's a better chance that Bowman lets him finish his contract to save face than to admit he made a mistake and try to fix it.
- catrisc

Yep. Halas Hall playbook. CYA for everyone.

I don’t know if anybody already posted it here, but go read today’s piece on the website called “the Rink “

I got to ask, logically a lot of you guys are right when you say it takes time to rebuild, but it seems like look at the New York Yankees, it seems like they get it done on the fly,Now I know there are a fair amount of people on here like myself that have been long time diehard season-ticket holder’s. Now the shoot from the hip answer would be well then just drop them and re-up when they get good again. In some of our minds that’s not an option.

I guess at least in my case what I would like to see is Rocky, be up front, and come out and tell us what the hell is going on. I don’t think it’s going to get as bad as the 90s. And I think that 19 and 88 possibly still have one more cup in them within the next 3 to 4 years. But it seems Like the people steering the ship at the top maybe need to be replaced, and let someone else have it.
The problem we have here is we have an owner that is not hands-on and he hired a guy that is a great marketer but probably never put a pair of hockey skates on in his life, unless some of you guys that may have went to high school with him can see different. I’m not knocking John but what the hell is the blind loyalty to the Bowmans.? Yes give them credit, but,Other teams have made changes at the top why can they not do this year? That is all I’m trying to say.

The real standings.

_____________ GP PTS PTS/G
Blues_________57 74 1.298 1st Cen
Av's__________56 72 1.286 2nd Cen
Stars_________ 57 71 1.246 3rd Cen
Canucks______58 69 1.190 1st Pac
Oilers________ 57 66 1.158 2nd Pac
Flames_______59 66 1.119 3rd Pac/WC (tie)
Knights_______59 66 1.119 3rd Pac/WC (tie)
Preds________ 56 61 1.089 WC
Jets __________58 63 1.086
Wild _________57 61 1.070
Yotes________ 60 64 1.067
Hawks_______ 57 58 1.018
Ducks________57 53 0.930
Sharks________56 52 0.929
Kings_________58 45 0.776

Based on these results you will need a minimum of 1.089 pts per game. So 82 games x 1.089 = 90 pts. The Hawks have 25 games left and have to get 32 points. So 15W- 8L – 2 OTL. They have to win or tie in regulation 17 of the of their last 25 games.

Sell wisely Stan.
- -Doh-

I like the daily update of the real rankings, but I think you should leave off the bolded sentence. After all, 12-8-5=29 is also winning or tying in 17 of their last 25 games, but they would still fall short.

55 games for crow at age 36 is very optimistic. I would argue that if crow is your plan next year then you have to have another veteran on the team in case he goes down for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. And isn’t that just recycling the same plan that blew up in their face last year?
That being said, it’s a reasonable argument that the hawks are not contenders anyway and paying lehner what he deserves doesn’t change that.
- BMoreHawks

I understand and have no qualms with your logic. However look at it differently. If Tony Esposito and Glenn Hall in their prime were in net next year the Hawks would not be cup contenders. So Crow plays 55 games (not a stretch for someone who does not turn 36 until next December). Basically he would not have to play in back to back games all year. You get Lankinen and/or Delia some NHL starts to give them some experience and see where they are at. You have a low cap hit in goal to retain/add other skaters. If Crow is injured or the goaltending sucks you are in the lottery again next year. Being in the lottery three years in a row and increasing your cap space while building up your prospects is doing something.

Huh.... This article Jaeckel posted today sounds awfully familiar. 🧐.

https://www.the-rink.com/...an-and-mcdonough-must-go/
- Toew Drags 4 Daze

Yet strangely spot on

Trade Crow and Lehner. Bring one back in the offseason. Let Lankinen and Delia come up and give Tompkins the reigns in Rockford the rest of the way.

Get best possible return for Gus, Smith, Maatta, and Sikura. Load up the cupboard with the return and find out what holes you need to fill in the offseason once you see how the kids perform.

@StLouisBlues
Jay Bouwmeester has undergone a successful Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) procedure. http://bit.ly/31Vqngj #stlblues

Can't imagine he continues to play with a pacemaker. Huge blow for the Blues.

I don’t know if anybody already posted it here, but go read today’s piece on the website called “the Rink “
- wonthecup10

Great read...I agree. Give Bowman credit where credit is due. He was good at acquiring role players that were instrumental in this teams success over the last 10 years.

That being said, he did not draft/build this core. That was the previous administration. It is becoming more evident every year that rebuilding/retooling is not Stan's specialty.