DMelt36
Bolland > You
- Joined:
- May 27, 2010
- Posts:
- 13,969
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It's Monday morning and the next Blackhawks hockey is 4 months away and everything sucks.
So where did it all go wrong?
First off, I'd like to state that this season was not a failure. Disappointment? Sure. But I don't think the Hawks failed because I don't think they're at the end of their run, by any means. Ya know who failed? The Blues failed. They shipped propsects and picks for a goalie and a center that didn't help them win the Cup. Mortgaged long-term success in the hopes of short-term rewards. Didn't work. They're fucked.
But something had to go wrong in Chicago, too, because this team had a roster worthy of a title.
I think Bowman can get a portion of the blame. While I do think the overall health of the franchise is in good shape, he still didn't acquire a 2C for the Hawks. Teuvo may be that guy in the future. But Pirri never panned out for whatever reason and Handzus wasn't able to play like the 2C he was in 2013. There also has to be some blame laid at his feet for the Hawks "big" acquisition of Kris Versteeg. I don't know what happened to the Steeger that we knew and loved in his first stint but this was not the same player. It's a miracle that the Hawks are only paying half his salary. The Kings had a big acquisition that scored the game-tying goal in Game 7. Versteeg was scratched in Game 6 and played a whopping 3:44 last night.
But I think the bigger blame is going to be directed at Quenneville. Do NOT take this as an endorsement for his firing. But Q made some head-scratching moves. Why he continued to play Bollig and Versteeg in the postseason when more capable options like Morin, Regin, and Nordstrom were watching from the press box continues to baffle me. Playing Zus I could live with because of his defensive prowess. But Bollig and Versteeg did nothing. The Hawks won their Cups because they had 4 capable lines. Putting those two in the lineup dropped them down to 3 and made them a bit easier to deal with. That little bit was enough to give the Kings a series win.
There's also the issue of how Q has been handling Hawks prospects, in general. Saad only got put on the first line when Carcillo got hurt a few years back. Pirri never really got a fair shot, IMO, and was shipped out of town. Joakim Nordstrom is probably the only prospect who got better this year. I keep bringing up names like Teuvo, Danault, McNeill, Clendening, and more but what's the point of having prospects if your coach isn't going to play them?
Hopefully this WCF exit leads to Q re-thinking some of his personnel moves. The Hawks have more than enough talent to coast through the regular season and into a top seed in the West. But they've also got to use those regular season games to give these younger players a chance to develop. Let 10-19-88-81-2-7 and the rest carry the regular season load while those young players get use to the NHL game. Then get your FOUR best lines together and run to the Cup in 2014.
There, I feel better now.
So where did it all go wrong?
First off, I'd like to state that this season was not a failure. Disappointment? Sure. But I don't think the Hawks failed because I don't think they're at the end of their run, by any means. Ya know who failed? The Blues failed. They shipped propsects and picks for a goalie and a center that didn't help them win the Cup. Mortgaged long-term success in the hopes of short-term rewards. Didn't work. They're fucked.
But something had to go wrong in Chicago, too, because this team had a roster worthy of a title.
I think Bowman can get a portion of the blame. While I do think the overall health of the franchise is in good shape, he still didn't acquire a 2C for the Hawks. Teuvo may be that guy in the future. But Pirri never panned out for whatever reason and Handzus wasn't able to play like the 2C he was in 2013. There also has to be some blame laid at his feet for the Hawks "big" acquisition of Kris Versteeg. I don't know what happened to the Steeger that we knew and loved in his first stint but this was not the same player. It's a miracle that the Hawks are only paying half his salary. The Kings had a big acquisition that scored the game-tying goal in Game 7. Versteeg was scratched in Game 6 and played a whopping 3:44 last night.
But I think the bigger blame is going to be directed at Quenneville. Do NOT take this as an endorsement for his firing. But Q made some head-scratching moves. Why he continued to play Bollig and Versteeg in the postseason when more capable options like Morin, Regin, and Nordstrom were watching from the press box continues to baffle me. Playing Zus I could live with because of his defensive prowess. But Bollig and Versteeg did nothing. The Hawks won their Cups because they had 4 capable lines. Putting those two in the lineup dropped them down to 3 and made them a bit easier to deal with. That little bit was enough to give the Kings a series win.
There's also the issue of how Q has been handling Hawks prospects, in general. Saad only got put on the first line when Carcillo got hurt a few years back. Pirri never really got a fair shot, IMO, and was shipped out of town. Joakim Nordstrom is probably the only prospect who got better this year. I keep bringing up names like Teuvo, Danault, McNeill, Clendening, and more but what's the point of having prospects if your coach isn't going to play them?
Hopefully this WCF exit leads to Q re-thinking some of his personnel moves. The Hawks have more than enough talent to coast through the regular season and into a top seed in the West. But they've also got to use those regular season games to give these younger players a chance to develop. Let 10-19-88-81-2-7 and the rest carry the regular season load while those young players get use to the NHL game. Then get your FOUR best lines together and run to the Cup in 2014.
There, I feel better now.
