Blues at Hawks 12/2

[Granada]

No, goaltending wasn't a luxury, it was a need. Crawford only suited up for 39 games last year and 29 the year before. Back to back seasons he's missed significant time due to concussions.

You act as if Lehner was the one and only option out there. He was not.

Also, if a 5 million dollar "insurance goalie" isn't a luxury, I don't know what is.

 

[Jack Lantern]

Bottomline, there are only a handful of fanbases of NHL teams that have witnessed 3 cups in their lifetime. Vast majority are lucky to see 1.

 

[Granada]

Bottomline, there are only a handful of fanbases of NHL teams that have witnessed 3 cups in their lifetime. Vast majority are lucky to see 1.

Okay -- nothing to do with this specific argument, but I digress.

 

[RacerX]

The problem with Bowman is that he's trying to have his cake and eat it too -- meaning, he's trying to both rebuild the team while keeping the core members (a "rebuild on the fly"). This team hasn't had true depth since 2016. When you have guys like Motte, Schmaltz, Hartman, Joker, Kubalik, Kampf, Nylander, Dach filling roles they really aren't ready for, this is what you get. All of these players getting experience on a team that is truly rebuilding would be fine, but again, this a rebuild of the fly. It's no wonder why this team's identity is nonexistent.

If Bowman were able to actually bring in legitimate talent, and not round out the roster with prospects and fluff, this team might still be able to contend -- but he brings in guys like Murphy, Daley, de Haan, Maatta, retreads like Campbell, Sharp, Shaw, I could go on -- this is why he sucks as a GM. He can't draft and he can't identify/bring in adequate role/veteran players (unless the team is utterly stacked, as it was in the Cup years: Maddden, Handzus, and Richards were all great; but Timmonen, Johnnson, Fleischmann, Weisse were shit -- it's just that, the former 2 flew under the radar since we won Cups those years).

I agree with the notion that this "rebuild on the fly" crap has to stop. You either have to tear it all down, or genuinely load up. McDonough blows, he jumped on board at the right time, as did Scotty. The one thing I give him credit for is Hossa (and bringing back Foley). I wouldn't be surprised if it's McD's strategy to keep the vets, since all he cares about is marketing and team brand. A true rebuild would set the brand of this team back another 5-7 years most likely, and that's an optimistic time-line. This org -- as a whole -- is too chicken-shit to begin a genuine rebuild.

I still have fan-level PTSD from Timmo. He made the current version of #7 look like Bobby Orr in his prime.