Blues at Hawks 12/2

[zack54attack]

This team is not good.

 

[Tater]

Gotta disagree, that was entirely on Maatta.

Yep, there never should have even been a shot taken.

 

[RacerX]

You forgot to add "with a shitty GM" to your last paragraph.

Unnecessary to state the obvious, a team does not find itself in the condition the Hawks are in without a fucktard as GM.

Not only is the team uncompetitive, but there's not much they can about it for the next 2-3 years other than watch the clock tick toward expiration of the contracts for #2, #7, #19 and hope for luck in the draft lottery.

Hawks fans are in a long-term purgatory. I was surprised to see as much enthusiasm as there was for this season only a few weeks ago. I am not a negative poster but this shit-show never had a chance to compete for anything more than a 1st-round playoff beat-down.

 

[MassHavoc]

Their record while wearing them not withstanding, I actually really like them

The record only adds another reason to hate them.

 

[Granada]

Unnecessary to state the obvious, a team does not find itself in the condition the Hawks are in without a fucktard as GM.

Not only is the team uncompetitive, but there's not much they can about it for the next 2-3 years other than watch the clock tick toward expiration of the contracts for #2, #7, #19 and hope for luck in the draft lottery.

Hawks fans are in a long-term purgatory. I was surprised to see as much enthusiasm as there was for this season only a few weeks ago. I am not a negative poster but this shit-show never had a chance to compete for anything more than a 1st-round playoff beat-down.

Yes, although I can't say I was surprised by the enthusiasm. I didn't agree with it of course, but it's like that every year, particularly with the Hawks -- fans tend to think every prospect will be an immediate hit like Toews and Kane; every acquisition will be spot-on, etc. I was surprised however when the majority of hockey analysts applauded Bowman's moves this year (at least, all the ones I heard; evidently Mike Johnson was one that didn't think the Hawks would do well this year).

I have to wonder if perhaps the org. felt like this was a lost year when they decided to keep Dach up past his 10 games. No way to ever know of course, but the thought did cross my mind. I wonder if they would have kept him up had the Hawks started the year off on a hot streak and were an early contender for the division. But once they saw that wasn't the case, they figured they might as well just keep the rookie up and let him gain experience, since the team didn't look as if it was playoff-bound, even then. The hot November saved Colliton, but if that streak never occurred, he's probably gone -- my point is, the writing was already on the wall before the hot streak.

 

[Granada]

The record only adds another reason to hate them.

Fair enough, but compared to these atrocities, they're masterpieces:

 

[anotheridiot]

Hawks couldn't even field a full roster due to the cap. They got lots of young guys at once relied upon to produce.

NHL salary cap is 81 million
Toews and Kane combined make 21 million.
2 goalies are 13 million

Toews is a shell of what he once was. Remember in the offseason Chicago sports media made a stink of Toews not considered a top 20 center in the present day NHL. They were right

I am pretty sure they are going to have to put one of these guys on LTIR. IF Jewels and Strome are really badly concussed (sure seems like Jewels is worse) why not just IR them to get the spot back? They must think one of them is ready to return and would have lost to the blues anyway. I am just more confused from last year the hawks brought up an emergency goalie for a game and sure thought they were worse against the cap then.

Not sure about this flu deal with Lenhar either, he was ready to fight the bench when he got pulled.

 

[Granada]

I am pretty sure they are going to have to put one of these guys on LTIR. IF Jewels and Strome are really badly concussed (sure seems like Jewels is worse) why not just IR them to get the spot back? They must think one of them is ready to return and would have lost to the blues anyway. I am just more confused from last year the hawks brought up an emergency goalie for a game and sure thought they were worse against the cap then.

Not sure about this flu deal with Lenhar either, he was ready to fight the bench when he got pulled.

Strome is skating in practice, so it looks like he will return soon.

The team wouldn't just put a regular on LTIR "to get the spot back" because that would mean said regular would have to sit out 10 NHL games -- without being absolutely sure, of course.

 

[anotheridiot]

Strome is skating in practice, so it looks like he will return soon.

The team wouldn't just put a regular on LTIR "to get the spot back" because that would mean said regular would have to sit out 10 NHL games -- without being absolutely sure, of course.

No retroactive stuff like baseball I guess. I just see Jewels as redundant, has had so many healthy scratches, already missed 6 or 7 games, dont think they missed him much for a needed spot.

 

[anotheridiot]

This just in, Shaw enters concussion protocol.

 

[Diehardfan]

I'm just tired of yearly band-aids trying squeeze into the playoffs....what the hell good does that do? You don't need a Pick 15, you need a Pick 3. I said earlier that they don't have the right people in the front office to do what needs to be done...and I still believe that. McDonough helped pull this team up from the depths, now it's heading back in that direction.....ok, he's really not a hockey guy but he's smart enough to know what needs to be done. Question is, does he have the stones to do it? You need a bigtime GM in here and while I love the kid, Kane has to be dealt while his value is still high. Toews value is already tarnished as he joins the rest of the fading "triple cup core".....Kaner is all they have to deal that will net them a good return. You already have a crap coach that's on the cheap, so you keep him through the tank...you go after a good coach after you get some pieces in place and that's gonna take awhile. RacerX estimated 2 years....that would be quite the miracle for that to happen.

 

[Bigfoot]

We are stuck with Capt Disconnect, Seabrookzival, Keith, and Kaner till their deals run out. Until than the FO will keep on trotting out the One Goal nonsense and try to add players to go for one more run versus tearing it down, and rebuilding. If they were able to trade away a couple of these anchors Capt Disconnect and Seabrookzival would free us up, but nobody takes on those anchors unless we add sweatners or draft capital which we need.

I've always told @Ares these moves killed us.

Traded TT to get rid of Bigfoot contract
Traded Panarin and add Saad
Re-Sign Seabrookzival to that ridiculous deal

 

[anotheridiot]

We are stuck with Capt Disconnect, Seabrookzival, Keith, and Kaner till their deals run out. Until than the FO will keep on trotting out the One Goal nonsense and try to add players to go for one more run versus tearing it down, and rebuilding. If they were able to trade away a couple of these anchors Capt Disconnect and Seabrookzival would free us up, but nobody takes on those anchors unless we add sweatners or draft capital which we need.

I've always told @Ares these moves killed us.

Traded TT to get rid of Bigfoot contract
Traded Panarin and add Saad
Re-Sign Seabrookzival to that ridiculous deal

But what did we have a chance to do? Let guys like Ruuta develop like Stan expected him to when he signed him to the 2 million extension, have Joker top 4 d man like he is in Buffalo, let Bovquist play and we could have drafted Byram.

Instead he tied up 8.5 more million ( in defenders that assist the other team scoring) in the cap on D men til 2023 instead of having breathing room. I think Cat realized he is not getting his 6 million til next year and is playing like he is on his last rookie number of 800k.

all this while the cup champs sit with 6 million of cap space.

 

[Granada]

I'm just tired of yearly band-aids trying squeeze into the playoffs....what the hell good does that do? You don't need a Pick 15, you need a Pick 3. I said earlier that they don't have the right people in the front office to do what needs to be done...and I still believe that. McDonough helped pull this team up from the depths, now it's heading back in that direction.....ok, he's really not a hockey guy but he's smart enough to know what needs to be done. Question is, does he have the stones to do it? You need a bigtime GM in here and while I love the kid, Kane has to be dealt while his value is still high. Toews value is already tarnished as he joins the rest of the fading "triple cup core".....Kaner is all they have to deal that will net them a good return. You already have a crap coach that's on the cheap, so you keep him through the tank...you go after a good coach after you get some pieces in place and that's gonna take awhile. RacerX estimated 2 years....that would be quite the miracle for that to happen.

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.

 

[Granada]

It's laughable that THIS team is in salary cap hell

That's what happens when you tie 11 million dollars in two goalies.

 

[LordKOTL]

10-12-5 means you are really 10-17.....seeing as you actually lost that many. That's not good. Hawks have lost 6 of their last 7 now....Jamal Mayers always puts a bizarre positive spin and everything. This game it will be "The Hawks did alot of things they can take forward and grow on"...or some other nonsense. Changes need to be made...but they are stuck with these ridiculous contracts they can't get out of. Well...they CAN....but they'd be giving guys away. Maybe that's what they need to do...cuz this team is going nowhere.

Ehh...kinda. This is hockey and the main determinator of standings is not wins/losses, but standings points. Overtime and shootout losses (in spite of common feelings about it) are a standings point.

Yes, they may be 10-17 in terms of result, but they got a point in 5 of those games,, so instead of having 20 standings points, they have 25. That could come into play in determing, well, the way we're going, draft lottery position.

Their record while wearing them not withstanding, I actually really like them

Agreed on all 3 counts: I like the style of them, even if they updated the logo. They kept the spirit of the throwbacks.

The record sucks with them, so they should never be worn again--at least until we get a team worth a squirt of piss.

The Stadium Series Blacks with the shiny logos and the askew lines are an abomination (even though I liked the CCM pre-Reebok-era blacks)

 

[Granada]

Ehh...kinda. This is hockey and the main determinator of standings is not wins/losses, but standings points. Overtime and shootout losses (in spite of common feelings about it) are a standings point.

Yes, they may be 10-17 in terms of result, but they got a point in 5 of those games,, so instead of having 20 standings points, they have 25. That could come into play in determing, well, the way we're going, draft lottery position.


Agreed on all 3 counts: I like the style of them, even if they updated the logo. They kept the spirit of the throwbacks.

The record sucks with them, so they should never be worn again--at least until we get a team worth a squirt of piss.

The Stadium Series Blacks with the shiny logos and the askew lines are an abomination (even though I liked the CCM pre-Reebok-era blacks)

Yeah, the pre-Reebok blacks are probably my favorite of all the jerseys.

 

[Jack Lantern]

That's what happens when you tie 11 million dollars in two goalies.

meh, can't fault Stanley too much with this move. Not often you get a 28 year old free agent Vezina finalist goalie who is willing to sign a 1 year deal.

That being said, there is no guarantee Lehner stays beyond one season with the Blackhawks if they continue to plummet in the standings.

Stanley added depth to goaltending and added pieces to shore up the D. He was banking on the offense to score like last season and that's not happening. 13 of the 27 games the Hawks have scored 2 or fewer goals. They are ranked in the bottom 3 in the western conference for fewest goals scored.

 

[Granada]

meh, can't fault Stanley too much with this move. Not often you get a 28 year old free agent Vezina finalist goalie who is willing to sign a 1 year deal.

That being said, there is no guarantee Lehner stays beyond one season with the Blackhawks if they continue to plummet in the standings.

Stanley added depth to goaltending and added pieces to shore up the D. He was banking on the offense to score like last season and that's not happening. 13 of the 27 games the Hawks have scored 2 or fewer goals. They are ranked in the bottom 3 in the western conference for fewest goals scored.

Granted, but it's a luxury you shouldn't afford when you already have a 6 million dollar goalie and massive holes at top-six forward, 3LC, and top-4 D. He addressed the D, left the others, and wasted the rest on what essentially is a back-up goalie.

Also, if Lehner does leave, it's an even bigger waste, considering Bowman could have signed a longer-term fix in one of his other holes.

 

[Jack Lantern]

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.