So lets just pile on the Vermette "hit" this year. What about the fact he had to reup guys like Seabrook who when it happened most here said was an overpay. I remember debates of trading Seabrook to the Oilers for Jeff Petry and Magnus Paajarvi and countless other crazy scenarios of how Stan failed. People complained Sharp was an overpay and OH MY the outcry that Crawford was an overpay. What about Oduya (I remember all the pizza man comments about him and how horrible he was with serving up pucks for turnovers) BUT he was a staple with these cup runs. Or how dare he draft these "smurfs" like Krueger and TT. What about Hossa, I guess thats a different debate if you dont give Stan.Scott credit for that. What about pick ups like Frolik Ricahrds and Roszival all impact role players in these cup runs. and to a lesser extent the minor role players like Handzus and DesJardin. And then of course Shaw and Saad(Oh I remember the debates on Saad and how there MUST be something wrong with him if he fell that deep and how a prospect is nothing but a prospect and most will never amount to squat) What about the fact he acquired BOTH Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy for one Cam Barker in the first place. What about the fact that at the first purge it was obvious the choice was either Niemi or Hjarlmarson and, not all but A LOT of people were saying Niemi ( and how Doug wilson stole Niemi by offer sheeting Hammer forcing the Hawks to choose) Bowman choose wisely in a cornerstone in Hammer

Stan apologist..... MCD apolgist yes I am and yes I am. Lets see the Hawks won 3 cups in their pre-bowman/McD existence and doubled that up in he last 6. What else do they need to do for us to become apologists and not freak out because hes having a hard time moving an aging winger coming off a so/so year where his age showed and VERYONE knows he needs to get moved.

Eh same old same old
- mvp0207

What's Saads re-sign number? 3.5 to 4.5? Kruger? 2 to 2.5? Both are potential offer sheet candidates. Bickell and Versteeg are not Hawks come October 1 even if it's for the proverbial bag of pucks. So just throwing this out there for debate. Without Sharp, Bickell and Versteeg and the rest of the roster filled with cheap vets and kids from Rockford giving you less of a chance at a repeat than the same roster letting Saad go and keeping Sharp? With parity what it is and the roster being what it might be is it possible the Hawks miss the playoffs in either scenario and are sellers at TD and move Sharp and Crawford for more value then to a contender? Then they are back on track 2016-2017 with cap space and experience from the kids and know which ones are real and which are not.

Oh we are on the same page, trust me.
- biegs

Whew

Whew
- mvp0207

Biegs is kind of big on sarcasm.

What's Saads re-sign number? 3.5 to 4.5? Kruger? 2 to 2.5? Both are potential offer sheet candidates. Bickell and Versteeg are not Hawks come October 1 even if it's for the proverbial bag of pucks. So just throwing this out there for debate. Without Sharp, Bickell and Versteeg and the rest of the roster filled with cheap vets and kids from Rockford giving you less of a chance at a repeat than the same roster letting Saad go and keeping Sharp? With parity what it is and the roster being what it might be is it possible the Hawks miss the playoffs in either scenario and are sellers at TD and move Sharp and Crawford for more value then to a contender? Then they are back on track 2016-2017 with cap space and experience from the kids and know which ones are real and which are not.
- idelkhntr

I think Raanta was a goner even if Crawford gets traded. No way you start the year with Darling and Raanta. If Crawford goes, they will get a more experience goalie via trade or free agency imho.
- stljam

Mike Smith??

Biegs is kind of big on sarcasm.
- HawkintheD

I liken Stan Bowman to a chef who took over a pretty good restaurant just after it becomes successful. The old chef made the menu, based on his own style and possibly with some of the dishes from the previous chef, but now it's Stan's turn. He can either retool the whole menu and do whatever he wants, which is risky, or he can evaluate each dish on the menu and choose which ones to keep and which ones complement others, and then choose to add what he feels is necessary to keep the restaurant operating at a high level.

That's what I think Stan has done, and that's still not an easy thing to do. Stan is operating a three Michelin star restaurant, and even though he may not have built it, it's his job to keep it running at that three star level, year after year. In the business world, this is a very valuable skill. How many businesses start up and become extraordinarily successful only to bomb because they were mismanaged?

I think people often forget that the word "manager" is part of GM. It doesn't matter what the situation looked like when he got there, it only matters how he dealt with that situation, and so far, if you're going based on results, he's done everything you've asked him to do. One man has doubled the number of championships this team has won, and he's done it in a fifth of the time it took to win the first three.

He's earned my trust to do whatever he wants to do until this team stops being competitive. At that point, you can reevaluate. But for now, based on what he's chosen to do, missteps and all, I'm putting him among my top 3 GMs without thinking twice.
- Sandus

not a bad analogy, but most successful restaurants have a window when to reap the benefits of the current economic and bountiful conditions. Just ask the islanders and the Chicago bulls now. Hard to mess up and even mistakes are immaterial when times are good.
Could we have won 6 cups straight, possibly. Now that would have been something. One or two players and some luck. Again, all you have to do is make the playoffs and it is a new season. Game 7 loss against Vancouver, 2 ot losses against phx and a shaw and hossa missing lots of games and a inept pp and pk, and game 7 loss against LA. Hmmmmmm One can also say we had a chance in 2008-9 tooo.

not a bad analogy, but most successful restaurants have a window when to reap the benefits of the current economic and bountiful conditions. Just ask the islanders and the Chicago bulls now. Hard to mess up and even mistakes are immaterial when times are good.
Could we have won 6 cups straight, possibly. Now that would have been something. One or two players and some luck. Again, all you have to do is make the playoffs and it is a new season. Game 7 loss against Vancouver, 2 ot losses against phx and a shaw and hossa missing lots of games and a inept pp and pk, and game 7 loss against LA. Hmmmmmm One can also say we had a chance in 2008-9 tooo.
- Topshelf2010

Look at the Pens with players like Sid, Malkin, Fleury, Letang, James Neal at one time, the year they lost to detroit (Hossa) Whoops in letting him go, Chris Kunitz, Brooks Orpric, Sergei Gonchar, missing on drafting Toews and drafting jordan stall instead.. Could you imagine Sid, Toews, Malkin, Hossa and Neal as a core of forwards. What did they get back for losing some of those players...Mostly Squat. with all those names coming through their franchise 1 cup 7 years ago. It says something to the fact that this core is STILL together after 3

not a bad analogy, but most successful restaurants have a window when to reap the benefits of the current economic and bountiful conditions. Just ask the islanders and the Chicago bulls now. Hard to mess up and even mistakes are immaterial when times are good.
Could we have won 6 cups straight, possibly. Now that would have been something. One or two players and some luck. Again, all you have to do is make the playoffs and it is a new season. Game 7 loss against Vancouver, 2 ot losses against phx and a shaw and hossa missing lots of games and a inept pp and pk, and game 7 loss against LA. Hmmmmmm One can also say we had a chance in 2008-9 tooo.
- Topshelf2010

3 in 6 Stanley Cups and 5 in 7 WCF appearances?! That's more than good enough for me! And not sure why liking what Bowman's been able to do to keep the engine running is a bad "koolaid" thing or why you can't like what Bowman's done but be critical here and there or be a bit worried right now that nothing got done at the draft. I'm kinda in both camps - a swirl of grateful to be where we are as Hawks fans, trusting the management who overall have done a great job of keeping the team a perenial contender for the cup and worrying while we are in the middle of the latest challenge. And that's what we have on our hands right now - a challenge. I'm not judging the off season performance until the off season is done; but that doesn't mean I can't worry about it in the meantime or think that Stan's job is that much more difficult the longer things drag out.

Good God reading these posts - still cracks me up how people are analyzing what they believe is fact and extrapolating an actual opinion on it.

I liken Stan Bowman to a chef who took over a pretty good restaurant just after it becomes successful. The old chef made the menu, based on his own style and possibly with some of the dishes from the previous chef, but now it's Stan's turn. He can either retool the whole menu and do whatever he wants, which is risky, or he can evaluate each dish on the menu and choose which ones to keep and which ones complement others, and then choose to add what he feels is necessary to keep the restaurant operating at a high level.

That's what I think Stan has done, and that's still not an easy thing to do. Stan is operating a three Michelin star restaurant, and even though he may not have built it, it's his job to keep it running at that three star level, year after year. In the business world, this is a very valuable skill. How many businesses start up and become extraordinarily successful only to bomb because they were mismanaged?

I think people often forget that the word "manager" is part of GM. It doesn't matter what the situation looked like when he got there, it only matters how he dealt with that situation, and so far, if you're going based on results, he's done everything you've asked him to do. One man has doubled the number of championships this team has won, and he's done it in a fifth of the time it took to win the first three.

He's earned my trust to do whatever he wants to do until this team stops being competitive. At that point, you can reevaluate. But for now, based on what he's chosen to do, missteps and all, I'm putting him among my top 3 GMs without thinking twice.
- Sandus

If we can criticize Keith or Seabrook for blowing a coverage or two, and Hossa for not burying a shot in the slot, and Oduya for serving up the occasional pizza, and CRAWFORD for letting in a soft goal - while recognize the overall excellence of their play - we can certainly do the same for/with/to Stan Bowman.

If we can criticize Keith or Seabrook for blowing a coverage or two, and Hossa for not burying a shot in the slot, and Oduya for serving up the occasional pizza, and CRAWFORD for letting in a soft goal - while recognize the overall excellence of their play - we can certainly do the same for/with/to Stan Bowman.
- StLBravesFan

Oh of course we can! The funny part is everyone blasting him for waiting too long etc. with the Sharp situation really have zero clue what actually is happening. That's the funny part here.

Biegs is kind of big on sarcasm.
- HawkintheD

If he is then he should use the red font because I couldn't tell.

I think it is a pretty big failure to not have unloaded any salary by now. One significant piece should have moved.

If we can criticize Keith or Seabrook for blowing a coverage or two, and Hossa for not burying a shot in the slot, and Oduya for serving up the occasional pizza, and CRAWFORD for letting in a soft goal - while recognize the overall excellence of their play - we can certainly do the same for/with/to Stan Bowman.
- StLBravesFan

Everyone is open to criticism, the big difference is you can see Keith or Seabrook blew coverage, you can see Oduya serve up a pizza and CC let in a softie, or Q not having his team ready in a game. Aside from a bad trade for KT or giving a bad contract to Bickell most of the criticism levelled at Bowman is speculation at best.

I think it is a pretty big failure to not have unloaded any salary by now. One significant piece should have moved.
- fattybeef

Says who?

If we can criticize Keith or Seabrook for blowing a coverage or two, and Hossa for not burying a shot in the slot, and Oduya for serving up the occasional pizza, and CRAWFORD for letting in a soft goal - while recognize the overall excellence of their play - we can certainly do the same for/with/to Stan Bowman.
- StLBravesFan

Absolutely, but you can't assume that because Hossa airmailed that shot or Crawford lost his crease and flopped on a softy that they will do so again in a similar future opportunity. Nor is it fair to assume that every situation will have exactly the same circumstances.

When Stamkos comes barreling down the ice unobstructed for 80 feet and comes up to Crawford, you don't cite all the breakaway or shootout goals he's allowed for evidence of your concern and you don't think about what the overall conditions on the ice are. You simply say "you gotta make this save" and cross your fingers and see what happens. After the fact you can say what did or didn't happen according to plan, but in the moment, why can't we just let things happen and trust in a guy who has proven his value?

This constant "Stan is dropping the ball" argument just gets tiring when nobody really knows what's going or or what's going to happen.

Everyone is open to criticism, the big difference is you can see Keith or Seabrook blew coverage, you can see Oduya serve up a pizza and CC let in a softie, or Q not having his team ready in a game. Aside from a bad trade for KT or giving a bad contract to Bickell most of the criticism levelled at Bowman is speculation at best.
- paulr

Also: I wouldn't even note that giving Bickell that contract was a bad contract. If Bickell makes the open market that offseason, he more than likely gets more money.

What about the fact he acquired BOTH Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy for one Cam freaking Barker in the first place
- mvp0207

Whooaaa! Pump the brakes! Don't mistake taking advantage of a vulnerable Chuck Fletcher as some sort of genius move on Bowmans part! Fletchers turned into a real window licker. 3 Terrible goalie contracts in 3 years now... and no end in sight of that dynamic scoring player drought...

But we Wild fans will be more than happy be Chicagos stepping stone to the conference finals again!



PS. Would trade half the Wild roster to have Bowman running things over here.

Says who?
- paulr

Says me!!

Everyone is open to criticism, the big difference is you can see Keith or Seabrook blew coverage, you can see Oduya serve up a pizza and CC let in a softie, or Q not having his team ready in a game. Aside from a bad trade for KT or giving a bad contract to Bickell most of the criticism levelled at Bowman is speculation at best.
- paulr

When I heard he was eating a bag of potato chips at the draft table that was the last straw for me. He has to go.

When I heard he was eating a bag of potato chips at the draft table that was the last straw for me. He has to go.
- RickJ

Rick: How dare he hasn't made a move yet. Just a complete dropping of the ball, and par for the course with this scalawag Bowman. Unacceptable! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!

If we can criticize Keith or Seabrook for blowing a coverage or two, and Hossa for not burying a shot in the slot, and Oduya for serving up the occasional pizza, and CRAWFORD for letting in a soft goal - while recognize the overall excellence of their play - we can certainly do the same for/with/to Stan Bowman.
- StLBravesFan

Excellent point, and that goes for Coach Q, too. Those that have "blind faith", don't seem to understand, that all businesses, and most especially sports, are "what have you done for me lately?". There is a lot of agnostic in sports fans, and while we "love" our team, we can still criticize when we see mistakes. Hell, that's the basis of "sports talk radio", which I can't stand, because of all the love/hate rhetoric, and where seldom is heard a realistic, rational opinion.

And, of course, we get a lot of that on this board, as well.

I think it is a pretty big failure to not have unloaded any salary by now. One significant piece should have moved.
- fattybeef

Why, Maybe Who knows. What do you think will happen? They are not going to forfeit the season. They will field a club and Im sure they will be an upper echelon team again.