Pretty sure PK Subban is a superstar but hey, whatever.
- BINGO!

PK is a ME ME guy who played his way out of Montreal. Skilled yes. Leader?

Seeing a lot of fire Q talk. Not sure whether that is the right thing or not.

What I do know is the organization has put themselves in an equally tough spot with ever having to move on from him like the popular highly marketed players. He gets announced like the starters every night at the UC...
- hawks1921

There is a lot of fire Q talk but to me I don't know if that's the move they need. That's an easy move to make but does that really solve anything if no personnel moves are made. I can just picture SB and McD firing Q and bringing someone like Olczyk thinking he'd be a popular choice to satisfy the masses and do nothing else. What would that get us another year older with the same problems.

Rinne played like a superstar, does that count?

/not a preds fan
- murTor

Show me the high quality chances we had and then ill tell you Rinne was a superstar.

He played well, but was never tested during this series

This guy looks like he could make some playoff adjustments. Maybe Bernie Nichols can help us out on the power play.

via GIPHY

- Dieselhead

Interesting thought.

I WILL JUST REPEAT, if i am Rocky Wirtz, I am finding the best hockey mind NOT PRESENTLY IN THE ORGANIZATION and asking for a top to bottom assessment.

And I'm gonna listen and act on it to the best of my ability.

Don't disagree, but I am not sure they are up in the series if we have 2015 or even last year's Keith or Toews. Both who weren't horrible.

You bring up some good points, but I think we need some young guys to rise up quickly because you aren't going to be able to rely on 2/19 to do it by themselves.

That's why 72s non engagement is a major red flag to me.
- SteveRain

Eh, within the first minute of the game last night 19 backed out of 50/50 play. At an absolutely minimum he needs to wash with Johansen who freakin owned him. Like, real bad.

And 2 needs to flip the ice and drive play which he didn't do this year and didn't do this post season. That causes lots of problems.

Subban owned both 72 and poor Nick Schmaltz (who had a decent game last night) and sucked every puck away from them or just gave them the business and scared them a bit. None of St Louis's defenders are that mean.

Anyway, unless theres a severe locker room issue, there isn't a lot that needs to be tweaked assuming Keith can come back to mostly normal and Toews back isn't like Bollands. 8 and 38 need to get in a good off season and build on this experience and hopefully they can retain 6 and maybe actually let him play. They need to hope Debricant turns into a player sooner than later. With the cap, there isn't a lot else you can do.

We shall see.

There is a lot of fire Q talk but to me I don't know if that's the move they need. That's an easy move to make but does that really solve anything if no personnel moves are made. I can just picture SB and McD firing Q and bringing someone like Olczyk thinking he'd be a popular choice to satisfy the masses and do nothing else. What would that get us another year older with the same problems.
- jhawk159

I tend to agree. Give Q the horses and he'll steer you in the right direction. This was a roster with holes. Don't think any amount of coaching would have really changed the outcome of this series

I thought this was supposed to be a game 4 recap. Even if it's a series recap, failing to mention even the name of the team that just waxed you in four straight is woefully irritating.

Toews may have been hurt, they may have underestimated their opposition, blah, blah, whatever...

Interesting thought.

I WILL JUST REPEAT, if i am Rocky Wirtz, I am finding the best hockey mind NOT PRESENTLY IN THE ORGANIZATION and asking for a top to bottom assessment.

And I'm gonna listen and act on it to the best of my ability.
- John Jaeckel

Last time Sutter had the helm, he took the Hawks to the 95 Conference Finals. A no BS got em style HC.

PK is a ME ME guy who played his way out of Montreal. Skilled yes. Leader?
- z1990z

Not disagreeing necessarily with his ON THE ICE actions, but he does some really great things outside of hockey. His charitable deeds are noteworthy.

I tend to agree. Give Q the horses and he'll steer you in the right direction. This was a roster with holes. Don't think any amount of coaching would have really changed the outcome of this series
- hawks1921

Or he will bring the wrong horse to the race...

I don't buy that rationale. They paid him as much as they would have if they'd waited, if not more.
- John Jaeckel

What would the contract have looked like had they waited? What would Panarin's negotiation have looked like had Anisimov not been locked in yet?

I think with some of these apparent overpays, the Hawks are not operating from strength when they happen. The real problem is not having enough in the pipeline at the time of the apparent overpay and being forced to pay up for a glaring need, whether it's a guy willing to play physically like Bickell, someone to center Kane, or the at the time overpay for Crawford because there was no other option at the time.

PK is a ME ME guy who played his way out of Montreal. Skilled yes. Leader?
- z1990z

Who said anything about his leadership?

I said he's a superstar.

Show me the high quality chances we had and then ill tell you Rinne was a superstar.

He played well, but was never tested during this series
- hawks1921

https://youtu.be/TwMtGBqUqpo

Whether they care or not this core is aging, it's obvious and the ironic thing is as they get older they are asked to do more, because the supporting cast is no longer near as good. Thats the irony...pay for past success, ship off credible complimentary pieces and ask high priced vets who COULDN'T even do it by themselves 5 years ago to NOW do it by yourself.

This team is older and slower. Goaltending has masked the decline over the last two years. Yes, when the top 4 or 5 guys get hot they roll off and look good, but it's tough to sustain.
- kwolf68

I'm not buying the aging excuse. You don't finish first in the west and then get swept by an 8th seed because your team is old and in decline. This team can play better and they know it. The hockey world knew it. There are a combination of factors to be sure, but the effort was awful.

I thought this was supposed to be a game 4 recap. Even if it's a series recap, failing to mention even the name of the team that just waxed you in four straight is woefully irritating.

Toews may have been hurt, they may have underestimated their opposition, blah, blah, whatever...
- Jakes_91

Predators were the better team. Plain and simple. Hands down.

I thought this was supposed to be a game 4 recap. Even if it's a series recap, failing to mention even the name of the team that just waxed you in four straight is woefully irritating.

Toews may have been hurt, they may have underestimated their opposition, blah, blah, whatever...
- Jakes_91

Are you from planet earth? ANYTIME a team loses the focus of that team's fans will be on that team. No one cares about Nashville here. Most of us have given credit to them, they were better bla bla bla, but that's where it begins and ends. The real discussion is on the future of our own club.

Thanks for the lecture nontheless.

Interesting thought.

I WILL JUST REPEAT, if i am Rocky Wirtz, I am finding the best hockey mind NOT PRESENTLY IN THE ORGANIZATION and asking for a top to bottom assessment.

And I'm gonna listen and act on it to the best of my ability.
- John Jaeckel

Do you have someone in mind? Is this best hockey mind someone within a different organ-i-zation, or someone not affliliated with the NHL.

He does, no one else does. I've seen plenty of Ryan Johansen, including the way he played himself out of Columbus. Closer to Mike Ribeiro than Mike Bossy.

They're a good and balanced team, regardless.
- John Jaeckel

Johansen>Toews. At half the cost.

Yea I like both the guys, but we're now down two top 6 wingers. And Ansimov probably shouldn't be centering any top 2 lines, but maybe he could move to wing on the top 6 or center a defensive minded third line.

A trade such as what you offer, which is interesting at start, would probably signal a larger rebuild in Chicago and I don't think they'll go in that direction. Honestly, I'd take either one of those kids you offered. But subtracting Panarin means we do lose a bunch of points, we gotta find that from somewhere. Nice thinking though Bingo.
- kwolf68

Fair enough.

In that case we'll just stick with the part where we get Crow.

I think you got to let Q go. The core players need someone new and someone to light a fire under there asses. This team needs a shake up going out 4-1 with no emotion in a sweep in the 1st rd is a embarrassment even in todays hockey. We need to have a coach that won't play favorites and wants his players to go after teams. Q likes to put the leash on to many players.

PK is a ME ME guy who played his way out of Montreal. Skilled yes. Leader?
- z1990z

Wasn't as good as he was in Montreal either. Maybe it's because he's no longer the best d-man on the team.

Still a good player. But a superstar? Laughable.

Not really... listen, do as I say or go enjoy the 11th row. Find the right new HC. Will be fine.
- z1990z

I think five years form now, you could look back and kick yourself—hard—for getting rid of one of the top 2-3 coaches in the game, and keeping the GM who inherited:

Toews
Kane
Keith
Byfuglien
Seabrook
Hjalmarsson
Brouwer
Campbell
Crawford
Niemi
Bolland

And then had the luxury of on the job training for several years.

Think about that. And this:

If you hire Darryl Sutter (a really good coach) to replace Q, how does he magically turn Anisimov into Jeff Carter, etc.

This is a SOFT, perimeter, aging and suddenly slow team, as constructed. That's not on Q, aside from losing Daley, which likely was on him.

This, and include Bowman in "no sacred cows."

IF IT WERE ME . . . I would ask the smartest hockey mind I could find OUTSIDE THE ORGANIZATION to provide a top to bottom assessment. And then I'd think long and hard about that assessment, and act judiciously and courageously.
- John Jaeckel

Maybe a guy like Lombardi would be a good person to consult with? His trajectory seems a few steps ahead of where Stan find himself now. Cup success, some poor decisions that may have put sentimentality over business acumen - and it cost him his job

Lombardi is a smart hockey guy - and I'm sure his recent firing has him pouring over all of his decisions and learning from what he would do differently now.

Fair enough.

In that case we'll just stick with the part where we get Crow.
- BINGO!

And you give us Rask or Aho?

I'm not buying the aging excuse. You don't finish first in the west and then get swept by an 8th seed because your team is old and in decline. This team can play better and they know it. The hockey world knew it. There are a combination of factors to be sure, but the effort was awful.
- breadbag

So they'll never age? Awesome. Glad the Hawks found the fountain of youth. This is illogical and simply defies historical anecdotes. This team IS aging, the top guys are older, slower, beaten up. And the roleplayers are not as good, they are a collection of kids and retreads, NOT players like Brouwer, Shaw, Bolland, Frolik, etc...guys who could actually play.

You can still win with 81, 2, 7, 19, etc....but you damn well better have more production elsewhere in the lineup. Where was that I read the Hawks were bottom 5 on players with more than 10 goals?

Goaltending masked a ton of this teams problems this year, but they "won the west"...maybe Bowman can start his press conference with that and roll out a team next year that is aging, can't engage physically, plays outside the circles, can't win faceoffs, etc....