There has to be something going on behind closed doors with this team. The playoffs are on the line and although they say all the right things before the games and then do absolutely none of those things in the games. I don't know if the rumors about Q losing the room are true, or if there is discord of some kind between certain players or whatever, but something is really, really off with this team. They may not have enough talent to make a serious run at the cup, but there is talent on this team and there is no way they should be looking this lethargic and disinterested. Toews and Sadd another night with a big zero on the scoresheet. Seabrook cost them a goal with terrible positioning, Kane had a couple of nice assist, but several lazy turnovers as well. I mean at this point, I don't even know where you start to fix this. My concern is this team has slowly regressed further and further the past three years under Bowman's watch, so I have ZERO confidence in him to turn it around. Yes, he's made some good moves, but those moves in my opinion are clearly outweighed by the bad contracts, the no trade clauses, giving up young assets or draft picks for guys like Timmonen, Weiss, Runblad, Garbutt, just to name a few, and his procrastination in trading guys like Leddy and Sharp when good deals were on the table and he waited to the point of painting himself in a corner and then had to basically give Leddy away and give up Johns just to get Dallas to take Sharp. There is obviously some disconnect between him and Quenneville in regards to the makeup of the roster, yet none of the crack reports that cover this team ever bother to ask why the GM is trading for guys his coach refuses to play or scratches on a regular basis. This has turned into a big mess in a hurry.

Not even mad anymore, it's very clear why this team is done....overpaid players not only sucking up too much cap space, but they also aren't doing crap on the ice either.

The faceoff game of 8 has to be dealt with. Consistently below 30%...otherwise he played a good game. But man he SUX on draws.

Seabrook is laughable at this point. Slow, falling down all the time, other team toys with him at this point. Looks like the expiration date is well past.

Vinnie, Wingels, even Jurco looked good.

Would be awesome if the 19 line EVER could do what the 23 line for Calgary was doing to the Hawks.

This team has some nice pieces, but it needs to be rebuilt...sadly, no one is gonna want these overpaid slugs the Hawks have.
- kwolf68

Seabrook was far from the worst Dman out there, it wasn't him that got stripped on the tying goal. Compared to Jan Rutta he's a Norris candidate.

And how many times did the forwards turn the puck over or fail to make a simple dump into the Calgary zone. (I'm talking about you Brandon Saad).

There has to be something going on behind closed doors with this team. The playoffs are on the line and although they say all the right things before the games and then they do absolutely none of those things in the games. I don't know if the rumors about Q losing the room are true, or if there is discord of some kind between certain players or whatever, but something is really, really off with this team. They may not have enough talent to make a serious run at the cup, but there is talent on this team and there is no way they should be looking this lethargic and disinterested. Toews and Sadd another night with a big zero on the scoresheet. Seabrook cost them a goal with terrible positioning, Kane had a couple of nice assist, but several lazy turnovers as well. I mean at this point, I don't even know where you start to fix this. My concern is this team has slowly regressed further and further the past three years under Bowman's watch, so I have ZERO confidence in him to turn it around. Yes, he's made some good moves, but those moves in my opinion are clearly outweighed by the bad contracts, the no trade clauses, giving up young assets or draft picks for guys like Timmonen, Weiss, Runblad, Garbutt, just to name a few, and his procrastination in trading guys like Leddy and Sharp when good deals were on the table and he waited to the point of painting himself in a corner and then had to basically give Leddy away and give up Johns just to get Dallas to take Sharp. There is obviously some disconnect between him and Quenneville in regards to the makeup of the roster, yet none of the crack reporters that cover this team ever bother to ask why the GM is trading for guys his coach refuses to play or scratches on a regular basis. This has turned into a big mess in a hurry.
- RetiredGoalie

This team simply cannot protect a lead, if they're fortunate to have one.

They have learned how to lose.

But unfortunately, they're finding ways to scratch out points here and there which will keep 'em out of the playoffs...

...and out of the lottery.

Next game...when they're playing to lose in the 3rd, please finish it off before the OT gag job.

Seabrook was far from the worst Dman out there, it wasn't him that got stripped on the tying goal. Compared to Jan Rutta he's a Norris candidate.

And how many times did the forwards turn the puck over or fail to make a simple dump into the Calgary zone. (I'm talking about you Brandon Saad).
- RickJ

Seabrook is awful. Purely awful. Yea he didn't get striped on the tying goal, it just went between his feet. His star moment was his horrible play on the first goal. Oh yea, he is also milking almost 7 million a year from the cap. He NOR Rutta belong on a team vying for the playoffs. I say run them both every game and try to catch Vancouver.

so which hawks gets to tell us:

1. we gotta be better, i can be better
2. were still in this, bring it every game every shift
3. we kinda kept letting them back in the game


blow a two goal lead, a 3-2 lead going into the 3rd and lose in OT...

once again glass did his best with some amazing stops but you when you allow your goalie to face high quality and 35 plus sogs...you are going to lose more often than not...

abs nothing from toews and saad AGAIN...

so which hawks gets to tell us:

1. we gotta be better, i can be better
2. were still in this, bring it every game every shift
3. we kinda kept letting them back in the game


blow a two goal lead, a 3-2 lead going into the 3rd and lose in OT...

once again glass did his best with some amazing stops but you when you allow your goalie to face high quality and 35 plus sogs...you are going to lose more often than not...

abs nothing from toews and saad AGAIN...
- bogiedoc

Toews got mad once, so there is that. This is the product of Bowman investing too much in core players who simply were no longer worth the cost. In Bowman's defense he could not have known 19 would become such an ordinary player at 29 and Seabrook's decline has been just as bad, though his contract was highly questionable when signed. The money given to those guys ideally would have been less and they could have put even better players around them. NOT good enough to carry a team like this, but are paid like it.

Not even mad anymore, it's very clear why this team is done....overpaid players not only sucking up too much cap space, but they also aren't doing crap on the ice either.

The faceoff game of 8 has to be dealt with. Consistently below 30%...otherwise he played a good game. But man he SUX on draws.

Seabrook is laughable at this point. Slow, falling down all the time, other team toys with him at this point. Looks like the expiration date is well past.

Vinnie, Wingels, even Jurco looked good.

Would be awesome if the 19 line EVER could do what the 23 line for Calgary was doing to the Hawks.

This team has some nice pieces, but it needs to be rebuilt...sadly, no one is gonna want these overpaid slugs the Hawks have.
- kwolf68

That seems exactly right.

The worst offender is Seabrook. It isn't just that he's overpaid, at this point, i'm not sure he should be playing even if he was on a league minimum. In fact, he probably wouldn't be playing. I can't imagine anyone taking him.

Toews is way over paid for his production but at least he contributes something sometimes - FO%, PK, defense. It'd probably cost too much to move him.

Keith is tradeable, but he is also by far the teams best defensemen. I'd keep him for now.

AA is a good piece on a Cup contender, which this team is not. He's moveable but the team is probably better with him going forward.

If the team wants to do well next year, they need to keep Kane and Crawford.

Wow, Eddie O keeping it real on the postgame: "Brandon Saad is having a bad season."

There has to be something going on behind closed doors with this team. The playoffs are on the line and although they say all the right things before the games and then do absolutely none of those things in the games. I don't know if the rumors about Q losing the room are true, or if there is discord of some kind between certain players or whatever, but something is really, really off with this team. They may not have enough talent to make a serious run at the cup, but there is talent on this team and there is no way they should be looking this lethargic and disinterested. Toews and Sadd another night with a big zero on the scoresheet. Seabrook cost them a goal with terrible positioning, Kane had a couple of nice assist, but several lazy turnovers as well. I mean at this point, I don't even know where you start to fix this. My concern is this team has slowly regressed further and further the past three years under Bowman's watch, so I have ZERO confidence in him to turn it around. Yes, he's made some good moves, but those moves in my opinion are clearly outweighed by the bad contracts, the no trade clauses, giving up young assets or draft picks for guys like Timmonen, Weiss, Runblad, Garbutt, just to name a few, and his procrastination in trading guys like Leddy and Sharp when good deals were on the table and he waited to the point of painting himself in a corner and then had to basically give Leddy away and give up Johns just to get Dallas to take Sharp. There is obviously some disconnect between him and Quenneville in regards to the makeup of the roster, yet none of the crack reports that cover this team ever bother to ask why the GM is trading for guys his coach refuses to play or scratches on a regular basis. This has turned into a big mess in a hurry.
- RetiredGoalie

STANBOW ON 1/11
“Right now, I really like our team,” Bowman said. “Obviously I wish we had a few more wins under our belt, but I’m very excited about this group.

“A year ago, I felt we didn’t have the potential to get better. When you have young players … you see them improve and see progression. We need to progress because we’re not where we want to be.”

the young guys are getting developing...wtf they have scored the last 12 goals...

but 17 mildo (19 and 20) on pace for less than a 90 pts...something is definately wrong here

Eddie sick of the Corsi fans trying to justify the play of guys who aren't producing what matters at the end of the day, goals scored. Love it. Saad a complete non factor on line 4, Toews reaching 10 games without a goal, Seabrook/Gustafson/Rutta/Murphy all mediocre (at best).

Schmaltz continues to play great 200 foot hockey, with face offs as an exception.

That seems exactly right.

The worst offender is Seabrook. It isn't just that he's overpaid, at this point, i'm not sure he should be playing even if he was on a league minimum. In fact, he probably wouldn't be playing. I can't imagine anyone taking him.

Toews is way over paid for his production but at least he contributes something sometimes - FO%, PK, defense. It'd probably cost too much to move him.

Keith is tradeable, but he is also by far the teams best defensemen. I'd keep him for now.

AA is a good piece on a Cup contender, which this team is not. He's moveable but the team is probably better with him going forward.

If the team wants to do well next year, they need to keep Kane and Crawford.

Wow, Eddie O keeping it real on the postgame: "Brandon Saad is having a bad season."
- matt_ahrens

I love Eddie O and couldn't agree more about Saad having a bad season, but when does the criticism of Toews having basically three sub-par seasons in a row start to become a consistent topic. Konroyd and Foley touched on it a bit during the game, but didn't come close to ripping on Toews as they did Saad. You can make the argument that Toews' decline is the number 1 reason - though certainly not the only one - as to why this team finds itself where its at. There is simply no way this team can start next season with him as their #1 center. He clearly does not fit the bill in that role anymore.

That seems exactly right.

The worst offender is Seabrook. It isn't just that he's overpaid, at this point, i'm not sure he should be playing even if he was on a league minimum. In fact, he probably wouldn't be playing. I can't imagine anyone taking him.

Toews is way over paid for his production but at least he contributes something sometimes - FO%, PK, defense. It'd probably cost too much to move him.

Keith is tradeable, but he is also by far the teams best defensemen. I'd keep him for now.

AA is a good piece on a Cup contender, which this team is not. He's moveable but the team is probably better with him going forward.

If the team wants to do well next year, they need to keep Kane and Crawford.

Wow, Eddie O keeping it real on the postgame: "Brandon Saad is having a bad season."
- matt_ahrens

the guy scored 7 goals in the first 4 games...the last 47 he has 6; completely out sync with his entire game

they have another mediocre to poor defensive effort on tues vs these guys and lose...look out the home fandom will get ugly...

and the hawks under no circumstances should bring craw back to face this type of shooting gallery every night...shut him down...

the guy scored 7 goals in the first 4 games...the last 47 he has 7; completely out sink with his entire game
- bogiedoc

Perhaps Torts was right about Saad last year when he put him on the 4h line in Columbus.

I love Eddie O and couldn't agree more about Saad having a bad season, but when does the criticism of Toews having basically three sub-par seasons in a row start to become a consistent topic. Konroyd and Foley touched on it a bit during the game, but didn't come close to ripping on Toews as they did Saad. You can make the argument that Toews' decline is the number 1 reason - though certainly not the only one - as to why this team finds itself where its at. There is simply no way this team can start next season with him as their #1 center. He clearly does not fit the bill in that role anymore.
- RetiredGoalie

I'd put the loss of other talented players on the roster as the number 1 reason but Toews' decline is right up there.

If I were to rank blame, I'd go:
1. the salary cap
2. Stan (because he is responsible for the roster
3. the players (underperforming all around)
4. Q for not adjusting the PP sooner and not getting more out of the team.

I love Eddie O and couldn't agree more about Saad having a bad season, but when does the criticism of Toews having basically three sub-par seasons in a row start to become a consistent topic. Konroyd and Foley touched on it a bit during the game, but didn't come close to ripping on Toews as they did Saad. You can make the argument that Toews' decline is the number 1 reason - though certainly not the only one - as to why this team finds itself where its at. There is simply no way this team can start next season with him as their #1 center. He clearly does not fit the bill in that role anymore.
- RetiredGoalie

They did say Schmaltz is now really our #1 center, though they brushed past it fairly quickly.

Seabrook is awful. Purely awful. Yea he didn't get striped on the tying goal, it just went between his feet. His star moment was his horrible play on the first goal. Oh yea, he is also milking almost 7 million a year from the cap. He NOR Rutta belong on a team vying for the playoffs. I say run them both every game and try to catch Vancouver.
- kwolf68

Wasting our time complaining about individual salaries. You and I could make that same point about Saad particular, AA, Murphy and all of the other higher paid players who are playing making more that ELC 900K levels.

The reality is this team sends groups of 5 over the boards who just don't play well together no matter how Q . Which has resulted in them being where they are.

stanbow has 105 mildo reasons for sleepless nights over the next 6 with what he will be paying for the declining 19 and 7...

Wasting our time complaining about individual salaries. You and I could make that same point about Saad particular, AA, Murphy and all of the other higher paid players who are playing making more that ELC 900K levels.

The reality is this team sends groups of 5 over the boards who just don't play well together no matter how Q . Which has resulted in them being where they are.
- RickJ

I'd argue the reality is they are dressing 1 good and 5 mediocre Dmen every night. Combined with their supposed 1C and 1LW providing 3rd line offensive production and an AHL goalie in net most nights....hello last place in the division.

“We had a good first part of the game and had some tough possessions that got them back in it,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “We certainly can’t be happy with result and the way we played when it counted.”

“That’s a big swing. You look at a four-point swing — or a three-point swing or whatever,” Quenneville said. “We still got a lot of time left. But I don’t think you want to look any further than one game at a time. And trying to capture some momentum, then we try to get some consistency for a 60-minute game. That to me would be a nice momentum right now.”

they had more than few tough possessions: glass some how shut the door in the first when it could have 2 or 3-1 flames.

i dont recall any sustained zone time from the toews line at all...it was largely one and done again tonight

I'd argue the reality is they are dressing 1 good and 5 mediocre Dmen every night. Combined with their supposed 1C and 1LW providing 3rd line offensive production and an AHL goalie in net most nights....hello last place in the division.
- EnzoD

its interesting how teams having a tough time get healthy vs the hawks...tonight it was the flames losers of 6 in a row; the nucks last game, the wings before the break, the leafs...

the aves are coming back to the pack...hawks have 3 games left with them...but i agree the hawks are not escaping the division basement...

post season presser on 4/9 ought to be a hoot...

"At this point in the season, we can't have any nights off. We have to keep rolling here. Time is running out. We've got 30...29...28...27...26....25...24... games left. Let's see what we can do with it." Same old response every game... so, so sad.

Time to face reality, this team is going nowhere. Protect Kane, Debrincat, Hinny, Duclair and Osterle and let the rest of the league know everyone else is available. Hope for a chance at number one overall pick and rebuild. The way the salary cap has been managed has killed this team. Saad for Panarin will go down as one of the worst trades ever.

before the game toews talked about bringing that playoff intensity...honestly have you seen anything close to that from him tonight...or i am so conditioned to his meh play thats all i see...
- bogiedoc

I know he doesn’t hit a lot but when was the last time he hit anyone?!!! It’s really easy for opposing d men to hold the puck along the boards and make clean exits when they know they won’t be hit. I’m not talking goon hockey but my lord the top 6 aside from tiny DCat doesn’t never lays a hit. Charmin soft.