With that signing Stanbo thought he was pulling a move like his father used to do with the Habs - have an old pro around who could add something in the dressing room and be a role player in limited minutes.

But Scotty never signed a 39 year old and always knew if the guy could still play. Stanbo apparently didn't bother checking out the 'can still play' part of it.
- RickJ

Why do you need to have another old pro in the room when you already have five players with 14 Cups won?

I know for a fact there is not.

Don't you think if there was - and it had been going on for years - that something would have been done by now - one way or the other????

Seriously, you people need to stop creating false narratives and believing they are true. It is entertaining - I will give you that.
- dahawks8819

There we have it our HAWKS insider . And I sleep well win or lose .And will continue to bang that Drum .And it helps to know it bothers you so

The only goal we scored was on one of those “wild pinches”, the problem is our forwards don’t respond appropriately to the pinch.
- walleyeb1

It would be nice to get a couple of odd man rushes going on - I don’t recall any last nite - Arizona defense? Or Blackhawk inability to cleanly exit the zone and transition? Or Blackhawks too slow to get a skating advantage over quick teams like the Coyotes?

Right now we are wasting Kane’s greatness. I reach a point where I say forget balance and use the NUCLEAR OPTION - Kane, Toews, DeBrincat. They may score so much will be fine. We once did this with Kane, Toews, Sharp. At least there would be line-mates for Kane who could finish. The one thing I do know is it is simply unacceptable to waste Kane’s playmaking skills like was seen last night. As I have previously stated on Kane’s line the LW and C spots have exactly ZERO goals this year.
- Z3Hawk

Kane should have had at least one assist last night. This experiment with Fortin on the top 6 needs to end just because "he skates good". And then complete Kane's line with the guy who predictably throws the puck away in the offensive zone and you are right about us wasting Kane's talents.

It would be nice to get a couple of odd man rushes going on - I don’t recall any last nite - Arizona defense? Or Blackhawk inability to cleanly exit the zone and transition? Or Blackhawks too slow to get a skating advantage over quick teams like the Coyotes?
- StLBravesFan

If that odd man rush involves Schmaltz, you know where that will end.

Are you sure about that, it could just be the hockey players we have are dumb. It's compounded by the fact our forwards can't win a board battle.
- BetweenTheDots

You have to engage in a board battle to even stand a chance of winning one. Too many contact adverse players on the roster.

Enzo Q actually put Kunitz right back on the ice - unbelievable!
- Z3Hawk

After Kunitz's gaff. I told the guy I was watching the game with that Kunitz would not see the ice again in that game. But not only was he on the ice right after that dumb pass, but his ice time actually increased for the rest of the game. Baffling!

Why did they trade Hjallmarsson for Murphy?
- EnzoD

to save 250,000 this season, and what has turned out to be 1.1M each of the following two seasons - yeah a jackass move.

I had to go to the game stats to see if Panik played last night. Never noticed him on the TV broadcast -totally invisible.

77 SATs - only 34 on net - 27 blocked.

Phoenix did a good job mucking up the passing and shooting lanes, especially through the center slot. Hawks could make the cross ice pass to get Raanta moving - and I don’t recall any odd-man’s.

Of course, not many Indianhead’s at the net.
- StLBravesFan

I really feel that was the best defensive team the Hawks have faced all season. Arizona doesn't have a lot of talent up front but that team defense was solid. The Hawks had defenders covering them tight on nearly all their scoring chances. Raanta is an underrated goalie and when they did beat him....iron.

To me, I think they still need to figure out the middle of the lineup. The top line was decent. The 4th line was effective at moving the play to the right end of the rink. Line 2 was not effective and line 3 was pretty much just bad.

Hayden isn't doing much. Too slow. Especially when paired with AA and Kunitz. I think this was a night where the Hawks needed the 3rd line to do something positive and instead they were a negative on the team.

After Kunitz's gaff. I told the guy I was watching the game with that Kunitz would not see the ice again in that game. But not only was he on the ice right after that dumb pass, but his ice time actually increased for the rest of the game. Baffling!
- 67hawks

That was surprising, but I have to wonder if he will sit a game now.

I know the Hawks said they are working with Manning on changing some aspects of his game, but have to wonder if he sits now. Before when he made mistakes, they still got a point, but Q likes to change after a loss.

I know Rutta has had bad games but last night wasn't one of them for me. I thought he had a good night. Gus was making plays at both ends.

I do think it was one of those nights. Sometimes you score and sometimes you hit Oesterle in the butt instead.

I really didn't like that first goal we gave up, obviously because of the 2-1 being played poorly, but also how we gave that up. It was a nice pass, but look at this.



Toews and DeBrincat were forechecking and the Hawks had numbers back. The goal scorer 67 was at the bottom of the frame.

Kahun and Jokiharju were burned by the pass as they were together off to the side and that left manning in a position to fail on the 2-1. I think this is the danger of having two guys who don't have NHL experience there with Manning.

That was surprising, but I have to wonder if he will sit a game now.
- breadbag

Several different guys through different games have earned a good benching, it needs to start happening. Right now the big problem is the line-up structure. DK had a good line-up.

Random Thoughts Post Mortem

1. Crow looked very good for first game in a loooong time

2. Manning should be a pastry chef specializing in apple turnovers...it is either chip off the boards to whomever? or neutral zone stretch to traffic. He is still maybe new to system but that has no excuse for not making decisions quicker. Davidson you're up!

3. Experiment with Fortin on Kaner's line over; Kaner must be still fuming as I type

4. Calling Rick Nash to be Kaner's LW

5. Bottom 6 just are not dangerous offensively and yes Saad had spurts of flare but also looked like true bottom 6 as well; remember he was probably going against 3rd pairing many times

6. First game all year that Toews and Debrincat looked pedestrian-like average

Right now we are wasting Kane’s greatness. I reach a point where I say forget balance and use the NUCLEAR OPTION - Kane, Toews, DeBrincat. They may score so much will be fine. We once did this with Kane, Toews, Sharp. At least there would be line-mates for Kane who could finish. The one thing I do know is it is simply unacceptable to waste Kane’s playmaking skills like was seen last night. As I have previously stated on Kane’s line the LW and C spots have exactly ZERO goals this year.
- Z3Hawk

I'll agree here. In the first period last night, Kane found a wide open Fortin in front of the net for the best chance of the period. Raanta beat him. I immediately thought that if that were Debrincat all alone there, that's in the back of the net.
Kane and Debrincat MUST be together........ of unload some bodies and bring Panarin back !!!

Dots the Hawks pinch wildly. The Hawks give up more odd-man breaks in a few games than other teams give up in a month. The D will appear dumb until a DEFENCE FIRST system is in place where penetrations into the opponent’s end only happens when it is safe to do so.
- Z3Hawk

Same coaching STAFF
Same SYSTEMS
Same PLAYERS
Same RESULTS

Crawford can not save this team on his own fellas.

Panarin and Hjallmarsson at $14 million or Saad and Murphy at $9.5million?
- EnzoD

$14M v $9.5M this year. Next year, Panarin is going to command $8+ himself. If you kept Panarin and Hjalmarsson and let them play through their contract, you're either paying $10M+ to keep them both, or walking away with nothing. Unfortunately, I think for your argument, its not as easy as $14M vs $9.5M.

I'll agree here. In the first period last night, Kane found a wide open Fortin in front of the net for the best chance of the period. Raanta beat him. I immediately thought that if that were Debrincat all alone there, that's in the back of the net.
Kane and Debrincat MUST be together........ of unload some bodies and bring Panarin back !!!
- Hawkytalk

At this point do you say screw secondary scoring, load up line one with 19-88-12 and make a second line of 15-24-8 and try and get the boys rolling?

Right now we are wasting Kane’s greatness. I reach a point where I say forget balance and use the NUCLEAR OPTION - Kane, Toews, DeBrincat. They may score so much will be fine. We once did this with Kane, Toews, Sharp. At least there would be line-mates for Kane who could finish. The one thing I do know is it is simply unacceptable to waste Kane’s playmaking skills like was seen last night. As I have previously stated on Kane’s line the LW and C spots have exactly ZERO goals this year.
- Z3Hawk

And if your NUCLEAR OPTION doesn't work, and it won't, then what will you propose? For the Hawks, or any team, to have success there must bebalance. Six forwards cannot carry the team when the other six cannot score or prevent the other team from scoring and when the defense is so young and it's best prospects a year or two away.

The Hawks biggest issues are, lack of depth, that was their strength from 2009-2015. And the age of the core who all grew old together. Rick made a valid point about the Senior Bowman always getting the right veteran, Scotty also knew when, and was not afraid of, moving older core players. In hindsight, Stan may have made a mistake with the contract to Toews and, as much as I loved him for what he did, he definitely screwed up with Seabrook's contract.

If Toews has a big year and makes his contract viable again we know he probably cannot live up to it for the duration of the term. Kane will probably always score but he alone cannot carry the team. Keith is still a good defenseman who would help a contender. Crawford, if healthy, may still be good enough to help a team. There are too many holes on the Hawk roster for them to contend, so getting a Duchene or Panarin sounds like a great idea but the defense is so suspect will it really make a difference other than a few spots in the standings and maybe a better powerplay?

Is it time for the Hawks to part with the core and try to get young players, prospects and draft picks to try to kickstart the rebuild? This is the dilemma facing Bowman.

If you are looking for positives from last night going forward, you can include another backward "cha-ching" made for Schmaltz's next cap hit.

If you are looking for positives from last night going forward, you can include another backward "cha-ching" made for Schmaltz's next cap hit.
- 67hawks

Agreed. He's not showing a $5M salary. But keep in mind, Frolik has a $4.3M hit...

this team has been in need of another top 6 forward for over 3 years; i have lost count of the number of guys they have tried...maybe a dozen and most of them are gone: panik, shaw, the great ryan garbutt oh and who can forget duclair...

hossa retires turned into to cat..
saad replaced panarin and now he is bubble press box guy...

craw returns and hawks put on one their patented "don't give a poop" games... hooray

If you are looking for positives from last night going forward, you can include another backward "cha-ching" made for Schmaltz's next cap hit.
- 67hawks

he is not a (frank)n center: Q and the coaches need stop this trying to sq peg round hole personnel fits...

$14M v $9.5M this year. Next year, Panarin is going to command $8+ himself. If you kept Panarin and Hjalmarsson and let them play through their contract, you're either paying $10M+ to keep them both, or walking away with nothing. Unfortunately, I think for your argument, its not as easy as $14M vs $9.5M.
- HawksHype

If Panarin continues at his current pace this season, he’s going to command closer to $9/$10 million.

After Kunitz's gaff. I told the guy I was watching the game with that Kunitz would not see the ice again in that game. But not only was he on the ice right after that dumb pass, but his ice time actually increased for the rest of the game. Baffling!
- 67hawks

I saw this and my fiance was sitting next to me and I let out a, "What the fudge is he doing out there?!?"

I dont think this Q vs. Stan thing is over. Is playing Kunitz after a terrible turnover his way of putting his hands up and saying, "Who else am I supposed to put out there?"