Sometimes extenuating circumstances play a key role and the uncertainty of Crawford's ability to come back and be a top goalie surely would have played a key role in the direction taken by the Hawks front office this summer. But, instead of taking a decisive move, one way or the other, they took a middle of the road approach which was not the right move if they wanted to go "all in" to win this year, nor was it the right move if they wanted to go "all in" on starting a rebuild with the objective to be better positioned to win in the next couple years. This indecisive middle of the road stuff results in middle of the road teams - which is all the Hawks can aspire to at this point. This is a year that will not be fully utilized to go in one direction or the other and another year closer to Toews and Kane falling out of elite status.
- EbonyRaptor

ER I sent you a PM.

1. On Schmaltz, I’d defer any decision until later. Rocky needs to tell McD to put a hold on everything. I wouldn’t allow Bowman to make any moves or decision at this point.

2. On the power play, it’s too bad we don’t have the option to simply decline them. Seriously though, I wouldn’t think about making any coaching changes as far as assistant coaching staff in terms of hiring or firing. Besides taking Keith off the power play not sure what can be done to fix it.

3. Stan simply needs to go, not sure as to how timing of this needs to be approached. In the meantime as mentioned earlier he should immediately be stripped of all decision making authority.

4. This is where it gets trickier, but I’d fire Bowman and Q simultaneously. I’d probably let Dineen be a placeholder and keep the assistant coaching staff as is until a new GM is hired.

5. I’m not expecting much of a different outcome in Calgary. I’m generally lowering expectations, that way if something good happens it’ll be a pleasant surprise.
- walleyeb1

I would have given Schmaltz a long term deal in the summer, good thing I'm not the GM.

A long term deal is still a possibility, but Schmaltz needs to respond well to his recent benching. I don't think Schmaltz will be dealt, he shows too much promise. Worst case scenario would be a short term bridge deal.

This team is so bad I considered flipping to political commercials, as there is less lying than what we were led to believe...
- riozzo

Ouch, that's like using eye drops with acid.

I would have given Schmaltz a long term deal in the summer, good thing I'm not the GM.

A long term deal is still a possibility, but Schmaltz needs to respond well to his recent benching. I don't think Schmaltz will be dealt, he shows too much promise. Worst case scenario would be a short term bridge deal.
- DarthKane

it would have been interesting to know what $$ and Term Stanbo was considering for 8 this summer - that likely has gone down

Now that's funny

I don't care which "side of the aisle" you're on - those political commercials are gag-worthy. I keep the mute button handy for those commercial breaks in the Hawks game.
- EbonyRaptor

We only watch recorded shows. I wish political mailers were OK to burn in fireplace, i'd never pay for heat!

And now back to our regularly scheduled train wreck.

it would have been interesting to know what $$ and Term Stanbo was considering for 8 this summer - that likely has gone down
- glennjpawlak22

9.5X8 NMC NTC

Bad off season acquisitions and not addressing areas of concerns the past few years is cathching up to the team. I know limted with cap space but bad signings regardless.

Q and Bowman need to go. This team needs a new voice. Not working anymore.

Hats off to JT in his renewed effort but changes are needed. Move some core, change the coach otherwise same song and dance.

When things are not working, something has to give, any successful organizations have gone thru it, Chicago is no different.

1. On Schmaltz, I’d defer any decision until later. Rocky needs to tell McD to put a hold on everything. I wouldn’t allow Bowman to make any moves or decision at this point.

2. On the power play, it’s too bad we don’t have the option to simply decline them. Seriously though, I wouldn’t think about making any coaching changes as far as assistant coaching staff in terms of hiring or firing. Besides taking Keith off the power play not sure what can be done to fix it.

3. Stan simply needs to go, not sure as to how timing of this needs to be approached. In the meantime as mentioned earlier he should immediately be stripped of all decision making authority.

4. This is where it gets trickier, but I’d fire Bowman and Q simultaneously. I’d probably let Dineen be a placeholder and keep the assistant coaching staff as is until a new GM is hired.

5. I’m not expecting much of a different outcome in Calgary. I’m generally lowering expectations, that way if something good happens it’ll be a pleasant surprise.
- walleyeb1

Calgary has more talent top to bottom than both EDM and VAN, but it really comes down to the Hawks playing like they give a (frank). When they go through the motions, they get spanked.

This team is a train wreck - too many aging stars, too few young assets of top 6 ability, players slotted above their ability and SLOW! Now, to be fair, some of this is due to the salary cap restraints they have been under due to winning 3 cups. This is mitigated by the absolutely DUMB contracts handed out by Stanbo that have hamstrung the club and poor talent evaluation in bringing in the correct personnel today's game requires. I get that players should be rewarded for performance, but there did not seem to be a cohesive plan of being able to reward performance against future needs. One of the hardest things for any franchise to do is recognize the need to adapt and change. I think the Hawk recognize the need for change, but do not have the ability or front office personnel to pursue the changes needed. They have become the White Sox and Bulls and - ick - the deadwings. I for one am advocating blowing up this team and going through a rebuild - as painful as it might be. At least if they do this, they may retain their loyal following by not blowing any more smoke up our skirts.

Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers was also reassigned to the OHL's London Knights this morning.

With less than 10 NHL games played (7), his contract will slide at the end of the season, preventing his entry-level contract from burning a year.

Take the good with the bad guys. This team isn't as terrible as some claim and not as good as others claim. We are somewhere in the middle. Free Agency wasn't going to make or break this team. The youth coming up needs to be the solution, when they are actually ready.

The sky isn't falling and the season isn't finished. Just enjoy the ride.

I think if by the end of the calendar year this team hasn't turned it around, I would let Stan goes first and let one of his assistants take over on the interim and see what we can do to turn the team around. After all, he is the one who put this team together and made the bad signings he has that has hurt the team more than its helped.

Give Coach Q the respect he's earned for what he's done for this team, and let him play the year out. You can only work with what you have and Stan hasn't been the best at providing the right players for Q over the past few years (granted none of us know if it wasn't Q who wanted some of the guys they got or kept). If the team doesn't respond to Stan being gone and whoever else comes in and makes some moves, than at the end of the year you can have Q "resign" and be moved to a position in the front office.

I said it yesterday that I think this team is using this year as a way to figure out who they believe can be a piece of this team for their last hoorah next year with the Core before you see Keith retire, Seabrook retire or be traded or bought out with the new CBA, and Crow's contract up. After that it'll be up to the kids and whatever Toews and Kane have left to try and keep the team successful.

Take the good with the bad guys. This team isn't as terrible as some claim and not as good as others claim. We are somewhere in the middle. Free Agency wasn't going to make or break this team. The youth coming up needs to be the solution, when they are actually ready.

The sky isn't falling and the season isn't finished. Just enjoy the ride.
- breadbag

How dare you bring logic to this board!!!

I agree with what you on most of what you say, but Ward is the only signing I'm okay with. Not the nmc or the aav, but I'm okay with him. He's not horrendous, and he can only last so long with a piss-poor team playing in front of him. Same with Crow. I wonder if this season, and the front office planned it/okayed it, but get a bunch of placeholders in a garbage season. The season(s) following will be better with more help on the way. Also, Delia has been playing well. I won't write him off just yet.
- I Am The Breadman

The Ward signing was a desperation move to satisfy the masses IMO. They could not go into the season with the questions on CC and starting Forsberg as the number 1. I'm OK with it I guess because of Forsberg's inconsistency last year. Thank God CC is back so now it's on them to figure out what's next there.

I know I'm in the minority here but I just can't stomach the coaching philosophies, interviews, and disciplinary tactics any longer. Whether it's Quenneville, Ulf, or Dineen, they constantly spew the same BS game after game and even during the game in the interviews between periods. "More bodies to the net, more shots at the net, more rebounds needed, better spacing from the D, forwards need to get back, better decisions on pinching, on and on and on.

Guess what ?? The message isn't getting through gentlemen !! You can't fire the players so what do organizations do to inject life into the system ? YES coaching changes are needed. It's been 3 years of a downslide and now it's happening again in year 4. We can all watch and notice that most of the Hawks top players are having really good years. Keith and Seabrook are better this year than last so far.
Toews is back, Kane is a leader in the league in goals, Debrincat is having an even better year and if put with Kane, who knows what happens. CC has been unbelievable for the most part as well. So that's 6 of your top players having better years and the team is not winning consistently. Saad and Schmaltz ????

SO, Is Nick Schmaltz the whipping boy for not scoring enough, not shooting enough, not playing physical enough, whatever. So Quenneville decides to send a message and sits him. I don't agree with it in this case. Sitting Seabrook last year for one game had reasoning because of his age and poor pylon play. I would prefer to see Schmaltz handled differently. Remember what Herb Brooks did with his 1980 Olympians when they weren't working hard enough during the game ?
If you're not going to work hard during the game, you're going to work hard in practice. Skate his ass off along with everybody else during practice to the point where they'll realize what "relentless" means. That's what Q promised us this year, "relentless", but that means for 3 periods on 1 or 2. With horrible 3rd periods this year, I see a TEAM that's out of gas, not just Nick Schmaltz. It's the Joel Quenneville Country Club atmosphere that has created this monster for years and I will be ecstatic when the change is finally made. These players NEED a new voice. Q's antiquated methods are going to fail again and another wasted year of the window is happening, even with marked improvement from their best players. Yes Stan is to blame as well for all his shortcoming in negotiations of contracts, clauses, and terrible decisions on free agents and trades. But I believe that this team can be a playoff team and a threat if it were coached better. That's my opinion.

Who is to blame for this horrific Power Play ? Dineen ?? NO.....it's ultimately on Quenneville.

We've been told that they've worked on system changes, yet all we see is the same poor execution on entry, push em back or whatever, nobody shooting from the prime area in the slot, no rebound opportunities because nobody is near the net , etc. It is terrible and totally demotivates the team because of consistent failure. ONE power play goal a game is needed to change most of these outcomes.
This is a COACHING problem PEROD !! It's time to load up on PP #1 with your best 5 offensive players. That's Kane, Toews, Debrincat, Schmaltz and Jokiharju.
Somebody coach a system that gets shots from the slot area PLEASE and utilize your best players together with INTENSITY !! The second unit can be whomever after Saad and Anisimov. Maybe another top 6 forward is needed on this team ???
Yes we all know that....along with a top 4 Dman, but until that day comes, they have to get results with what they have. That's on COACHING.

I honestly hope they don't wait until Christmas (Rocky) to realize that this season is salvageable with a coaching change. Somebody to infuse some fire and intensity for 60 minutes that Quennevile has promised.

How dare you bring logic to this board!!!
- Savetheembers33

I'd only be upset if we were worse off than the Wings... It would also be a bad time to be a fan in LA or Florida...ouch.

Its obvious hawks are no and have not been very good since the last cup. The salary cap bad drafting and scouting and free agent busts. Horrible contracts handed out and lack of direction as a organization has lead to we are now. What I would do well it shoulda happen in in the offseason that bowman and the scounting staff should have been fired and Q put on noticed or fired also. It didn't happen so here we are same as last year major holes in the team 5 to be specfic:
Backup goalie -filled
Top 4 dman-?
Second line center-smaltz was to be but is clearly not the answer better suited on the wing
More pushback players with size physicality grit heart speed and skill in the bottom six-?
Top six winger-?
So who builds the team the gm so he needs to go first and there no excuse why are pp has been horrible since Q has taken over with all that talent no excuse. What are the answer to getting back to the promise land don't know but it startd with a new gm and direction and clear plan. Also think the coaching has been terrible and the systems are not working plus the coach's voice is falling on deaf ears.

Justin those are some great questions, you put out their.


I think in order to save this season Stan needs to make several changes including his attitude of wait and see.


Id start with the assistant coaches they run the pk and power play which are both awful and both assistants should be fired.


Next it's time to make some trades , Anisomov, schmaltz, saad Keith , Seabrook Gustafson all should be on the table as trade pieces.


Kunitz was the utter most dumb wasteful spending and signing , 39yrs old and he is slow and doesn't bring anything more than years of experience to the table. Kruger seemed like a reliable pickup but now he seems more like his best years are behind him.


Kane can not carry this team all by himself.


The team is slow , terrible passing , they are a pass first team .

Crawford and ward have been hung out to dry with no solid help and it showed last night when ward gave up the 3rd goal he was furious.

I won't hold my breathe for any changes , it shows clearly this organization doesn't get it when they run that ridiculous commercial about holding themselves accountable.

The thing about Nicky boy is does he want it...ADB wants it, he trained all offseason and did things different from last year to this year...

What did Nicky boy do to elevate his game from last season...he appears to be the exact same player at this point...

I think he has a ton of potential and makes some incredible plays but SHOOT the damn puck!

I think Vinnie is doing well in points as well, after watching Arizona game with Hawks.
Almost every of Stan's moves has been a downer. Daunalt, TVR, Hardtman, Hino, Osterlie, the pattern has been to ship young guys out. None of them are major stars but together it represents death by a thousand cuts.
Old plugs were given these roster spots at inflated contracts and Hossa contract savings are spent on the likes of Kruger for 3 mln (I have little doubt he will be extended and not for 1 mln is Stan/Q still around), Manning 2 mln, etc.
How is this team getting younger, cheaper and faster with every of his move.
Previously we used to be unhappy about his bloated contracts with NMC to so called expanded Core (Seabrook/Bickell/even Kane/Toews) so this is added blow.

Thinking when they finally make long overdue coaching change, it will be temporary jump like LA into playoff bubble spot and then back to the bottom of the conference, aging stars cannot carry the this team. They have no valuable assets to trade and in derivatives language options are under water (players overvalued in contracts or have no value to other teams).

Now for the controversial opinion on this forum: At this point ultimate decision is with season ticket holders, as long as they keep renewing we all are stuck with this management/coaching disaster. Rocky needs to be hit in the pocket to get him out of self-induced coma and fire the whole crew, after which it will take another several years to unwind this mess. I witnessed a decade of 1997-2007 for Hawks and think we are at the beginning of similar decade.

Take the good with the bad guys. This team isn't as terrible as some claim and not as good as others claim. We are somewhere in the middle. Free Agency wasn't going to make or break this team. The youth coming up needs to be the solution, when they are actually ready.

The sky isn't falling and the season isn't finished. Just enjoy the ride.
- breadbag

Get with the program Chicken Little, haha.

Very disappointed with the lack of URGENCY from Stan this off season.
The crocodile tear presser post Nashville playoff sweep was a bad acting job.
Then missing last year. And yet, he acts like time is on his side.

Seems like he and others are living off past laurels.

When the GREAT Tony Gwynn passed a few years ago, i was struck by something he once said when asked about his accomplishments. Paraphrasing here, but it was something like....

Never puff your chest about you did yesterday. Get it done TODAY.

This brain trust is not heeding that maxim. The La dee dah mindset seems cemented.

This team has ZERO CHEMISTRY and that's on the GM.

I think the failures of this team all rests with Q. Bowman has given him the talent he needs. Look at the guys who were let go after last year that are playing well to start the season. Q just does not want to change with the times, his style of play is stale. Don't even get me started on Ulf. He is terrible, doesn't even now what he is talking about during those 3rd period interviews they do with him. The whole coaching staff needs to go and Coliton needs to be promoted.

Very disappointed with the lack of URGENCY from Stan this off season.
The crocodile tear presser post Nashville playoff sweep was a bad acting job.
Then missing last year. And yet, he acts like time is on his side.

Seems like he and others are living off past laurels.

When the GREAT Tony Gwynn passed a few years ago, i was struck by something he once said when asked about his accomplishments. Paraphrasing here, but it was something like....

Never puff your chest about you did yesterday. Get it done TODAY.

This brain trust is not heeding that maxim. The La dee dah mindset seems cemented.

This team has ZERO CHEMISTRY and that's on the GM.
- philco28

Chemistry, urgency, disciplined play, positioning, decision making...look at the Toews turnover in the slot against vancouver, or Gustafson last night with a pinch at the blue line where he gets neither puck nor man, THEN does not bust his ass back and is gliding into the slot as the Oilers complete a 2v1 passing play for a goal..overpassing always instead of playing simple and throwing pucks/bodies to the net.....a league worst Powerplay when you have a Top 3 offensive talent in the world in Patty kane....not playing Jokiharju on the PP when Seabrook/Keith have been key cogs on a dogpoop PP for years!

I'd only be upset if we were worse off than the Wings... It would also be a bad time to be a fan in LA or Florida...ouch.
- breadbag

I agree man. It could always be much worse that people believe it to be. Those teams are all in REALLY rough spots that it doesn't look to be getting better any time soon. It cracks me up how much people ride the waves game in and game out. After a solid win this board is a nice place where there is excitement and everyone is cool with one another. Then when the lose people lose their minds and wanna blow everything up.

We all knew where this team would be at this year. Kinda stuck in the middle hanging in the balance of being a good team that could make the Playoffs or facing another season like we did last year. A lot of that was gonna depend on how the kids played. Guys like Joki have surprised us all and have played better than expected, and guys like Saad and Schmaltz have played under what we hoped that they would.

The Defense has played well at times, but when things go downhill for them it mudslides VERY quickly. The Manning signing for TWO years looks to be a mess (one year people could live with but being stuck with the cap hit for two years is gonna be rough) and the Rutta signing (even only on one year) looks to be a mess as well (think this was done to appease Stan's relationships in Europe for possible future deals; I.E. Kahun). People wanna bag on Cam Ward, but he's been very solid. Yeah his GAA is really poor right now, but when you see how many of the goals he's given up was due to a horrible turnover or someone being WAY out of position. We've all seen when the Defense has played well he's played well, but when they leave him out to dry he gets creamed. Hell we've seen it with Crow this week as well! You can only do so much as a goalie when the guys in front of you are doing a poor job of clearing the puck on second chance opportunities and giving the puck away in our own end.

We can all see that there are pieces here that can be apart of a successful team, BUT unfortunately some of Stan's moves like Manning, resigning Rutta, and bringing in Kunitz are hurting this team more than helping and he needs to be held accountable for that.

I agree man. It could always be much worse that people believe it to be. Those teams are all in REALLY rough spots that it doesn't look to be getting better any time soon. It cracks me up how much people ride the waves game in and game out. After a solid win this board is a nice place where there is excitement and everyone is cool with one another. Then when the lose people lose their minds and wanna blow everything up.

We all knew where this team would be at this year. Kinda stuck in the middle hanging in the balance of being a good team that could make the Playoffs or facing another season like we did last year. A lot of that was gonna depend on how the kids played. Guys like Joki have surprised us all and have played better than expected, and guys like Saad and Schmaltz have played under what we hoped that they would.

The Defense has played well at times, but when things go downhill for them it mudslides VERY quickly. The Manning signing for TWO years looks to be a mess (one year people could live with but being stuck with the cap hit for two years is gonna be rough) and the Rutta signing (even only on one year) looks to be a mess as well (think this was done to appease Stan's relationships in Europe for possible future deals; I.E. Kahun). People wanna bag on Cam Ward, but he's been very solid. Yeah his GAA is really poor right now, but when you see how many of the goals he's given up was due to a horrible turnover or someone being WAY out of position. We've all seen when the Defense has played well he's played well, but when they leave him out to dry he gets creamed. Hell we've seen it with Crow this week as well! You can only do so much as a goalie when the guys in front of you are doing a poor job of clearing the puck on second chance opportunities and giving the puck away in our own end.

We can all see that there are pieces here that can be apart of a successful team, BUT unfortunately some of Stan's moves like Manning, resigning Rutta, and bringing in Kunitz are hurting this team more than helping and he needs to be held accountable for that.
- Savetheembers33

What flavor Kool Aid have you been plunging into? Haha, jk.