No doubt agents call to complain about how their clients are being treated. I think there is no chance that factored into Q's firing.
- paulr

I dont think it was the only factor, but I think it was a factor

Schmaltz gets moved off Kane's line. He was visibly unhappy

Agent sees that as less point production possibility, which means less negotiation value

Stan also made comments on how Schmaltz is the future of the team. And now, Schmaltz is back with Kane and on the 1st PP. He'll be back at center REAL soon here as well

I dont think it was the only factor, but I think it was a factor

Schmaltz gets moved off Kane's line. He was visibly unhappy

Agent sees that as less point production possibility, which means less negotiation value

Stan also made comments on how Schmaltz is the future of the team. And now, Schmaltz is back with Kane and on the 1st PP. He'll be back at center REAL soon here as well
- PatShart

Quenneville was fired because the Hawks aren't playing well after a decent start. Quenneville was fired because it's easier to fire a coach than a few players. Quenneville was fired because the GM had to make some kind of move.

Schmaltz's agent's complaint, assuming there was one, had no bearing whatsoever on Quenneville's firing. Let's say you're right and the agent's complaint did factor into the firing, Bowman opens himself up to having agents expecting him to make moves based on their complaints in the future and no GM wants to be part of that situation.

One of the things Q was known for was using his line blender, a lot. I wasn't alone over the years in criticizing him for not sticking with lines long enough to build chemistry. I will be interested to see how Colliton handles game to game and in-game lineup changes.

Still kind of in shock - but not surprised.

Justin I will say that think you hit it right that the Hawks should have changed coaches in the offseason if this was the way they wanted to go. With Bowman's horrid offseason moves the last two years not to mention questionable moves and trades before that - its no shock that the team is performing the way it is.

Instead to bring Q back and then basically blame him for that bogus roster is a joke. Was it time for a new voice in the room...sure did the PP suck - yes. But this was handled badly IMHO.

I watched the joke of a presser last night and how McD said he thought that Stan had done an excellent job and never considered firing him is pathetic. It just shows how clueless McD is and his man crush on Scotty is in full swing. The other comment by McD that this is a playoff team...yikes, especially with that defense.

I would suspect we'll see more of the stars sold off by Feb-March if this team doesn't improve at all. And another huge concern lies there - based on Stan's track record I have little faith he would get decent value in those trades.

Meanwhile Stan wanted the spotlight to himself...well he got it. Looking forward to that monster Nick Schmaltz contract with the full NMC.

I wish JC the best of luck in his new gig. We'll see if he's still here when the Hawks are relevant again.

Still kind of in shock - but not surprised.

Justin I will say that think you hit it right that the Hawks should have changed coaches in the offseason if this was the way they wanted to go. With Bowman's horrid offseason moves the last two years not to mention questionable moves and trades before that - its no shock that the team is performing the way it is.

Instead to bring Q back and then basically blame him for that bogus roster is a joke. Was it time for a new voice in the room...sure did the PP suck - yes. But this was handled badly IMHO.

I watched the joke of a presser last night and how McD said he thought that Stan had done an excellent job and never considered firing him is pathetic. It just shows how clueless McD is and his man crush on Scotty is in full swing. The other comment by McD that this is a playoff team...yikes, especially with that defense.

I would suspect we'll see more of the stars sold off by Feb-March if this team doesn't improve at all. And another huge concern lies there - based on Stan's track record I have little faith he would get decent value in those trades.

Meanwhile Stan wanted the spotlight to himself...well he got it. Looking forward to that monster Nick Schmaltz contract with the full NMC.

I wish JC the best of luck in his new gig. We'll see if he's still here when the Hawks are relevant again.
- DK002

Agree

Everyone do yourself a favor and listen to Carbomb's interview on the score. He unloads on Macissac and McD.

Quote of the year: In speaking of MacIssac, "We are talking about a guy that retired his own jersey in the ECHL."

Everyone do yourself a favor and listen to Carbomb's interview on the score. He unloads on Macissac and McD.

Quote of the year: In speaking of MacIssac, "We are talking about a guy that retired his own jersey in the ECHL."
- nickmo2699

That was a good one with a rare perspective on behind-the-scenes dynamics.

Rocky W just interviewed on The Score (think McD is on later today).

https://670thescore.radio...rity-pressure-on-everyone

JL, I am confused by something you wrote. If JC's voice gets the Blackhawks to the playoffs, inst that proof in itself that moving Q was the correct move?
We all watched this team underachieve for 2 seasons now, and if a coach allows that, then it is time for the coach to go.
If the Blackhawks fail to win another game this season, but play as a team for 60 hard minutes, then we can question if the players are the right players. But until we see this team play hard for 60 minutes game in and game out, then I am sorry to say but the coach is failing. Let's give Colly a chance to prove his worth before we throw him under the bus.

Alright so it seems with Colliton taking over lots of talk that Sikura, Edjsell, Highmore, etc. are gonna be called up. We know that Forsling and Murphy are gonna be back in the next month or so here as well, so who's gonna be moved out with those guys possibly getting bumped up? Lot of the guys that seemed likely are guys that has played with him in Rockford so it seems less likely to me now. I'm very curious to see how this team is gonna shake out now with Colliton making the moves

Alright so it seems with Colliton taking over lots of talk that Sikura, Edjsell, Highmore, etc. are gonna be called up. We know that Forsling and Murphy are gonna be back in the next month or so here as well, so who's gonna be moved out with those guys possibly getting bumped up? Lot of the guys that seemed likely are guys that has played with him in Rockford so it seems less likely to me now. I'm very curious to see how this team is gonna shake out now with Colliton making the moves
- Savetheembers33

I think there has to be a transition period before major moves are made by Colliton. First, he has to assess the players and how they fit, or not. Second, what he probably doesn't want to do is to be seen as disrespectful of the players on the roster - there must be some time between day#1 and cutting a player to not seem disrespectful to that player and his teammate friends. But players know who is and isn't contributing to winning games, so done in a respectful way at a proper time they will support player moves if they believe it's done to improve the team.

This move to fire Q and hire Colliton wreaks of the situation between Jerry Krause, Phil Jackson and Tim Floyd. It is blatantly obvious that Bowman thinks that he can rebuild/reload the Hawks with his own hand-picked coach and philosophy. It will not surprise me when Bowman tears the rest of the team apart and deals off the core players that won the Cup. Krause wanted to show that he could rebuild the Bulls without Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The parallels between Bowman firing Q and Krause making a power move to take full control of their respective organizations cannot be ignored. To me, this shows of the fragile mentality of both GM's who may have felt that they did not receive the proper respect for the championships the teams won.

For BowKrause to lie yesterday and state that there was no tension between he and Q is almost laughable, but nobody in the press pushed him on the fact that he hired Barry Smith to run the powerplay without notifying Q. I do not know anyone with any experience in the work world that would not be ticked off if their boss brought in someone to take on a key role in their team without notifying them.

It also strikes me as odd that BowKrause fired Q on election day where the vast majority of the media attention would not be focused on sports. If the three loses on the road trip were not the trigger to fire Q and this was building up, why let Q linger for the first 15 games of the year with the crap roster he built? Why not fire him on Monday afternoon after the trip? This is a further display of the gutless and conniving tactics that BowKrause employs and it is only a matter of time that the Hawks experience what the immediate post-Jordan/Jackson teams went through.
- MileHighHawks

Minus the snarky "BowKrause", I agree with much of what you say here: not sure it was an ego driven thing, as with Krause and Jackson, but apparently to some extent at least a power play move.

I do disagree with your comment about "why not fire him on Monday afternoon" - we don't know (or at least I haven't heard) about how this all played out. The news broke very early Tuesday morning - I would guess that the actual event occurred sometime on Monday - probably late afternoon - after meetings and consultations and....and that Q was either part of these meetings, or was informed personally sometime late Monday.

But - just guessing....

>>>The concern comes from John McDonough and Stan saying they believe this roster is a playoff roster. I can assure you, if the 2018-19 Blackhawks get into the post-season at this point, it may be solely on Jeremy Colliton's fresh voice, not the players on paper. <<<

whatever they are smoking together they need to have it taken away and sober up...

this team is 5, 6 or 7 in the division at best...boy does this ole gif apply

Nice blog Justin, but I'd disagree with one thing, injuries. The team is missing a guy who would probably by their 4D man (Murphy) and another who would probably slot in at 5-6 (Forsling). I'd also suggest that Forsling is better, and will be better long term, than Gus.

While it may not have had a huge impact so far, I am interested to see if the D improves when those 2 rejoin the team.

>>>The concern comes from John McDonough and Stan saying they believe this roster is a playoff roster. I can assure you, if the 2018-19 Blackhawks get into the post-season at this point, it may be solely on Jeremy Colliton's fresh voice, not the players on paper. <<<

whatever they are smoking together they need to have it taken away and sober up...

this team is 5, 6 or 7 in the division at best...boy does this ole gif apply


- bogiedoc

Yes, but 5 could get them into the playoffs in the 2nd WC, as the west is not nearly as good as the central.

I think there has to be a transition period before major moves are made by Colliton. First, he has to assess the players and how they fit, or not. Second, what he probably doesn't want to do is to be seen as disrespectful of the players on the roster - there must be some time between day#1 and cutting a player to not seem disrespectful to that player and his teammate friends. But players know who is and isn't contributing to winning games, so done in a respectful way at a proper time they will support player moves if they believe it's done to improve the team.
- EbonyRaptor

I would agree from the respect aspect of things, but also just to see if he can maximize the talent on this roster before moves are made. I'm not even expecting anything major really but just minor moves to shake things up. If I had to guess how long his grace period it, I would guess six games or so depending on how they play. That's two weeks of games and practice to get a feel for guys and see how they play. Then you can look at who should be swapped out/sent down for some of the kids. I'm just having a hard time figuring out who would be likely to go. Kunitz? Sure, but how would the vets feel about that? Same goes for Kruger. Martinsen? Maybe, but he's played a key role in Colliton's checking line in Rockford and I would think he would want him to do the same here. Same goes for Hayden too. Fortin? Brings something this team needs in speed. Johnson? Maybe, but again played for him already and has been pretty good so far. Gonna be real interesting to see how this plays out over the next month or so here.

The schedule makers sure have done JC a favor. The next 5 are all winnable, against teams outside the current playoff line:

CAR 6-7-2
@PHL 7-7-1
@CAR 6-7-2
STL 5-5-3
LAK 5-8-1

Yes, but 5 could get them into the playoffs in the 2nd WC, as the west is not nearly as good as the central.
- scottak

they are in the toughest division in the NHL the 5 team ahead of them 42-21-6; they have 19 games with those 5 teams...possible 38 pts...

i will be positive and give them 50% of those pts...they aint making the playoffs in this division...

The schedule makers sure have done JC a favor. The next 5 are all winnable, against teams outside the current playoff line:

CAR 6-7-2
@PHL 7-7-1
@CAR 6-7-2
STL 5-5-3
LAK 5-8-1
- scottak

those records mean nothing: carolina smoked them last year, they never win in phylly; blows are getting their game together...the kings are as bad as them = toss up..

we will go on the record 2-2-1 at best...

Blackhawks lines
DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun
Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane
Saad-Kampf-Fortin
Martinsen-Kruger-Kunitz

Let the bashing begin!!!
- Chunk

Kunitz should be playing in the ECHL at this point in his careeer. Not sure why Saad gets demoted after playing his best week of hockey in 12 months....

This move to fire Q and hire Colliton wreaks of the situation between Jerry Krause, Phil Jackson and Tim Floyd. It is blatantly obvious that Bowman thinks that he can rebuild/reload the Hawks with his own hand-picked coach and philosophy. It will not surprise me when Bowman tears the rest of the team apart and deals off the core players that won the Cup. Krause wanted to show that he could rebuild the Bulls without Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The parallels between Bowman firing Q and Krause making a power move to take full control of their respective organizations cannot be ignored. To me, this shows of the fragile mentality of both GM's who may have felt that they did not receive the proper respect for the championships the teams won.

For BowKrause to lie yesterday and state that there was no tension between he and Q is almost laughable, but nobody in the press pushed him on the fact that he hired Barry Smith to run the powerplay without notifying Q. I do not know anyone with any experience in the work world that would not be ticked off if their boss brought in someone to take on a key role in their team without notifying them.

It also strikes me as odd that BowKrause fired Q on election day where the vast majority of the media attention would not be focused on sports. If the three loses on the road trip were not the trigger to fire Q and this was building up, why let Q linger for the first 15 games of the year with the crap roster he built? Why not fire him on Monday afternoon after the trip? This is a further display of the gutless and conniving tactics that BowKrause employs and it is only a matter of time that the Hawks experience what the immediate post-Jordan/Jackson teams went through.
- MileHighHawks

I see no parallel at all. Bowman has ZERO independent authority to dismantle the team by moving the core. So how many days on either side of the Mid-Terms would’ve worked for you? One? Obviously not. Two? Still close. The answer is - who cares. What “crap roster?” The one with Kane and Toews and others. The Hawks treated Q with incredible respect and patience. Could’ve made a move after the loss to the Blues, certainly after the sweep loss to the Predators, and certainly after missing the play-offs altogether last year. Instead they gave him a 4th chance to put it together this year but this year the rope was understandably short.

Ottawa Sens Uber. Sure glad Standbo don't get a Blackhawk version of a Uber SUV ride the last 12 months

The schedule makers sure have done JC a favor. The next 5 are all winnable, against teams outside the current playoff line:

CAR 6-7-2
@PHL 7-7-1
@CAR 6-7-2
STL 5-5-3
LAK 5-8-1
- scottak

On the other hand we could also move up very quickly from our 9th spot in the Tankathon order.

Patrick Kane on first impressions of Jeremy Colliton: "Very smart guy. He's got a bright hockey mind and I think he can bring a lot to our team. I think he's going to help us out a lot.” #Blackhawks⁠ ⁠

From C Roumelotis

If sincere (I’m assuming it was), this endorsement should go a long way with both the vets and the young guys.

Not at all. Q will be fine and the teams slide isn't on him. It'll be exposed here when things get worse.

But I look forward to all of Duclairs success now that he has a coach that will play him more lol
- PatShart

Gosh Pat how do you even type these things? - “Q will be fine and the team’s slide isn’t on him.” Remember when the Predators swept the Hawks in the First Round? Well somehow Bowman had given Q enough of a roster to earn First Seed that year. Q then coached that roster to a sweep.

Everyone do yourself a favor and listen to Carbomb's interview on the score. He unloads on Macissac and McD.

Quote of the year: In speaking of MacIssac, "We are talking about a guy that retired his own jersey in the ECHL."
- nickmo2699

Thanks for that - who is MacIssac?