Doesn't it seem that way to you? Bowman went and got Q guys that he wanted to put out there, and Q kept putting those guys out there, and look where he is now. Sealed his own fate...if this is true, but certainly seems plausible.
- ToewsdNKanefusd

People have short term memory when it comes to who had a say and who didn't with the hiring of coach Q assistants? That was all on Stan when he fired coach Q assistants and replaced them with garbage all because , this team got rolled 4 and out so Stan traded our best player panarin for nothing , moved out hammer for some hyped up defenseman named murphy whomquite frankly is a bust.


Follow that up if you look at Stans overall handling of this team, it's awful, all the young talent traded away , over paying guys, drafting poorly, then the young talent we did have , Shaw, Tevo, TVR , Leddy, Raanta,,,, denault all moved out with nothing in return to show for it.


Toews and Kane both earned their contracts , but their was no reason for Stan to sign Seabrook to that contract he gave him especially at his age , he should have waited and let him walk oh well no big loss .


Kunitz, manning and Davidson who in their God given right mind would offer and sign these guys especially , when you have just not even made the playoffs.



Anyone who thinks the new inexperienced coach is going to take this turd of a team and make it look great is out of their mind.


If the engine on the car is bad putting a new tire on it won't change the obvious outcome.

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.
- pdx2ord

Powerful endorsement. Interesting that Kane focuses on C having a “bright hockey mind.” and how such a “bright hockey mind” can “help us a lot.” Hope this is a sign that new ideas and new approaches are in the offing. Also yes I called him “C” - I am certainly not writing out Colliton forever.

Has any other GM been in that situation so that we can compare? Legit question - I don't know off the top of my head. If not, why not?

My original point is that Stan has a suspect trade history and if the Hawks are indeed in rebuild mode where they are going to sell off assets, I'm not confident in this management group to get maximum value.
- Larmer

Re-Model is not rebuild. The Hawks have no plans right now to tank. McD wants to sell tickets, suites and booze at the games. No plans to model themselves after the Arizona Coyotes.

Has any other GM been in that situation so that we can compare? Legit question - I don't know off the top of my head. If not, why not?

My original point is that Stan has a suspect trade history and if the Hawks are indeed in rebuild mode where they are going to sell off assets, I'm not confident in this management group to get maximum value.
- Larmer

Bowman wasn't dealing from a position of strength, he wasn't close to being cap compliant and he HAD to move those players and worse every NHL GM knew he was in a corner. No one was going to give him a package of equal or even close value, in fact they tried and succeeded in giving him far less than equal value. The fact the hawks won two more cups after getting fleeced for very good depth talent is a testament to the players, the coaching staff and yes to Bowman.

People have short term memory when it comes to who had a say and who didn't with the hiring of coach Q assistants? That was all on Stan when he fired coach Q assistants and replaced them with garbage all because , this team got rolled 4 and out so Stan traded our best player panarin for nothing , moved out hammer for some hyped up defenseman named murphy whomquite frankly is a bust.


Follow that up if you look at Stans overall handling of this team, it's awful, all the young talent traded away , over paying guys, drafting poorly, then the young talent we did have , Shaw, Tevo, TVR , Leddy, Raanta,,,, denault all moved out with nothing in return to show for it.


Toews and Kane both earned their contracts , but their was no reason for Stan to sign Seabrook to that contract he gave him especially at his age , he should have waited and let him walk oh well no big loss .


Kunitz, manning and Davidson who in their God given right mind would offer and sign these guys especially , when you have just not even made the playoffs.



Anyone who thinks the new inexperienced coach is going to take this turd of a team and make it look great is out of their mind.


If the engine on the car is bad putting a new tire on it won't change the obvious outcome.
- Taylorst1

that's just false...he didn't trade him for "nothing" he got a young big body power forward under contract control (and former contributor to two cups) and a young goalie prospect in forsberg given the uncertainty to sign panarin long term...of course you obviously had the foresight on saads performance drop off coming...

have your opinions but don't mischaracterize the facts...

Shaw, Tevo, TVR , Leddy, Raanta,,,, denault these trades in context have all been dealt and explained before but posters like you refuse to understand comprehend

Man there is a ton of whining on here.


-Q was (is) a great coach and will be remembered as the best coach in the history of the franchise, but yes a change was needed because you cant fire the whole team so coach takes the fall for a new guy with a new message.

- We had a great run. The cost of success in a salary cap world is difficult.

- on #8, he needs to play with Kane. Who else is going to play there? Yes he is a little soft, but hes the closest thing to #72 that we have on the roster.

- the Stanley Cup favorite Jets are only 2 points ahead of us.

- you can know get in the UC for a great price because all the fair weather fans have stopped the price gouging.

People have short term memory when it comes to who had a say and who didn't with the hiring of coach Q assistants? That was all on Stan when he fired coach Q assistants and replaced them with garbage all because , this team got rolled 4 and out so Stan traded our best player panarin for nothing , moved out hammer for some hyped up defenseman named murphy whomquite frankly is a bust

Follow that up if you look at Stans overall handling of this team, it's awful, all the young talent traded away , over paying guys, drafting poorly, then the young talent we did have , Shaw, Tevo, TVR , Leddy, Raanta,,,, denault all moved out with nothing in return to show for it.

Toews and Kane both earned their contracts , but their was no reason for Stan to sign Seabrook to that contract he gave him especially at his age , he should have waited and let him walk oh well no big loss .

Kunitz, manning and Davidson who in their God given right mind would offer and sign these guys especially , when you have just not even made the playoffs.

Anyone who thinks the new inexperienced coach is going to take this turd of a team and make it look great is out of their mind.

If the engine on the car is bad putting a new tire on it won't change the obvious outcome.
- Taylorst1

You are trying to re-write history. Coach Kitchen was Q’s bestie and was barely coaching at all when shown the door. The Evil StanBo did not force Q to move forward with 2 Assistants who were also his besties, Dineen and Ulf. Moving Kitchen out was like moving out a rock but Q still got the Assistants he wanted.

already i see posters writing off Cotilon:

I consider an incredibly bold, refreshing and creative move instead of the steady recycling of fired coaches else where...

This is Stan's pick and all the pressure is on him to make it work and also get the right mix of players in here.

Watch the coming roster moves it will tell you alot what this organization's vision is...

Man there is a ton of whining on here.


-Q was (is) a great coach and will be remembered as the best coach in the history of the franchise, but yes a change was needed because you cant fire the whole team so coach takes the fall for a new guy with a new message.

- We had a great run. The cost of success in a salary cap world is difficult.

- on #8, he needs to play with Kane. Who else is going to play there? Yes he is a little soft, but hes the closest thing to #72 that we have on the roster.

- the Stanley Cup favorite Jets are only 2 points ahead of us.

- you can know get in the UC for a great price because all the fair weather fans have stopped the price gouging.
- Boisy12

Very good points.

Has any other GM been in that situation so that we can compare? Legit question - I don't know off the top of my head. If not, why not?

My original point is that Stan has a suspect trade history and if the Hawks are indeed in rebuild mode where they are going to sell off assets, I'm not confident in this management group to get maximum value.
- Larmer

They were always working around the Elephant in the room .Q.!!

I'm excited to go to tonights game and see how the team responds to Q's dismissal from the team. Curious how the fans are gonna react for that matter as well. I just hope they don't lay an egg tonight otherwise the PR nightmare they currently have is only gonna snowball

Man there is a ton of whining on here.


-Q was (is) a great coach and will be remembered as the best coach in the history of the franchise, but yes a change was needed because you cant fire the whole team so coach takes the fall for a new guy with a new message.

- We had a great run. The cost of success in a salary cap world is difficult.

- on #8, he needs to play with Kane. Who else is going to play there? Yes he is a little soft, but hes the closest thing to #72 that we have on the roster.

- the Stanley Cup favorite Jets are only 2 points ahead of us.

- you can know get in the UC for a great price because all the fair weather fans have stopped the price gouging.
- Boisy12

Cat should play his off-wing LW with Kane. It drowns Kane to have a player who will not shoot in this position and Schmaltz refuses to shoot.

The lines should be Schmaltz (LW-offwing), Toews and Saad(RW-offwing). This would allow Saad to attack the net with his physicality, on a better angle, and would also allow him to shoot on a better angle. On this line Schmaltz would not be in a shooter’s role. Cat(LW-offwing) - opening up for Kane like Panarin did. Anisimov for now until a faster, more phyical Centre like Shaw can be found and of course Kane. Kahun has not proved he is top 6 - one goal in 15 games playing with Toews and Cat - time to make him earn it.

I like top 6 wingers, if not all wingers, to play their offwings. D-Men should play their natural sides.

But that is the argument, I don't think Q did do everything he could with what was given to him. I think he stubbornly stayed with the same schemes and such, even though he didn't have the players to execute.
- ToewsdNKanefusd

Agreed.... Q did not adjust to anything. But my point is that Stan gave him donkeys to run in the Kentucky Derby. That is on Stan. Just look at money Stan spent over the summer. A real GM would have been more creative to add something or someone more productive. Instead we have Stan giving out way too much money for players that are not even worth it. Just look at Kunitz, Rutta. Heck man he could of saved the money and had the kids play who may be better and saved the money. Worst case scenario this Management Team would know what they have in their system

Q's firing is still sinking in.

I can't stop thinking that this is a huge mistake, especially right now.

Young coaches with zero NHL coaching experience are brought in to work with and develop a young team with an eye towards championship contention a few years down the road, not to win a Cup this year, next year, or the year after that.

So where does that leave the core? Sure, they are professionals, they'll show up and do their job. But if the roster isn't improving, and the organization is demonstrating through this hire that they are looking to the long run, why would they want to be here? They all have a limited number of quality years ahead of them, do they want to spend the next three seasons near the bottom of the standings and out of the playoffs?

So maybe the team trades Crawford and maybe Seabrook before the TDL. If I'm 2, 19, and 88, I'm asking to be next.

If they all go, they take the team identity with them. Whoever these young guys are that they acquire via draft and trade, are any of them going to fill seats like the old core? No way.

Yes, I'm going worst case scenario. It is a big, big, big gamble to hire Colliton right now. He probably has a bright future as an NHL head coach, but right freaking now? I really think this is going to blow up in a bad way.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't see any of the core with the team two years from now, and I don't see them in the playoffs for a couple of years longer than that.

Thanks Q, it was a blast. Sorry it ended this way. And sorry to 2, 7, 19, 50, and 88 too, you all deserve better than this.
- matt_ahrens

This assumption that any of the core is going to ask for a trade is just pure fiction.

Because things have changed since last week and Q is no longer around all of a sudden they want out?. That's BS. If they believe that the roster is just not good enough to compete, then they believed it while Q was still coach. Why weren't they all running to be traded at that point?

The assumptions made around here are just comical at a certain point. The Veterans all understand that Hockey is a business and with the failures they have had over the last 3 seasons and the underwhelming start to this year that something was gonna change, including the beloved Q being fired. They have watched friends be traded and coaches be fired. Kane was in tears when Savard was canned. Keith and Seabrook loved Yawney and what he taught them. Regardless, they suck it up and play.

This core is made up of guys with 3 cups already. Sure they want to win, but they are not a bunch of aging vets who need to jump somewhere to try and win a cup. This isn't Borque, Timonen or any of the others who seek a deal for that last shot at getting their names on the elusive cup. They deserve better? All of them have been more than adequately compensated, in some cases to the detriment of the teams makeup. They have as much a hand in the turnover as anyone.

Man there is a ton of whining on here.


-Q was (is) a great coach and will be remembered as the best coach in the history of the franchise, but yes a change was needed because you cant fire the whole team so coach takes the fall for a new guy with a new message.

- We had a great run. The cost of success in a salary cap world is difficult.

- on #8, he needs to play with Kane. Who else is going to play there? Yes he is a little soft, but hes the closest thing to #72 that we have on the roster.

- the Stanley Cup favorite Jets are only 2 points ahead of us.

- you can know get in the UC for a great price because all the fair weather fans have stopped the price gouging.
- Boisy12

that's just false...he didn't trade him for "nothing" he got a young big body power forward under contract control (and former contributor to two cups) and a young goalie prospect in forsberg given the uncertainty to sign panarin long term...of course you obviously had the foresight on saads performance drop off coming...

have your opinions but don't mischaracterize the facts...

Shaw, Tevo, TVR , Leddy, Raanta,,,, denault these trades in context have all been dealt and explained before but posters like you refuse to understand comprehend
- bogiedoc

Talk about having blinders on , you should look in the mirror. Let's be honest here saad hasn't done anything since coming back to Chicago and that so called future prospect of a goalie that you claim we received ? He was so awful that we had to go out and sign a 34 yr old washed up goalie because that future goalie can't be trusted or relied upon even in a back up role . PANARIN is still out producing saad at very metric.


Now Leddy, Tevo , denault , Shaw how can you explain to anyone that those trades with where we stand now with the level of talent we either received which is no longer here or the talent we don't have that those trades where the right thing to do. Bickell should have never been signed for 4 million he never produced in all the years he was here during the regular season and he has 1 great playoff year so now were going to overpay him ? Tevo was the future and that kid is tearing it up and he is only 23 years old .


So please if your going to defend this team or it's management you should be ashamed of yourself .


Stan should be fired PERIOD! His negatives outweigh any positives . His job is to manage salaries, contracts and personnel, He has failed .

Cat should play his off-wing LW with Kane. It drowns Kane to have a player who will not shoot in this position and Schmaltz refuses to shoot.

The lines should be Schmaltz (LW-offwing), Toews and Saad(RW-offwing). This would allow Saad to attack the net with his physicality, on a better angle, and would also allow him to shoot on a better angle. On this line Schmaltz would not be in a shooter’s role. Cat(LW-offwing) - opening up for Kane like Panarin did. Anisimov for now until a faster, more phyical Centre like Shaw can be found and of course Kane. Kahun has not proved he is top 6 - one goal in 15 games playing with Toews and Cat - time to make him earn it.

I like top 6 wingers, if not all wingers, to play their offwings. D-Men should play their natural sides.
- Z3Hawk

I agree with all of this. Schmaltz defers to Kane every time he touches the puck. Saad has been their best forward during the last week so not sure why Colliton put him on line 3.....

Bowman wasn't dealing from a position of strength, he wasn't close to being cap compliant and he HAD to move those players and worse every NHL GM knew he was in a corner. No one was going to give him a package of equal or even close value, in fact they tried and succeeded in giving him far less than equal value. The fact the hawks won two more cups after getting fleeced for very good depth talent is a testament to the players, the coaching staff and yes to Bowman.
- paulr

Literally was getting ready to post this very comment.

Add to that, we could not have afforded getting more value/cost in return.

It took 5 years for some, not you, to understand what impacts the Cap has on teams, the league, parity and competition.

Talk about having blinders on , you should look in the mirror. Let's be honest here saad hasn't done anything since coming back to Chicago and that so called future prospect of a goalie that you claim we received ? He was so awful that we had to go out and sign a 34 yr old washed up goalie because that future goalie can't be trusted or relied upon even in a back up role . PANARIN is still out producing saad at very metric.


Now Leddy, Tevo , denault , Shaw how can you explain to anyone that those trades with where we stand now with the level of talent we either received which is no longer here or the talent we don't have that those trades where the right thing to do. Bickell should have never been signed for 4 million he never produced in all the years he was here during the regular season and he has 1 great playoff year so now were going to overpay him ? Tevo was the future and that kid is tearing it up and he is only 23 years old .


So please if your going to defend this team or it's management you should be ashamed of yourself .


Stan should be fired PERIOD! His negatives outweigh any positives . His job is to manage salaries, contracts and personnel, He has failed .
- Taylorst1

Panarin - At the time Chicago couldn't afford his upcoming contract
Leddy - At the time Chicago couldn't afford his upcoming contract and had to choose between him and Oduya. The cup win proved they made the correct choice.
Tevo - They needed to get someone to take Bickell's contract, TT was the guy.
Denault - They made a trade at the deadline to try to lift the Hawks over the top for a guy Q never used. Bad move.
Shaw - At the time Chicago couldn't afford his upcoming contract and he wasn't worth what he was asking.

There are many "bad" moves Bowman has made, either for cap purposes or to try to prolong the time the Hawks contended. But you have to look at each trade to assess why they were made. I'm more upset about the bad contract for Seabs or the signings of guys like Davidson, Manning and Kunitz than I am about the ones, other than Danault, you've mentioned.

Why is it either/or? Why is the choice between getting a better return on Buff, et. al. or winning two more cups?
- Larmer

Why do you only list those players who were either no help or of somewhat minor help to win two Cup wins?

Get Panarin back! Schmaltz, Saad, Forsling and a 1st round pick
- nickmo2699

Worst Trade Proposal EVER!

This assumption that any of the core is going to ask for a trade is just pure fiction.

Because things have changed since last week and Q is no longer around all of a sudden they want out?. That's BS. If they believe that the roster is just not good enough to compete, then they believed it while Q was still coach. Why weren't they all running to be traded at that point?

The assumptions made around here are just comical at a certain point. The Veterans all understand that Hockey is a business and with the failures they have had over the last 3 seasons and the underwhelming start to this year that something was gonna change, including the beloved Q being fired. They have watched friends be traded and coaches be fired. Kane was in tears when Savard was canned. Keith and Seabrook loved Yawney and what he taught them. Regardless, they suck it up and play.

This core is made up of guys with 3 cups already. Sure they want to win, but they are not a bunch of aging vets who need to jump somewhere to try and win a cup. This isn't Borque, Timonen or any of the others who seek a deal for that last shot at getting their names on the elusive cup. They deserve better? All of them have been more than adequately compensated, in some cases to the detriment of the teams makeup. They have as much a hand in the turnover as anyone.
- TheTrob

Excellent post.

While I don't doubt that dysfunction still exists in management and players, core or not, are unhappy, I just don't see them all wanting out now especially when a lot of them blamed themselves for Q's dismissal. If it's your fault, then the professionals they are will or at least should stay to help turn the ship around.

Cat should play his off-wing LW with Kane. It drowns Kane to have a player who will not shoot in this position and Schmaltz refuses to shoot.

The lines should be Schmaltz (LW-offwing), Toews and Saad(RW-offwing). This would allow Saad to attack the net with his physicality, on a better angle, and would also allow him to shoot on a better angle. On this line Schmaltz would not be in a shooter’s role. Cat(LW-offwing) - opening up for Kane like Panarin did. Anisimov for now until a faster, more phyical Centre like Shaw can be found and of course Kane. Kahun has not proved he is top 6 - one goal in 15 games playing with Toews and Cat - time to make him earn it.

I like top 6 wingers, if not all wingers, to play their offwings. D-Men should play their natural sides.
- Z3Hawk

Like that top 6. Nice breakdown analysis.

This assumption that any of the core is going to ask for a trade is just pure fiction.

Because things have changed since last week and Q is no longer around all of a sudden they want out?. That's BS. If they believe that the roster is just not good enough to compete, then they believed it while Q was still coach. Why weren't they all running to be traded at that point?

The assumptions made around here are just comical at a certain point. The Veterans all understand that Hockey is a business and with the failures they have had over the last 3 seasons and the underwhelming start to this year that something was gonna change, including the beloved Q being fired. They have watched friends be traded and coaches be fired. Kane was in tears when Savard was canned. Keith and Seabrook loved Yawney and what he taught them. Regardless, they suck it up and play.

This core is made up of guys with 3 cups already. Sure they want to win, but they are not a bunch of aging vets who need to jump somewhere to try and win a cup. This isn't Borque, Timonen or any of the others who seek a deal for that last shot at getting their names on the elusive cup. They deserve better? All of them have been more than adequately compensated, in some cases to the detriment of the teams makeup. They have as much a hand in the turnover as anyone.
- TheTrob

If you read my post, the time horizon I give is two years, not "all of a sudden."

Why would the core believe that suddenly Stan is going to get talent to add to the roster when he hasn't for the past year when he had a HOF head coach? Why would any free agents come here when there is so much uncertainty with the future of the organization?

Do you think this roster is good enough to make the playoffs this year competing in the division they do? I don't. So that's two years in a row missing the playoffs and Corey Crawford heading into his final contract year. If they resign Crawford, that would be a good sign. But given his past with the club, and McD holding a grudge for what he said at the rally a few years back, the more likely scenario is they trade him - maybe even before the coming TDL - and let the younger guys compete for the goaltending duties. But is there anyone in the organization ready to fill his skates? Not for a few years.

If the CBA gets opened next fall and buyouts are allowed again, isn't Seabrook a good candidate? He's probably the third best Dman on the team right now, and the fourth best is a drop-off, even if Murphy and Forsling come back strong. So, a couple / few years before the defense corps develops in to a contender, best case.

Meanwhile, 2, 19, and 88 see their careers winding down. Why would they stay? Loyalty to whom?

Cat should play his off-wing LW with Kane. It drowns Kane to have a player who will not shoot in this position and Schmaltz refuses to shoot.

The lines should be Schmaltz (LW-offwing), Toews and Saad(RW-offwing). This would allow Saad to attack the net with his physicality, on a better angle, and would also allow him to shoot on a better angle. On this line Schmaltz would not be in a shooter’s role. Cat(LW-offwing) - opening up for Kane like Panarin did. Anisimov for now until a faster, more phyical Centre like Shaw can be found and of course Kane. Kahun has not proved he is top 6 - one goal in 15 games playing with Toews and Cat - time to make him earn it.

I like top 6 wingers, if not all wingers, to play their offwings. D-Men should play their natural sides.
- Z3Hawk

Ya I actually like that idea. 12 can fire the puck. It's tough playing with a superstar as you always want to feed the star!