I'd rather they had called up Forsberg to see if hes worth resigning
- PatShart

Why bother with a goalie? Be even more disruptive and go with three D guys that don’t play defense. Or what the heck....six forwards all game, every game.

No lines, no offsides, no icing and no checking.

Call it the NOOHL - National Offense Only Hockey League. Might be disruptive enough for Mark Cuban to back it.

I'd rather they had called up Forsberg to see if hes worth resigning
- PatShart

What message does that send Delia? Plus, Delia is still waiver exempt whereas Forsberg is not.

OFFER SHEET EVERYONE!
- Elbows15

You say that like it's not obviously the only way to go.

Wings are a dime a dozen. Stick with C’s and D’s in the first round. If the best available player is a D, you take him.
- Ogilthorpe2

Agreed, I'd be happy if the Hawks could draft Byram.

What message does that send Delia? Plus, Delia is still waiver exempt whereas Forsberg is not.
- DarthKane

And a RFA at years end (I think). So keep him up and rotate until it's over. Gots to decide on if hes worth it or not at some point

Let Delia play out the rest of the season there

Crawford might sneeze and get reconcussed

Chad Krys had 2 goals and 3 assists in BU's win tonight
- TommyHawk

This is the replacemrnt for the traded Gus in two years. Maybe. Mail carrier who gets pushed off puck in defensive zone. Which means one day Boqvist and Beaudin are in top pairs. I want to see the dmen style balanced out by adding Gilbert snd Carlsson too.

Justin Lowe: Transition Year for Blackhawks Going According to Plan

The Blackhawks will never admit that they are happy with their club's performance this year. The Hawks are falling out of the playoff run and their position in the standings isn't a shock.

The Hawks were not a good team last year; so for Stan Bowman to go out and sign Ward, Manning and Kunitz and think that, along with the progression of his younger players that this was a "winning" team.

For me, there is a lot to like about what has happened this year. There are also some very troubling signs. Below is my top 3 in both.
- Justin Lowe

Gustaffson is AWFUL period. Any offence he produces comes as a result of playing no defence. Vast numbers of D-Men across the NHL could put up big offensive numbers by totally sacrificing defence. In spite of his points Gus is a horrible minus 14. He is AWFUL and should be moved, for a bag of sticks if necessary.

Kane and Toews have driven this season. It should not be taken for granted that the Hawks have wasted them this season. Hiring Colliton was a total disaster. Kane and Keith have let us know the players thought so too and this hasn’t changed. Kane looks presently so depressed, so defeated it is scary.

When Bowman first hired Colliton for Rockford Colliton was not on any other team’s radar. Not a team in the Swedish Tier One League, not the KHL, not the AHL, not the ECHL, not the CHL, not College - nowhere - AND certainly not any other NHL team. Other NHL teams are looking at the Hawks and laughing. Colliton’s defensive “system” is a farce. I have read others say you can’t even really call it a system as it is just total nonsense. What are the chances of the Hawks getting a shut-out or allowing just 1 goal or just 2 goals or just 3 goals. Brookbank and Granato are equally in over their heads. It is also insane the Brookbank “coaches” the forwards and Granato “coaches” the D-Men. The “coaching” staff is a joke. Look at the positive stats that surround the Arizona Coyotes. They started with no players and have suffered injuries on top of it and Tochet still has them playing very professional hockey. Or Gallant taking Vegas to the Final with mirrors. Hawks are a much different team if coached professionally by Tochet or Gallant.

Also I have tried to be even-handed with Bowman in spite of past terrible moves but I am done. This totally awkward man clearly has no idea what he is doing. Nepotism gone crazy. If the Hawks were smart and had the gonads they’d admit their stupidity and fire Bowman and the coaching staff.

Kahun has not proven he is a great signing. He has not been held to a high standard. He has shown what he is and he has not shown a high ceiling. Same for Cagguila - when he first arrived he was placed with Kane and Toews as an experiment to see if he was just mis-used in Edmonton. He wasn’t placed there on merit. This experiment has failed as he has hardly any points at all, although playing with two great players.

Kampf? When he got injured he hadn’t scored in about 100 games in a row. He should not be in the Hawks’ future plans.

The Hawks right now are a dumpster fire. Any success that the Hawks had for a while was player driven, not at all because of coaching. Keith and Seabrook are basically coaching themselves and refusing to partake in Colliton’s nonsesnse. Same for Kane and Toews. This should not have been a transition year. It only became one with Collition’s inexplicable and idiotic signing.

Personally I'd suggest if anyone hasn't shown much of anything since the last call up it has been Sikura.

No one - but no one ... needs a playmaker wannabe on the 4th line. Nothing personal, but on this team he serves no purpose there.

*NEW* blog up: https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=98160

Gustaffson is AWFUL period. Any offence he produces comes as a result of playing no defence. Vast numbers of D-Men across the NHL could put up big offensive numbers by totally sacrificing defence. In spite of his points Gus is a horrible minus 14. He is AWFUL and should be moved, for a bag of sticks if necessary.

Kane and Toews have driven this season. It should not be taken for granted that the Hawks have wasted them this season. Hiring Colliton was a total disaster. Kane and Keith have let us know the players thought so too and this hasn’t changed. Kane looks presently so depressed, so defeated it is scary.

When Bowman first hired Colliton for Rockford Colliton was not on any other team’s radar. Not a team in the Swedish Tier One League, not the KHL, not the AHL, not the ECHL, not the CHL, not College - nowhere - AND certainly not any other NHL team. Other NHL teams are looking at the Hawks and laughing. Colliton’s defensive “system” is a farce. I have read others say you can’t even really call it a system as it is just total nonsense. What are the chances of the Hawks getting a shut-out or allowing just 1 goal or just 2 goals or just 3 goals. Brookbank and Granato are equally in over their heads. It is also insane the Brookbank “coaches” the forwards and Granato “coaches” the D-Men. The “coaching” staff is a joke. Look at the positive stats that surround the Arizona Coyotes. They started with no players and have suffered injuries on top of it and Tochet still has them playing very professional hockey. Or Gallant taking Vegas to the Final with mirrors. Hawks are a much different team if coached professionally by Tochet or Gallant.

Also I have tried to be even-handed with Bowman in spite of past terrible moves but I am done. This totally awkward man clearly has no idea what he is doing. Nepotism gone crazy. If the Hawks were smart and had the gonads they’d admit their stupidity and fire Bowman and the coaching staff.

Kahun has not proven he is a great signing. He has not been held to a high standard. He has shown what he is and he has not shown a high ceiling. Same for Cagguila - when he first arrived he was placed with Kane and Toews as an experiment to see if he was just mis-used in Edmonton. He wasn’t placed there on merit. This experiment has failed as he has hardly any points at all, although playing with two great players.

Kampf? When he got injured he hadn’t scored in about 100 games in a row. He should not be in the Hawks’ future plans.

The Hawks right now are a dumpster fire. Any success that the Hawks had for a while was player driven, not at all because of coaching. Keith and Seabrook are basically coaching themselves and refusing to partake in Colliton’s nonsesnse. Same for Kane and Toews. This should not have been a transition year. It only became one with Collition’s inexplicable and idiotic signing.
- Z3Hawk

So let me guess, you don't like Colliton?

You make an awful lot of assumptions like Kane being depressed because Colliton is the coach. Or Seabrook and Keith are self coached, etc..

Explain how this wasn't a transition year. The team basically has 2 players from the core, playing at a high level. The two core defensemen are playing below how they played 3 or 4 seasons ago. They have one really good up and coming winger, a new centerman who has improved since he was acquired in November. They have a roving type defenseman who is very good in the offensive zone and after that there isn't much. Cagguila, Kahun and Kampf are all young players who need to be assessed by professional hockey coaches, not by some angry dudes banging away at their keyboards.

Colliton isn't the problem with the Hawks, at least not yet. The issue with The Blackhawks is they are on the wrong side of their success in terms of talent and prospects. The other issue is many fans, like you, still have the same expectations of the team and completely overlook what this Hawk team is to how it was when they were winning. The team IS in transition. It's in a retool or a rebuild and we have to be patient while the tranistion takes place, or you can pretend nothing has changed the Hawks are still great that all it's problems are because of coaching and continue to be miserable.