CHL
17h ago

QMJHL suspends play in Quebec because of COVID-19
- LAHawk

That league had started its 2020-21 schedule?

You know everyone, myself included, believe the Hawks won the Saad trade.
- BluemanGuruu

Which Saad trade?

That league had started its 2020-21 schedule?
- 67hawks

4games in.

There is reasonable expectation that next season would be the toughest financial situation for everyone to hoe. Surely we acknowledge to reap the harvest more each season after innoculation and the economy move past the teetering stage.

Toronto has all the game breakers in the world, but if you have no team, the gamebreakers are good for highlight reals, but not for team championship pictures.

Gamebreakers sell seats, but that is a non-issue for at least next season.
- LAHawk

Gamebreakers are only good if you can surround them with the right players, but yes they do sell seats for sure. If you look at vegas, there really are no game breakers to speak of. They have really good balance throughout their entire line up
A team can pay several players between 5 to 8 million, and will be able to have a team of about eight solid, but not spectacular players. Sharks did that for few years, until they got old and would have a solid lineup throughout that contends every year

Gamebreakers are only good if you can surround them with the right players, but yes they do sell seats for sure. If you look at vegas, there really are no game breakers to speak of. They have really good balance throughout their entire line up
A team can pay several players between 5 to 8 million, and will be able to have a team of about eight solid, but not spectacular players. Sharks did that for few years, until they got old and would have a solid lineup throughout that contends every year
- chuckdahammer

Boston is a good example of this also.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/golden-knights-owner-bill-foley-all-canadian-division-accelerated-season/koqd3fe6k3v518swi1q3gwufs

Pretty sobering coming from a owner who can buy and sell Wirtz a few times over. As Friedman said on his 31 points, the Hawks punted on the season, shortened schedule, little to no fans, and probably ending up with a TV contract with no increase from the prior one.
- LAHawk

I go back to what I said yesterday, the goal should be to play as few games as possible. Why play four games a week? Players get paid by the game. Only play games that can be televised what am I missing?

Except most of those who post on this blog.
- LAHawk

From a financial point of view combined with what we got we didn't lose.

From a financial point of view combined with what we got we didn't lose.
- rpeters01

I agree, and pigeonholing Zadorov as a 5/6 defenseman I don't think is correct either, at least until he makes his first mistake as a Hawk in a game

From The Athletic article getting league input on the Blackhawks’ offseason moves:

League source: “They’re selling Danny Wirtz on the idea that in two or three years, they’ll be competitive again. But I look at what they’ve got, and there are no game-breakers coming.”

From me:

Yeah, they have AdB and Kubalik - supposed 30 goal scorers - some exciting blue-line prospects - but no game-breakers in the prospect pool. Maybe Toews and Keith - probably/certainly Kane - can still provide that for another 4 or 5 seasons, but....

From the same article:

The draft
One league source insisted the Blackhawks wanted defenseman Kaiden Guhle in the first round. They saw him as the big, puck-dislodging defenseman they needed to complement the smaller guys such as Adam Boqvist and Ian Mitchell. The source believed Montreal was willing to trade down for a third- or fourth-round pick, but that the Blackhawks were told the Canadiens would be taking a forward, not a defenseman. The Habs ended up taking Guhle, so the Blackhawks chose Lukas Reichel, who was the second name on their board.

From me:

If true, Sounds like they could have moved up for not much cost - misinformation cost them their desired pick.
- StLBravesFan

I agree with we have no game breakers in the pipeline and are in trouble if we are depending on Dinky and Hossa Light for our offense in the future. The rest is pure speculation.

Ratings are down too. Saw that the Stanley Cup Final viewers were down 61% from the year prior. Partially due to two so-so market teams.

That said, the NBA championship also suffered an over 40 percent drop in viewers too even with the LA market team involved.

Not like we can have large house parties and bar events to watch the games.

These are going to be interesting times. Not sure of a revenue source to replace lost ticket sales... Hate to say this, but what if the Hawks and other teams pulled an old-school Wirtz, broadcast away games and have some type of Hawk-Vision where we pay to see home games for the duration of the empty stadiums... That's just off of the top of my head. I'd hate having to pay, but heck, I'll have to buy the package because I need to watch each game. The Hawks are the only reason I haven't cut the cord yet.
- Popsghostly

I don't see how the AHL and ECHL survive?

4games in.
- LAHawk

Yeh. Checked it out -even played a pre-season in September. That surprised me.

From The Athletic article getting league input on the Blackhawks’ offseason moves:

League source: “They’re selling Danny Wirtz on the idea that in two or three years, they’ll be competitive again. But I look at what they’ve got, and there are no game-breakers coming.”

From me:

Yeah, they have AdB and Kubalik - supposed 30 goal scorers - some exciting blue-line prospects - but no game-breakers in the prospect pool. Maybe Toews and Keith - probably/certainly Kane - can still provide that for another 4 or 5 seasons, but....

From the same article:

The draft
One league source insisted the Blackhawks wanted defenseman Kaiden Guhle in the first round. They saw him as the big, puck-dislodging defenseman they needed to complement the smaller guys such as Adam Boqvist and Ian Mitchell. The source believed Montreal was willing to trade down for a third- or fourth-round pick, but that the Blackhawks were told the Canadiens would be taking a forward, not a defenseman. The Habs ended up taking Guhle, so the Blackhawks chose Lukas Reichel, who was the second name on their board.

From me:

If true, Sounds like they could have moved up for not much cost - misinformation cost them their desired pick.
- StLBravesFan

Who is "they"?

So i guess not getting Guhle, they decided to pull the trigger on Zadorov as the comliment to Bovquist and Mitchell, and Reichel as the eventual top 6 replacement to Saad.

Another important issue. Can the Junior leagues and AHL afford to play with no fans? If so, for how long? How does the NHL develop talent? The NHL has LARGE problems right now, and for the foreseeable future.

One way to solve the issues are to allow full stadiums. I know that is sacrilege to some, but there are real costs to locking down.
- mohel

It's up to the mayor's and governors, not the league...

I think the uncertain financial future is playing a big role on the Hawks decision making, and I can’t blame them for that. If we were making decisions based on our millions of dollars we wouldn’t be do quick to sign big dollar long-term contracts.

I like the moves the Hawks made. Sure, there’s a lot more that needs to be done but at least Stan has started to chill away at the teams needs with a physical stay-at-home defenseman and 2 forwards that improve the team’s overall defense.

Stan and the Hawks still have lots of work to do in the long-term, but these moves are a good start (while being somewhat financially responsible).
- DarthKane

If you think this offseason is crazy wait till next offseason!

I agree, and pigeonholing Zadorov as a 5/6 defenseman I don't think is correct either, at least until he makes his first mistake as a Hawk in a game

- LAHawk

Keith makes lots of mistakes, in a period... Murphy moved up from 5/6, to 3/4 1/2. All depends on the team you're on.

It's up to the mayor's and governors, not the league...
- rpeters01

Disney chairman on the "opening" business Governor's task force. Disney chairman pleads with said governor to open Disneyland, as Florida is open and no spikes. Governor said he doesn't know when he will open theme parks. Disney chairman resigns from task force.

You are correct, mostly in the hands of the elected local officials. Some states could open to in house attendance, and some could have it closed forevah.

Who is "they"?

So i guess not getting Guhle, they decided to pull the trigger on Zadorov as the comliment to Bovquist and Mitchell, and Reichel as the eventual top 6 replacement to Saad.
- LAHawk

I was keeping my fingers crossed for Guhle as the Hawks' turn was coming up. Was disappointed when he went. Snarl on defence is a valuable commodity, especially so when it can be backed up.

I notice you didn’t include Adam Boqvist in your list of two-way defensemen.
- StLBravesFan

That wasn't a snub to Boqvist, just me not considering him a prospect anymore much like Dach in that they player most of last season in the NHL.

If you think this offseason is crazy wait till next offseason!
- rpeters01

Correct.
With a stagnant cap and a new batch of RFA's coming up. Plus some owners clinging to avoid bankruptcy.

Disney chairman on the "opening" business Governor's task force. Disney chairman pleads with said governor to open Disneyland, as Florida is open and no spikes. Governor said he doesn't know when he will open theme parks. Disney chairman resigns from task force.

You are correct, mostly in the hands of the elected local officials. Some states could open to in house attendance, and some could have it closed forevah.
- LAHawk

Although I lean to the side of precaution being high risk, I struggle with the logic of the Chicago mayor "closing the lake" no boats out or harbors open?

The more I think about it, I really think that the way the season is heading (uncertainty when the season starts, fans in the stands, etc), it really forced the team to take a cautious approach and does not allow them to tie themselves up into too many long term contracts. Is this the makeup of the team they really want? I bet no, but until the worls levels off, they have to make due with a team season by season. Yes, it stinks that the core is getting older, but that is just life.
- powerenforcer

This could very well be true. Just as much as Toews and Kane didn't expect the salary cap to not work favorably after signing their current contracts, no one -- whether them or anyone else for that matter -- expected something as catastrophic as a pandemic to hold leagues and teams hostage for who knows how long.

4) Will anyone win the goalie battle? If so, who? All three goalies have interesting stories. And if Subban is charitable and outgoing like his brother and wins the job, could it impact the hockey inclusion movement or racial matters in the community?

- BMWChiFan

It has crossed my mind that the angles of community engagement and being more innovative with making hockey more inclusive could be factors for the Hawks re-signing Subban.

Mayers is a great team ambassador but he can't do it all himself. Plus, Jammer isn't a player anymore either so he may not resonate as much with fans who only know the players.

It's also not good to tokenize one individual to carry that load.

Theo, that Colliton quote regarding chemistry being less important was somewhat taken out of context. He didn't express that as a fundamental principle in his approach to coaching, he was responding to a question that was implying he didn't know what he was doing because he wasn't keeping so and so together to gain chemistry. He was somewhat exasperated and answered with the implication that there's other factors in how he puts lines together other than what the reporter thought was or primary importance.
- EbonyRaptor

Thanks for sharing that clarification, ER.

It's been a while since I've seen or heard that interview so I need to dig it up again to see if I had mischaracterized it in any way.

I do recall, though, there being an air of defiance in Colliton's voice during that interview. I could possibly have misinterpreted him.

Although I lean to the side of precaution being high risk, I struggle with the logic of the Chicago mayor "closing the lake" no boats out or harbors open?
- rpeters01

Did that just happen? I went sailing over the weekend (friend's boat) and also a few weeks before that. Plenty of boats out near Soldier's Field and Navy Pier area.