Ummm what?

In terms of the bolded point...of course I can. It is called the Salary Cap. Paying $7.2 mil for a 3rd dman is a killer in the salary cap era. Campbell isn't worth $7.2mil when he is the #3 dman on the team.

We all saw how the team looked last year when the Blackhawks had to sign other people's scraps because they didn't have any cap space and were hampered by some very large contracts.

SALARY CAP.
- HawkFan27

Well, you have your cap room and Bowman is STILL signing/trading for other people's scraps.

Boston got smoked by the second worst team in the league and looked pretty listless last night FYI...
- fattybeef

No they didnt......losing 3-0 with Ward making 47 saves is not really getting "smoked". They fought till the end.

Boston got smoked by the second worst team in the league and looked pretty listless last night FYI...
- fattybeef

Losing 3-0 and outshooting your opponent is on a different level of getting smoked than being the team that allowed a player to tie a Gretzky record. Gretzky records aren't touched... ever... so if you are a part of one, something did go according to plan.

It's a lot of things. There isn't a more arrogant organization in hockey, then here in Chicago.

Fact is, for everyone pining for Quenneville to be fired....OK....but what about Bowman? What has this ass clown done? He got handed arguably the most talented core in hockey, and if we're going to write off the cup win for Q as "anyone could have coached that team"...well....any idiot could have picked up the pillar of strength in Nick Boynton.

Bowman hasn't done crap. Plain and simple. Great he fixed the cap hell, that HE, yes HE, was a LARGER part of then anyone cares to admit or remember.

He has Stalberg and Jamal Mayers to show for it...and that's it. Frolik, O'Donnel, Carcillo, Scott, Brunette, Morrison? All piles of crap that are used as band aids.

The bottom line is, simple...This team's core is far too talented to have 1 divisional title in the 4 years. This team has been flawed since mid November and all he's added was Morrison, while auditioning rookies. That's not on Q. That's on this disgrace of a GM.

So if we're going to break out the pitch forks and torches to chase Q's mustache out of town, then I'll gladly drag Bowman out of here.
- SteveRain

Stan swung and missed for sure. But something has to give and rarely do both Head Coach and GM get axed simultaneously so if someone goes money has to be on Q.

It's a lot of things. There isn't a more arrogant organization in hockey, then here in Chicago.

Fact is, for everyone pining for Quenneville to be fired....OK....but what about Bowman? What has this ass clown done? He got handed arguably the most talented core in hockey, and if we're going to write off the cup win for Q as "anyone could have coached that team"...well....any idiot could have picked up the pillar of strength in Nick Boynton.

Bowman hasn't done crap. Plain and simple. Great he fixed the cap hell, that HE, yes HE, was a LARGER part of then anyone cares to admit or remember.

He has Stalberg and Jamal Mayers to show for it...and that's it. Frolik, O'Donnel, Carcillo, Scott, Brunette, Morrison? All piles of crap that are used as band aids.

The bottom line is, simple...This team's core is far too talented to have 1 divisional title in the 4 years. This team has been flawed since mid November and all he's added was Morrison, while auditioning rookies. That's not on Q. That's on this disgrace of a GM.

So if we're going to break out the pitch forks and torches to chase Q's mustache out of town, then I'll gladly drag Bowman out of here.
- SteveRain

This. +1

Really amazing that a team with one of the best cores in the NHL can't seem to build a team around them. The roster is so off balance its frightening.

Anyone else having problems with this website?

Ummm what?

In terms of the bolded point...of course I can. It is called the Salary Cap. Paying $7.2 mil for a 3rd dman is a killer in the salary cap era. Campbell isn't worth $7.2mil when he is the #3 dman on the team.

We all saw how the team looked last year when the Blackhawks had to sign other people's scraps because they didn't have any cap space and were hampered by some very large contracts.

SALARY CAP.
- HawkFan27

Like many, you are all wound up wih labelling a player #3 Dman or #2 center or Top 6. A #3 Dman rarely logs 28 minutes like Q could lean on Campbell for. His absence is a huge hole this team can't fill.

And faced with a difficult salary cap decision like Bowman had, a real top notch executive GM would have moved out a far less intrical component to his hockey team. And I'm talking names like Sharp, Kane, Bolland.

If they wanted to win now they would use the cap space, hire Mike Keenan to run the horses into the ground and it may or may not pay off.
- fattybeef

Never going to happen but I would love to see this. We can deal with Keenan losing the team in 1-1/2 years in 1-1/2 years.

Anyone else having problems with this website?
- powerenforcer

With Firefox, had to go back to IE.

Anyone else having problems with this website?
- powerenforcer

From the perspective of content? Always.

Like many, you are all wound up wih labelling a player #3 Dman or #2 center or Top 6. A #3 Dman rarely logs 28 minutes like Q could lean on Campbell for. His absence is a huge hole this team can't fill.

And faced with a difficult salary cap decision like Bowman had, a real top notch executive GM would have moved out a far less intrical component to his hockey team. And I'm talking names like Sharp, Kane, Bolland.
- RickJ

Rick, Rick, Rick, Now you've gone and done IT!!!!! The dreaded "this team would be better off with the likes of #51 than #88.....Your flogging for daring to INSULT the GREAT #88 will begin.....................NOW!

Brutal blog coming around 11AM Central.

I think your comment is suggesting Quenneville should have fired them up more. Here is where you and I differ. The players themselves were the ones schooled and embarrassed before. They were the ones who didn't show up. A coach can only say so much, do so much but at some point, you have to man up as a player and say it stops.

Letting in 9 goals once should never happen ever in a season. Then to let in 8 against the exact team a month later, and watch as some 22 year old puts up 8 points? At some point, the leadership on the ice had to step up and say unacceptable. At some point that killer instinct that made it impossible to put them away in the playoffs had to show some spine. I blame both losses 100% on the players.17 goals in 2 games to the 2nd worst (statistically speaking) team in the NHL?

And as for the complaining from the masses about Gagner being on the ice with 5 minutes left after he had 7 points? I say exactly what my coach used to say to me. If you don't want to be embarrassed, don't let them embarrass you. It's not on them to let up just beause you quit.
- Lohaus

I agree with you but if the players are not responding to the coach..

Q also said after the game that he didn't think any trades are needed, that this team went on a roll with you they currently have, they just need to get back to that.. yah.. ok coach..

You'll never hear me complain about Gagner being out there on the ice then.. He deserved everything that night.

looks like a miss on brunette,O'd (should be behind the bench running the D instead of lame ass kitchen!), montador ?
carcillo was having a decent season until he got hurt. and for those clamoring including my self for some one to send a message back last night the last minute of the game, i am sure danny carcillo would have gladly been up to that task. i'm telling you guys, the kid is missed more than you think right now.
this is when you need a loose cannon,some one who wears it on his sleeve every nite to go out and shake things up! i'm pulling for the kid to get better & be back here next season ! john scott ? as much as i want to pull for him, he's better at wing or like ogie said "watching the game in a bar with the rest of us who are either to old or can't play!" (that .......is priceless ogie!!)
my concern is the lack of fire from the front office!
dale ,bob murray & even the old man would be fuming if they saw the shlitbowl starting to flush, probably on the first plane to calgary to call someone out on the carpet!
stan has got to start showing some outward signs of emotion! "let the fans know he's protecting their season tix investments"! show your pissed off stan!
the president? are car commercials more important right now??
the coach? grow some stones & when you do , send 4 & 8to the same doctor so they can grow some also!
hopefully stan gets busy right now , not when they come home 2-7 off the trip!!

Brutal blog coming around 11AM Central.
- John Jaeckel

Brutal like -Watching more Hawks games brutal? Or more like getting kicked in the face with a golf shoe "BRUTAL"?

Brutal blog coming around 11AM Central.
- John Jaeckel

Bring on the brutality...

Brutal blog coming around 11AM Central.
- John Jaeckel

JJ ,worried about lack of response from up top???

It's a lot of things. There isn't a more arrogant organization in hockey, then here in Chicago.

Fact is, for everyone pining for Quenneville to be fired....OK....but what about Bowman? What has this ass clown done? He got handed arguably the most talented core in hockey, and if we're going to write off the cup win for Q as "anyone could have coached that team"...well....any idiot could have picked up the pillar of strength in Nick Boynton.

Bowman hasn't done crap. Plain and simple. Great he fixed the cap hell, that HE, yes HE, was a LARGER part of then anyone cares to admit or remember.

He has Stalberg and Jamal Mayers to show for it...and that's it. Frolik, O'Donnel, Carcillo, Scott, Brunette, Morrison? All piles of crap that are used as band aids.

The bottom line is, simple...This team's core is far too talented to have 1 divisional title in the 4 years. This team has been flawed since mid November and all he's added was Morrison, while auditioning rookies. That's not on Q. That's on this disgrace of a GM.

So if we're going to break out the pitch forks and torches to chase Q's mustache out of town, then I'll gladly drag Bowman out of here.
- SteveRain

Bowman has done a horrible job of putting out a balanced roster for two years now. And now he has done it with a ton of cap space available. No excuses.

I agree with you but if the players are not responding to the coach..

Q also said after the game that he didn't think any trades are needed, that this team went on a roll with you they currently have, they just need to get back to that.. yah.. ok coach..

You'll never hear me complain about Gagner being out there on the ice then.. He deserved everything that night.
- pri$ey

I guess I always look at it from one side, but there are clearly two sides to this.
A coach gets paid a lot of money to motivate, organize, plan and deliver a game plan and players get paid to motivate themselves, deliver on that plan provided to them and play hard every shift in order to deliver. If the players don't motivate themselves to play, and in a game like last night it wasn't a matter of benching a guy or two, I'm not sure what a coach can do? I think by the time these guys hit the pros, this shouldn't be an issue any more.

Getting beaten is one thing, but getting embarrassed is another. It made me angry, as a neutral fan, that there was no push back against Gagner's line. As a player, and after seeing Gagner add up 3 or 4 points, I would have worked my tail off to let Gagner know that "his show" was over. Watching him score 5, 6, 7 and then 8 points, then congratulating him afterwards... well... just knowing me and how i approach sport, the coach wouldn't have had to say a damn thing. I'm not sure why they needed it. Thats all.

What really chaps my ass more then anything is this team is primarily ALL talk.

I thought these veterans were supposed to stabilize things? Really? You get waxed, laughed at, and have the opposing crowd chanting, "we want 10" back in NOvember. You talk the good talk and then go out....and do THE EXACT same things that got you waxed back in November.

Why? You have goalies blaming D. D blaming forwards. Q clueless. Bowman mute. Forwards cherry picking. It's a perfect storm of crap...and honestly, I am ready to do the following:

1. The Division is gone. This team constructed as it is NOW, will NEVER win 6+ games in a row that will be needed to seperate from the rest of the pack in the central.

2. Instead, they'll hover around 4th-7th depending upon Nashville, STL, LA staying around.

3. They are 1 injury to Sharp, Seabrook, Hossa, or Toews from dropping off the map.

Lastly, lets all remember the most important thing...In a few weeks this organization gets a shot of hundreds of thousands of dollars when sacks like me have to pony up for all 16 home playofff games....That's all they care about.

JJ ,worried about lack of response from up top???
- wonthecup10

I would be worried more about the lack of response from the team last night..............How on earth can you let something like that happen without a response. Q sent out a line filled with Shaw, Mayers, Bickell Scott and Montador. I was actually waiting for a big hit, or a fight, SOMETHING that any regular team that is getting their faced kicked in would do! Nahhhh the soft euro hawks just stood their and took it. You gotta think this is rock bottom for this team. Or can it get any worse?

I guess I always look at it from one side, but there are clearly two sides to this.
A coach gets paid a lot of money to motivate, organize, plan and deliver a game plan and players get paid to motivate themselves, deliver on that plan provided to them and play hard every shift in order to deliver. If the players don't motivate themselves to play, and in a game like last night it wasn't a matter of benching a guy or two, I'm not sure what a coach can do? I think by the time these guys hit the pros, this shouldn't be an issue any more.

Getting beaten is one thing, but getting embarrassed is another. It made me angry, as a neutral fan, that there was no push back against Gagner's line. As a player, and after seeing Gagner add up 3 or 4 points, I would have worked my tail off to let Gagner know that "his show" was over. Watching him score 5, 6, 7 and then 8 points, then congratulating him afterwards... well... just knowing me and how i approach sport, the coach wouldn't have had to say a damn thing. I'm not sure why they needed it. Thats all.
- Lohaus

I get what your saying but it's kind of similar to Ottawa isn't it? Maclean has got the Sens playing well this season but Clouston couldn't do that.

Wasn't there a lot of talk that Clouston lost the team and they weren't responding to him?

So that's it for now...I'll wait for JJ's blog to fire me back up.

Losing 4-3 is one thing, getting waxed by a crap team is another. IT's not THE loss but HOW they lost that points towards more to come.

Brutal blog coming around 11AM Central.
- John Jaeckel

You got plenty of material from this "brutal" thread since the Hawks turn Gagne into Gretsky last nite.

Oh and by the way the Hawks have now lost 6 road games in a row. The next 7 ought to be highly entertaining.

I am sorry I am buying "this is only one game" in February" crock.

They just have to many of these "one games" in terms of attitide, pss poor team play and really mediocre goal tending.

Gagne as many goals in a game as Kane in his last 33. Nore like Clark Kent than superman!!