I'd to see a line of Hossa-Gaborik and Iginla but that's just me.
- Leerock

Yeah that line would fix the D problem for sure!

No he doesn't...but it's a slow day in the baseball and football world so why not trot over a take a peak a team Blackhawk. He must have heard that all is not well.

Nothing in that article that a regular on this blog could not do.

Team identity...yeah it is a problem. 6-8 of the forwards have no clue what their role is. Other than Toews, Hossa, Kane and Sharp, it's a constant elevator trip between the 1st and 4th line for the remaining forwards.

Even Morrison in his 4 games has gotten ride on Q-vator line assembly.

On what basis do any of you think bringing a player or 2 in here is going to help the last 2 months?

It takes alot game and practice time for any new guy to find his role and "chemistry" with new players if it happens at all. And finding a role on this team is even harder.

Nabokov?? Are you kidding me?? They bring a new goalie at this point...Craw and Emery are finished here and the rest team psyche may never recover!!

Folks there is no "save the Hawks a$#@$ss" trade out there. They either pull out of this nose dive with what they got or they limp along the rest of the season. At this point 95 points looks like it is slipping away.
- bogiedoc

you are sounding more and more like a pr guy for the hawks
2 or 3 guys could make a significant difference

I have to agree with JJ. You're credibility is shot. You were the same guy constantly saying wait until Christmas and if things aren't going well, then changes can be made. Crawford's play, the defense, the losing streaks . . . that was all part of the process and this team would turn it around by then. Now you are saying wait until the end of the season.

This team has lost six games in a row, eight games in a row on the road, they are the only team in the entire league - and think about some of the miserable teams we are talking about - that doesn't have a shutout. They are near the very bottom in the league is goals given up and goals against average as well as being near the bottom with the PK. And this is just scratching the surface of their problems. Yet, you haven't seen enough to think they need to do something.

Furthermore, you're last comment is laughable because whenever anyone does form their own opinion, you are one of the first ones on here making your snide remarks like, "What do you know, the sky didn't fall today" or "Wow the Hawks won and nobody had to get traded." You fight for the right to voice your own opinion - which you are entitled to - but then try to make everyone else out to be panicking or impatient when they don't agree with your "let's wait until Christmas . . . uh . . . no, I mean let's wait until the All-Star break . . . er . . . I mean let's wait until the end of the season before we do anything" outlook.
- RetiredGoalie

+1
boy i wish we still had campbell since we did not give him away since we had to pay someone 3 mil to take him off our hands. brilliant move by bowman who now has cap space but cant do anything with it. brilliant

No he doesn't...but it's a slow day in the baseball and football world so why not trot over a take a peak a team Blackhawk. He must have heard that all is not well.

Nothing in that article that a regular on this blog could not do.

Team identity...yeah it is a problem. 6-8 of the forwards have no clue what their role is. Other than Toews, Hossa, Kane and Sharp, it's a constant elevator trip between the 1st and 4th line for the remaining forwards.

Even Morrison in his 4 games has gotten ride on Q-vator line assembly.

On what basis do any of you think bringing a player or 2 in here is going to help the last 2 months?

It takes alot game and practice time for any new guy to find his role and "chemistry" with new players if it happens at all. And finding a role on this team is even harder.
Nabokov?? Are you kidding me?? They bring a new goalie at this point...Craw and Emery are finished here and the rest team psyche may never recover!!

Folks there is no "save the Hawks a$#@$ss" trade out there. They either pull out of this nose dive with what they got or they limp along the rest of the season. At this point 95 points looks like it is slipping away.
- bogiedoc

I fear this is close to the truth: there will probably be less than 20 games left before the play-offs by the time someone gets here - not many games to find that chemistry - especially with Q's line-scrambling tendancies.

Pappin-Martin-D. Hull
- bogiedoc

Howe, Able and Lindsay.

Beat that....

telander and must read -- like jumbo and shrimp
- Leerock

The youngest guy by far on the old Sportswriters show 20 and more years ago - only one who didn't smoke a cigar, as I recall.

Yeah that line would fix the D problem for sure!
- blkhwkfn

Hey who needs to play d when you can spend the entire shift in the offensive zone

OFFSEASON PREDICTION: The Hawks will trade Patrick Kane and Nick Leddy to Columbus for Rick Nash.

OFFSEASON PREDICTION: The Hawks will trade Patrick Kane and Nick Leddy to Columbus for Rick Nash.
- hertzman

It would be a deal that wouldn't include Leddy, maybe a swap of prospects. Besides you wouldn't want the hawks to have Nash.

OFFSEASON PREDICTION: The Hawks will trade Patrick Kane and Nick Leddy to Columbus for Rick Nash.
- hertzman

Kane would never go to a place as awful as Ohio

So JJ reads the 300 Level.

http://300level.net/board...?f=3&t=347&p=28366#p28366

http://300level.net/?p=3243
- Topher

Greg Stewart and I got the same email at the same time from the same source. i actually don't read the 300 Level, but only because I don't have time. Greg's a good guy and we both talk regularly, including this morning about this.

I still think this goes back to coaching. The coaches job is to put his players in the best position to succeed. While it may seem backwards, the 'defense firsts' approach may not be the best one for this team. The hawks play their best when they are pushing the pace of the play, with d pinching and skating with the puck through the neutral zone.

Campbell was great at both, along with Kieth, Seabrook to some extent, and Leddy has gotten better in his decision making. When you watch these guys today, especially kieth, you can see that they want to play aggressive, but hesitate, and this is when they look lost. Successful teams play to their strengths, and to me the hawks are not playing to theirs. They got burned last game because when the d pinched or were aggressive, no forwards came back. Furthermore Campbell was not a +18, and 28 in his last two years here because he was a defense specialist. He moved the puck and pushed the puck forcing the other teams on their heels. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Toews, Hossa, Sharp, and even Kane have carried this team by outscoring teams with pure skill. Maybe instead of a lack of depth in scoring, its the system that the depth plays.

"Then he became a locker room cancer, mediocre goalie and sustained a huge hip injury, an important body part of goalies."
source: http://housethatglanville...-chris-therien-bobby.html

"Ray Emery Fights Team Trainer in Russian League"
http://www.allhabs.net/un...rainer-in-russian-league/

"The words ‘pariah' and ‘bad teammate' were being thrown around by many of the same people that described him as ‘colourful' and ‘a free spirit"
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=292144

"Depending on who you ask, he is either a good teammate or a clubhouse cancer."
http://www.firedforwinning.com/?p=1560

"Murray said. “He’s a good goaltender. He’s a good athlete. He had issues where he tried to do more off the ice than he should have done.”
http://www.csnphilly.com/...&blockID=56999&feedID=717

Well you look for places where locker room dissent and problems have started in the past. There is a reason he hasn't stuck with a team... What does "more off the ice than he should have done" mean? There aren't many times when locker room issues are publicized.

Maybe OD yapped at one of the kids and they got pissy with that so their whole clique got upset and there's a division? Could Bickell, Frolik or Brunette be irritated they have been marginalized or bounced around?

Is Sharp getting irritated the lines change so much again, there were rumors him and Ladd did not see eye to eye? Hossa has said publicly that he prefers consistent line mates...

Lots of places for players to start having issues with coaching staff / other players. Only some have a history with alleged problems and the frequent flyer miles to support that argument.
- fattybeef

I know people in hockey who will tell you Ray Emery is a good guy. Further, and this is just my opinion, I believe hockey has a bit of a racism problem. Look no further than the 2010 Conn Smythe Trophy and many other events, all well-chronicled.

Now, did Ray do some things in Ottawa to burn some bridges? Absolutely.

Did he in Philly. I never heard that. Did he in Anaheim? Never heard it. The hip, i think, got him moved out of those places.

And I believe he knows he screwed the pooch in OTT.

Can a guy be immature then grow up? Absolutely. Ray can. Crawford can. Owen Nolan can. Steve Yzerman can. Kane can. A lot of guys can.

This isn't about Ray as a goalie. This is about him as a person. Again, a lot of people in hockey are fans of Ray Emery's character, in spite of all the articles you cite.

And if I understand your post correctly, it seems you are implying he could be at the root of the Hawks dressing room issues. I have not heard that. In fact, what I have heard and casually observed is that he is very popular in the room and seen as a selfless leader.

I know this, the dude stood up the other night and took responsibility for goals 3 and 4, deserved or not. Those are the guys when I played sports I wanted to go to war with and for.

JJ, I was just thinking this a few days back. This is no surprise, and although the defense is suspect this team is still not as bad as it has played that they lose 6 in a row. I believe the offense needs to go back to a defense first mentality. It seems to me from observing that too many guys are focusing on the stat sheet rather than keeping the puck out of their own net. What we need badly for this team is someone like John Madden, not exactly John Madden as he is too slow at this stage of his career but someone on offense like him on offense to be more defensive minded. Our goaltending is not suspect as most think, its the over working of our number 1 line of keith and seabiscuits. If anything we could use a burish, as well as someone on defense that can put the beat down on teams. I would say two bruisers on defense, and if they cost more than what we wanna spend, too bad get them otherwise we might as well call it a day. Our team as is, is too soft too compete. And we sure as heck can't afford to throw John Scott out every game as he does nothing but start a fight.
- rynomw2369

Well said.

On the way to Xanudu...
- Al

Or Xanax

I have to agree with JJ. You're credibility is shot. You were the same guy constantly saying wait until Christmas and if things aren't going well, then changes can be made. Crawford's play, the defense, the losing streaks . . . that was all part of the process and this team would turn it around by then. Now you are saying wait until the end of the season.

This team has lost six games in a row, eight games in a row on the road, they are the only team in the entire league - and think about some of the miserable teams we are talking about - that doesn't have a shutout. They are near the very bottom in the league is goals given up and goals against average as well as being near the bottom with the PK. And this is just scratching the surface of their problems. Yet, you haven't seen enough to think they need to do something.

Furthermore, you're last comment is laughable because whenever anyone does form their own opinion, you are one of the first ones on here making your snide remarks like, "What do you know, the sky didn't fall today" or "Wow the Hawks won and nobody had to get traded." You fight for the right to voice your own opinion - which you are entitled to - but then try to make everyone else out to be panicking or impatient when they don't agree with your "let's wait until Christmas . . . uh . . . no, I mean let's wait until the All-Star break . . . er . . . I mean let's wait until the end of the season before we do anything" outlook.
- RetiredGoalie

Credibility? I don't give a poop about being right or wrong, or whether anyone thinks I have "credibility". If I did, I'd be a blogger or journalist.

I also haven't said once since Christmas that this team doesn't need any changes. This is the putting words in someone's mouth that JJ accused me of.

The Hawks are clearly a flawed team, like most other teams in the NHL. Every team has it's weakness, some more than others. I just think it's ridiculous to overreact to every win and loss, every bad goal and hat trick, every winning streak and losing slump. If GM's made trades based on these elements of the season, we would have 60 trades per week and rosters would turn over 5 times a season. We would also have 15 GM firings and 60 coach firings per season.

People get upset when things aren't going well, and think that the "other shoe has to drop" when things are going too good. I get that. All I'm trying to say in preaching patience is patience with one's self (and others).

Don't get too high when winning, or too low when losing.

The reality of this team ON the ice is that they are not playing very well defensively.

The reality OFF the ice, NO ONE knows. There could be a coaching problem. Maybe a management power struggle. Perhaps the players are divided. OR perhaps they just hit a slump like every other team, and that has magnified what everyone knows are their weaknesses.

The point is no one on this board has acknowledged that it's even POSSIBLE that this is still a good team, albeit a flawed one, that may only need minor tweaking and some confidence to be a real contender. And yet, I am constantly asked to acknowledge that it's Q's fault, Bowman's fault, that certain players suck, that others should play more, and that others should be traded. That's mostly my problem. 90% of all of the fans on this board agree with JJ on every blog, and that's fine with me. What I find nonsensical is the reluctance of everyone to acknowledge that a conflicting opinion MIGHT be right. I have openly admitted many times that although I disagree with JJ (and others) about the issues facing this team, they might end up being right. I just wish sometimes others did the same.

I know people in hockey who will tell you Ray Emery is a good guy. Further, and this is just my opinion, I believe hockey has a bit of a racism problem. Look no further than the 2010 Conn Smythe Trophy and many other events, all well-chronicled.

Now, did Ray do some things in Ottawa to burn some bridges? Absolutely.

Did he in Philly. I never heard that. Did he in Anaheim? Never heard it. The hip, i think, got him moved out of those places.

And I believe he knows he screwed the pooch in OTT.

Can a guy be immature then grow up? Absolutely. Ray can. Crawford can. Owen Nolan can. Steve Yzerman can. Kane can. A lot of guys can.

This isn't about Ray as a goalie. This is about him as a person. Again, a lot of people in hockey are fans of Ray Emery's character, in spite of all the articles you cite.

And if I understand your post correctly, it seems you are implying he could be at the root of the Hawks dressing room issues. I have not heard that. In fact, what I have heard and casually observed is that he is very popular in the room and seen as a selfless leader.

I know this, the dude stood up the other night and took responsibility for goals 3 and 4, deserved or not. Those are the guys when I played sports I wanted to go to war with and for.
- John Jaeckel

I'm just saying if there is a dressing room issue, which there may or may not be there's more than one source in the past who have eluded to that possibly being an issue with him. I was just irritated my initial post's source was dismissed rather condescendingly so I provided other sources that mentioned the same / similar alleged incidents or impressions or whatever. It isn't like one random blogger posted about it was the point I was trying to make.

Not dissimilar to people eluding to Sharp not wanting to play center (which he hasn't said publicly to my knowledge) and Hossa's disagreement with line shuffling being well documented, may or may not be part of the issue, not an issue at all, water under the bridge, ect.

I also gave other scenarios as to what could be just as likely to cause dissent or irritation in the ranks.

"Almost the entire Hawk roster is pissed at the man to man defensive scheme Q is using, when you break it down it simply lets an opponent free, with no rotation off the guy you are suppose to be covering. The players are completely fed up and frustrated by it."

From that link posted earlier makes the most sense IMO.

I'm just saying if there is a dressing room issue, which there may or may not be there's more than one source in the past who have eluded to that possibly being an issue with him. I was just irritated my initial post's source was dismissed rather condescendingly so I provided other sources that mentioned the same / similar alleged incidents or impressions or whatever. It isn't like one random blogger posted about it was the point I was trying to make.

Not dissimilar to people eluding to Sharp not wanting to play center (which he hasn't said publicly to my knowledge) and Hossa's disagreement with line shuffling being well documented, may or may not be part of the issue, not an issue at all, water under the bridge, ect.

I also gave other scenarios as to what could be just as likely to cause dissent or irritation in the ranks.

"Almost the entire Hawk roster is pissed at the man to man defensive scheme Q is using, when you break it down it simply lets an opponent free, with no rotation off the guy you are suppose to be covering. The players are completely fed up and frustrated by it."

From that link posted earlier makes the most sense IMO.
- fattybeef

I know where it's coming from. It's not Emery.

Sharp has made his preference to be on the wing known. Have never heard anything, to your point, about Hossa complaining about line shuffling.

Credibility? I don't give a poop about being right or wrong, or whether anyone thinks I have "credibility". If I did, I'd be a blogger or journalist.

I also haven't said once since Christmas that this team doesn't need any changes. This is the putting words in someone's mouth that JJ accused me of.

The Hawks are clearly a flawed team, like most other teams in the NHL. Every team has it's weakness, some more than others. I just think it's ridiculous to overreact to every win and loss, every bad goal and hat trick, every winning streak and losing slump. If GM's made trades based on these elements of the season, we would have 60 trades per week and rosters would turn over 5 times a season. We would also have 15 GM firings and 60 coach firings per season.

People get upset when things aren't going well, and think that the "other shoe has to drop" when things are going too good. I get that. All I'm trying to say in preaching patience is patience with one's self (and others).

Don't get too high when winning, or too low when losing.

The reality of this team ON the ice is that they are not playing very well defensively.

The reality OFF the ice, NO ONE knows. There could be a coaching problem. Maybe a management power struggle. Perhaps the players are divided. OR perhaps they just hit a slump like every other team, and that has magnified what everyone knows are their weaknesses.

The point is no one on this board has acknowledged that it's even POSSIBLE that this is still a good team, albeit a flawed one, that may only need minor tweaking and some confidence to be a real contender. And yet, I am constantly asked to acknowledge that it's Q's fault, Bowman's fault, that certain players suck, that others should play more, and that others should be traded. That's mostly my problem. 90% of all of the fans on this board agree with JJ on every blog, and that's fine with me. What I find nonsensical is the reluctance of everyone to acknowledge that a conflicting opinion MIGHT be right. I have openly admitted many times that although I disagree with JJ (and others) about the issues facing this team, they might end up being right. I just wish sometimes others did the same.
- andru2797

Those who are in the room, or were in years past, know. It is naive (and incorrect) to assume they don't talk to people or to rule it out because it doesn't jive with what you want to believe.

I know where it's coming from. It's not Emery.

Sharp has made his preference to be on the wing known. Have never heard anything, to your point, about Hossa complaining about line shuffling.
- John Jaeckel

If this is even true, could it be that the players are frustrated because they refuse to play the system the way Q wants because they think it will fail? In that instance, it's sort of half on the coach to get them to buy in and half on the players to giving it a chance.

Those who are in the room, or were in years past, know. It is naive (and incorrect) to assume they don't talk to people or to rule it out because it doesn't jive with what you want to believe.
- John Jaeckel

And unless you hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak, surely you can understand if people are skeptical. I understand and expect hockey players to talk to family, friends, like everyone else. What I find a hard time believing is when claims are made that whatever is said has been leaked. It's similar to believing Angelina Jolie is pregnant with quintuplets because her hair-dresser told the National Enquirer.

Please understand JJ, I mean no offense to you per se by the reference to tabloids, it's merely the best example I could think of to illustrate my point.

Or Xanax
- John Jaeckel

And unless you hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak, surely you can understand if people are skeptical. I understand and expect hockey players to talk to family, friends, like everyone else. What I find a hard time believing is when claims are made that whatever is said has been leaked. It's similar to believing Angelina Jolie is pregnant with quintuplets because her hair-dresser told the National Enquirer.

Please understand JJ, I mean no offense to you per se by the reference to tabloids, it's merely the best example I could think of to illustrate my point.
- andru2797

You're fine, point well taken, As I tell everyone, use your judgment. I can only relate what I hear (if it makes sense) and my best judgment as to the trustworthiness of the source— and theirs.

And unless you hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak, surely you can understand if people are skeptical. I understand and expect hockey players to talk to family, friends, like everyone else. What I find a hard time believing is when claims are made that whatever is said has been leaked. It's similar to believing Angelina Jolie is pregnant with quintuplets because her hair-dresser told the National Enquirer.

Please understand JJ, I mean no offense to you per se by the reference to tabloids, it's merely the best example I could think of to illustrate my point.
- andru2797

Just curious what your truthful hockey background is?

I'll never give up on Crawford. His D corps has been crud in front of him lately, and granted he hasn't been sharp, i'll still take him over just about any other goalie outside of Miller or Brodeur.
- philco28

This is exactly the type of goalie Crawford has been for his entire career. No better, no worse. Last year was the exception and not the rule.