Matt Zerella posted:

Don't worry, one of them will be a Ranger in 2 years when they really fall off a cliff.

quote:

General manager Stan Bowman met with the Chicago media on Saturday and did not paint a rosy picture of the Blackhawks’ postseason performance.

Bowman opened his media session with a blistering assessment of the postseason, using the world “unacceptable” three different times, and calling it a “complete failure” in his one minute and 57 second address.

“I am completely, completely disappointed, it is unacceptable to be where we are today,” said a visibly angry Bowman.

quote:

So the specifics of how we are going to change things into next year are not really meant for this forum. But I can promise you we need to be better. Joel is our head coach. he will continue to be our head coach. Joel and I are going to work together to make sure this never happens again.

Koopa Kid posted:

Adding a 40 goal scorer doesn't add 40 goals to your team total, it adds whatever the difference is between them and the top line player they're replacing. It's the whole limited ice time -> diminishing returns thing.

Powershift posted:

Sorry.

Ummagumma posted:

Mark Lazerus is reporting that the Blackhawks have fired assistant coach Mike Kitchen, who was in charge of the defense and penalty kill this season, I believe.

I'm actually rather stunned by this - Kitchen is a close personal friend of Q and that was pretty much the only reason he was on the staff. I figured he was untouchable.

quote:

Multiple league sources told the Tribune the decision to fire Kitchen did not originate with Quenneville and that Quenneville was upset and surprised by the move. Kitchen’s firing is likely to re-ignite conflict between Quenneville and Bowman and the rest of the front office, conflict over coaching and personnel that existed before the Hawks won Cups in 2013 and 2015, two championships that helped maintain peace in the organization.

Sources said Bowman likely fired Kitchen to re-assert authority over personnel in the Hawks organization and send everyone a message, including Quenneville, going into next season. Bowman said Saturday Quenneville, who has a contract through the 2019-20 season, would return as coach.

Bowman’s decision to fire Kitchen was also likely a move in self-preservation to pacify a demand for change coming from the upper reaches of the Hawks organization, such as President John McDonough.

Darude - Adam Sandstorm posted:

How does that happen with a hard cap?

bewbies posted:

So a couple of years ago I met a guy who was a professional skating...instructor, or something. He said then that McDavid was already one of the best skaters he'd ever seen, and this was when he was still in juniors. I assumed he was exaggerating and playing into McDavid draft hype, etc.

Now...I think he was right, and McDavid is probably the best all around hockey skater I've ever seen.

HappyHippo posted:

What the Caps need is a loving team psychologist or something. They need therapy.

iospace posted:

Milwaukee not getting a team makes me sad and has resulted in me hating Chicago sports even more than I did already.

iospace posted:

The thing is, the Hawks are the only Chicago team without a Wisconsin rival. They do not want to lose that,which is probably out never happened.

Meaning they would likely lose fans to a milwaukee team

shyduck posted:

glynnenstein posted:

Every single decision the NHL makes is intended to make it's current owners richer in the immediate short term.

iospace posted:

Well, I think part of the problem for Chicago back then, especially under the old ownership, was that they felt entitled to the Milwaukee market. 90 minute drive isn't a bad deal for NHL games. Hell, we've done it to go see Badger games.