Chicago Blackhawks 2012 Playoffs

[UMFan83]

It's like the nightmare just picks up where it left off the previous game. I don't know whats going to stop this pathetic spiral. Maybe returning home. Who knows?

[UMFan83]

If Colorado wins tonight (they are tied right now), and the Hawks lose as expected, the Hawks will be just 4 points up on a playoff spot at the end of the night. They are funbad at this point.

[kujay]

These dudes just don't give a [expletive]. Watch Hossa closely. Or Bolland. Kruger too. Is Stalberg even in this game?

[UMFan83]

I don't think the Chicago Blackhawks are going to win this game.

[Flames24Rulz]

Eventually, Q's going to end up on the hot seat. I'm not advocating a firing but barring a miracle in the next two games, they're going to have lost ten games in a row. When's enough going to be enough?

[UMFan83]

Not sure if anyone saw this but an SI columnist was talking about Q's job security, or lack of the other day.

 

Think it can’t happen? This is the NHL. Peter Laviolette won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 and was fired in 2008. John Tortorella won the Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004 and was axed three seasons later. Bob Hartley won it with Colorado in 2001, went to Game 7 of the Western finals in 2002, and was canned 31 games into the ’02-03 season. Randy Carlyle won the Cup with Anaheim in 2007, and now he’s looking for work.

 

Quenneville has a contract that runs through the 2013-14 season, but money is about the only thing it guarantees. The pressure is always high on coaches in a league where financial profit usually only comes with a playoff berth. Quenneville is not immune to such reality. If his team’s current six-game losing streak (0-5-1) continues, and the postseason starts to look at all like the dicey proposition it was last year, sources close to the situation tell SI.com that a change behind the bench is possible.

 

I generally like Q but the Hawks are in an unacceptable free fall that is showing no signs of getting better. I wonder if the players have tuned him out at this point. A losing streak for a decent team like this is not all about lack of talent, there's usually something at play behind the scenes fracturing the team.

[Careless]

Another fun game. :banghead:

 

Is Stalberg even in this game?

First goal was his fault, so he was probably on the ice.

[17 Seconds]

as bob brenly would say..... what a dead ass team.

 

like i said before, time to make some big times changes. toews is off limits, nobody else is. even kane. i'm not talking about dumping anybody, but it's time to mix things up. this has gone on for a year and a half now. this group is dead.

 

look at what the flyers did last year. i remember a quote from their GM during the 24/7 thing on HBO. something about how when they made all the changes during the offseason (carter, richards, etc) that he didn't know for sure that they'd be a better team, but he knew they'd be a different team.

 

i think we're at that point with the blackhawks. last year you could give them the benefit of the doubt and say it was the cup hangover. that's not an excuse anymore. things are just stale, and i think it's to the point where it can't be salvaged. i mean, i feel like it's a complete tossup whether or not we even make the playoffs, and that's sad.

 

also, i'm still pissed at the moves that were made this offseason. to me it was flat out cheapness and it's costing us any chance we had at a cup run this season. people can say bowman has the right idea with adding toughness, but it always seemed stupid to me when the players we added sucked. yeah great, we added toughness. too bad they all suck. we lost what turned out to be our best d-man, and we made up for it by adding andrew molina and a bunch of screp heap guys. great. who could have ever predicted that they'd be worse than last year?

 

oh, and i want keith gone. i wouldnt give him away or anything, but just seeing this guy play makes me want to turn the game off. maybe he shouldn't have admitted that he wasn't giving max effort last year if he was going to come out this season and play even worse. just a thought.

[UMFan83]

Pretty good rant. You bring up an interesting point about the Flyers. The Blackhawks are a bit stale I agree. They just don't see to have that hunger that they had before winning the Cup. They also don't seem to be playing well as a team. The defense is just miserable. They are 25th in the league in goals allowed and have been getting worse as the season has gone along. There are breakdowns everywhere, and most of the time its mental gaffes that simply aren't excusable.

 

I would love to blow up this core and start over again. We still have a lot of great assets and the cap situation is good, so we are still in a good position long term. I don't think there's any way the Hawks trade Kane, but I think everyone else should be on the market besides Toews of course who is a true superstar and most of the time appears to be the only guy that really cares.

[bcl412]

1 point since January 20th. That's pretty impressive futility.

[Careless]

1 point since January 20th. That's pretty impressive futility.

Disney!!!

[kujay]

St. Louis just won't lose. Watching that team play makes watching the Hawks all the more frustrating.

[NewUserName]

St. Louis just won't lose. Watching that team play makes watching the Hawks all the more frustrating.

 

Ken Hitchcock is really good at making teams immediately better. He hasn't been that good at sustaining long term success with teams though.

[Soul]

It's like the nightmare just picks up where it left off the previous game. I don't know whats going to stop this pathetic spiral. Maybe returning home. Who knows?

 

14 road games left / 12 home games -- just counting off the schedule. Doesn't look like much of a home run from here on out.

 

This is pretty ugly stuff. We're missing the playoffs unless something happens to wake this club up.

[kujay]

It's like the nightmare just picks up where it left off the previous game. I don't know whats going to stop this pathetic spiral. Maybe returning home. Who knows?

 

14 road games left / 12 home games -- just counting off the schedule. Doesn't look like much of a home run from here on out.

 

This is pretty ugly stuff. We're missing the playoffs unless something happens to wake this club up.

 

I have no doubt that something is happening in the next two weeks, and very likely something major. What do they have to lose at this point? I don't mean Q getting fired either, which I don't think will happen. One of the "core" guys is going -- would be nice if it was Kane.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's like the nightmare just picks up where it left off the previous game. I don't know whats going to stop this pathetic spiral. Maybe returning home. Who knows?

 

14 road games left / 12 home games -- just counting off the schedule. Doesn't look like much of a home run from here on out.

 

This is pretty ugly stuff. We're missing the playoffs unless something happens to wake this club up.

 

I have no doubt that something is happening in the next two weeks, and very likely something major. What do they have to lose at this point? I don't mean Q getting fired either, which I don't think will happen. One of the "core" guys is going -- would be nice if it was Kane.

 

If they are trading Kane it can't be out of desperation. You have to maximize return for a guy like him.

[biittner77]

I have no doubt that something is happening in the next two weeks, and very likely something major. What do they have to lose at this point? I don't mean Q getting fired either, which I don't think will happen. One of the "core" guys is going -- would be nice if it was Kane.

 

By nice, do you mean never going to happen or the biggest potential for disaster? Kane has a no movement clause and likes Chicago. Even if he was agreeable to a trade, who has the players they'd need to get back to make it worthwhile?

 

Trading Kane = giving up on this season at least and probably the next 2. Bad as this streak has been they're not there yet.

[kujay]

I have no doubt that something is happening in the next two weeks, and very likely something major. What do they have to lose at this point? I don't mean Q getting fired either, which I don't think will happen. One of the "core" guys is going -- would be nice if it was Kane.

 

By nice, do you mean never going to happen or the biggest potential for disaster? Kane has a no movement clause and likes Chicago. Even if he was agreeable to a trade, who has the players they'd need to get back to make it worthwhile?

 

Trading Kane = giving up on this season at least and probably the next 2. Bad as this streak has been they're not there yet.

 

By nice, I mean I would like it if they were able to get rid of him and his contract and get some talent in return.

 

I don't see how trading a 12 goal scorer gives up on the next three seasons. I generally agree that we shouldn't overreact to a bad stretch, but taking the long view, is a lazy, one-dimensional ex-goal scorer really necessary at $6M/year?

 

I forgot about the no-movement clause though.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't see how trading a 12 goal scorer gives up on the next three seasons. I generally agree that we shouldn't overreact to a bad stretch, but taking the long view, is a lazy, one-dimensional ex-goal scorer really necessary at $6M/year?

 

I forgot about the no-movement clause though.

 

I wouldn't exactly call him an ex-goal scorer.

[RynoRules]

I have no doubt that something is happening in the next two weeks, and very likely something major. What do they have to lose at this point? I don't mean Q getting fired either, which I don't think will happen. One of the "core" guys is going -- would be nice if it was Kane.

 

By nice, do you mean never going to happen or the biggest potential for disaster? Kane has a no movement clause and likes Chicago. Even if he was agreeable to a trade, who has the players they'd need to get back to make it worthwhile?

 

Trading Kane = giving up on this season at least and probably the next 2. Bad as this streak has been they're not there yet.

 

By nice, I mean I would like it if they were able to get rid of him and his contract and get some talent in return.

 

I don't see how trading a 12 goal scorer gives up on the next three seasons. I generally agree that we shouldn't overreact to a bad stretch, but taking the long view, is a lazy, one-dimensional ex-goal scorer really necessary at $6M/year?

 

I forgot about the no-movement clause though.

 

If Kane goes anywhere it will be during the offseason. I also think some of this isn't his fault. He shouldn't be playing center, IMO.

[SouthSideRyan]

I just noticed we have 0 shutouts on the season.

[UMFan83]

Guys I'd prefer not to trade under any circumstances: Toews, Kane, Sharp, Leddy

 

Guys I'd rather not trade but could be talked into: Seabrook, Hossa

 

Guys I would be ok with trading because I think we can get a good value from: Bolland, Stalberg, Keith, Mayers

 

Guys who I'd be ok with trading but may not get a great return for: Hjalmarsson, Frolik, Brunette, Shaw, Montador, Bickell, Kruger

 

Everyone else (on NHL roster) is dead to me.

[jersey cubs fan]

I would love to trade Sharp. I would have loved trading Sharp when the whole rebuild thing began. He's got value and he's among the oldest of the current players.

[UMFan83]

I would love to trade Sharp. I would have loved trading Sharp when the whole rebuild thing began. He's got value and he's among the oldest of the current players.

 

I put him in that list because he just signed an extension so I'm not sure he would be able to get us as much as I would hope a player of his value would give. I didn't want to throw him in the 4th list because if we cannot get a good value for him I do not want to trade him. Maybe the 2nd list might have been better. Guess I just have an emotional attachment to Sharpie. He's so dreamy good.

[biittner77]

Guys I'd prefer not to trade under any circumstances: Toews, Kane, Sharp, Leddy

 

Guys I'd rather not trade but could be talked into: Seabrook, Hossa

 

Guys I would be ok with trading because I think we can get a good value from: Bolland, Stalberg, Keith, Mayers

 

Guys who I'd be ok with trading but may not get a great return for: Hjalmarsson, Frolik, Brunette, Shaw, Montador, Bickell, Kruger

 

Everyone else (on NHL roster) is dead to me.

 

I like Leddy but I'd move him in the right deal.

 

I think they could still trade Sharp even though he's older because this is Hockey and players like Sharp can still be good for the rest of that contract.

 

I'd be curious to see hwat they could get for Bolland but I doubt they'd br able to get enough value for him to make it worthwhile since the Hawks don't have a lot of depth at C.