Will Stan Bowman Finish The Season As Blackhawks General Manager?

So here we are…0-2 to start the year and the Blackhawks look basically EXACTLY how they looked last year and the year before. Keeping games close on the scoreboard because they have a few truly elite players finishing at high rates and then getting absolutely dominated around their own net. I felt so good at the start of the game last night. Andrew Shaw scoring. The home crowd erupting. Crawford looking good. There were reasons to feel good even though the Blackhawks were playing a team that had yet to hold a lead for one second in their first four games….and then the Hawks gave it up. An absolute gut punch. Every game feels like a big game because realistically we know that at best the Hawks are a bubble team for the playoffs. Coughing up four leads in one game is enough to make your stomach flip and your mind go to deep dark places about the 80 games remaining.

I’ve said it all summer that I think Stan improved the roster this year. It has more NHL talent than in previous years. I am not panicking after two bad games to start the season. Especially when we have yet to see Calvin deHaan play for the Blackhawks which would remove Koekkoek from the lineup on most nights. That is an upgrade. Big enough to flip that chart from above though? Absolutely not. The defense overall is still not good enough and you have to start wondering if it was one trade that will ultimately sink Stan Bowman. If your defense this year was….

Keith-Jokiharju

de Haan-Murphy

Maatta-Seabrook

Wouldn’t you feel better about that top 4? I think I would. In this scenario the Blackhawks traded Gustafsson. The guy who yesterday Colliton said could be good defensively if he wanted to, but he still doesn’t at 27 years old in his 4th pro season. You can’t play Gustafsson with Seabrook, if that is where your head went. Here is what a friend of mine who works for another NHL organization in hockey ops had to say

Another friend who works in analytics told me the Nylander-Jokiharju trade would be a disaster and also said he thought that Stan’s analytics department was significantly worse than many across the league. Good data in the NHL is proprietary so I really can’t speak to that so take it with a grain of salt, but that is what was said to me. Anyways…

If you’re wondering what our beautiful boy Henri is up to with the Sabres…he made the team and…

He is in the third pair for Buffalo playing with Marco Scandella. He’s averaging about 17 minutes per game and playing at a high level. Similar to how he looked back when Joel was the coach here. He even played VERY well when matched against Crosby and Malkin in a road game against Pittsburgh. He looks like an NHL player right now.

Nylander doesn’t. That’s the problem. The talent that made him a top 10 pick flashes. The effort that made him an average AHL player shows more often. He has the pedigree and the benefit of being the guy Stan traded for, but at this moment I think the Blackhawks have better players than him at wing. Perlini probably gives you more and Sikura is definitely a more complete player at this point as well.

I hate being a hater. I really do. I want to be the positive guy. A cheerleader for the team. That is way more fun and more in line with my personality. This team looks like they are a couple pieces away though. They look too similar to last year. I loved the Strome trade. Getting de Haan was good. Kubalik looks like a real player. I love having Shaw back in the mix. Stan took some steps to improve the roster at least on paper. On the ice, well, through two games they look exactly the same.

It’s only two games though. 80 games to go. Strome said that they’ll get it figured out. He sounded confident. I hope he is right. And like I’ve said before, the Blackhawks should know by Halloween exactly what they are and what they have. They started a 7 game homestand last night. Only two games on the road the entire month. If the Blackhawks are sputtering along and outside of the playoff picture in November after the roster “improvements”, a full training camp, and all the time in the world to learn Jeremy Colliton’s systems then there are no more excuses. The finger can only point in one direction at that point. Right at Stan. I want the Hawks in the playoffs. I want Stan to be successful. Maybe a bad start is finally what gives John McDonough and Rocky the green light to fire him into the sun. The fanbase would support them.