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NHL Off-Season 2017 |OT| We’ve Been Here Since October

Marvie_3

Banned
Hawks need some work in the offseason:

New coaching staff.

They aren't going to fire Q yet, as much as I want them to. Both assistants need to get dragged out like a United passenger though. There's no excuse for special teams being as bad as they were when you have the kind of talent Chicago has. Dineen and Kitchen need to fucking go. Barry Smith has been in our front office for a few years now. It's stupid to waste him there.

Idiot proof the lineup.

Stop putting worthless players like Rozsival, Desjardins, and Tootoo on the Hawks. Send them to the minors. If Q objects, fire him. Enough of this shit. Q has no fucking idea how to coach with a team full of young players and it showed. Hand him a stacked lineup and they'll do ok in spite of him.

Enough retreads.

Ladd was a bust last year. Oduya was a massive failure this year. Campbell was fine as a 5/6. Wouldn't have a problem bringing him back for another year as a stopgap.

Cut some dead weight.

Kruger has a decent chance of getting taken by Las Vegas. If not, trade him for whatever you can. He's not worth anything near the $3M he's counting against the cap. You can find a decent defensive center who scores 2 points a year for a lot cheaper than that.

Seabrook should go if there's any possible way at all to get rid of him. The wheels are already falling off him and there's still 7 years on his contract. That's an awful deal now and it's only going to get worse. That contract is so bad, there isn't much I wouldn't consider when looking to move it. The only player he paired well with this season was Kempny and Q doesn't play him enough so it doesn't do any good to keep trotting Seabrook out there.

Same for Crawford. He's still a great goalie but his cap space could help plug some of the holes in the Hawks lineup. Darling has been solid for 2 years now and he's ready for a starting job. He'll be cheaper than Crow too.

Neither of those guys are going anywhere most likely, but trying to move them would give the Hawks some options going forward.

Listen to offers on Panik/Anisimov. Neither are likely to have seasons like they had this year so it might be worth it to sell high on one or both of them.

Give the kids more of an opportunity

They finally started doing that this year but Q showed his inability to coach younger players. Anytime they made a small mistake, they rode pine. If they aren't ready, send them back down. Don't just bench them.

Schmaltz went to Rockford for a few weeks and came back a totally different person.

Hartman had a decent year but he made a lot of stupid decisions and was pretty inconsistent. If he could keep his head and not turn into another Shaw, he could become a pretty decent player.

Hayden looked really good in his short time here so far, but he's a project. Q stupidly benching him for little mistakes didn't do him any favors though. Curious to see how he develops over the next couple seasons.

Kero was a lot better this year than he was last year, but like most of the guys in the Hawks bottom 6, he has zero offensive ability. I'm not expecting 20 goals from everybody down there but chipping in a goal here and there would be nice.

Kempny had a good year but thanks to Q, his play time was inconsistent and that seemed to hold his development back. Surprisingly, when he and Seabrook were paired together, they played really well.

Forsling shows a lot of promise and hopefully spending most of the year in Rockford polished some of the rough edges off his game. He's good on the power play and Chicago needs his speed and puck moving on the back end.




Pretty disappointing way to end the season, but it's not like the Hawks are going to be a terrible team going forward. There's a lot of potential in the kids so there's a lot to look forward to at least.
 

Foggy

Member
Hot take: BJs fall on their faces to start the season, Torts is not fired, and Cam Atkinson is the hottest trade bait by the trade deadline.

Probably can't afford him either way. Depends on if Jack Johnson gets taken in the expansion draft.
 

lamaroo

Unconfirmed Member
Bergevin has had five years to do something with this team and they just keep going sideways while the cupboards are bare.

Get the fuck out.
 

Curufinwe

Member
Hot take: BJs fall on their faces to start the season, Torts is not fired, and Cam Atkinson is the hottest trade bait by the trade deadline.

Probably can't afford him either way. Depends on if Jack Johnson gets taken in the expansion draft.

If I'm Vegas I would take Anderson, Jenner or Karlsson ahead of JJ. Good young RFA forwards are more valuable than a 30 year old dman with one year left till free agency.
 
Stealing this from the other thread
Capture.png
 

OnPoint

Member
I should be hopeful that the Sabres are turning the page and moving on from the past couple of years. But I have zero faith in the Pegulas to get this right. Someone earlier said something about firing Nolan being the curse, but my dad always said the curse came from when Jim Lorentz killed the bat during the fog game during the '75 Cup Finals against the Flyers. No matter where we picked it up, man, it's true this city is cursed. God that game still looks cool though. So jealous my dad was there.
 

PillarEN

Member
It's tough being a Buffalo fan in general. Bad breaks now and then (No Goal and No Goal 2 even though the Flyers owned the 2000 series regardless of that moment), not being a big money team in the non-salary cap era, ownership issues (not now but back to the 2000s), players disgruntled with how the team is being handled and now you guys just had a forgettable season. Still, you guys do have Eichel so it's time to make a true plan with how to build this team for real (Which Murray apparently didn't have when he had to answer to the Pegulas after the season?) around that player which is sort of nice to know that you have that opportunity to build something for real.

For the Bills, if only you had a QB lol. But fuck the Bills for fucking over Doug Flutie. That's your real curse. Ohhh Rob Johnson save us you hunk. Fuck that! Should have gone with the old short QB who had fucking Flutie Flakes for fucks sake.
 

OnPoint

Member
It's tough being a Buffalo fan in general. Bad breaks now and then (No Goal and No Goal 2 even though the Flyers owned the 2000 series regardless of that moment), not being a big money team in the non-salary cap era, ownership issues (not now but back to the 2000s), players disgruntled with how the team is being handled and now you guys just had a forgettable season. Still, you guys do have Eichel so it's time to make a true plan with how to build this team for real (Which Murray apparently didn't have when he had to answer to the Pegulas after the season?) around that player which is sort of nice to know that you have that opportunity to build something for real.

For the Bills, if only you had a QB lol. But fuck the Bills for fucking over Doug Flutie. That's your real curse. Ohhh Rob Johnson save us you hunk. Fuck that! Should have gone with the old short QB who had fucking Flutie Flakes for fucks sake.

You won't find any arguments here about the Flutie Vs Johnson debate. In fact I remember most people at the time were absolutely perplexed by the move. Worked out great.

The common element right now is mother fucking Russ Brandon. He's been part of the Bills' losing ways for a long time and now he's involved with the Sabres. Granted, getting rid of him doesn't immediately fix things, but I will never truly believe either team is on its way until he's gone (or until they're hoisting a championship, but that's egg I'd gladly have on my face).
 
But I have zero faith in the Pegulas to get this right.

I dunno, they seem to have been decent owners, ready to back the team financially. Desperately unlucky with the Murray hire. The main thing I'd fault them for is being too loyal to the guy. The warning signs that he was not suitable for that kind of position were there back in 14/15.
 

OnPoint

Member
I dunno, they seem to have been decent owners, ready to back the team financially. Desperately unlucky with the Murray hire. The main thing I'd fault them for is being too loyal to the guy. The warning signs that he was not suitable for that kind of position were there back in 14/15.

I wouldn't question their desire to win. I also wouldn't question their desire to spend money. But they've made a laundry list of bad decisions since taking over and they need to hire a real hockey mind to start helping.

Looking back on things that didn't go so well ...
.
  • Fired Ruff over Regier
  • Kept Regier for too long
  • Threw mad money at Ville Leino
  • Threw mad money at Christian Erhoff
  • Hired Nolan back
  • Handled Nolan like a bunch of chumps
  • Screwed things up with LaFontaine
  • Hired Murray
  • Missing out on Babcock
  • Bylsma
Now some of those things may not be their fault. And yes, some looks way worse in hindsight. But the results so far speak loudly, and it's not a good track record so far.
 

Socreges

Banned
You won't find any arguments here about the Flutie Vs Johnson debate. In fact I remember most people at the time were absolutely perplexed by the move. Worked out great.

The common element right now is mother fucking Russ Brandon. He's been part of the Bills' losing ways for a long time and now he's involved with the Sabres. Granted, getting rid of him doesn't immediately fix things, but I will never truly believe either team is on its way until he's gone (or until they're hoisting a championship, but that's egg I'd gladly have on my face).
Oh man, I had no idea:
Flutie became the Buffalo Bills' quarterback five games into the 1998 season. The Bills were initially uninterested in signing him, but then-pro personnel director A.J. Smith convinced the organization that Flutie would be a great asset to the team. In his first action with the Bills, Flutie entered for an injured Rob Johnson and passed for two TDs while leading a fourth-quarter comeback against the Indianapolis Colts on October 11, 1998. The following week, Doug Flutie made his first NFL start since October 15, 1989, against the unbeaten Jacksonville Jaguars. The nine-year gap between starts for a quarterback in the NFL was the second-longest in duration (behind Tommy Maddox) until the 2007 season. Flutie was the hero of the Bills' victory as he scored the winning touchdown against the Jaguars by rolling out on a bootleg and into the end zone on a fourth-down play in the waning seconds. The Bills' success continued with Flutie at the helm; his record as a starter that season was 8 wins and 3 losses. Flutie was selected to play in the 1998 Pro Bowl, and is currently the shortest quarterback to make the Pro Bowl since 1970.

Flutie led the Bills to a 10–5 record in 1999 but, in a controversial decision, was replaced by Johnson for the playoffs by coach Wade Phillips, who later said he had been ordered by Bills owner Ralph Wilson to do so. The Bills lost 22–16 to the eventual AFC Champion Tennessee Titans in a game that has become known for the Music City Miracle, where the Titans scored on the penultimate play of the game – a kickoff return following the Bills' apparent game-clinching field goal.

The following season, Flutie was named the Bills' backup and only played late in games or when Johnson was injured, which was often. In fact, during the season, Flutie had a 4–1 record as a starter, in comparison to Johnson's 4–7. In a December 24, 2000 game against the Seattle Seahawks, Flutie achieved a perfect passer rating, completing 20 of 25 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Following the 2000 season, Bills President Tom Donahoe and head coach Gregg Williams decided to keep Johnson as the starter and cut Flutie.
incredulous.gif


Flutie is a hero in these parts. What an awesome player
 

Foggy

Member
If I'm Vegas I would take Anderson, Jenner or Karlsson ahead of JJ. Good young RFA forwards are more valuable than a 30 year old dman with one year left till free agency.

It's nice to dream. I'm just hoping they have a wealth of guys already pegged like Anderson and Karlsson(I'm thinking CBJ protects Jenner) and picks up Jack because he's had a good year and they're feeling frisky. But yeah, smart money is on Karlsson or Anderson with an outside chance of picking up Korpisalo.
 
I'd forgotten about Leino.

And that reminds me of the time that Holmgren asked Burke if he'd trade Kulemin for Carter. Burke was characteristically aloof and slow to respond, and Carter was moved to LA.
 

ColdPizza

Banned
You won't find any arguments here about the Flutie Vs Johnson debate. In fact I remember most people at the time were absolutely perplexed by the move. Worked out great.

The common element right now is mother fucking Russ Brandon. He's been part of the Bills' losing ways for a long time and now he's involved with the Sabres. Granted, getting rid of him doesn't immediately fix things, but I will never truly believe either team is on its way until he's gone (or until they're hoisting a championship, but that's egg I'd gladly have on my face).

I wouldn't question their desire to win. I also wouldn't question their desire to spend money. But they've made a laundry list of bad decisions since taking over and they need to hire a real hockey mind to start helping.

Looking back on things that didn't go so well ...
.
  • Fired Ruff over Regier
  • Kept Regier for too long
  • Threw mad money at Ville Leino
  • Threw mad money at Christian Erhoff
  • Hired Nolan back
  • Handled Nolan like a bunch of chumps
  • Screwed things up with LaFontaine
  • Hired Murray
  • Missing out on Babcock
  • Bylsma
Now some of those things may not be their fault. And yes, some looks way worse in hindsight. But the results so far speak loudly, and it's not a good track record so far.

People swear up down Russ is business side only but you, me, and countless others suspect he has Pegula's ear and is getting himself involved in personnel decisions. Personally, I'm just about done with the Pegulas. I mean, thanks for kick-starting the revitalization of downtown but hire a president of operations for both teams and fuck off, kindly.

Someone asked Terry the most important question of what happened between the beginning of this season when he handed Murray a contract extension and now. The guy is trying to distance himself from all blame.
 

Foggy

Member
Aaron Portzline‏ @Aportzline
Of the 34 active #NHL goaltenders w 10+ playoff games, Bobrovsky's goals-against are 34th. His save % 33rd, ahead of only #Stars Lehtonen.

Aaron Portzline‏ @Aportzline
We've been banging on it all series, but the numbers are glaring:#CBJ Bobrovsky's post-season career: 3-10-1 w a 3.63 GAA and .887 save %.

PIKMAAAAAAAAAAAA
 

iLLmAtlc

Member
I'm not sure if the GWG was Karlsson's fault. The OTT centre let Backes beat him to the net and that created an odd man situation in front. If Karlsson fully committed to the guy who scored he'd be giving a clear path to Backes to the net. Just so happens the puck rebounded right to the open guy. Could have just as easily bounced right to Backes.

Trying to block the shot was probably right there since it gave him the best chance to prevent the scoring chance.
 

PillarEN

Member

Japanese Engrish strikes again. Had to look up what was up with the jersey and the history is strange. So there are no Scarboro Sabres. There was however a Scarborough Sabres team which played in Tier 2 Junior A hockey in Ontario.

Or, there was some house league too but I can't find much info on it as the league has probably ceased?

Either way it's always fascinating how Japan mangles foreign things to some conclusion that we could never have come up with ourselves.
 

lupinko

Member
Japanese Engrish strikes again. Had to look up what was up with the jersey and the history is strange. So there are no Scarboro Sabres. There was however a Scarborough Sabres team which played in Tier 2 Junior A hockey in Ontario.

Or, there was some house league too but I can't find much info on it as the league has probably ceased?

Either way it's always fascinating how Japan mangles foreign things to some conclusion that we could never have come up with ourselves.

But it's a football jersey tho, inforgey either socket or grid Rnb hand egg sorry drink after worknparty yooololoooo.
 

PillarEN

Member
You know it's really not fair that Lupinko can start to drink 8 hours or more before the rest of us without looking like an alcoholic.
 
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