Vlasic and Kaiser too. Like you and a few others point out it wasn't all bad. You mention Q's stubbornness which I think is fair; but, I'd also suggest part of the issue with being so quick to cut ties with players like Kempny and Forsling was an error on that regime's part to acknowledge the window was pretty much shut after 2017.

I'm using the benefit of hindsight of course, but in reality that's when they should've started trying to rebuild/retool.

If that had happened, would we still have Bedard? Probably not, so this is one time as a Chicago sports fan I can identify where ineptitude somehow came with a benefit.
- HawkintheD

the gray area that the Hawks found themselves in is no different than that of almost every other dynasty in other sports. Winning has a cost; for a franchise whose biggest slogan was 'one goal', they were never going to say it was time to rebuild when they believed that they still had a ton left with Toews, Keith, Kane, and Seabrook. There were good and bad decisions made that allowed the Hawks to win multiple cups and eventually fade into irrelevance.

Quenneville's job was to win cups, not wait around developing young players. They were in the middle of a dominant era of hockey. They rode their defensemen into the sunset. The decline was going come... nobody expected it to be so soon.

Stan had his moments: Panarin, Oduya, Leddy, Vermette, Richards, Lehner

He had his blunders: Panarin trade, Saad trades, Bickell deal and Teuvo package, Boqvist Jones, Danault, Jokiharju for Nylander, Hjalmarsson for Murphy, Forsling

The most glaring times were the 2017 meltdown, and the win now moves that dealt Boqvist and brought in Jones like we were a few pieces away from a cup.

I like the way Davidson is doing this rebuild. Yes it’s painful, but every season we endure of bad teams will give us another draft haul. This year is especially loaded with high picks. Few teams have as much prospect talent as us, and even fewer have as many picks in the upcoming draft or two.


Some here are getting impatient, it’s understandable. But this is the plan and it’s going well. We got Bedard, the most important piece. We’ll get another (hopefully) all star this year. The great teams each have four or five truly great players. Right now we have one. Could a Nazar, Moore, Korchinski, or Vlasic become one? Sure.

Could one of the first round picks we get this season become a great player? Yes.


The development of our kids is key, as is this draft. Worrying about the Blackwells and bums on the team now is not. Nobody remembered the Barnaby, Bell, or Arnasons when we started seriously competing.

Seems to me everyone is forgetting three Stanley cup rings.
- paulr

True. It's a situation where you have to accept the good and the bad. Some of the deals the Hawks made were truly just driven by trying to stay cap compliant in the short and long term, which had really mixed results, but at least we did get to the top a few times.

Stan had his moments: Panarin, Oduya, Leddy, Vermette, Richards, Lehner

He had his blunders: Panarin trade, Saad trades, Bickell deal and Teuvo package, Boqvist Jones, Danault, Jokiharju for Nylander, Hjalmarsson for Murphy, Forsling

The most glaring times were the 2017 meltdown, and the win now moves that dealt Boqvist and brought in Jones like we were a few pieces away from a cup.

I like the way Davidson is doing this rebuild. Yes it’s painful, but every season we endure of bad teams will give us another draft haul. This year is especially loaded with high picks. Few teams have as much prospect talent as us, and even fewer have as many picks in the upcoming draft or two.


Some here are getting impatient, it’s understandable. But this is the plan and it’s going well. We got Bedard, the most important piece. We’ll get another (hopefully) all star this year. The great teams each have four or five truly great players. Right now we have one. Could a Nazar, Moore, Korchinski, or Vlasic become one? Sure.

Could one of the first round picks we get this season become a great player? Yes.


The development of our kids is key, as is this draft. Worrying about the Blackwells and bums on the team now is not. Nobody remembered the Barnaby, Bell, or Arnasons when we started seriously competing.
- ObeseOprah

I think one of the biggest blunders was firing Q. I am not talking about any of the off-ice stuff that eventually came out; but at that time, firing Q was the final dagger that ended that team. Jeremy Colliton set this team back even further.

Stan had his moments: Panarin, Oduya, Leddy, Vermette, Richards, Lehner

He had his blunders: Panarin trade, Saad trades, Bickell deal and Teuvo package, Boqvist Jones, Danault, Jokiharju for Nylander, Hjalmarsson for Murphy, Forsling

The most glaring times were the 2017 meltdown, and the win now moves that dealt Boqvist and brought in Jones like we were a few pieces away from a cup.

I like the way Davidson is doing this rebuild. Yes it’s painful, but every season we endure of bad teams will give us another draft haul. This year is especially loaded with high picks. Few teams have as much prospect talent as us, and even fewer have as many picks in the upcoming draft or two.


Some here are getting impatient, it’s understandable. But this is the plan and it’s going well. We got Bedard, the most important piece. We’ll get another (hopefully) all star this year. The great teams each have four or five truly great players. Right now we have one. Could a Nazar, Moore, Korchinski, or Vlasic become one? Sure.

Could one of the first round picks we get this season become a great player? Yes.


The development of our kids is key, as is this draft. Worrying about the Blackwells and bums on the team now is not. Nobody remembered the Barnaby, Bell, or Arnasons when we started seriously competing.
- ObeseOprah

I guess we could have traded Kane and kept Panarin. We won the Hjalmarsson trade. Now it's Stan's fault he didn't diagnose Bickell's MS. Jokijarju for Nylander is a push. Who needs another #7 defenseman.

True. It's a situation where you have to accept the good and the bad. Some of the deals the Hawks made were truly just driven by trying to stay cap compliant in the short and long term, which had really mixed results, but at least we did get to the top a few times.
- breadbag

Exactly! I’m so tired of all the negativity about The Bowman era. The good far exceeded the bad and all a number of posters harp on, in the greatest time in Blackhawk history, is about a few bad trades.

Stan had his moments: Panarin, Oduya, Leddy, Vermette, Richards, Lehner

He had his blunders: Panarin trade, Saad trades, Bickell deal and Teuvo package, Boqvist Jones, Danault, Jokiharju for Nylander, Hjalmarsson for Murphy, Forsling

The most glaring times were the 2017 meltdown, and the win now moves that dealt Boqvist and brought in Jones like we were a few pieces away from a cup.

I like the way Davidson is doing this rebuild. Yes it’s painful, but every season we endure of bad teams will give us another draft haul. This year is especially loaded with high picks. Few teams have as much prospect talent as us, and even fewer have as many picks in the upcoming draft or two.


Some here are getting impatient, it’s understandable. But this is the plan and it’s going well. We got Bedard, the most important piece. We’ll get another (hopefully) all star this year. The great teams each have four or five truly great players. Right now we have one. Could a Nazar, Moore, Korchinski, or Vlasic become one? Sure.

Could one of the first round picks we get this season become a great player? Yes.


The development of our kids is key, as is this draft. Worrying about the Blackwells and bums on the team now is not. Nobody remembered the Barnaby, Bell, or Arnasons when we started seriously competing.
- ObeseOprah

For me, a lot of the excitement comes from the unknowns. Will this young player or that one pan out? What are we going to get? One thing I think that happens often around the NHL too, once the team is ready, once they "get it" they can rise really quickly in the standings.

I like that KD sticks to the plan he set out and doesn't change directions or make knee jerk moves.

I guess we could have traded Kane and kept Panarin. We won the Hjalmarsson trade. Now it's Stan's fault he didn't diagnose Bickell's MS. Jokijarju for Nylander is a push. Who needs another #7 defenseman.
- rpeters01

If he didn't sign Seabrook to that last contract, no need to trade Panarin. Again everything is in hindsight.

I think one of the biggest blunders was firing Q. I am not talking about any of the off-ice stuff that eventually came out; but at that time, firing Q was the final dagger that ended that team. Jeremy Colliton set this team back even further.
- frafra

How exactly did Colliton set the team back further? The team was done, Scotty Bowman and Q combined weren’t moving that collection of aging talent and an empty prospect pool forward.

I don't think it really does much to rehash again and again on the past. Look forward to the future.

We have a GM that seems pretty reasonable and at least willing to make the hard choices. We have a coach who the players like and play hard for. We have a rookie phenom who may end up as a generational player and contender in the scoring race in his career. We have a good pool of prospects, ranked near the top of the NHL. We have loads more draft picks coming in the next 2-3 years. We have tons of cap flexibility right now.

The arrow is pointing up in the future. Not everything will be a home run, but after the next couple seasons, we should get many years of decent hockey again.

Imagine when these two are in their mid-20s and they have a competent roster. They are going to be animals.
- frafra

Yea I'm excited about the future, can't wait till they both get stronger and their processor gets even quicker than they are at the NHL level. They both think the game better than Seth Jones already.

And delMaestro / Allen/Crevier picks were under Bowman also. Bovquist was a big miss, that is for sure.
- LAHawk

Boqvist, Beaudin, Krys, Mitchell, Jokiharju, Clendening, Fournier, Dahlstrom. Traded for Zadorov, Maata, DeHaan, Koekkoek, Timonen, Daley.

Mostly bad. They probably wrecked Mitchell, though he has not stuck elsewhere since leaving, Jokiharju has been meh and we won't talk about the return (who was just traded again). Daley sucked here, was OK on the Pens run to the Cup.

Sure there are good trades in there for Bowman, Oduya 2nd and 3rd was good. Hjalmarsson for Murphy, though I hated it at the time (and am not necessarily a Murphy fan), was the right move in terms of Hjalmarssons health and shelf life. Forsling, Kempny, Rutta probably as much on the coaching staff as the front office.

For me, a lot of the excitement comes from the unknowns. Will this young player or that one pan out? What are we going to get? One thing I think that happens often around the NHL too, once the team is ready, once they "get it" they can rise really quickly in the standings.

I like that KD sticks to the plan he set out and doesn't change directions or make knee jerk moves.
- breadbag

I agree and even though a player like Reichel may look like poop right now, if you get a draft/ trade/ sign a couple of skilled top 6 forwards all of a sudden Reichel excels at the NHL level. So many layers to a good hockey team, reason why it is so hard to win Stanley Cups, and once you do many other teams start chipping away at all the layers you've built up especially the hard cap.

To me his 2 biggest misses (in hindsight like you say), was the Panarin trade, and the Danault trade for Fleishman and Weise. Trades were made for 2 separate reasons, but definitely hastened the Hawks decline.
- LAHawk

Probably the biggest reason for the Hawks decline was the loss of Hossa. The Danault and Panarin trades were definitely contributors.

Probably the biggest reason for the Hawks decline was the loss of Hossa. The Danault and Panarin trades were definitely contributors.
- TheTrob

The biggest reason for the Hawks’ decline was time, fatigue and injury. If the Hawks still had Panarin and Danault today they would be a brutal team without Bedard and without an exciting future.

Wings fan here. I have always loved the hawks when the wings weren’t playing them.

Lots of complaining here. You should count your blessings you have a player like Bedard. The NHL should have forfeited that pick from the scandal. That’s my opinion.

What’s not discussed here is DeBrincat. I was so shocked to see him traded to Ottawa. That made zero sense. I was so pissed, after watching him thrive there, at such a young age, and defying all the odds even to get to the show, due to his size. He is an ultimate honey badger. He doesn’t get enough respect. He was the best player at the all star game. No love. The epic OT goal was set up by the Cat, and that pass was no accident. He was dogging it to get one last try to get a breakaway set up for PK. And the perfect pass. I just feel you guys should acknowledge Alex DeBrincat in the aftermath of that game. He was your draft pick, and he absolutely killed it for you guys for a few years. Sunday night, He scores an impossible goal, and then sets up the OT winner. But in the shadow of Chelios, Kane, and even Bedard.

The biggest reason for the Hawks’ decline was time, fatigue and injury. If the Hawks still had Panarin and Danault today they would be a brutal team without Bedard and without an exciting future.
- paulr

Thats a good point. Not quite as simple as those 2 players. Disregarding the luck of getting a chance to get Bedard, the rebuild should have started probably in 2017 or 2018 timeframe. Continually trying to add pieces in the hope to stay competitive was the problem. going out and getting/signing Jones, McCabe, T. Johnson, Fleury with the hope of one last chance was folly in hindsight.

A lot of moves obviously come with cap considerations, so while its easy to say a team with Panarin, Danault, DeBrincat, Kane and a few others may have been successful, in reality it probably puts them in that soft middle of the pack where your on the playoff bubble, with draft picks that typically dont make a ton of difference, especially in the short term.

Wings fan here. I have always loved the hawks when the wings weren’t playing them.

Lots of complaining here. You should count your blessings you have a player like Bedard. The NHL should have forfeited that pick from the scandal. That’s my opinion.

What’s not discussed here is DeBrincat. I was so shocked to see him traded to Ottawa. That made zero sense. I was so pissed, after watching him thrive there, at such a young age, and defying all the odds even to get to the show, due to his size. He is an ultimate honey badger. He doesn’t get enough respect. He was the best player at the all star game. No love. The epic OT goal was set up by the Cat, and that pass was no accident. He was dogging it to get one last try to get a breakaway set up for PK. And the perfect pass. I just feel you guys should acknowledge Alex DeBrincat in the aftermath of that game. He was your draft pick, and he absolutely killed it for you guys for a few years. Sunday night, He scores an impossible goal, and then sets up the OT winner. But in the shadow of Chelios, Kane, and even Bedard.
- NC_Scott

Love DeBrincat, hated the trade, Hated the trade of Hagel as well. KD did what he had to do however, they had to completely tank and amass some high draft choices or risk being mediocre to bad, but not bad enough to get top 5 talent.

Wings fan here. I have always loved the hawks when the wings weren’t playing them.

Lots of complaining here. You should count your blessings you have a player like Bedard. The NHL should have forfeited that pick from the scandal. That’s my opinion.

What’s not discussed here is DeBrincat. I was so shocked to see him traded to Ottawa. That made zero sense. I was so pissed, after watching him thrive there, at such a young age, and defying all the odds even to get to the show, due to his size. He is an ultimate honey badger. He doesn’t get enough respect. He was the best player at the all star game. No love. The epic OT goal was set up by the Cat, and that pass was no accident. He was dogging it to get one last try to get a breakaway set up for PK. And the perfect pass. I just feel you guys should acknowledge Alex DeBrincat in the aftermath of that game. He was your draft pick, and he absolutely killed it for you guys for a few years. Sunday night, He scores an impossible goal, and then sets up the OT winner. But in the shadow of Chelios, Kane, and even Bedard.
- NC_Scott

It made all kinds of sense. Davidson saw a really strong draft in 2023 and blew up the team to get a shot at one of them. In hindsight it was a brilliant move, I love ADB’s game, but I’ll take Bedard for Debrincat and Dach every day of the week. And all that said if another team tanked to get a good draft pick like Chicago did I’d be pissed.

It made all kinds of sense. Davidson saw a really strong draft in 2023 and blew up the team to get a shot at one of them. In hindsight it was a brilliant move, I love ADB’s game, but I’ll take Bedard for Debrincat and Dach every day of the week. And all that said if another team tanked to get a good draft pick like Chicago did I’d be pissed.

- paulr

Buddy, I understand the logic. But it’s a fact that you can tank and not win the draft lottery. The wings did that, and won the #4 pick.

Reflections on the Chicago Black Hawk Fan Cuckhold night.

If it were the old stadium and fan base, Cheli and Kane would have gotten a tip of the hat and a round of applause. But after the Kaner video 5 minutes in, he should have been booed every time he touched the puck thereafter.

He should have been made to feel uncomfortable. Instead, the fans cheered as he ran a batch on their pillow.

What a disgrace.

Reflections on the Chicago Black Hawk Fan Cuckhold night.

If it were the old stadium and fan base, Cheli and Kane would have gotten a tip of the hat and a round of applause. But after the Kaner video 5 minutes in, he should have been booed every time he touched the puck thereafter.

He should have been made to feel uncomfortable. Instead, the fans cheered as he ran a batch on their pillow.

What a disgrace.
- TrueGrit

Old school. Long time no see TG. Those days are behind us. Kane is and probably will always be loved by Hawk fans. The Hawks suck at the moment and the fans have only the recent past and the future to be excited about. However if in two years in the unlikely event the Hawks become contenders I’m sure you’d see another reaction.

Reflections on the Chicago Black Hawk Fan Cuckhold night.

If it were the old stadium and fan base, Cheli and Kane would have gotten a tip of the hat and a round of applause. But after the Kaner video 5 minutes in, he should have been booed every time he touched the puck thereafter.

He should have been made to feel uncomfortable. Instead, the fans cheered as he ran a batch on their pillow.

What a disgrace.
- TrueGrit

He didn't ask to leave, Mgmt. told him they were moving on.

Old school. Long time no see TG. Those days are behind us. Kane is and probably will always be loved by Hawk fans. The Hawks suck at the moment and the fans have only the recent past and the future to be excited about. However if in two years in the unlikely event the Hawks become contenders I’m sure you’d see another reaction.
- paulr

Sending my best Paul. I love the compete they have. Results are not positive very much, but they play hard.

The NHL is an amazing league. The parity and young talent from around the world makes every night a playoff game.

I know I am a dinosaur, my shot at hawk fans is more of a south side vs suburbia thing that my therapist said I should have let go of like 30 years ago.

Cheers everyone.

Old school. Long time no see TG. Those days are behind us. Kane is and probably will always be loved by Hawk fans. The Hawks suck at the moment and the fans have only the recent past and the future to be excited about. However if in two years in the unlikely event the Hawks become contenders I’m sure you’d see another reaction.
- paulr

I was shocked the fan base was so tame. I was actually hoping for some Cheli drama. Those were the days.

The only players I hated more than Chelios (pre Wings days) were Lemieux, and Pronger. That list is still the same today.