Confirmed with Link: Chris Kunitz to 1 yr deal ($1m) , Brandon Manning to 2 yr deal ($2.25m aav)

[Hawkaholic]

That's right.

Are you saying you had a problem with the 4th line, before they were split up ... especially when it comes to work ethic? I didn't. The play of the 4th line was not a problem on a team that had a multitude of problems.

I had a problem with them, they couldn't put the puck in the net.

 

[BobbyJet]

/\
Hayden - 13 goals in 47 games
Wingels - 12 goals in 57 games
Bouma - 3 goals in 53 games

The line was only broken up because the season was lost and Q wanted to experiment with other players, and obviously Bouma and TW would not be around for any length of time. Granted, Wingels did play on other lines at times but I'd argue their offense wasn't so bad for a 4th line that brought more than offense on a nightly basis. ie. hard work, physicality and grit.

And seriously, when was the last time Hawks had a 4th line that consistently scored. If you care to back through the GDT's the 4th lines performance was regularly praised.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

People aren’t trashing Wingels or Hayden because they didn’t suck. Bouma did.

 

[Hawkaholic]

/\
Hayden - 13 goals in 47 games
Wingels - 12 goals in 57 games
Bouma - 3 goals in 53 games

The line was only broken up because the season was lost and Q wanted to experiment with other players, and obviously Bouma and TW would not be around for any length of time. Granted, Wingels did play on other lines at times but I'd argue their offense wasn't so bad for a 4th line that brought more than offense on a nightly basis. ie. hard work, physicality and grit.

And seriously, when was the last time Hawks had a 4th line that consistently scored. If you care to back through the GDT's the 4th lines performance was regularly praised.

Wingels had 7 goals as a Hawk, with zero as a Hawk after Dec 17.
Hayden had 4 goals, with 0 in his last 18 games before his demotion
Bouma had 3 goals with zero after Dec 6

They had a good start to the year, but by the time December rolled around they were awful and well deserving of the break up and demotion a they got.

And in previous years if the 4th line wasn't scoring, at least they were shutting down the others teams top lines. Wingels, Bouma, Hayden didn't have that ability. And they were our most consistent line, not best, last year. They were consistently OK, while other lines were either bad, or good.

 

[ClydeLee]

/\
Hayden - 13 goals in 47 games
Wingels - 12 goals in 57 games
Bouma - 3 goals in 53 games

The line was only broken up because the season was lost and Q wanted to experiment with other players, and obviously Bouma and TW would not be around for any length of time. Granted, Wingels did play on other lines at times but I'd argue their offense wasn't so bad for a 4th line that brought more than offense on a nightly basis. ie. hard work, physicality and grit.

And seriously, when was the last time Hawks had a 4th line that consistently scored. If you care to back through the GDT's the 4th lines performance was regularly praised.

When were there times the 4th line wasn't more often a matchup line? But 13-14 it did both.

But who had had success with an energy physical or scoring vs weak matchup 4th line that's not a good D heavy coverage 4th line? Cause the last cup winners had the eat tough minutes Beagle, Cullen, Cullen, then Kruger.

In 2011 and 2012 the hawks had more energy lines there and that generally seemed to correlate with bad depth. Stalberg-dowell-skille was a 4th then you had Mayers and Frolik moving in-out the next year. That energy isn't something you want if you want winning.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Hi friends. I just wanted to offer you my sincere sympathy over signing Brandon Manning - AKA Manbearpig, AKA Meat Shield. If you get frustrated - and you will, especially when he falls over his own feet or deflects the puck into his own net, and certainly after you see him losing every single fight he eagerly jumps into - I have about a million dopey pics you can borrow if words aren't enough to express how much you hate him.

His one redeeming quality is that he trolled the living **** out of that crybaby McDavid and cost him the Calder trophy with a clumsy check that was obviously accidental. (Pretty much everything he does on the ice is an accident waiting to happen.) McDavid is convinced that he did it on purpose, so Manbearpig is deep, deep in his head.

Anyway, someone suggested I share these with you, so I did. Good luck and have a good season.

 

[AmericanDream]

glad to know BWC's relatives from Philly are on here as well....

 

[pvr]

glad to know BWC's relatives from Philly are on here as well....

Apparently misery loves company.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Seems to be more than one BWC when it comes to Manning. That should tell you something, something not good.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Dog days of summer when a discussion about a line of Hayden-Wingels-Bouma is happening ITT.

 

[BobbyJet]

Dog days of summer when a discussion about a line of Hayden-Wingels-Bouma is happening ITT.

Yep ... bottom line for me: with plenty to complain about on a team that had many issues ranging from management, coaching, lack of scoring to poor goaltending and many things in-between, the 4th line was not one of those many problems. I'm done on the subject.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Not having a 4th line that can't score nor shut down the opponents is actually a big reason why the top line isn't scoring as much, and why defensively the team has struggled.

 

[GapToothedWonder]

So why aren't his forwards playing smart and covering? Sounds like a Haskol problem...

But it is mainly a concern since Q didnt seen to like Kempnys pinch choices, though it was more at the blueline than him ever going into the ozone. I'd be fine with that if the team plays to cover.

Oh man, I can't wait to come read this dudes opinion on Manning in like December. Best of luck to you guys, sorry our trash ended up in your yard.

 

[JaegerDice]

Last year's 4th line played fewer minutes against weaker competition than any 4th line the Blackhawks have had since 2011/2012, and even with that deployment they provided only a marginal upgrade in scoring over those 4th lines. Meanwhile the domino effect down the lineup was tougher starts against tougher competition for every other line, which saw all their scoring drop.

It was a waste of a line, completely out of time with the modern NHL.



And yes, Brandon Manning is a bad hockey player.

 

[clydesdale line]

I'm surprised McCub hasn't had the annual press conference yet from our "prestiged signings".

 

[The Worst One]

Why in the world we need these two jabronis? Watch moron Q misuse and overplay them.

 

[crazyhawk]

Well Stan has to do something to help ensure a high pick in this upcoming stellar draft.

 

[Enyaw]

Well Stan has to do something to help ensure a high pick in this upcoming stellar draft.

Signing the worst goalie he could find doesnt hurt the #LoseforHughes

 

[crazyhawk]

Signing the worst goalie he could find doesnt hurt the #LoseforHughes

Quite! Brilliant fellow!

 

[puterwiz53]

Stan sure is ensuring a high pick if he does nothing else because the team as it is will know they are going into a losing season, the stars will slack off because of it and it could very well trickle down to the rookies. He needs to at least plug a couple of holes in order to encourage the rest of the team to pick up their game and play harder. The way both Toews and Keith played last year shows a big discontentment with the team and they weren't going to burn themselves our or even risk injury playing on a losing team that wasn't going to go anywhere. Any GM knows that you can't pump your team up by staying pat or doing diddly squat. Even Kane took many days off this past season. Doing basically nothing to improve the team is going to reflect big time on how the team plays.

 

[BobbyJet]

Stan sure is ensuring a high pick if he does nothing else because the team as it is will know they are going into a losing season, the stars will slack off because of it and it could very well trickle down to the rookies. He needs to at least plug a couple of holes in order to encourage the rest of the team to pick up their game and play harder. The way both Toews and Keith played last year shows a big discontentment with the team and they weren't going to burn themselves our or even risk injury playing on a losing team that wasn't going to go anywhere. Any GM knows that you can't pump your team up by staying pat or doing diddly squat. Even Kane took many days off this past season. Doing basically nothing to improve the team is going to reflect big time on how the team plays.

Yes, I know it's still early in the summer but thus far: Hawks (this time the management team) once again disappoint.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I told you guys Manning is horrific to watch

Flyer fans had to endure this but at least he was cheap. Hawks fans are stuck with this joke and his contract for next 2 years

 

[kuzy]

Are take-backsies allowed?

 

[TLEH]

Guys absolutely terrible like we all thought. His feet suck.

 

[Garbage Goal]

I don’t want to comment on the quality of the Kunitz or Manning signings as I’m sure there’s a majority opinion similar to mine already.

I do want to apologize for Manning and Boxcar though. Positive is if Manning is a 7th he’s good because he’s a great locker room/character guy and he’s young. Boxcars incessant positivity (albeit largely toward Manning) can be refreshing during bad times. My biggest sympathies if Manning is more than a 7th (been there) and Boxcar is entirely a fan of Manning and not the team. Haven’t seen a post from him on the Flyers board since this signing.