Washington REALLY helped by Kempny trade

[BK]

People like to just say he is done and useless now, basing it on one year in Arizona is stupid and I am sure most making this claim have watched what a handful of games of his this year if that? I dont buy it, he was the second best D on this team even in 2016-17, had maybe a down last month or two and that apparently was concrete proof for some here to validate the Stan’s trade and affirm that hammer was washed out garbage.

I watched 15+ AZ games this season and Hammer has looked similar to how he looked at the end of the previous season and the following playoffs (to watch Hammer specifically). Watching him play it looks like he has lost a step. This is should not be surprising to anyone as he has been an absolute warrior during his career.

Hammer was the 2nd best D on the Hawks during his last season here during the first half of the season but we all saw a sharp fall off during the second half and playoff. This is a fact, this is not a maybe. We all get what you are trying to spin (that it was a bad trade) but the visual evidence and numbers both show that this trade was a win for the Hawks already. If you want to argue that Stan could have received more you can but every GM in the league saw the same thing us Hawks fans saw with Hammer.

 

[featherhawk]

Just more evidence that Q is now a terrible coach, yes he is a hof coach and he did lots of good for the club but now he is doing even more damage that very well could sink the organization.

Baffling to think that either Rocky or McD. Can’t see this.

Idiots

 

[LordKOTL]

Just more evidence that Q is now a terrible coach, yes he is a hof coach and he did lots of good for the club but now he is doing even more damage that very well could sink the organization.

Baffling to think that either Rocky or McD. Can’t see this.

Idiots

Keep in mind McDonut is not a hockey man like Bowman the Elder. He's a marketer--a used car salesman along the lines of Rudy Russo. Now, in my opinion I don't expect the 'hawks to make much waves next season (I won't go into a diatribe here), but if they don't make much waves, the perception to the masses might be that it was the new coach that was the reason they didn't improve, and not the team's makeup and that it was a transition year.

I still think Q's going to be gone sooner rather than later and likely Bowman the Younger. I think that McSplash sees it but sees it through the marketing angle, and when you still got an imperial buttload of fans clamoring that Q is a great coach for winning 3 cups irrespective of how his gameplan has worked the past 3 years and irrespective that the personnel has changed/aged in the past 3 years, he could see that as market suicide--a de facto message to the fans that the 'hawks are done and rebuilding.

 

[BobbyJet]

I still wonder what Hjalmarsson would've done had he gotten any PP time. Kid had a very good slap shot and it was hard and accurate when he actually did shoot it.

Any offense that Hammer once had in his game early in his career was long gone in his last several years in Chicago. Besides, he was too valuable as a shot-blocking dman. That said, it was quite apparent that he was slowing down in his last year in Chicago - though older now, he is still better than the young PMD's now on the squad. Would I make that trade again for Murphy? Yes, I would.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

Keep in mind McDonut is not a hockey man like Bowman the Elder. He's a marketer--a used car salesman along the lines of Rudy Russo. Now, in my opinion I don't expect the 'hawks to make much waves next season (I won't go into a diatribe here), but if they don't make much waves, the perception to the masses might be that it was the new coach that was the reason they didn't improve, and not the team's makeup and that it was a transition year.

I still think Q's going to be gone sooner rather than later and likely Bowman the Younger. I think that McSplash sees it but sees it through the marketing angle, and when you still got an imperial buttload of fans clamoring that Q is a great coach for winning 3 cups irrespective of how his gameplan has worked the past 3 years and irrespective that the personnel has changed/aged in the past 3 years, he could see that as market suicide--a de facto message to the fans that the 'hawks are done and rebuilding.

Which is so dumb even from a marketing perspective. The fans who watch just because the Hawks were winning are already not tuning in.

Meanwhile, the more diehard fans would understand going the short rebuild route in exchange for longer-term sustained success.

Going down with the aging ship is about the worst short and long-term marketing decision that can be made. The less hardcore wing is already drifting away, and the hardcore wing is getting really annoyed by sticking with things that aren’t working anymore - just so the front office can market names to the less hardcore wing of the fan base.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Byfuglien, Ladd, Teravainen, Hammer, Sharp, Saad, Panarin, Hartman, Shaw, and Darling are just few of our fan favorites that we've traded at various points. I don't think that this is a team that's all too scared of potentially pissing off fans if they think it's the right call, so I don't think that worry over fan reaction to Q getting fired or "promoted" up is a good explanation (though I do think that the good old boy's club in the NHL reacting poorly to Q being booted after a year with Crow down longterm probably was a factor in retaining him).

 

[ColdSteel2]

I don't think that this is a team that's all too scared of potentially pissing off fans if they think it's the right call, so I don't think that worry over fan reaction to Q getting fired or "promoted" up is a good explanation (though I do think that the good old boy's club in the NHL reacting poorly to Q being booted after a year with Crow down longterm probably was a factor in retaining him).

If this is how things worked, we wouldn’t be picking 8th.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

What? Those two aren't connected. Q is an established figure in NHL coaching and executive circles, having him fired with three cups in the relatively recent past and the obvious excuse of a goalie being down longterm for missing the playoffs probably would've had a major backlash and hurt our interactions across the league. Florida and Arizona are both still dealing with the after effects of getting rid of coaches with a much shorter track record than him, too. And that being said, even if it wasn't the case, our position in the draft isn't impacted really by what other teams think of us.

 

[ColdSteel2]

What? Those two aren't connected. Q is an established figure in NHL coaching and executive circles, having him fired with three cups in the relatively recent past and the obvious excuse of a goalie being down longterm for missing the playoffs probably would've had a major backlash and hurt our interactions across the league. Florida and Arizona are both still dealing with the after effects of getting rid of coaches with a much shorter track record than him, too. And that being said, even if it wasn't the case, our position in the draft isn't impacted really by what other teams think of us.

Sutter had 3 seasons almost identical to ours after LA’s last Cup and he got fired. It didn’t stop them from making trades or anything else. Fans wanted him gone long before that too, just like us.

I don’t buy the backlash theory. I still think he’ll be replaced this offseason, but if he isn’t, it’s because he’s attained a level of power within the organization that allows him the influence to stay even if it is not what Stan wants.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

What? Those two aren't connected. Q is an established figure in NHL coaching and executive circles, having him fired with three cups in the relatively recent past and the obvious excuse of a goalie being down longterm for missing the playoffs probably would've had a major backlash and hurt our interactions across the league. Florida and Arizona are both still dealing with the after effects of getting rid of coaches with a much shorter track record than him, too. And that being said, even if it wasn't the case, our position in the draft isn't impacted really by what other teams think of us.

They are? Like what?

 

[No Fun Shogun]

They are? Like what?

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration to say that they're still smarting from it from anything other than a "those guys are incompetent" standpoint, but they were hammered pretty hard from everything I read publicly and privately among the other teams in the league and supposedly some major figures considered them persona non grata for a while and negatively impacted their personnel (on and off ice) hiring ability.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Sutter had 3 seasons almost identical to ours after LA’s last Cup and he got fired. It didn’t stop them from making trades or anything else. Fans wanted him gone long before that too, just like us.

I don’t buy the backlash theory. I still think he’ll be replaced this offseason, but if he isn’t, it’s because he’s attained a level of power within the organization that allows him the influence to stay even if it is not what Stan wants.

Fair, but I'd say it's close to reality than some kind of fear of fans being ticked if he was fired.

 

[BK]

Would anyone here be disappointed if they fired Q? Except maybe toaster boy.

 

[ColdSteel2]

Fair, but I'd say it's close to reality than some kind of fear of fans being ticked if he was fired.

That I agree with. I work with mostly older people and they defend him to the hills, don’t know if it’s an age or authority thing or what but they all love him and put all of the blame on Bowman. Any time I talk Hawks with them and it goes there, I have to defend Bowman (kinda funny, right ) and they will not hear it, say the roster is complete trash. I try to tell them Q is a good coach but maybe sometimes the players get tired of hearing the same voice too long, can’t even get them to meet me there, they love the stache. I could definitely see McDonough viewing them as his main clientele and not wanting to anger them.

 

[Pez68]

Keep in mind McDonut is not a hockey man like Bowman the Elder. He's a marketer--a used car salesman along the lines of Rudy Russo. Now, in my opinion I don't expect the 'hawks to make much waves next season (I won't go into a diatribe here), but if they don't make much waves, the perception to the masses might be that it was the new coach that was the reason they didn't improve, and not the team's makeup and that it was a transition year.

I still think Q's going to be gone sooner rather than later and likely Bowman the Younger. I think that McSplash sees it but sees it through the marketing angle, and when you still got an imperial buttload of fans clamoring that Q is a great coach for winning 3 cups irrespective of how his gameplan has worked the past 3 years and irrespective that the personnel has changed/aged in the past 3 years, he could see that as market suicide--a de facto message to the fans that the 'hawks are done and rebuilding.

Market suicide... lol. Who in the flying f*** is not going to attend Hawks' games because they fired Q? People are going to stop attending because the team sucks, and the ticket prices are too high. The team sucks in large part BECAUSE of Q. He stays the coach much longer, and people aren't showing up anyways. Nobody is going to pay those ticket prices to watch a team that doesn't make the playoffs.

Firing Q also sends the message that their performance is not acceptable and they expect better... Which is kind of a good message to send.

 

[pvr]

I watched 15+ AZ games this season and Hammer has looked similar to how he looked at the end of the previous season and the following playoffs (to watch Hammer specifically). Watching him play it looks like he has lost a step. This is should not be surprising to anyone as he has been an absolute warrior during his career.

Hammer was the 2nd best D on the Hawks during his last season here during the first half of the season but we all saw a sharp fall off during the second half and playoff. This is a fact, this is not a maybe. We all get what you are trying to spin (that it was a bad trade) but the visual evidence and numbers both show that this trade was a win for the Hawks already. If you want to argue that Stan could have received more you can but every GM in the league saw the same thing us Hawks fans saw with Hammer.

Should come as no surprise for any of the core...many long seasons, a lot of games, and a lot of tough playoff games. Playoff toll much higher now than the in the 70s and before. Shorter offseasons with less time to recover, year after year.

 

[coolhand]

As long as the Hawks win it won't matter WHO the coach or main payers are. If Q was fired and a new coach came in and the team played great, he would be the new hero.

Fans DO NOT go to games because of the coach.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

I take them at face value when they say Q will be back. No reason to think they would say that in April (when they had no reason to commit that early) and change their mind in July. Its a Rocky/McD decision imo. No way Bowman wants Q back. Can’t see it. Maybe if Rockford wins the Calder Cup they go with Colliton but probably not.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Kempny was absolutely atrocious for Caps last night

 

[RayP]

Kempny was absolutely atrocious for Caps last night

 

[coolhand]

Kempny was absolutely atrocious for Caps last night

And so was most of the rest of the team

 

[Blue Liner]

People are really overstating any impact league-wide the Blackhawks would have for firing their head coach. Coaches are hired to be fired. Everyone knows that. People around the league know this isn't just about this past season, but a trend over the past three since their Cup win. If they were to have fired Q after this season it would have little to no bearing on any future business/transactions/dealing with other clubs.

Denis Savard is a beloved person around the league. He was fired a handful of games into a new season, and while it raised some eye brows a bit, it didn't prevent the organization in any way from doing business with other teams and didn't really have any affect whatsoever. I know Savard didn't have even a minute fraction of Q's coaching experience and reputation, but as a player and a person he did. At the end of the day, teams are going to do whatever they can and deal with whoever they need to if they see a way to make their team better in doing so.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Kempny was absolutely atrocious for Caps last night

I didn't see much of the game, but they were ripping him pretty hard at the 1st intermission on Sportsnet.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Again, there's a pretty major difference between firing a first time coach with no real accomplishments under their belt and firing one of the winningest coaches in league history who had won multiple championships for your team in recent memory and was guaranteed to get into the Hall of Fame. You're free to think that I overstated the negative impact of seemingly unceremoniously canning Q would elicit, but he's not remotely comparable to Savard.

And, if anything, firing a fan favorite without any issue previously is seemingly proof at the very least that the thesis of not wanting to can a popular coach doesn't hold much water.

 

[dougd]

Kempny was absolutely atrocious for Caps last night

No argument from me.

Made one good play where he blocked a pass in the air with his hand, other than that.....
Kempny is average IMO and still looks to be adjusting to speed of NHL with hesitating moments.
He scores a goal and all of a sudden, Q has held him back.
Yes, he didn't really get a fair shot (ice time) in Chi, but still average and is/was never going to be the difference maker on D going forward or during past season.....was that a play on words?