Vent here.

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Not a mult.

Better hope some of these draft picks start working out, that's all I know. We need cheap help fast.

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The goal where Crawford came 6 feet out of the net with a crowded zone in front of him and the rebound got knocked in behind him was the game. I think the Hawks could use another "pretty good" Goalie they can trust next season to avoid fatigue on CC.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Yeah, Raanta needs more seasoning. I still don't think he's big enough to be a modern NHL goalie, unfortunately. It'd be nice to see them get a 1A kind of guy, but I'm not sure they can commit the cap space.

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I don't know whether the Hawks should try to make one last run next year or resign to taking a step back to start letting some young talent mature. Problem is, taking a step back could mean finishing sixth in the division with everyone but the Jets vastly improving while we don't.

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Crawford's fine. Not worried about him.
Bowman loves to unload/re-tool. Listen to all offers for:

Sharp
Seabrook
Bickell ( no, really, maybe somebody would give up something for him)


I'm driving Versteeg to O'hare tonight. He's gone. Handzus is supposed to ride with us but he'll miss the ride because he'll be late to the meeting spot. I'm still overjoyed that the Haws extended Bollig for more than $1 over the minimum.

"The Bowman Plan" is still in place and it's still going to very effective for years to come. The core is in place, and they are still young and very, very good. The goaltending is good and relatively affordable. This is a rough way to end the season though.

CH should probably stop talking hockey for a while.

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Bowman needs to Q-proof his roster next year. He handed him a bone with Bollig which is small potatoes. Versteeg needs to somehow get punted ASAP. After this next season sell Sharp before he gets even worse than he already is. We'll need 2-3 defensemen in the next year or so with Oduya and Roszival in contract years and Seabrook taking the Wade Redden path in his career.

Hopefully Cledening or Johns are real because we'll soon be the Penguins.

I'm not ready to give up on Sharp yet. Maybe he was just hurt down the stretch. He was our leading scorer this year, come on.

I'm much more worried about the teams around us than I am our own team. I know we have the talent in the system, but look at Minnesota, St. Louis, Colorado, and Dallas. Even Nashville is putting it together just by getting a real coach. Might have to petition to move to the Eastern Conference like the Red Wings did!

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Patrick Kane had 29 frickin goals (69 gp) in the regular season?

Serious question,is that considered great nowadays?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

This half-baked roster blew so many leads this series that it's amazing it went to 7. Q's dumbass decision to play guys like Versteeg (much less Versteeg and Handzus in the final offensive zone faceoff, which 'Zus promptly lost) was simply salt in the wound.

Gut the old, play the young. If you're going to bring in veterans keep using the Bowman rental system. There was NO sense in trading prospects for Versteeg or re-upping Handzus this offseason.

I'm expecting 23, 26, 32, and 27 to be cut in coming weeks and guys like Leddy and Seabrook potentially traded for a center to harness the glory of the Saad/Kane connection.

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He missed....15?...games due to injury.
He's not a "sniper" in the sense that he will score 50. He's a wizard with puck on his stick and should be the guy that sets up somebody else for 40+. Assuming he got to play with the same guys every game.

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Some obvious thought mixed with really bad thoughts here.

Long time fan since '10.

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Finally another sane hockey poster has arrived with spanky.

He did not say give up on Sharp, he said listen to offers. If someone makes a good offer then by all means you can let him go.

The Hawks are fine. They have won 2 cups, and just had an epic 7 game series that is probably going to determine the Cup winner this year. The have a good goalie. They have 2 young stars that are going to be the foundation of a team for several years.

To hear some of you guys it sounds like Kane and Toews are 35 and this was their last run at a cup.

Should be interesting to see what Bowman does this offeason

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

He was on a point-per-game pace until he got knocked out for the year. So he started plays instead of finishing them; would you prefer we don't count those? His scoring was also suppressed greatly by having to play with Handzus, with whom I don't think he scored a goal until very late in the year, if then.

And yes, scoring is way down again thanks to unpenalized obstruction running rampant like it did before 2004.

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You can't trust Bowman in a trading a "core" member. He's good at picking up depth but horrible at constructing a "blockbuster".

Again, the ending was rough and I get how that brings out some emotional reactions.

If you were to poll all of the NHL coaches which team they would they want to coach, the Hawks may be the #1 choice.
The "core" of Toews, Kane, Keith, Hossa, Crawford, etc - plus the younger promising guys like Saad, Hammer, Leddy, even guys like Smith (assuming he's here next year), in addition to some of the guys waiting in Rockford - make Chicago's lineup one of the best.

Focus should be on getting Kane re-signed, obviously, along with Toews.

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Not much on the free agent market besides Gaborik. Unrestricted free agency is kind of dead in the NHL, especially with the eight-year max exclusive to retaining teams. Someone is going to wildly overpay Derek fucking Roy.

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Never got the Handzus Kane line. It made me mad.

Perhaps take advantage of a down year from Grabovski and attempt to nab him as a 2C. If he repeats his crap year he's still light years better than Zus.

Blues let Ryan Miller walk. He's an UFA.

Hawks won't sign a Russian. It's like they're genetically predisposed to being shitheads. If the Hawks couldn't even stomach Brandon Pirri in their dressing room, they won't stomach a Russian.

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Well I tried coming back to this board. It's always a mistake.

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Cry about it.
And find another place where everybody agrees with you.

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I can't believe they lost.

why? You been bitching they were horrible for the last few months? Shouldn't this be what you expected?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

But we all would have believed it 5 days ago.

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Yeah, just sucks to see them get so close and then boot three leads and a bloop goal.

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I admit, I thought it was over when it was 2-0.

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They blew what? 3 leads? They had 17 seconds last year. I knew they were capable of it always, just didn't know if they would.

5 goals is a lot.

Lots of Blech on the team too.