Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Stan Bowman On The Chicago Blackhawks

03/22/2018 at 8:33am EDT

Craig Custance of The Athletic talked with a few general managers at the GM Meetings, this from Stan Bowman,

Bowman points out that last year’s team probably wasn’t as good as the record indicated, over-reliant on Crawford and the beneficiary of overtime wins. “This year, we’re not even getting to overtime,” Bowman said. His sense is that the team is the opposite – better than the record shows, although still frustrating coaching and management with its ability to find ways to lose. “We need our best players to play better. There’s no question,” Bowman said. “Our top players are all having their worst years all at the same time. That’s not a recipe for success. The question is, why? It’s not one thing. It’s not like there’s one thing — ‘Aha, I found it, let’s go fix that.’ Why are these guys not playing like they’ve always played? That’s a fair question.”

more (paid subscription) from Bowman and other GMs.

from Jeff Arnold of the New York Times,

Reminders of the past hang chronologically in the United Center rafters, where the Chicago Blackhawks’ Indian head logo is displayed on banners bookending the six white flags saluting the team’s Stanley Cup championships.

A new banner will not be added this season, which has produced fewer victories and points than any other since the last time the Blackhawks failed to qualify for the N.H.L. playoffs, a decade ago....

The combination of lost talent, injuries and less production from top-line players has taken its toll on the Blackhawks (30-35-9), who sit in last place in the Central Division. Bowman accepts the hand Chicago has been dealt and refuses to consider what could have been had the Blackhawks been able to remain healthy and maintain the level of excellence that has made Chicago a playoff staple for the better part of the past 10 years.

“The league doesn’t stop when good players get hurt, and other teams go through it too, and you have to find a way to overcome,” Bowman said in a telephone interview.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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