from Barry Rozner of the Chicago Daily-Herald,

"People talk about reloading and refreshing. I want us to rewin is what I want us to do," McDonough said with a wry smile. "That message has been sent loud and clear, but with reasonable expectations.

"Our expectations this year are to be a playoff team, and then once you get in, be in a position to make a deep run.

"Stan has a lot of resources. I have a lot of faith in Stan and Joel (Quenneville), but we're all in the performance business, myself included."

It sounds as if the Hawks will hope for a good start, health from Corey Crawford, improved performance from Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad, and something from a group of young defensemen.

If that doesn't happen, the direction remains unclear, though one would suppose some form of rebuild or -- forgive the term -- reload.'

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