Losing every facet of the game right now. :-/
What a game! A bit disappointed though. The refs let them play almost to a fault.
Bummer, to see them ousted so early. Looking ahead, this might help them ahead of next year with the World Championships in September. They've already played so much hockey over the last several years with the Cup wins and deep runs.
I am curious, what the impact to the roster might be if there is a decision regarding the expansion.
Stan Bowman gets a lot of credit for re-tooling the roster every year, but this year was pretty much an abject failure. In the off-season he traded Sharp and Johns to the Stars for basically nothing. The trade deadline moves made little if any impact for a huge cost. Adding Ladd, Weise, and Flieschman cost a no. 1 and no. 2 picks as well as two of the organizations top prospects. Coach Q didn't even want to play Flieschman. Ladd didn't have much impact and all three were just rentals. Signing Seabrook for eight years didn't make sense. And the albatross Bickell deal still has another year left.
I know I probably say this every year...
And I know this probably sounds like sour grapes, considering the Hawks have three Cups out of the deal...
But the NHL's salary cap really sucks. The NFL and NBA both have salary caps, but also have some mechanism that helps teams keep players they've drafted and developed.
The Hawks have had to trade away or let go Byfuglien at age 25 (4 All-Stars), Leddy at age 23 (1 All-Star), Versteeg at 24, Ladd at 25 (1 All-star and 5 20+ goal seasons), Saad at 23 (31 goals in his first year away), Brouwer at 26...
No other sport forces teams to give away their 20-something talent. They punish you when you try to hoard pricey free agents, but they don't force you to cast off young kids. It's really fan un-friendly in that it discourages fans from becoming invested in their team's young players.
But then, "NHL" and "fan-unfriendly" are pretty much synonymous.
That level of parity is what the league has to do to remain economically viable in all the terrible hockey markets it blundered into in the 90's.
Stan Bowman gets a lot of credit for re-tooling the roster every year, but this year was pretty much an abject failure. In the off-season he traded Sharp and Johns to the Stars for basically nothing. The trade deadline moves made little if any impact for a huge cost. Adding Ladd, Weise, and Flieschman cost a no. 1 and no. 2 picks as well as two of the organizations top prospects. Coach Q didn't even want to play Flieschman. Ladd didn't have much impact and all three were just rentals. Signing Seabrook for eight years didn't make sense. And the albatross Bickell deal still has another year left.
We have three cups because Bowman doubles down and doubles down again every single year. They have been unrelentingly present-focused.
I expect that is what will happen again.
Whole lot of wrong here. Bowman got bent over by Nill, but that's what happens when you're over the cap. When you need a taker for a declining 35yo @ $6M per for 2 years (and you're over the cap), you're not exactly dealing from strength. Taking Daley back was the killer, because that meant losing Oduya. JO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Daley.
Hawks picks are closer to next round, than the round they're in. What's the value of the 28th pick? Helluva lot less than 15, much less top 10.
Bowman went all in. Sorry, can't fault him for that. In fact, that was exactly the sort of message to send to a contender. Dano? Big deal. Danault? Ditto. Plus, losing them means no Foley confusion.
Bickell's big contract was inked after to 2013 playoffs. He gave the Hawks a discount. Yes, the contract is a giant albatross. Yes, there's another year left. Nobody could have predicted he'd fall off the table. Nobody.
Seabrook's AAV is fine, he took a hometown discount for sure. The term is too long, agreed. Think he'll be moved (Edmonton?) after next season.
And yet they're talking about expansion again.
Seriously, if they contracted Carolina and Phoenix, would anyone notice?