Gutless move by 'new' Hawks
Maybe Denis Savard wasn't the right coach to take the Hawks to the playoffs and beyond. We'll never know that now. But for them to fire Savard four games into the season after letting him go through the off-season and training camp is a move right out of the Bill Wirtz school for not how to run a franchise.
If Rocky Wirtz (wasn't he supposed to be different?), John McDonough, Dale Tallon and Scotty Bowman had any concerns about Savard's ability to coach, why didn't they have the guts to make the decision to change coaches before training camp? Now the organization appears to be a mess again.
Heck, just last Friday McDonough went on the Score with Hanley and Mulligan and said the Hawks were "very, very happy with Denis Savard as head coach."
Guess things change in a week.
And there was Tallon at training camp claiming that Joel Quenneville, now the new coach, came to him asking for a job as a scout. How dumb are we supposed to be?
Quenneville is a good coach and a good guy who could take the Hawks where they want to go. But that won't excuse the wrong done to Savard.
There is speculation that Savard's choice of goalies in Monday's home opener didn't please his bosses, especially after Cristobal Huet flopped in the shootout loss to Nashville before almost 22,000 people. Did Savard create this goalie problem by signing Huet as a free agent when everyone know Khabibulin's contract couldn't be unloaded? No, Tallon did.
Dale still has a job today, but you have to wonder for how much longer.
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この点で、"毎日経済ニュース"のインタビューで、バーバリーマフラー
上海国際ファッション連合王信元昨日、の副社長は、バーバリー財布
中国で高級ブランドは、OEMの生産ラインがすでに一般的な事実を設定されていることだ、これは正常です、高級ブランドは、バーバリー アウトレット
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英国の主要工場の南威尔斯朗で、バーバリー アウトレット
その渓谷地域を閉じて"事業活動における、もはやは、続けて" 、"高級ブランドの英国のブランドは、"
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正式に中国本土の広東省深センに生産ラインを移動します。
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認可された製造業者の贅沢によると、
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中国はアジア最大の高級品メーカーとなっているものの、紛れもない事実である、ことを明らかにしたが、バーバリー アウトレット
代わって中国では比較的高級ブランドの国内生産のネットワークで完全な、しかし、
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そのすべての製品を確立しています労働者の地位"より多くのタブーは、開くことはしたくない。"
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内蒙古千本の苗木の草原に植えただけでなく、自分の汗を抑制し、地元の砂漠化への貢献を、草原のための緑のタッチを追加しました。
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Great blog Tim. Let's hope the team supports this and plays hard for Quenneville. The talent is there and the goal of reaching the playoffs is real. Let's hope the front office made the right choice for the team and let's pray Savy bites his tongue and get's behind this as brutal as it was handled. Hawk nation needs to stand together now.
For all the "feel good" momentum that was gained over the past 11 months, it all crashed yesterday. Heck, I even purchased season tickets for this year!
I arrived back in town just in time to watch the press conference yesterday and what I was most interested in seeing was who the first person to walk into the press conference was...Scotty Bowman!
I think all Hawks fans would be silly to think that hockey decisions fall with anyone but Bowman now.
I believe Bowman is good thing for the Hawks...but now the pressure is on to win right now! The Hawks don't have the luxury to hide incompetance in a stadium called Wrigley (watch out Dale!).
The only feel good now is winning...sorry kids, time to ramp up! Hope it doesn't stunt your growth!
Rocky is just making sure people don't forget he is Bill's son. Pulford would have had more class in handling this situation. If Savy is to blame then Tallon has to be gone too! Let's get Brian Burke and have a real GM that can get things done.
I never want to hear about that again. This is still the most clueless organization in professional sports. Denny was more of a true Blackhawk than any of these bozos. Tallon, Bowman, Quenneville and Mcdonough....give me a break. And, can somebody please tell me why Mcdonough is a " marketing genius"? My 8 year old daughter would have been successfull marketing the Cubs. Tallon is spineless....Bowman is a jerk...and Quenneville is nothing more than a re-tread. Good-bye Hawks....I've been living without you for the last ten years whats a few more. As for Savvy....good luck, my friend....hope you come back to haunt these idiots soon.
Tim
you were right denis the legend should have gotton extension.
he improved a the team in his 2 years as coach and almost
made playoffswith pathatic goalies in over paid habbulain.who couldn't top a beach ball.
without teows and overpaid supposed star havlet due to injurys and bunch of unprovened rookies.
this year one legit center in toews,sharp is a winger, bolland 3rd line center and 2 pylons
in net.
nice job tallon,he should been released not savvy.
the backstabber mcdonough and rocky the rat should stick to marketing.
these two buffons hire a washed up fossel in bowman and overated pet drunk queinville.
who plays a trap boring system .
way to show class as organization.
savvy thanks for the best post game press conferance when those 3 players
havlet,lang,ruuto stuck the joint out and you said the greatest statement
commit to the indian.
that showed passion and heart,that no other coach will ever
show or care like you.
you will be missed.
i will never follow this team again.
joe
... I think you have a friendship with Savvy and that clouded you journalism. You articles on Savvy's contract basically slanted to "why no extention yet!?!?!?" but they coulda/shoulda been "the axe is about to fall."
Here's my assumption: Rocky's conversations behind closed doors was 'we personally like Savvy, but we'll pay for proven coach' so they held out as long as the could be for they booted him. All reports of the preseason and 1st four games mentioned some type of sloppiness.
The timing of this move certainly is questionable - but in the final analysis, Savard was not NHL head coaching material, despite the 40 wins the team managed to post last year.
Last year's team actually had a legitimate shot at making the playoffs, but as others have said, Savard failed to get the team (namely the vets) out of a funk in January after Toews went down, when it counted most. That cost them a legit shot at a playoff spot. Tallon shoulders much of the blame too for failing to add important pieces last year when injuries hit - in fact he dealt vandermeer before sopel went down & failed to add another veteran Dman (who was desperately needed even before he moved vandermeer!). The wins they got after they were for all intents & purposes eliminated are nice, but ultimately meaningless.
To me, the bottom line is new ownership has made a commitment to fans that this is essentially a new franchise that is serious about trying to return to its once proud tradition and build a contending team. Rocky & McDonough have done many things to undo many of the wrongs of recent years, not the least of which is to become fan friendly (aside from ticket price increases) and also to bring in the best hockey people to get the team on the ice to match the marketing.
Bringing in Scotty Bowman as a senior hockey advisor was the single most important turning point in my opinion, that indicated there was actual substance to the talk of committing to building a winning team and that it was no longer business as usual in Hawkland. The Savard firing to me is simply a necessary step in the progression of the organization & team as it develops its hockey identity and return to respectability.
I suspect it may take some time for some of the players, particularly the younger ones who were entrusted with a lot of ice time by savard, to adjust to the new reality of Quenneville, and for some that adjustment might be difficult (I will be very interested to see how Patrick Kane reacts - he was obviously a favorite of Savard's despite his one dimensional game).
The lineup still has too many rookies & inexperienced young players to be a serious playoff contender in my opinion. There is also too much invested in the goaltending position, and huet hasn't convinced that khabi is expendable. The defense lacks size & toughness and depth, relying too heavily on campbell, keith & seabrook. That is on Tallon and he better hope that Quenneville can work miracles with his young guys or Dale will be golfing with Savard come spring.
Good point on Kane, chicohawk. Savard probably saw a lot of himself in Kane, and they obviously bonded well. Quenneville will be a lot less forgiving if Kane doesn't pay attention to the other aspects of the game, so it definitely will be interesting to see how he reacts. Since the salary cap is severely restricting what they can do (thanks to the next to go, Tallon), the most important thing to get done is either develop these young guys or decide they're not going to make it at this level. Regardless, the playoffs this year isn't a given as so many people thought.
I agree Irish12, I'm sure Savard saw himself when he watched Kane and i'm sure it was a natural kinship and affinity the two had for each other...but at the same time, I think allowing himself as coach to overlook the shortcomings of an 18 year old kid no matter how gifted & talented (or even be perceived as doing that) while holding other players to a different, more difficult standard was just asking for trouble.
It looked to me like Savard had problems as coach with getting the most out of some of the vets - or at least as much as he expected from them. Whether it was because the vets had little confidence in him as coach and didn't put out for him or Savard's expectations of them were unreasonable, I don't know, but I sense he essentially quit trying to get more out of the vets to instead focus on the kids... who were naturaly much more receptive to him and easier to work with...and presumably represented the future of the club. However, i think Savard's neglect of holding the vets accountable (along with Tallon's mismanagement) cost the club a legit shot a playoff spot last year.
in some ways, that explains to me the constant shuffling of the lines and the lineup & other moves last year - the hawks used over 40 skaters last year! - that is essentially two teams worth - yea some of that was due to injury, but a lot was just calling up kids for a game or two here & there to try out different combinations...there didn't seem to be any longer-term development plan in place or consideration of what the team's needs were - many of the call-ups never even got a long enough look to be properly evaluated.
Like Savard, Tallon was & still is learning on the job so all the bunglings aren't surprising
I'm sure Bowman realizes tho they can't have a guy masquerading as an NHL GM simply shuffling 20 extra bodies in endlessly every year trying as many combinations as possible hoping for something that might work...Rocky doesn't have that kind of time or money to waste anymore.
I expect a major deal, maybe a couple, to free up cap space for some vets and perhaps to move out some youngsters/prospects who don't figure in the team's plans longer term. Tallon might announce them, but I doubt he is the one who decides on them anymore.
I agree with what most of you have posted. However, I look back to early January, where the Hawks were on the cusp of the playoffs, and Toews got injured. They went into a nose dive, and it took Savard way too long to react. He reacts earlier and maybe they make up those 3 points that they missed out by. He was too much of a cheer leader. HIs powerplays have continually stunk and in the NHL today you have to be able to score with the man advantage. That is what is killing this team right now.
Dale Tallon is an idiot. He is buying time and praying that guys like Versteeg, Skillie, and Bolland produce. Those are his guys. HE trades a legitimate 2nd line center for nothing, and signs a goalie who was OLDER then what Khabibulin was when he signed his ridiculous deal. Now you have Bulin out playing Huet, and then what? He already over estimated the trade value of Bulin, and now he is the Hawks best chance to win every night. What happens in February or March when you have to dump Bulin and he is YOUR starting goalie? That should be an automatic firing for Tallon.
THe goal is to reach the playoffs. You can't tell me, any of you upset by this, that you are happy with this teams peformance through 4 games. Hell, they already had a player's only meeting. You can't clinch a playoff berth in October, but you can certainly lose one, and rightfully so Savard is gone.
Agree with all the points you made.
Looks like Rocky still has some of his old man's lack of class still left in him.
I have no problem with the decision, but we wasted an entire offseason where a new coach could get this team into form.
The issue is the timing for the post-$Bill Hawks, and it's not good for the PR. Agreed. (For the record, this young season Lang has 2pts in 4 games, Samsonov none in 3, and Ruutu 2 in 3 -- hardly breaking any records.) But as for Sassone calling it gutless or questioning the timing -- this is a business, isn't it? Why do we get so nostalgic for some non-existent sporting era when everything was handled behind closed doors and with a handshake? B.S. The Devils fired a coach on the cusp of the playoffs, as did the Brewers. You see a chance, something wrong, you take care of it then. Maybe McDonut and Tallon had Savard's word on something and he regressed. Maybe Savvy was ambushed. Paraphrasing Major League, "Who gives a spit? He's gone!"
Say what you will about the importance of last night's win, it was still sloppy. Coulda been 4-0 after one. And we've been hearing about how bad things could have gotten with the games coming up -- should they have waited until we were 1 - 9 on the season? Timmy, ask your former Herald comrades about the timing of their dismissals. Firing never happens at a good time: either too early or too late. Stitch it up, and get back out there.
Hear that Dale?? You're next!
Can't and won't understand why the firing today. You telling me this team's supposed to be 4-0? They're the second youngest team in the league. They have to develop chemistry and learn how to win. Quenneville? How many cups has he won? Based on Savard's timetable, Quenneville has how many games to produce? How soon before the Bowman's are GM's? How many more red carpet events can McShow produce?
What a crock. Savard did not deserve the Billy Reay treatment! If he wasn't the guy, this should have been done during the summer.
In fairness, I don't hear Tim saying definitively that Savard should have remained the Coach. What I do hear Tim saying is that, IF a change was to be made, it should have been made months ago and certainly NOT four games into the regular season.
Here, I could not agree more. Quenneville should have had the coaching reigns at the begninning of training camp. This would have given him the time to teach his system, gain the players' respect first-hand, and allowed him to establish his brand of discipline. Now, the team is going to be playing catch-up.
On the up-side, the Blackhawks have their first proven NHL coach since anyone cares to remember. Now if they could only get a proven GM....
Just get rid of the other toady Tallon.
When is Denis savard night?
....not this season i guess.
I have a ton of respect for Denis Savard, The Player.
He was also a class act who was a great ambassador for hockey in this town, during a period in which it was on life support.
As a coach, he never did inspire a lot of confidence in me.
I think the timing of this is clumsy and unprofessional. But life goes on.
Savard really seemed to "get it" when it came to his role and interacting with "the public" and I wish him the best in whatever comes next.
Savard was a great player, but I could never take him seriously as a coach.
He was simply on a different level as a player who in my opinion could not relate sufficiently to the guys who weren't/aren't as gifted or skilled - but who nevertheless play essential roles on a successful team. And defensive zone coverage or clearing was not exactly a strong suit of his as a player or a coach.
Quenneville is a solid choice for coach (though have to admit some bias here as he is from my hometown & I remember seeing him play as a junior). He was assistant under crawford when the avs beat the hawks in 95 (& went on to win the Cup) before becoming head coach in st. louis and as most hawk fans know, he coached very competitive teams. Before that, he was assistant & head coach in the minors.
He was a Dman, but not a star - he learned the game as a player and coach and can teach our young Dmen how to play in their own zone, and also help the young forwards provide better support. I think he'll also help the pp improve, but it would be difficult not to improve on a 1 for 11 pp conversion (the lone goal being on a 5 on 3).
Quenneville is a class act. This organization and team is continuing to move in the right direction
Regarding the guys who have left the Hawks. Savard never really earned his way into the coaching ranks by being a head coach in the minor's. He was promised the job a long time ago by the good ole' boy system.
I feel bad that it happened the way it did and the timing involved. It should have been done 2 months ago. Then they could have painted it by saying we're starting the season with a new coach. Even then it would have felt bad but 4 games in is just a rough way to do it. Regardless, it had to be done.
Quenneville has coached lots of kids and hopefully these kids can flourish under his supervision. God knows we've got alot of kids within our system and many of them have alot of potential. Wonder how long Quenneville will put up with Sopel playing like garbage???? :)
Hey Tim, I guess those columns talking about contract extensions for Savard really were wishful thinking, huh? He may have been a great player, and an absolute legend to hockey fans in this town, but he really wasn't a good coach. We can debate this back and forth, but he probably should have been let go at the end of last year. Yes, the timing would have been bad, but is now any better? At least with a whole offseason of everything they did, from the convention to the free agent signings, would have allowed them to rebuild goodwill with the fans. Plus a new coaching staff would have had all of training camp to instill a new system. Now what?
Getting to the real issue - McDonough kept Savvy around as long as he was useful. As long as he still sold tickets in this town, he was kept around. Now the tickets are sold, and they need to win. This isn't Cubbie land, where some clever marketing and promises of hope keep the sheep coming through the turnstiles. Hawks fans have shown if you don't win, they don't show up. McDonough realizes this and does what he has to do. Will this result in a championship eventually? Who knows, we'll see.
At the end of the day, Tim, it's all about the mighty dollar. It was the same for Bill Wirtz as it is for Rocky and McDonough now. They just went about it in completely different ways. Of course everyone professes their goal is to win a championship, but that's really not it. Other than maybe the Mark Cuban type, these guys are businessmen, they're not doing it for the fans, they're doing it to make money, and that's it. That's why they are in the positions they are in the first place. During McDonough's tenure with the Cubs, they didn't win squat, remember that. He did make a ton of money for the Tribune Co,., though.
One more thing, Tim - obviously from your writing you are a huge Savard fan. You also are around that team all the time. Did you really think Savard was the guy to get them to the next level? Was he the guy to develop guys like Skille, Bolland, Byfuglien, etc., and turn them into first or second liners, or like a lot of superstars that get into coaching only able to relate to guys like Kane? I agree it's a horrible way to handle the situation, and Savard deserves better, but eventually this move had to come.
Savard was never a great coach and probably will never be. He was a great hockey player and a great person. I'm sad he lost his job,,,,but the organization as gutless as anyone may think it is,,,is doing what's best for this team and the fans. I'ts never good to see anyone fired,,,it's part of business. But what's done is done. 6 months from now you will be singing a different tune.
It happened in Washington last year, and everyone was happy in April. So let's get past the tears and move forward. You will see great improvement in our players.
Does anyone notice how much better Rene Bourque is playing already, or how about Robert Lang,,,or how about Samsanov and Ruutu after they left Savard' tutoridge. Coincidence ? I don't think so........coaching.