IS IT TIME TO PANIC?

I'm absolutely against trading Kane, Sharp, Keith, or Toews.   

We already had to see dozens of "promising" young rookies that were going to improve each year.    You don't move a top line forward when you have one, there aren't enough of them.    I don't ever want to have the Hawks count on an Arnason, Daze, Calder, Holmqvist, Poulin, Vorobiev, Yakubov, Bell,  Cleary, Nabokov (center), Moreau, Krivokrasov, etc., to be on the top line hopeful again.   Chicago hadn't had a top line player from their system for a quarter century almost (no Daze was't a top line guy even though he played as one), JR was the last, nobody was close.     Sure a few made it years after they were away from Chicago, but you can't count on prospects to be top 6 types or top 3 types.   As a rule I would suggest to never give up a legitimate top line player if it can be avoided, they are seldom replaced effectively.

Never trade a top forward unless they are a gigantic negative impact on the team.  If they're a Semin, Kostitsyn, Heatley, or Kessel typ with all the baggage that's one thing.    Kane is nowhere close to that.   Besides, he's a big game type player as we've seen.   Until he folds in consecutive years in the postseason, I will want him around.   He drives me nuts but I don't think you can make the team better spending his cap hit elsewhere.   

I'm absolutely against trading Kane, Sharp, Keith, or Toews.    

Can't disagree with that statement, you have to build around players like that, not trade them when the going gets tough.  Sure, there are exceptions to that rule, one of them you pointed out when you listed some players that have issues and come with baggage but Kane doesn't fall into that category.  He got into some trouble once off the ice but that was it..... no repeat problems or issues, nothing you have to worry about.   Gotta hold onto that guy.... 23 year old kids coming off of 2 seasons and around 150 games at about a point a game are tough to come across...... actually almost impossible to come across.

That being said, somebody has to figure out what's wrong with this team.  I don't think I can go a post season not watching the Hawks either beat or scare the hell out of the Vancouver Canucks.      It's not often that I cheer for the Hawks, but when they play Vancouver I become a huge fan !!!!! 

Redwings1969, It sure is shaping up to be a Chicago / Vancouver first rd match-up. Let's hope they get back on track by then. And I agree, do NOT trade the core, build around them with the appropriate role type players.

I think this is where you wish your leaders were a lot older, guys like Toews, Kane, Keith and company are young guys that I doubt.

Besides coaching issues (Q admitted to some problems in a Tribune article yesterday) I think all the "veteran leaders" in the lockerroom may be drowning out Keith, Sharp, Seabrook, and Toews.    I have no idea how it works, but Brunnette, Mayers, O'Donnell, and/or Morrison may be undermining team leadership or perspective to the point that it's a detractor more than a positive.    That's just one of the 40 or so things that may be wrong.    I wonder if they have the wrong team leadership for that team wearing "C's and "A"s for this given team.   One type of leadership style NEVER fits all.

 I could be wrong but I doubt firing any of the coaches is going to make anymore of a difference right now then a trade would.

Probably right about a coaching change being useless, but it would still be my preference.     Of course, I think Quenneville, with his clout after the cup win, negotiated for authority when it comes to his coaching hires before his contract extension.    I think they're complacent and he's got his "buddies" there behind the bench, I don't like that.   

Special teams play is why I blame the coaches, the worst team in the league can have above average special teams play.   The Hawks have been among the worst pk teams for 2 years after being among the best and the pp has been terribly unreliable and inconsistent.

Since they aren't going to make a major trade at the deadline, I wouldn't even mind seeing one of the veterans thrown on waivers to be claimed by somebody else, that would scare the crap out of a number of players at least.   I would prefer a trade though.     I would rather see them take their chances with the ignorant and inexperienced kids as the team is extremely unlikely to win multiple series on the road in the West as presently constructed.

The team deserved a better fate last night. They did all the right things. They controlled play for most of the night and got pressure to the front of the net. Defensively there were a couple of lapses but they were locked down most of the night. Disappointing to see them outplay their opponent and not come away with the two points they deserved.

I thought last night would have been much worse if they played a team with talent up front.  Nashville couldn't finish anything.

Toews getting too much of a free pass, he's making bad turnovers or setting himself up to get picked, and he's not winning enough of the important faceoffs.    If he's injured, he needs to get out of the way, if he's healthy, he needs to play better.   "Hustle" shouldn't give guys a free pass. 

Olsen and Hossa looked like idiots on the stick exchange that almost lead to a goal.
Stalberg making stupid entry that lead to a goal again, yes Olsen had a chance to clear the puck before the Ellis goal, but if Stalberg puts it deep instead of trying to beat 2 defenders, the whole sequence never develops.
Emery needs to stop the Ellis goal off of Keiths' stick, but he also saw a couple shots that never should have gotten through to the net.  Hossa had a good night on the whole but still made too many mistakes including his ridiculous offsides.

Olsen is not ready, sick of seeing him up right now.    Rockford last in the league in GA in the AHL, he didn't learn how to defend there.

3 of next 4 against NYR, DET, and STL.    It's time to Panic.    Hawks are going to burn themselves out trying to make the playoffs after the next Detroit game.    I don't think they can win 2 playoff series on the road without luck intervening, even if they fix most of the problems.     Good and consistent play will now be the exception rather than the norm for this year when it comes to special teams, defense, and goaltending.  

There aren't any good moves to make, nobody is trading anybody who might be useful outside of a marginal role player.    Only move is firing coaches at this point, so I don't think anything happens.    We'll just have to enjoy the ridiculous hope that the Hawks somehow get 3 pts out of the next 4 games.

Toews getting too much of a free pass, he's making bad turnovers or setting himself up to get picked, and he's not winning enough of the important faceoffs.    If he's injured, he needs to get out of the way, if he's healthy, he needs to play better.   "Hustle" shouldn't give guys a free pass.  

I agree.  I think the only way you're going to teach Toews a lesson is to trade him to Detroit.  Just take Brendan Smith for him straight up and be done with that clown.   I'm sure this would wake the Hawks up quickly !!!!!!!    

All kidding aside, I'll say it again.  This crazy losing streak the Hawks are going through completely blows my mind.  There isn't much I can think of that I haven't seen in the NHL but this slump might fall into that very rare category.   A team this talent rarely if ever loses this many games in a row.  The only exceptions I can remember seeing recently were a few years ago, I saw remember something similar happening to Vancouver and to Detroit, but in both cases those teams got destroyed by injuries.   In both cases we're talking about teams that lost 3 and 4 of their top 6 dmen and in Detroit's case 4 or 5 forwards at one point, most from the top 3 lines.  Only ridiculous injuries will usually explain why or how a team this talented has lost this many games in a row, especially with how the Hawks have lost some of these games and how they looked doing it. 

This Hawks team is relatively healthy, no crazy injuries or major injuries that we know of at all.   Yes, there were a few changes since but this team won the cup not long ago and came back from a 3-0 deficit against a damn good Vancouver team last year to almost pull off one of the biggest comebacks in NHL history in the playoffs.

The more I think about it in my opinion the Hawks have to fire the coach asap to see if that gets these guys going.  And if that doesn't work then I believe you make some moves in the summer.  For now though, I can't see how a trade would help the Hawsk.  And from what I can see there doesn't appear to be much available out there anyway.  The biggest names that might be available that I've seen are in the west, guys like Suter and Nash for example. I think if those guys get moved they get sent to the eastern conference, they don't likely get traded to a team in the west.  Once again though, I'm not sure either or both of those guys fixes what's going on in Chicago right now. 

IS IT TIME TO PANIC?

Well, Toews is out with no noted progress and hasn't skated in 20 days.

Toronto tonight

Then @ OTT @DET and @STL

We'll see how it goes but with 18 games left and 11 of them against teams with better records than Chicago, "panic" may be an understatement depending on how the next 5 games go.     

Duncan Keith is simply not the same player wheater he has been over used or what I do not know.The Hawks have alot of money tied up in their core,maybe we neeed for everyone to get healthy.Lets see what happens but a first round exit would be bad for someone.

Duncan Keith is simply not the same player wheater he has been over used

I think being over-used may be part of the issue. But Keith is arguably our best defenseman. I like Seabrook almost as equally. (Campbell was my favorite.) Keith moves the puck well on the offensive breaks up ice. He's also the kind of defenseman that could be a gritty winger. So he has above average offensive skills.

Why wouldn't you want to use a guy like Keith?

Does this mean that his legs get tired after logging 30 minutes a night? Maybe. But he works as hard as a centerman. The way he is being used by Coach Q, Keith has to cover a lot of ice on each shift. Wingers may be out there for 30 seconds. The D is out there longer.

It may be frustrating to see Keith cough up the puck, but hockey is a "team" sport. To help Keith, at the ends of the periods in particular (like the 15 minute mark), the wingers need to get back to the defensive zone quicker to help the defense clear. Leaving the defense on their own against 3 wingers bearing down on them makes our wingers just as culpable IMO.

I think the wingers also need to check more. Keith, Seabrook and the rest of the D takes a pounding by the opposing wingers. A few neutral zone and blue line checks (while they have puck possession obviously) should slow the opposing wingers down. If they get a chance to dump the puck in, who else takes the brunt of the hit otherwise? Keith and the rest of our defense.

Id say its time to panic and we have Scottys little boy to lead us out of this. Good God this is like the city of chicago hire youe family and pay them well.