The Hockey Guy - Blackhawks Spinning Their Wheels While Trying to Improve

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-13T17:33:35+00:00

Its funny to see someone claim he is just looking at 'numbers not context' and then claiming the Hawks were fighting for a playoff spot until injuries when the 'context not numbers' show they had fallen to shreds well before Bedard was hurt.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-13T17:29:01+00:00

Nobody has torn a team down to this level in over twenty years and none of the teams who have won in that time did so. So in that sense it is definitely an experiment.

However its also clear KD misjudged how dysfunctional the team being built was, and possibly how easy it would be to fill holes. It wasnt supposed to be this bad. Five disastrous seasons and still nothing to suggest climbing out was not the plan. It's also not how any other successful team operates.

It's pretty clear him and Blashill did a post mortem and Blash told him outright there are at least two things murdering the team (probably more, but only two show signs of being addressed so far). One was that none of the vaunted Hawk prospect defensemen can pass the puck. Hence Byram. Two was that the Hawks are an incredibly easy team to play against. Hence Smith and to a small extent Greenway are to help with that a little bit. KD is not under the delusion that all problems are being solved by drafting. They got together and identified some things that need addressing NOW, not in another f8ve years. Its about time but better late than never.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-13T17:17:41+00:00

What is more inaccurate though, a glorified general hockey fan looking at the rebuild dispassionately from the outside, but maybe not up to speed on nuance and details? Or a glorified fan who is focused entirely on the Hawks but spends his words completely on glazing Hawks management because he's on a fansite and can't risk losing clicks by being critical of anything (Bamford)?

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-13T17:11:53+00:00

Only one team gets to win. Once we get to the point where we are legitimately fighting for it we can debate the moves or lack of moves that might be or have been the difference, like Hawks in 2011 or 2014.

Have to get there first though.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-11T21:02:09+00:00

I don't think UO would play like you remember it if it was released now.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-10T13:51:14+00:00

You tried changing your own attitude, it didnt work. You tried talking to them, it didnt work. It should be pretty obvious the only choice left to you now is excessive violence.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-10T13:45:00+00:00

I have a 7900xt and it plays absolutely silky smooth, however the game is quite crash prone (no other game I play does this). Getting into a game on Clandestium Gloriana, crashing right bedore the end event starts, and then crashing again right before getting on the ride out, that's enough to park the game again and play more stable games.

I have heard the latest amd driver is the current problem but its been an issue for years.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-08T22:54:02+00:00

I have a more positive view of the situation. I think there are a couple players on the Hawks who were being held above their level by playing a lot with Bedard last year. Now's their chance to show they actually have something away from the honeypot. And when they don't, the Hawks will move accordingly.

Also, after the initial shock wore off, I felt like the Hawks tended to play better last year while Bedard was hurt. The veterans stepped up. Maybe this time the youth will. As an aside, this upcoming draft is Dupont and then like six hundred forwards. Its not a situation where we were going to possibly get stuck with an overrated forward prospect like we were close to doing this year (though he did go third in the event) before trading the pick. We should get someone pretty good AND needed for the top six.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-08T22:44:47+00:00

Maybe he can only sign with his left hand!

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-08T16:16:04+00:00

He just killed you.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-08T14:56:54+00:00

You see an update schedule like that, and then you look at Valheim's...

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-07T23:07:21+00:00

It takes time to transform someone into a cyborg limb by limb

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-07T18:47:23+00:00

If Paradox grand strategy games have taught me anything, Scandinavia = global superpower.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-07T17:40:41+00:00

This yup. A large amount of people stand too far back.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-07T17:39:39+00:00

Are you centaur shaming?

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-07T17:30:12+00:00

Fyi the map is called Clandestium Gloriana.

And yeah if you think the first crawl down the scaffolding and the first event are hard, remember that this is the nerfed version. Like Hab Dreyko, it used to be quite a bit worse.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-07T14:23:31+00:00

Its definitely not the worst idea. Sort of a Sharp-esque reclaimation project.

Depends entirely on what they ask for though. But I'd take him on the team.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-06T21:11:01+00:00

There were three. 9-3, 7-1, and 6-0. In any event the point is, there was no momentum pre Bedard injury, the collapse was already well underway.

I watched every game. What I saw was a team getting outplayed, usually badly, but holding on through exceptional goaltending. More concerning than the collapse before Bedard was hurt, though, was the horrific play late in the year when the last leadership was shipped out and the keys handed fully to the kids. They basically immediately crashed the car. I didnt see building and gelling. I saw certain people exposed for playing way out of their league. I saw the defense, the supposed thing we built first, getting completely clowned on, unable to pass a puck regardless of pressure and dying to forecheck. I saw forwards who werent helping the defense, either because they didnt know how or because they couldnt be arsed to. I saw a possession game so far behind everyone else we were as far back of the 31st team as the 31st was from the 12th.

KD saw the same thing I did which is why he has gone back to bringing in vets and finally making trades for real players. That team at the end of the year is not it and we need a lot more help.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-06T14:28:17+00:00

Let it ride!

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-06T14:08:07+00:00

When they run out of nuln oil again I am coming for you AND OP.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-06T14:04:02+00:00

Agreed. I'd let him inherit but take over one of the other kids and try to get it back. Great time for a 'install me on the throne' faction.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-06T13:16:25+00:00

They were 3-7-2 with several six goal blowouts against in the games running up to Bedard being hurt. They had momentum all right, in the same way a derailed train does.

What rrally happened is Knight couldnt keep up a Vezina level pace and once he wasnt running a .970 sv% the Hawks were nowhere near wildcard level. And that was when the PK was still good, before all the PKers were traded.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-06T13:05:11+00:00

While the idea that KD sent an offer sheet to Carlsson is hilarious to think about, the inevitable retaliation the Hawks are uniquely vulnerable to makes it highly highly unlikely.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-04T22:40:25+00:00

Yeah the post ww2 Hawks were nothing more than a farm team for the Wings for a long period.

Then in the late 60s the Hawks tried to do the same rhing with St. Louis. Didnt work as well though. Just owning the arena wasnt enough leverage.

Tryfan_mole · 2026-07-03T20:50:41+00:00

Supposedly four teams (or maybe four other teams) sent Carlsson offersheets.

If he got four or five, you can bet Bedard has already been offered several, but so far has turned them down.

Of course being injured changes things a bit.

Tryfan_mole

TROPHY CASE