Stan Bowman's sabotage of Blackhawks organization just got worse
The Chicago Blackhawks are currently at the bottom of the league, finishing second to last place this season.
A lot of that can be blamed on former GM Stan Bowman, who has made multiple questionable moves throughout his 12-year tenure with the organization. Well, two former Hawks, both traded by Stan Bowman, are going to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The two players are playing a huge role on their respective teams. But who are they?
The first one is Florida's Gustav Forsling. Forsling scored the game winning goal in Game 6 to clinch the series against Boston.
The 27-year-old defenseman had a +56 in the regular season, and in the playoffs, has seven points with a +8.
Gustav never reached his full potential with Chicago, having a +3, -2, and a -9 for the three years he was with them. But that is partly because Jeremy Colliton took over the bench in 2018. The year Colliton took over, Forsling went from a -2 to a -9.
He was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2019 along with Anton Forsberg, which Chicago got back Calvin De Haan and Aleksi Saarela. Forsling is, of course, now with the Panthers, and is making a steady $5,700,000.
Last but not least, Artemi Panarin. This may hurt the most for Chicago fans, as Panarin was the future linemate for Patrick Kane in the short time he was here. Panarin has four goals and seven assists this Rangers playoff run, totaling to 11 points in 10 games.
This regular season, Panarin tallied 120 points and had 49 goals. Panarin was on the Blackhawks for two years and thrived as Kane's partner. He had 77 points in 2015 and 74 in 2016.
He was then traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, mainly because Panarin could never show up in the playoffs. The other reason was Chicago just didn't want to cough up the money to pay him.
The return included Brandon Saad, who helped bring Chicago two Stanley Cups in the past and showed up in the postseason. But that trade sent them into the downward spiral that brings us to today.
Bowman didn't let those two guys develop, and for that, he screwed the Hawks for the next few years.
| POLL | ||
Is Stan Bowman the worst GM in Blackhawks history? | ||
| Yes | 288 | 62.6 % |
| No | 145 | 31.5 % |
| Other | 27 | 5.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
