SUCCESS OF HAWKS' REBUILD WILL ONLY BE AS GOOD AS THEIR NEXT GM
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Pete FredericksFebruary 21, 2022 (11:18)
When the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup three times in five years between 2010 and 2015, they had to know these days were coming. Days of mediocrity. Days of starting over. It's a process that the franchise and its fan base had to endure prior to those glory days of the 2010, 2013 and 2015 seasons.
It isn't a process unique to the 'Hawks. In this salary cap era, very seldom are teams able to avoid the roller coaster of great success followed by collapse. The ones that manage to stay relevant for long stretches (see Tampa Bay, Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh to name a few) are able to as a result of exceptional management that's able to find a balance of icing very good team today without sacrificing the quality of tomorrow's team.
In his most recent article for The Athletic, Senior Blackhawks' writer, Scott Powers preaches patience and improved player development as being critical to this current rebuild, cornerstones which, as Powers sees, were not in place during the previous regime:
Former team president John McDonough got involved in the hockey ops way more than he should have, but (Stan) Bowman deserves much of the blame. The organization got desperate and began making decisions that were shortsighted and didn't have the best interest of their prospects' long-term future.
- Scott Powers
Using former Blackhawks' prospect and now NHL-regular for the Florida Panthers, Gustav Forsling, as his example, Powers provides a comprehensive view into what he believes Blackhawks' management needs to do with their current and future prospects in order to improve on the mistakes of the past:
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