The Chicago Blackhawks made some waves yesterday as they fired president John McDonough. It was a bit of surprising move considering the changes that have happened under McDonough. Three Stanley Cups, years of success and over 500 consecutive games sold out at the United Center.Unfortunately the last couple of years haven't been as successful so after getting a vote of confidence from Rocky Wirtz earlier in the year he was sent packing. However the last couple of years haven't really been McDonough's fault have they?You can say that they happened under his watch so he is accountable, however as Mark Lazerus of The Athletic points out, general manager Stan Bowman isn't safe considering what he's done recently. "But did McDonough hand a 30-year-old Brent Seabrook a roster-buckling eight-year contract worth $55 million? No, Bowman did. Did McDonough trade away Artemi Panarin as part of a knee-jerk reaction to one bad week against Nashville in the 2017 playoffs? No, Bowman did. Did McDonough misuse a rare chunk of cap space the past two summers on middling and/or injury-prone veterans? No, Bowman did. Did McDonough try, midseason, to install a convoluted defensive system that was basically the polar opposite of what the Blackhawks had been running for years? No, Colliton did. Has McDonough been unable to take the Blackhawks out of the running for «worst defensive team in the league» over the last two years? No, Colliton has." It seems that Wirtz has simply had enough, and Bowman and Colliton are both on the hot seat because they received the same vote of confidence McDonough received. With what could be a very compacted offseason, it could complicated a decision to send both Bowman and Colliton packing.
