Now that Bowman has fucked up yet again and bailed out on a rebuild to go "all Kenny Williams" with this team....you just might as well keep JC in there. Let them keep losing....they need to draft, sign or trade for a couple of really good players. Changing coaches will improve things slightly but not enough to get them where they want to be. But they absolutely have to have the right GM in charge to do that. What the Hawks might want to do is give Bowman his richly derserved pink slip....and do it soon. I didn't watch a minute of tonight's game, not by design....but missing some this team's future games has suddenly become easier. Too many holes and they are gaping holes.....the dmen as a group are STILL horrid.....the future HOF goalie is no longer what he was...and our two best player are huge quesation marks. I've been saying since preseason that Kaner doesn't look right and while the addition of Toews helps, he doesn't appear like the Toews of pre 2020. There is work to be done and the franchise cannot afford to let Bowman fuck things up anymore than he already has.
We have to see this through Stan's viewpoint.
The 'hawks have dropped their opening four, and embarrassed themselves in the home opener. Someone during the game said something to the effect of there being a lot of seats available, and what with COVID making some people reticent to go to games (especially for a team in the cellar right now), Stan has to balance himself being the smartest guy in the room (as is his won't), with keeping the Wirtz's happy by getting butts in the seats and buying their alcohol.
Whatever the root cause is, the team is simply not executing under JC. The more the 'hawks lose, the less the 'hawks make in ticket revenue. The less the ticket revenue the more eyes get cast on Stan as the architect of the product on the ice. The acquisitions in the offseason were his, and his choice of coach was JC.
I think he cuts ties with JC soon to try to save his skin with the hopes that a better coach can right the ship enough for him to try his horse-trading act on the brass and convince them that any failures this season were JC's fault even though his acquisitions mortgaged a portion of the future.
The reality is that I don't think the lineup is as-good as a lot of people hoped on paper Like you said there are still holes. I think with a top-tier coach that gets all of the players to buy into a system they all can perform they might be as good as a WCF exit with luck. A average NHL coach I'm thinking one-and-done in the playoffs. I think that would be enough to can Stan, but on the other hand a playoff berth might be enough to save his skin.
Either way I think there's maybe 6 more games before JC goes. I agree with a lot of fans all over that Stan will have at least through the Olympic break, but after that he should come under major scrutiny--whether an interim guy like Crawford or a real permanent season head coach is brought in. We should be expecting better results. The team on paper IMHO is anywhere between a #2WC and a 3rd in the central. Right now were bottom-3 in the league. I think Stan, even though he's not a hockey mind, is smart enough to know what side his bread is buttered on and knows he needs to right the ship ASAFP to save his own hide.
