Stan Bowman - Hot or Not?

[bri]

He's always seemed too weasely. I have been puzzled by many of the choices he's made and the reasoning behind them.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

He definitely isn't the most interesting person... dry and boring personality it seems.

 

[Pez68]

I'll be in the minority of one to say this was not a giant win. Just a win. Maybe.



People forget the Kim Johnsson part of this deal. Not only did Johnsson have a history of concussions, his history included long stretches of game lost to being concussed. When StanBow did the deal, the Hawks were on the hook for about two million of Johnsson's pro-rated salary against the cap. The Hawks could not use an injury exemption since they were not over the cap salary wise, they could use the player bonus money to go over. We know what happened with that.



What does two million buy the Hawks? Could have been Andrew Ladd. I know this is 40/40 hindsight.



Leddy is very talented with the puck on his stick moving up ice. Great skater. Excellent passer. But his play behind his net and in front of his net flat out sucks. Go back to the San Jose game last Friday and view the 4th Sharks goal. Go ahead, I dare you. You' ll see Ben Fierro, skate right through Leddy to the front of the Hawks net after Kane loses the draw. Not skate around Leddy but through Leddy. And with Leddy completely focused on the puck and not Fierro near the crease, the pass comes to Fierro. Goal.

He's not even 21. He's a child by NHL defenseman standards. His defensive game, positioning, and bulk will all improve. He has elite offensive defenseman written all over him, IMO.



By the way, the biggest problem on that goal was not Leddy. It was Frolik/Kane/Brunette being on the ice for a defensive zone faceoff. Excellent coaching decision not having a center out there.

 

[dlrob315]

He definitely isn't the most interesting person... dry and boring personality it seems.

An introverted accountant trying to sale to FA to play here.....yeah right!

 

[the canadian dream]

He definitely isn't the most interesting person... dry and boring personality it seems.

I get that vibe also. Not much charisma. Creepy eyes and probably no sense of humor. I don't think anyone in the hockey world is beating down his door to get a sound bite and a good quote. He probably doesn't have any.

 

[Larmer83]

He's not even 21. He's a child by NHL defenseman standards. His defensive game, positioning, and bulk will all improve. He has elite offensive defenseman written all over him, IMO.



By the way, the biggest problem on that goal was not Leddy. It was Frolik/Kane/Brunette being on the ice for a defensive zone faceoff. Excellent coaching decision not having a center out there.

Pez, I agree about his offensive game. I'm pretty sure my post shows we are in agreement. How much his d game improves remains to be seen. It's actually gotten worse as the season has progressed. That's partly due to him being put in difficult positions by the coach and GM.



Yeah it was pretty foolish to not send a center to take that defensive zone draw even if it was the 4th line for San Jose.

 

[R K]

He's having a softmore slump all at the same time they are putting massive pressure on him. I don't think any part of his game can really be disected right now knowing both of those.



Again Keith wasn't exactly good his 2nd year, nor has he been exactly good this year. If anything he's been far worse than Leddy at times. To me, thats even more concerning than a guy in his 2nd year.

 

[Pez68]

Pez, I agree about his offensive game. I'm pretty sure my post shows we are in agreement. How much his d game improves remains to be seen. It's actually gotten worse as the season has progressed. That's partly due to him being put in difficult positions by the coach and GM.



Yeah it was pretty foolish to not send a center to take that defensive zone draw even if it was the 4th line for San Jose.

Every time I see Leddy on the PK I want to vomit. What's disturbing and depressing to me is....the problems that are COMPLETELY OBVIOUS to the fans after just a handful of games, take the coaching staff losing night straight to notice and fix? Leddy has been a problem on the PK all season. Most knowledgeable fans have known this for a long fucking time and have seen him regress all season. But the coaching staff JUST stopped using him on the PK a couple games ago? They JUST started cutting his minutes down a bit? Unreal.



The triangle + 1 PK has been total garbage. It has never and will never work in the NHL. Ever. But it takes Scotty Bowman going on the road with the team and Havi taking over the PK to figure that out? I have zero faith in this coaching staff. None whatsoever. It will be a miracle if the Hawks make the playoffs and win a round. A fucking miracle.

 

[supraman]

Whoever said DT was the only guy taking our players for us. Sure he needed to get to the cap floor (I think cant remember) but it shows he's class through and through. Talking with the team that canned him, I couldn't do it. If for whatever magical reason DT was our GM again, I'd be happier than a hog in shit. I liked the job he did hell Dudley and him built the cup team. Sure you can always argue that he had several years of high draft picks but he still made some good draft moves. I mean Buff was 7th round trash and look at him now.

 

[howcho]

I have yet to be impressed with Stan. I like many other feel that he as just rode in on the coat tails of his father's reputation. Still riding it seems.



I do however wonder why we don't see more of Scotties influence in the Hawks organization. I felt that when we got Stan as the GM that the big bonus was that Scottie came with it in a package deal.

 

[dlrob315]

I have yet to be impressed with Stan. I like many other feel that he as just rode in on the coat tails of his father's reputation. Still riding it seems.



I do however wonder why we don't see more of Scotties influence in the Hawks organization. I felt that when we got Stan as the GM that the big bonus was that Scottie came with it in a package deal.

Thank goodness...he's the reason they are paying shot blocking only dman 3.5m per year.

 

[Shantz My Pants]

I think it's still way to early to judge Bowman just yet. As Ton said in a previous article, he's building HIS team through drafting and player development. The Hawks are in a position of plenty of cap space that could work out in the long run (i.e. trade deadline or off season). I've watched and read about our prospects coming up and I'm quite excited for the likes of Saad, McNeill, Hayes, Johns, Salak...



Wasn't Tallon the one who signed Lapointe, Cullimore, Barnaby, Aucoin coming out of the lock out? Didn't he also trade away Craig Anderson, sign Huet. Traded Travis Moen for Holmqviust?



I'm going to give Bowman a chance considering he has paid his dues coming up through the ranks (Special Assistant from 2001-2005, 2005-2007 Director of Hockey Operations, Assistant GM 07-09, GM 09- current).

 

[klemmer]

I think it's still way to early to judge Bowman just yet. As Ton said in a previous article, he's building HIS team through drafting and player development. The Hawks are in a position of plenty of cap space that could work out in the long run (i.e. trade deadline or off season). I've watched and read about our prospects coming up and I'm quite excited for the likes of Saad, McNeill, Hayes, Johns, Salak...



Wasn't Tallon the one who signed Lapointe, Cullimore, Barnaby, Aucoin coming out of the lock out? Didn't he also trade away Craig Anderson, sign Huet. Traded Travis Moen for Holmqviust?



I'm going to give Bowman a chance considering he has paid his dues coming up through the ranks (Special Assistant from 2001-2005, 2005-2007 Director of Hockey Operations, Assistant GM 07-09, GM 09- current).

He was handed a Stanley Cup champion that has been dismantled due partially to his handling of the salary cap and partially because the front office wanted to say they did it their way.



As a result, we are watching a team that was A. lucky to make the playoffs last year and B. struggling mighty right now.

 

[Shantz My Pants]

He was handed a Stanley Cup champion that has been dismantled due partially to his handling of the salary cap and partially because the front office wanted to say they did it their way.



As a result, we are watching a team that was A. lucky to make the playoffs last year and B. struggling mighty right now.

We couldn't afford to keep Versteeg, Ladd, Buff, Campbell, Kopecky and such. Welcome to the new NHL aka Salary Cap era. The fact that some of our "core" players have not been playing to the best of their abilities is not Stan's fault. Nor is the fact that the team can't grasp a simple concept of 5 on 5 hockey. Our top 9 are very good. Our top 4 on D are very good as well. The problem is EVERYONE excluding Toews as he competes night after night, have been playing like absolute dog shit. This team was in the top 5 in the conference right before all star break. Now they need to go back to the basic (Nashville was a good game) and move forward.



Let's focus on the present team we have instead of worrying about McDonough or Bowman who are not playing shit hockey.

 

[klemmer]

We couldn't afford to keep Versteeg, Ladd, Buff, Campbell, Kopecky and such. Welcome to the new NHL aka Salary Cap era. The fact that some of our "core" players have not been playing to the best of their abilities is not Stan's fault. Nor is the fact that the team can't grasp a simple concept of 5 on 5 hockey. Our top 9 are very good. Our top 4 on D are very good as well. The problem is EVERYONE excluding Toews as he competes night after night, have been playing like absolute dog shit. This team was in the top 5 in the conference right before all star break. Now they need to go back to the basic (Nashville was a good game) and move forward.



Let's focus on the present team we have instead of worrying about McDonough or Bowman who are not playing shit hockey.

So.... What is the present team? The one that was lucky to make the playoffs last year, or the one that started this season?



And it's very valid to worry about a front office that doesn't know Bob Klem from Jon Klemm because they didn't work their way up through the ranks.

 

[Shantz My Pants]

Present as in the current situation. We as outsiders don't know the current trading scene. We don't know who is available yet or isn't. All we can do is focus on the present and our horrendous skid. Last game showed signs of improvement. They need to build on that.



If you want to get technical:



Tallon started working as the director of player personnel in 98 to 2002. He became assistant GM and then GM in 05. 7 years.



Bowman started in 2001 and was GM in 2009. 8 years.



Bowman paid his dues as well as Tallon did.

 

[IceHogsFan]

Present as in the current situation. We as outsiders don't know the current trading scene. We don't know who is available yet or isn't. All we can do is focus on the present and our horrendous skid. Last game showed signs of improvement. They need to build on that.



If you want to get technical:



Tallon started working as the director of player personnel in 98 to 2002. He became assistant GM and then GM in 05. 7 years.



Bowman started in 2001 and was GM in 2009. 8 years.



Bowman paid his dues as well as Tallon did.

Are you really trying to compare DT to SB?

 

[BigPete]

Present as in the current situation. We as outsiders don't know the current trading scene. We don't know who is available yet or isn't. All we can do is focus on the present and our horrendous skid. Last game showed signs of improvement. They need to build on that.



If you want to get technical:



Tallon started working as the director of player personnel in 98 to 2002. He became assistant GM and then GM in 05. 7 years.



Bowman started in 2001 and was GM in 2009. 8 years.



Bowman paid his dues as well as Tallon did.

Trev, you forgot to add Dale's years PLAYING the game at every level including the NHL as well as almost 20 years professionally analyzing the game as a scout and announcer. Scooter got to hang out in the lockerroom of some of the best teams in history, but that's it.

 

[howcho]

It might be unfair to make any judgement until trade dead line occurs. He may have made serious offers that we are not aware of. The market is tough, I am very curious as to what might be attempted.

 

[klemmer]

Present as in the current situation. We as outsiders don't know the current trading scene. We don't know who is available yet or isn't. All we can do is focus on the present and our horrendous skid. Last game showed signs of improvement. They need to build on that.



If you want to get technical:



Tallon started working as the director of player personnel in 98 to 2002. He became assistant GM and then GM in 05. 7 years.



Bowman started in 2001 and was GM in 2009. 8 years.



Bowman paid his dues as well as Tallon did.

I guess I am overlooking Bowman's lifetime playing the game.



Im sorry, and will now fall in line like a good Hawk fan should.



Heil Stan!