ska-T Palmtown

Are there any coaches that could get canned if they flunk out in the first round? Beyond that? No sarcasm - genuinely curious how warm/hot some of those seats might be. I'd think after the first round, not too many? In which case, GMKA (not sure if I am fully comfortable diving right into using GM Howdy Doody) could start now, dilly dally just a little, see what round 1 holds, then full speed ahead?

Unless Carolina flames out spectacularly in the first round, there is no way in any universe Rod The Bod is available. And if that happens, do we really want him? Hated him as a player, won't like him as a coach. Can the Mods set some sort of filter that changes any mention of Rowdy Roddy Brindy into the infamous "*******" string??

That is not really an even remotely accurate account. I am not saying Q was clean in all of it, but I think many layers of the Blackhawks' organization failed before Q. If your VP tells you there is some sort of incident involving inappropriate texts in another division of the company, but says they have it under control ... it is not at all unreasonable to think they do. Only angle on Q is since the kid was a prospect with the team's minor league affiliate, he could have taken a larger role in ensuring the team actually took care of it properly instead of burying it. All accounts say the club's HR knew about it in 2010. 11 years before the lawsuit and 11 years before Q can be directly tied to definitive knowledge of the allegations. What bothered me about his account ... he says he only learned about the details on the plane on his way to get shitcanned by the NHL ... but he had sat for interviews months before with the independent firm hired to investigate. Either his is lying, 'misremembering', or that deposition was vague as hell ....

I did some reading on the subject - I think Q coulda handled it differently - but nothing in the official report suggests he knew what was going on. He was the Head Coach of the NHL team - the video coach allegedly (but based on the fact he got arrested 2 years later for assaulting a 16 yr old, "alleged" is a courtesy that POS likely does not deserve) assaulted a player with the 'Hawks minor league affiliate. The player was not on the big club roster. It is a gray area, but I don't know that any HC would have done more since Q was supposedly only told about an inappropriate text or two at the time. It is not ideal, but I can sorta see how this might seem like something you could address "later" if you are busy with the playoffs trying to win a Cup. I get the opposition, but at the same time - he took his lumps and walked away as he was asked to do. No big "witch hunt" tour or "Poor me" pitty parties.

That's GM Howdy Doody - put some respect on his title!

He did specifically state he wanted previous NHL head coaching experience, did he not?

He seems pissed. Just speculating (no basis at all) - I wonder if maybe DG sold him on a certain style and because it worked a little after RK left, GMKA bought it and is now totally angry about it.

he HAS been reading the forum!!!!!

says competitive begins in practice...sounds like another disagreement he had with DG ... compete first, show your skill second.

I don't feel like he is holding back - he has criticisms of the team ...

Paging @Thorny "Playoffs are absolutely the expectation." From TPegs on down.

"No more talk about this being a young team." 🙃

Tangential to the topic at hand ... If the NHL decides to give the Hawks Cellebrini to pair with Bedard ... can we call them Bellini?

In the context of the article, Levi would be a "prospect" - under 23, not full time NHL. Right or wrong - that was the parameter used for the rankings.

not sure if someone else shared this, yet: This was in the "free" part of the article before you hit the pay wall.

Plz no. If for no other reason than finally settling the "so-and-so coach could whip these [insert toxic masculinity slander here] into a playoff team!" argument.

It was the same audio on the ESPN+ feed ... I really thought someone was being murdered.

Is this the slide deck they will be passing around to potential candidates? How's the insurance? Dental? What about 401k matching? lol

I had the same reaction to including him in the tweet (or is it an X?), so I asked my wife and she also thought it was a ***** move to publicly out him like that.

lol - may I am soft, but I would prefer thunderous and obvious hits that result in the proper amount of discomfort to have opposing players hesitate for just that split second as they approach our players ... in the current game of incredible speed, that slight hesitation could be a huge factor. I don't really like seeing people (even dastardly Loaves) get like, for reals, hurt. They are people with either current or future families. **big hit that knocks the wind out of them for 20-30 seconds? Sure!

Maybe there is some legal magic where it won't ever kick in? Not that I care all that much, just wondering.

I will also 100% accept this as a birthday present from the team! Thanks, GMKA!

Pouring one out for my homie Matt Smith! We crossed paths at my first adult "Learn to Hockey" class that he taught on the side here in Chicago. He had various roles with hockey organizations out here in Chicago and from my experience was a great guy. Seems like an odd firing to pair with the HC being let go, but who knows. I never knew him well enough to get "insider info" - nor did I feel it was appropriate to ask, just sad to have lost what felt like a personal connection to the team.

That is an excellent point, it is a bit off to the side (since the talk was about TP losing money?) from the points be talked, but excellent. It is hard to know how TP runs his empire, or even his sports teams. Does the strong team pull the weak team along knowing the tides will eventually change? Hard to say and I would have a much different tone if discussing your point - totally sucks if an owner's poor choices affect the bank accounts of his workers.

Anecdotally, I have heard the same. It seems to make sense, as long as they are telling the truth it is a pretty safe investment for the bank or whomever. On the surface, of course a loan with any interest rate is going to cost more than the amount borrowed, but business loans are taken out every day in what I assume to be very large quantities because cash is king and to butcher some Sharktank quotes, you gotta pour gasoline on that fire, but gas ain't free! The notion being peddled (not by you - I think we are on the same page of the same leather bound book on that very lovely mahogany bookshelf of yours) that businesses won't take short term losses to yield long-term returns is beyond silly. The Sabres bottom line is not even a blip on the TP's business radar when you look at all the other assets he has that generate income ... heck, it might not even be a blip compared to the profit the Bills made last year.