Felt like we’ve aged a decade in these three years…
April 3, 2026
Felt like we’ve aged a decade in these three years…
6 comments
We were one of the top teams in January!
I was gonna ask what happened last year and the year before, but when the team is so consistently mediocre, the question then becomes, what happened in year 2?
Simply put, Ron Francis failed upwards. He tried to get wayyyyy too cute way back at the expansion draft, severely handicapping the team with several boneheaded decisions. Regarding the playoff year, maybe he didn’t get “lucky,” but the stars definitely aligned with several players having breakout years for our playoff run.
Now he’s President of Hockey Ops and let Jason Botteril, a man who got ran out of Buffalo in 3 years, fail upwards to the GM.
I maintain that this kinda was the plan, but the tank got blown up by expectations after year 2.
Kind of the worst thing that could have happened. It tricked ownership and management, (and many fans), that we were only a step or two away from contending when in reality we were miles away and always have been. It delayed our real contention by many years wasting effort, playing time, and money on mediocre veterans.
Not only beat the defending Stanley Cup champs, but took the Stars to game 7. What a magical year.
It’s hard watching them fumble since then. I don’t know if the team needs a true top level player, or a coach that can get them on the right track, or what. I just hope they get there without too many seasons of mediocrity. I’m jealous of Vegas. But I’m a Blackhawks fan first, so I’m jealous of everyone but Vancouver these days.
6 comments
We were one of the top teams in January!
I was gonna ask what happened last year and the year before, but when the team is so consistently mediocre, the question then becomes, what happened in year 2?
Simply put, Ron Francis failed upwards. He tried to get wayyyyy too cute way back at the expansion draft, severely handicapping the team with several boneheaded decisions. Regarding the playoff year, maybe he didn’t get “lucky,” but the stars definitely aligned with several players having breakout years for our playoff run.
Now he’s President of Hockey Ops and let Jason Botteril, a man who got ran out of Buffalo in 3 years, fail upwards to the GM.
I maintain that this kinda was the plan, but the tank got blown up by expectations after year 2.
Kind of the worst thing that could have happened. It tricked ownership and management, (and many fans), that we were only a step or two away from contending when in reality we were miles away and always have been. It delayed our real contention by many years wasting effort, playing time, and money on mediocre veterans.
Not only beat the defending Stanley Cup champs, but took the Stars to game 7. What a magical year.
It’s hard watching them fumble since then. I don’t know if the team needs a true top level player, or a coach that can get them on the right track, or what. I just hope they get there without too many seasons of mediocrity. I’m jealous of Vegas. But I’m a Blackhawks fan first, so I’m jealous of everyone but Vancouver these days.