Denis Savard fired

[MurcieOne]

i know very, very little about hockey, but this was exactly my thoughts as well....if you are sticking with a coach through the offseason, i would imagine you would be willing to stick with him after a 1-3 start. i mean lets say they beat nashville in OT and they are 2-2.....is he fired? if so, then they should have gotten someone else during the offseason, and if not, is 1 OT loss really gonna determine whether a guy was fired or not?

 

Denis Savard wasn't a good assistant coach (he was in charge of the hawks stellar power play as an assistant), let alone a good head coach. He's an amazing ambassador for the organization, and they unfortunately had to remove him from the coaching position. Savvy should've been fired during the offseason... but maybe it would have ruined the summer of goodwill the team was experiencing.

 

JMO, but the Blackhawks are a better team today then they were yesterday.

[MurcieOne]

The thing is, compared to past Chicago coaches such as Sutter and Suponen, I think Savard has actually done a pretty good job.

 

He deserves another coaching opportunity in the NHL, and I hope he gets one.

 

Brian Sutter brought a team to the playoffs, with a goalie tandem of Steve Passmore and Jocelyn Thibault. The defense on that team had Boris Mirnov and Alexander Karpotsev, and Mike Smith was his GM.

 

Sutter did just fine while he was here.

 

Alpo was an abortion and only lasted a few months, and Yawney was given a team with basically no talent. But Id agree that Savvy was better than both of them.

[DBAHO]

Brian Sutter brought a team to the playoffs, with a goalie tandem of Steve Passmore and Jocelyn Thibault. The defense on that team had Boris Mirnov and Alexander Karpotsev, and Mike Smith was his GM.

 

Sutter did just fine while he was here.

 

Alpo was an abortion and only lasted a few months, and Yawney was given a team with basically no talent. But Id agree that Savvy was better than both of them.

Sutter only played the vets though basically, and didn't bring the young guys along at all.

 

At least Savard gave the young guys a chance to grow and put this team in a good position.

 

If Toews didn't get injured in that mid-season stretch, we would have made the playoffs last season IMO.

[Steve9347]

link

 

A "Savvy" Move

by Steve Harnden

 

This morning the Chicago Blackhawks announced the firing of Head Coach Denis Savard. Savard, a pet of the previous Bill Wirtz / Bob Pulford regime, was terminated no more than 4 games into the highly touted 2008-2009 campaign. The timing could not be stranger, as the Blackhawks are coming off a decisive victory against the Phoenix Coyotes, their first of the season.

 

One question one must ask... why allow Savard to lead your group of youngsters through the pre-season, only to fire him after just 4 games? The answers seem to be coming in, and they make some sense.

 

First, since his days as an assistant coach, Savard has never been able to get the Blackhawks’ Power Play unit in order. The Hawks have ranked in the bottom third of the NHL in power play completion for Savard’s entire tenure, and had completed just 5.3% of their opportunities this year. The lone Power Play goal was scored with a 2-man advantage. For a coach who was hired to help the offense, this was unacceptable.

Author Poll Results

 

Another issue that became a concern was Savard’s use of the Blackhawks two highly-paid goaltenders, Cristobal Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin. It was apparent that the bigwigs in Chicago (GM Dale Tallon, Team President John McDonough, Owner Rocky Wirtz, and Sr. Advisor of Hockey Operations, Scotty Bowman) wanted Khabibulin to strictly be the backup while the newly signed Huet took over. Obviously, Tallon wanted to justify the large contract that Huet received, especially after the nearly-ostracized Khabibulin became an albatross of a contract and was placed on waivers last month.

 

However, Savard started the season with a platoon in net, with Huet starting the season-opener in New York and the home-opener while Khabibulin played the other two games (and got the only win). This, combined with Savard’s general lack of experience before being hired, could easily have lead to his departure.

 

Unfortunately, for the general media and a many new fans, there is no way to look at this transaction other than with negativity. If Savard’s leash was that short, then heading into a season that has brought the Blackhawks back to relevance in Chicago the franchise should have made this move before the season started. It was rumored that Joel Quenneville (pictured above), Savard’s newly-named replacement, would take over sooner rather than later when the Blackhawks hired him as a pro Scout in September. It looks like "sooner" was even sooner than anyone could have guessed.

 

Regardless, this is a good move for the Blackhawks. Quenneville has led successful St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche teams in the past. He will bring more consistency to the team, as Savard too-often juggled his lines and as a result had a streaky team. Quenneville will bring stability to a young roster, and hopefully will make a positive contribution quickly.

 

Do me a favor and rate this one highly, guys.

Edited October 16, 2008 by Steve9347

[MurcieOne]

Sutter only played the vets though basically, and didn't bring the young guys along at all.

 

At least Savard gave the young guys a chance to grow and put this team in a good position.

 

If Toews didn't get injured in that mid-season stretch, we would have made the playoffs last season IMO.

 

I'm not sure its fair to compare Sutter to Savard in that aspect. The crop of "young guys" that Sutter had was Kyle Calder, Tyler Arnason, and Mark Bell, who were all "prospects" but had nowhere near the talent of Kane or Toews.

 

Now if you were going to take Sutter to task for choking Arnason, I would be right there with you. I dont think Savvy would have ever choked anyone, not cool.

[Steve9347]

I'm not sure its fair to compare Sutter to Savard in that aspect. The crop of "young guys" that Sutter had was Kyle Calder, Tyler Arnason, and Mark Bell, who were all "prospects" but had nowhere near the talent of Kane or Toews.

 

Now if you were going to take Sutter to task for choking Arnason, I would be right there with you. I dont think Savvy would have ever choked anyone, not cool.

Thankfully, I haven't thought about the ABC line in quite some time.

[whitesoxbrian]

Didn't see this coming, either. It seemed like Savy was a player's coach, and I wish him all the best. It's an odd timing, too, IMO. Best of luck to Savy, and hopefully Quenneville can get us a Cup.

[Metz]

When i heard this i was pretty shocked, it was a head scratcher. Anyways I hope Quenneville can dominate, he seems like a good guy. More importantly I want see all the player quotes because that is going to be big, and they said they are offering Savvy an in organization job, wonder if he'll take it. I hope he and the hawks still have a good relationship, but we will have to wait and see.

[Mr. Showtime]

According to the press conference, Savard has been offered a position in the organization. I am unclear as to what that position is, but a position none the less.

 

I'm sure it's an ambassador or senior vice president in charge of Denis Savard operations.

[Mr. Showtime]

In all seriousness, you probably aren't far off. I'm sure it's a BS spot, but Hawks brass knows letting go of a Hawks icon, bad coach or not, is a tough sell. This makes them look a little better to the blind eye.

 

I'm sure after the smoke clears on all of this that Denis will be brought back to do PR stuff like Bobby and Stan do for the team. Unless there was some real bad behind the scenes incidents, Denis loves the Hawks to much to not be around.

[Texsox]

I'm sure after the smoke clears on all of this that Denis will be brought back to do PR stuff like Bobby and Stan do for the team. Unless there was some real bad behind the scenes incidents, Denis loves the Hawks to much to not be around.

 

When you get fired like this, your love of the organization probably goes away for a while.

[RockRaines]

When you get fired like this, your love of the organization probably goes away for a while.

I am giving all the credit in the world to Savard here. His interviews on the subject have been nothing but respectful and classy.

[southsider2k5]

I'm sure it's an ambassador or senior vice president in charge of Denis Savard operations.

 

Which again tells me a complete change of Regime is going on behind the scenes. Tallon is either going to be fired soon, or he has already been effectively nuetered.

[Texsox]

I am giving all the credit in the world to Savard here. His interviews on the subject have been nothing but respectful and classy.

 

I gove him a lot of respect for that. Obviously my local news is much more focused on High School football, so I'm not seeign any of the reports.

[shipps]

Which again tells me a complete change of Regime is going on behind the scenes. Tallon is either going to be fired soon, or he has already been effectively nuetered.

 

I think that was pretty evident in the press conference.He wasnt making eye contact with any off the press or the cameras and he was pretty defensive when anything on the matter of his responsibility with all of what has happened was brought up.He is a man that is not comfortable with whatever the situation is behind the scenes and they really shouldnt leave him out to dry like that.Just fire him and move on instead of stalling the process just to wait for another bad moment to fire someone.

[The Critic]

I gove him a lot of respect for that. Obviously my local news is much more focused on High School football, so I'm not seeign any of the reports.

He's handled the situation very gracefully. You can hear the pain in his voice, but he refuses to go into details about why he was let go, he wishes the team and Quenneville well at every turn, and if he's harboring any ill will he's hiding it pretty well.

[Steve9347]

I heard on the news last night that NHL sources expect Tallon to lose his job anytime now.

[The Critic]

I heard on the news last night that NHL sources expect Tallon to lose his job anytime now.

Well, it stands to reason.

If Savard lost his job for playing the "wrong" goalie, then the guy who couldn't trade that "wrong" goalie should logically expect to pay the price as well.

Tallon hasn't done that great a job as GM anyway, so even without this drama I think he should be on the hook.

[DBAHO]

That's no real surprise RE Tallon.

 

My guess is they go all out for Brian Burke from Anaheim, unless Bowman thinks he can somehow convince Holland from Detroit to come over for a new challenge.

[Chisoxfn]

I heard on the news last night that NHL sources expect Tallon to lose his job anytime now.

Bout damn time. He's had some solid moves and decent drafts but he's been piss poor with the finances of the club.

[watchtower41]

Savvy should've been fired during the offseason... but maybe it would have ruined the summer of goodwill the team was experiencing.

 

 

I think you hit the nail squarely on the head here, and I agree with you 100%

 

No way this team sells 15,000 season tickets by firing Savard in the midst of all their good publicity they were experiencing all off-season. The Winter Classic, Blackhawks night @ Wrigley and Cell, signing of Campbell, the first Blackhawks convention, ect. There was plenty of hoopla to go around about the Blackhawks this summer, even during the best baseball season this city has probably ever seen, regular season that is.

 

Some people comparing this to kinda like Doug Collins firing... coming to the conclusion that Savy just couldn't take the team to the next level, a step they are ready to take.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I heard on the news last night that NHL sources expect Tallon to lose his job anytime now.

Replaced by Bowman I assume?

[HuskyCaucasian]

It's a very odd situation on the West Side.

 

There is no doubt the offer by the Hawks had to be pretty good to get Scotty to leave the Wings. I have said it before, but when new ownership takes over, they want their own guys running the show. Rocky hired Bowman himself, just like Quenville. I just can't imagine if Tallon is fired(which I expect to happen shortly), Bowman won't have every opportunity to take the job.

Yea, the Bowman hiring raised my antenna as well. Just seemed a bit odd.

[MurcieOne]

It's a very odd situation on the West Side.

 

There is no doubt the offer by the Hawks had to be pretty good to get Scotty to leave the Wings. I have said it before, but when new ownership takes over, they want their own guys running the show. Rocky hired Bowman himself, just like Quenville. I just can't imagine if Tallon is fired(which I expect to happen shortly), Bowman won't have every opportunity to take the job.

 

 

See, I think that Tallon will be fired and Scotty's son Stan (who has been with the team for a long time) will get the job. This way, Scotty gets all of the power without all of the trouble. I'm sure Stan will not have much issue with letting his dad do most of the grunt work, while he is the figure head. Think of the role that Bill Parcells has with the Dolphins, Sparano is his guy... which allows Parcells to remain out of the spotlight while still running things for the most part.

 

While Dale has made some good moves (Bell for Havlat, Matt Ellison for Sharp) his FA signings (Aucoin, Cullimore, Khabby, Lapointe) have all been pretty big busts. That being said, I feel much more comfort having Scotty Bowman running this franchise than Dale Tallon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MurcieOne]

One more point... I think we should all be encouraged by what were seeing. This team isn't just settling for their current popularity, the WANT TO WIN. They don't want to take the chance of having an unexperienced coach develop the two best talents the organization has had since Roenick and Belfour. It looks like they don't want to have a GM who has spent more years in the TV booth than in Hockey Operations running the show, which is indicative to me that they want to build a solid organizational structure to make sure they can build a quality team and sustain a quality team. Having Savvy and Dale run the show just isn't conducive to this goal (IMO).

 

Its one thing to get people buzzing about hockey again, its another to keep there interest. You can have as many redcarpet events as you want, but what will keep their season ticket base at 15,000 is consistent trips to the playoffs.

 

I'm more excited about these changes than I am about the home games being played television (although that was critically important too).