Quoting: exo2769
I would be willing to bet that Colliton has zero (or close to zero) say in the roster each night. I mean seriously...Who knows the IceHogs more than Colliton? No Body. Stan's afraid that if he stops putting guys like Rutta, Kunitz, Ward on the ice...then there won't be a trade partner for them @ the TDL. AND I hate to say it, but he's right about that. This year, this team was never a playoff team...Q or no Q. Is this proving Q is the best coach in the league. Yeah Probably. Would I have liked to keep Q...oh heck yeah, but the effort level of the Hawk players is absent too. Blocked Shots are way down. Physicality was never a strong point, but sticking up for your teammates never used to be an issue. It was last night. Here's the real sign. If Joki goes to worlds instead of play with the Hawks. Then you'll see the first deliberate move to take away one of the better defenders (I'm not ready to say best) from this team...and it's not like that year of ELC comes back. It's not a 9 game stint back to the OHL. It's just losing hockey. You'll see Sikura and Hillman in March I'm sure.
This is the most honest (and accurate) take I have seen so far this season.
And honestly, what else is Stan supposed to do? To be playoff bound, the team would have to earn 72 points over the next 50 games. That means the would need to perform at 118 point pace to even have a shot at a wildcard spot (assuming 95 points gets it done).
The smart play (and the only play, really) is to spit shine Manning, Kunitz, Rutta, and maybe even Anisimov enough so that someone will trade for them at the deadline. It's going to be a very long road to February 25th. After the deadline, we will probably see moves that make more sense (Rockford call-ups, lines that actually work, etc.)
With the best odds for a lottery pick secured, the Hawks will hopefully draft Hughes / Sikura, have Jokiharju, Boqvist, and Mitchell on the back end, and lots of cap space to make a splash in free agency.