Let me start by saying, I do love the discussions on this site. Some, if not most, are informative and present great but differing sides to an argument. That being said, it does disappoint me when the odd debate goes off track and turns into insults of someone’s standing or intelligence. In all honesty it happens far too much. There are fans who can discuss their teams with an unbiased approach, and then there’s “those people.” You all know the ones, the ones who are so blatantly biased towards their team it doesn’t warrant debating said person. Then again, we all know what we sign up for on this site. Me personally, I like to think I have an unbiased approach to my Blackhawks and respect to most other teams. However, many others will say I don’t say respect or bias for my hawks. If that’s the worst I get, fair enough. Now, sorry for the long intro.

To all hawks fans on this site, I ask the question I’ve asked before: what is this team going forward and what does it need? The hawks have been given a gift by the NHL to be included in the qualifying round and by all metrics and no biased attached, this could be the last chance for our old guard. That being said, what does that mean for us going forward? How does this team approach its drafting philosophy? Will there be a coaching change? Will the existing coach change his own style? Consider what is coming next season. Who is coming in, and how do they improve (Mitchell) or hurt (seabrook???) the team? Essentially, what is the next three to five years of this team going to look like? I’m going to withhold my own opinions or ideas for the moment. If you are interested, please contribute. But if you do, respect everyone’s opinions and don’t start arguments for the sake of entertainment.

One more thing: hawks and leafs fans, just some advice, perhaps it’s best if we just acknowledge that a trade between our two teams just doesn’t make sense to our sets of fans. Breath and just relax.

This team needs to lose to EDM so they can draft Askarov

I’m growing to be okay with that being the case. Almost all hawks fans hate the idea of getting a goalie. They all want lundell. Therein lies the problem though.

Hawks fans want a guy who can help the team almost immediately (see “kirby Dach”), believing that this team can win another cup with this core. Suffice to say, I’m a realist. This team has been the best the cap era has seen next to probably Pittsburgh. Heck, I’d make a case that the pens have been even better. But I digress, as a realist, I believe needs to focus on what makes the team better in 3-5 years, not right now. Especially if the players who make you better now don’t have a higher ceiling than the players who make you better 3-5 years from now. This is nothing against lundell, I’m sure he’ll be a good player, but what’s the team need? A center or a goalie? Even fans who don’t want us to take askarov know we need a goalie!