Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
A lot of people seem to forget how bad the Hawks were for a long, long time. Not much of a winning culture in that organization when Toews was drafted.
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The odd thing was that it was Chaos in the front office that led to the ongoing on-ice failures, more than a conscious effort to tank (after all, in their long history, the 'Hawks had NEVER had a #1 pick, until the lottery balls came up Kane (with question marks as to his being "undersized" for the NHL)). Once $Bill was out of the picture, Pulford and the old school was shown the door...the team attitude and on-ice product instantly seemed to improve, more than just the addition of Toews could account for.
And as far as counting on a #3 pick to turn things around, one must simply look at the 'Hawks #3 pick PRIOR to Toews to see that it can lead to abject failure: Cameron Barker. High Picks are just no guarantee.