The Chicago Blackhawks. A modern Dynasty?

[dammage79]

I find it tough to argue that the Hawks are not a Dynasty at this point.

5 Conference Finals in 7 years
3 Stanley Cup Finals in 6 years
Possibly their 3rd Cup win in 6 years
(stolen from roofdaddy in the WCF thread)

They draft great, trade even better. Have an uncanny knack for bringing in the right spare parts players while juggling with cap hell. They also know which players to trade off when the rest of the world think the opposite.

I have to say, these Chicago Blackhawks are as close to a Dynasty as we are ever going to see in this league that has such great parity.

Well done.

[Roof-Daddy]

Yeah, there will probably never be any more Dynasty's where we see a team win 4 or 5 in a row, or 4 out of 5.

This is probably as good as it gets, what the Hawks are doing now.



Here is a post I put in the series thread, outlining their core through this modern day Dynasty.

The Hawks have always had great depth and support pieces, but below are the 7 main stays (or "core") through their 3 Finals appearances, with ages in brackets for each of their Cup Final years.

Jonathan Toews (21, 24, 26)
Patrick Kane (20, 23, 25)
Marian Hossa (30, 33, 35)
Patrick Sharp (27, 30, 32)

Duncan Keith (26, 29, 31)
Brent Seabrook (24, 27, 29)
Niklas Hjalmarsson (22, 25, 27)

Heck of a core to build around, but Bowman has done a great job building around it.

[Dion]

Given the fact that the salary cap can handcuff a teams success i'd say the Hawks are as close to a dynasty as you will ever see. The prospects in their system have stepped in when veteren players had to be traded.

[GirlySports]

I thought this year the Hawks would run out of steam like the other Big 4. Kings, Pens and Bruins. Heck that had to play Darling in net!

[Street Pharmacist]

Yes. What they've done in an Era with more player parity, a salary cap, 30 teams, bigger egos, more constant invasive media coverage and higher player turnover is unbelievable

[Da_Chief]

When it's all set and done Messier should be changed to Toews. Helluva player and leader. Yes, they are a modern day dynasty.

[thefoss1957]

I don't like the talk of Dynasty...however, after decades of frustration (along with the pain of being a Cub fan!), I am happy with a period of sustained success!

[FlamesAddiction]

I wouldn't call it a dynasty. I think you need to win a few cups in a row and more than 3 is 6 years (I don't count appearances in the finals as anything that makes a dynasty).

It's a good run they are having, but they are not obliterating the competition.

Just my opinion of course.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by thefoss1957

I don't like the talk of Dynasty...however, after decades of frustration (along with the pain of being a Cub fan!), I am happy with a period of sustained success!

This is your year! Cubs finally win the World Series. Against Miami?

[thefoss1957]

4x4...that has been my hope (except for the Miami part which didn't exist) since I started going to Cub games in the "College of Coaches" era

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Yes. What they've done in an Era with more player parity, a salary cap, 30 teams, bigger egos, more constant invasive media coverage and higher player turnover is unbelievable

This is the reason I am considering the current Hawks a dynasty. There are currently 500% more teams in the league than when Montreal and Toronto had dynasties in the 60s, 250% more teams than when Montreal had a dynasty in the 70s, and 43% more teams than when New York and Edmonton had dynasties in the 80s.

If Chicago can win 3 of 6 Cups in this era it is the same as winning 5 or 6 out of 6 in an older era.

[Roast Beef]

The game is so different now that yes, I would consider it a modern dynasty, if they win the cup. The emphasis is on the word modern though. The fact that we have to go back to 1980-1983 to find a team that wins it more than twice in a row speaks volumes. I would consider Edmonton as the tail end of the old school dynasty style team. It may not be all in a row, but 5 cups in 7 years is something that no modern team could ever dream of. After that what do we get? Pittsburgh winning in 91 and 92, then Detroit winning in 97 and 98. If Chicago can get their 3rd cup since 2010 I would consider them similar in stature to the dynasties of the past.

[driveway]

No.

No team can be a dynasty without repeating as Champions. Regardless of sport or era, that is the number one requirement to be considered a dynasty.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by driveway

No.

No team can be a dynasty without repeating as Champions. Regardless of sport or era, that is the number one requirement to be considered a dynasty.

Given the parity in the NHL today and the uniquely punishing grind of the NHL post-season, we may never see back-to-back Stanley Cup winners again.

[Resolute 14]

As soon as "dynasty" has to be qualified, it is not a dynasty.

There is also a bit of absurdity in the attempts to redefine it (and I'm not picking on you OP, others have proposed the same) in that if the Kings reach the finals next year, we would have two "modern dynasties" overlapping.

[browntrout]

yes, I will admit they have done very well for themselves, the beneficiaries of some very high draft picks.

I hope Calgary destroys them in the playoffs next year

Go Flames Go

[SOMBRI2]

Consider Kane was out for a significant period of time, this is called great depth, great coaching by committee. It is so hard to do it these days. I see the Flames should model it as we have a mini version in the making, still long way to go.

How they focus on developing their prospects is also important.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

As soon as "dynasty" has to be qualified, it is not a dynasty.

There is also a bit of absurdity in the attempts to redefine it (and I'm not picking on you OP, others have proposed the same) in that if the Kings reach the finals next year, we would have two "modern dynasties" overlapping.

Exactly this. If it is possible for 2 dynasties to overlap, then it is not a dynasty. There is no need to redefine it just because the level playing field and size of the league makes it unlikely that we will ever see one again. Quite honestly, we don't need dynasties.

It's like the "generational player" qualification that seems to be more and more loosely defined all the time. The fact there are more and more uber talented players emerging is probably another reason why dynasties are history. It used to be that if a team nabbed the generational player, they were probably going to be a dynasty. Thank goodness those days are over.

[browntrout]

its going to be very interesting to see how they handle there cap problems next year. You would have to think that sharp is the odd man out there. They would be too thin on defence if they traded Seabrook and I can't see any team wanting hossa given his age and cap hit.

I think you will see Sharp moved to the eastern conference for a 2nd rounder and/or fringe prospect. Adding a player like Sharp would help teams like St.Louis, Winnepeg or Nashville, but i think it helps Chicago more then it helps a team like Nashville. Chicago has big cap problems and every GM in the league knows that. As much as its the job of a nhl hockey team to win hockey games, i believe this philosophy also transcends to GM trying to win hockey deals.

You can put me on the record of saying that under no circumstances do i want Sharp in Calgary. Such a deal helps Chicago (short term and long term) much more then it would help Calgary. Sure would Sharp help Calgary right now, yes no doubt, but what would help Calgary a lot more is not solving Chicago's serious cap problems

My two cents for what its worth

Cheers

[Sylvanfan]

If it was 3 cup wins in 5 years maybe. But this might be 3 cups in 6 years with another trip to the Western finals. If Tampa beats them do you call a team with two cup wins in 6 years a Dynasty? If the Kings come back and win the cup next year are they a Dynasty?

This is the best Sustained run of success in the cap era. They are the one champion who managed to keep a core, revamp their roster and build a championship calibre team. Should they win this year than repeat next. Yep Dynasty. Not yet.