Blackhawks' Success Should Give Us Hope

[The Swedish Flame]

I was reading an article (in Swedish, located here) where the author talked up the way in which the Blackhawks drafted players that have become integral parts of their cup-winning teams.

Of the players on the ice in the Stanley Cup winning team, 11 were originally drafted by the Blackhawks:

2002: Corey Crawford and Duncan Keith (Second round 52, 54)
2003: Brent Seabrook (14th overall)
2004: Dave Bolland and Bryan Bickell (Second round, 32nd and 41st overall) .
2005: Niklas Hjalmarsson (fourth round)
2006: Jonathan Toews (First round, 3rd overall)
2007: Patrick Kane (First overall)
2009: Marcus Krüger (Fifth round)
2011: Brandon Saad and Andrew Shaw (Second round and fifth round)

I was surprised by how many how these players that were drafted relatively late. Of course, they also managed to draft stars like Toews and Kane really early in the first round.

For a club that in 2004 was voted as the most mismanaged club in North America they've gone through quite a turnaround. Some might want to point to the fact that the club changed ownership before the 2007/2008 as playing a big part in it. This board isn't a stranger to such demands either.

At any rate, Blackhawks' story certainly shows that hope isn't lost just because you're currently sucking. At least that's something for us to look to in these dark times.

Edited because the list contained Swedish. Sorry!

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by The Swedish Flame

I was reading an article (in Swedish, located here) where the author talked up the way in which the Blackhawks drafted players that have become integral parts of their cup-winning teams.

Of the players on the ice in the Stanley Cup winning team, 11 were originally drafted by the Blackhawks:

2002: Corey Crawford and Duncan Keith (Second round 52, 54)
2003: Brent Seabrook (14th overall)
2004: Dave Bolland and Bryan Bickell (Second round, 32nd and 41st overall) .
2005: Niklas Hjalmarsson (fourth round)
2006: Jonathan Toews (First round, 3rd overall)
2007: Patrick Kane (First overall)
2009: Marcus Krüger (Fifth round)
2011: Brandon Saad and Andrew Shaw (Second round and fifth round)

I was surprised by how many how these players that were drafted relatively late. Of course, they also managed to draft stars like Toews and Kane really early in the first round.

For a club that in 2004 was voted as the most mismanaged club in North America they've gone through quite a turnaround. Some might want to point to the fact that the club changed ownership before the 2007/2008 as playing a big part in it. This board isn't a stranger to such demands either.

At any rate, Blackhawks' story certainly shows that hope isn't lost just because you're currently sucking. At least that's something for us to look to in these dark times.

Edited because the list contained Swedish. Sorry!

The Blackhawks did it properly and it took a lot of patience. They didn't try to force the rebuild and then started spending the money when their young core matured.

I wonder if the Flames ownership and management (and fanbase for that matter) has the same level of patience. There is a lot of talk already of spending in the offseason to try and get elite talent before we have a mature young core.

[MelBridgeman]

Yes they did well on their 2nd time at the rebuild in a short period of time. 2nd times a charm. But the most important thing when going through the draft, is drafting high during good drafts and there were some good drafts of players born in the Gretzky era

[CSharp]

How many years did they sucked to get there? Maybe the Flames should think about throwing some money at the Bowmans to get them into the hockey operations so that the Flames will start to draft properly for once.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

...I wonder if the Flames ownership and management (and fanbase for that matter) has the same level of patience. There is a lot of talk already of spending in the offseason to try and get elite talent before we have a mature young core.

That's not the way I have been reading things, at least, not here on CP. I see a lot of posters keen for the Flames to do what they can to remain competitive without sacrificing the future. I have seen some posters point out that with the enormous amount of cap space to fill heading into this season that the team will NEED to spend big this summer, but should also be cautious about long term commitments to UFAs. There is no reason why the Flames can't continue to exercise patience with their young prospects, and simultaneously cobble together a series of stop-gaps which may include some "elite level" talent in the interim.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by CSharp

How many years did they sucked to get there? Maybe the Flames should think about throwing some money at the Bowmans to get them into the hockey operations so that the Flames will start to draft properly for once.

I actually think that the Flames have been drafting pretty well for a few years now.

[CaramonLS]

ABC line

Tyler Arnason
Mark Bell
Kyle Calder

[WilderPegasus]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I actually think that the Flames have been drafting pretty well for a few years now.

A grand total of 36 games played for the Flames over the past four drafts. Yeah that's good drafting.

[Roof-Daddy]

Honestly, I know they didnt win it this year, but the Bruins give me just as much hope as the Hawks do. That is a cup contending team built on a lot of 2nd and 3rd round picks and they turned it around really quickly despite their former GM getting bent over on the Jumbo trade.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by WilderPegasus

A grand total of 36 games played for the Flames over the past four drafts. Yeah that's good drafting.

All things considered, it is not bad for a team drafting mid-round, and for a team with a number of their prospects requiring longer-term development. Before the Hawks drafted Toews in 2006, the only regulars from the list in the OP were Seabrook and Keith. The point here being that it is too early to complain about the fruits of Feaster's drafts, but the early returns do appear somewhat promising.

[WilderPegasus]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

All things considered, it is not bad for a team drafting mid-round, and for a team with a number of their prospects requiring longer-term development. Before the Hawks drafted Toews in 2006, the only regulars from the list in the OP were Seabrook and Keith. The point here being that it is too early to complain about the fruits of Feaster's drafts, but the early returns do appear somewhat promising.

Actually it is that bad. Chicago has almost 300 games from players in that same time frame. LA is the same.

Claiming the returns are promising when they have returned very little sounds like what happens up in Edmonton.

[jeffman]

I think the lesson here is to keep your 2nd rounders. These picks turn into players like Keith and bolland

[Bertuzzied]

I want Bickell!

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by WilderPegasus

A grand total of 36 games played for the Flames over the past four drafts. Yeah that's good drafting.

Somewhere above me, there's a comment that says 'The Blackhawks did it right and were patient'. Did you just gloss over that entirely, or do you not adhere to that philosophy?

[VladtheImpaler]

The Hawks got lucky when Dollar Bill passed on. Praying for your owner to die seems like a long-shot path to success...

[sun]

Even more impressive is that they had to gut their championship team after 2010 - trading players they drafted like Ladd, Byfuglien, Niemi(?), and Brouwer. Then they filled those holes with even more homegrown players, while retaining their elite core.

Must be nice!

[keenan87]

Originally Posted by sun

Even more impressive is that they had to gut their championship team after 2010 - trading players they drafted like Ladd, Byfuglien, and Brouwer. Then they filled those holes with even more homegrown players, while retaining their elite core.

Must be nice!

Not surprised at all when you look at the type of management they have. First class!

[Joe Nieuwendyk]

Originally Posted by WilderPegasus

Actually it is that bad. Chicago has almost 300 games from players in that same time frame. LA is the same.

Claiming the returns are promising when they have returned very little sounds like what happens up in Edmonton.

Of course, in that time, Chicago drafted 37 players to Calgary's 24. Chicago had 5 first round draft picks to Calgary's 3 and 8 second round picks to Calgary's 3.

Plus you have to count Erixon's numbers as a trade doesn't make a pick bad.

[Badger Bob]

Having the patience for a team to become, basically, a bottom feeder for a few years actually accelerates the rebuilding process. That allows for higher first round picks - the elite talent, like Toews & Kane. Those are the types of players to build a core around. Obviously, the Blackhawks had sunk some expensive contracts (like Brian Campbell, previously, and they may regret the LT deal with Hossa). Stan Bowman deserves a lot of credit for keeping key components of their roster without having to dismantle a Cup-winning team. That's what makes this year's team so impressive.

Another model of rebuilding to look at is the Quebec Nordiques. They already had Joe Sakic. Then they hit rock bottom, and were able to draft first overall with Mats Sundin, Owen Nolan and Eric Lindros in successive years. Obviously, all got traded for other (mostly) effective assets that contributed to their Cup-winning teams in Colorado.

The Flames might want to case study their approach, but without the intent of trading away top draft picks. Plus, the odds don't favor getting 1st overall for 3 years consecutive, esp. with the lottery now in place. However, the Flames will be rather poor for at least the next 2-3 seasons, which should offer some picks even higher than Sunday's 6th overall.

The other consideration is how they want to build the team. Before, the org was benchmarking against New Jersey with Lou Lamiorello's philosophy of building from the net out. Without a superstar goalie (yes, few are as good as Martin Brodeur), that's not likely. Plus, it's been show that championship teams can get it done without big name goalies.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

The Hawks got lucky when Dollar Bill passed on. Praying for your owner to die seems like a long-shot path to success...

That's what I was thinking. "Change" in ownership is putting it mildly