Campbell's Cuts: Expect Bowman to get more power in Chicago
Scott Bowman took an advisory role with the Hawks on Thursday. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Ken Campbell
2008-07-31 16:24:43
Don’t be the least bit surprised to see Scotty Bowman as either the GM or the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks before the end of next season.
Bowman joined the Blackhawks Thursday as senior advisor of hockey operations, but those in the industry maintain that nobody should be fooled - Bowman didn’t leave a great situation with the Detroit Red Wings to just sit back and be a consultant in Chicago.
In fact, there are those who maintain Bowman’s hiring is simply greasing the skids for him to take a much more prominent role in the organization, with either GM Dale Tallon or coach Denis Savard, or possibly both, being replaced before long.
It is well-known new Hawks president John McDonough is not a big fan of either Tallon or Savard and that McDonough was the driving force behind the signings of unrestricted free agents Cristobal Huet and Brian Campbell.
In fact, industry insiders maintain Tallon didn’t want to sign either player July 1, but McDonough insisted the Hawks sign them as both hockey and marketing moves.
The Atlanta Thrashers had the inside track on Campbell in the first hours of free agency. He was reportedly about to accept Atlanta’s offer when McDonough apparently ordered Tallon to improve the Chicago’s offer to Campbell, who ended up signing with the Blackhawks for $56.8 million over eight years.
It was much the same with Huet. The night before free agency opened, the Capitals thought they had a deal done with Huet for $15 million over three seasons. But again, apparently at McDonough’s insistence, the Hawks sweetened their offer, adding another year and $565,000 per season.
There are those who maintain Tallon is on very shaky ground with McDonough and having Bowman around will give the Blackhawks a convenient hire should McDonough decide he can’t work with Tallon.
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After all, why would Bowman leave the Red Wings for the Blackhawks, aside from the chance to work with his son Stan, who is an assistant GM in Chicago and is currently fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma?
Certainly Bowman doesn’t need the money. To be sure, he can’t possibly think he’d be going to a team that has a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup.
All that leaves is an opportunity for Bowman to get back into the game at the management level, either as a GM or coach. But if the Blackhawks have designs on him becoming GM of their team, they might want to check Bowman’s record the only other time he held that job, in Buffalo. He wasn’t a great GM and no coach lasted more than 18 months under his watch.
With McDonough at the helm, the Blackhawks are being driven as much by marketing forces these days as they are by hockey decisions, so hiring a recognizable and successful figure such as Bowman makes a lot of sense.
Expect to see more of Bowman when it comes to determining the Blackhawks’ fortunes this season.
Ken Campbell is a senior writer for The Hockey News and a regular contributor to THN.com. His blog appears Tuesdays and Fridays and his column, Campbell's Cuts, appears Mondays.
For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.
Bob Vanek (Posted 2008-08-25 22:04:31)
What a stupid article.Savard isn't on any short lease. He almost
got a team led by 2 teenage rookies,lots of injury call ups from
Rockford,suspect goaltending into the playoffs and 40 wins.Tallon
isn't in any trouble either. He tried to sign a lot of big name free
agents,but they wouldn't come here because of teams penny pinching
mgmt.at the time.Lets not get Mc Donough involved,he basically the
promtions man,and the best in sports. Rocky will always have the final
say,Savard will be around a longtime.
Conor WingHater Corrigan (Posted 2008-08-25 11:38:36)
T-Murder: the Hawks will make the playoffs. Formerhawksfan: you are a sellout nancy. Hawksfanscott- yes, rediculous article.
z ville (Posted 2008-08-08 18:52:58)
S. Esposito - Bowman's son is in the organization, so they wanted a chance to work together
z ville (Posted 2008-08-08 18:51:30)
Scotty coaching? don't make me laugh campbell, the man's almost 80 for crying out loud. Besides, if scotty still wanted to coach, why would he have sat out for so long?
hawkfanscott (Posted 2008-08-06 00:55:15)
ridiculous article!!! Tallon has basically been the man behind the hawks draft since leaving the booth. he did what he could under bill "fold" wirtz and now that he has the backing to finally go after who he wants, you bring up some kinda conspiracy that he and Savard are in the doghouse cuz of McDonough? not once have i heard or read about any strife between them. find some other baseless rumor to talk about.
Flyer guy 16 (Posted 2008-08-05 18:34:31)
Hey former Hawks fan, you're going to fit right in as a Toronto fan. You've patiently waited while your terrible team has improved to the point of being on the cusp of something special, now you can jump ship and head over to the leafs who haven't quite hit rock bottom yet. And of the 6 original teams you've managed to pick the absolute worst one with the least chance of being respectable any time soon. Enjoy!
fred (Posted 2008-08-05 16:15:40)
i'm still laughing....the leafs....that's hilllllllarious....sorry can't write..holding my gut
fred (Posted 2008-08-05 16:14:21)
hey formerhawksfan...not cheering for chicago?leafs instead?tommy barr obviously has it right......(lol) good luck in the playoffs (lol)
Scott Esposito (Posted 2008-08-03 20:58:15)
Funny how Bowman didn't want any part of the Hawks prior to Toews, Kane and Campbell. So now Bowman's aboard and if the Hawks have success, we're all supposed to attribute it to his presence, right?
Jim Reinecke (Posted 2008-08-02 12:08:16)
Kristopher, I must don my historian hat for a minor correction on your post. Scotty Bowman took the Blues to the finals THREE consecutive years (1968, '69 and '70) not four. Realistically, the Blues had no business even being there but the league ridiculously gerrymandered the playoff structure with the top four of the six established teams (then called the Eastern Division) playing within the division to produce a finalist and the top four of the six expansion franchises (known as the Western Division) competing within their division with the winner of those series being the sacirificial lamb who went to slaughter against the Canadiens the first two years and the Bruins in '70. Still, Bowman made the Blues the class of the expansionist Western Division and the team would have perhaps been a league power by the mid-to-late 70's if Scotty had been allowed to run the team his way. Unfortunately, Sidney Salomon III, son of the team's owner, felt he knew more about hockey than people like Bowman, Al Arbour and Cliff Fletcher (to name three first-rate hockey minds who were associated with this franchise in its earliest days) and Scotty got out after the '70-'71 season, heading off to Montreal and the first five of his eleven Stanley Cup rings. The Blues have been through six different ownerships and a ton of coaches since then and still no Stanley Cup. If the Boston Red Sox had the curse of the Babe for all those years, then perhaps the Blues have been afflicted with the Curse of Scotty.
Ryan Mahaney (Posted 2008-08-02 11:45:27)
It must be a slow news day for Hockey News. Suddenly Tallon and Savard dont get along with McDonough? I read everything you guys print about the Hawks and never read that before, but suddenly its common knowledge. The only reasons McDonough was brought in to run the team were his connections and marketing experience, that way the Hawks could still make money if they hit another ten year skid. McDonough did the same thing for the Cubs for over twenty years. Now he is suddenly an expert on hockey and is telling Tallon what to do? Did you guys actually think people were going to believe you or did you want this kind of backlash because its August and your bored?
Brett McLenithan (Posted 2008-08-02 10:24:01)
Great response, Jim Reinecke. Perhaps the wee one who'd rather hear news only about hockey's youth would prefer following roller hockey? There's a fine youthful league to be following, with no Bowmans hogging the spotlight.
As to Campbell, this is one of the most short-sighted, foolish articles of summer hockey commentary I've read in ages. To brush off his son's cancer as only a tangential reason for Scotty Bowman's desire to work with the Hawks shows a pea-brained insight at best. And to suggest Bowman will be ready to take over the reins as coach if Savard stumbles ... I just don't get it. Are you gathering your information from archived 1980s dailies?
I can't comment directly on McDonough's relationship to Tallon and Savard, but merely that I hear about friction between them for the very first time reported here, in the context of the other insights this article shares, makes me skeptical, to say the least. You talk about insiders in this context; why hasn't it been reported elsewhere?
McDonough, a baseball man, in his office talking with Tallon: "Ya, Dale, do anything and everything you can to get Huet, that's an order." C'mon, Campbell. McDonough is a smart man. There's no doubt his strengths are in the marketing of a winning brand, not the on-ice requirements for a winning hockey team. To suggest he's directing Tallon in these moves, though? Do you think we're fools?
Tommy Barr (Posted 2008-08-01 20:17:59)
formerhawksfan - let me get this straight... you used to be a hawks fan, and they were brutal for atleast a decade.... then you stop being a fan when they are on the upswing to become... another freakin' leafer? these guys have been brutal for the better part of forever and could only win cups in the original 6 and again only then because Montreal only took Quebecers leaving the rest of Canada for the Leafs before the American teams took whoever fell through the cracks. And you've decided you like THEM? Interesting. You seem to be a smart guy... no really... so why dont you just become a Panthers fan.
Kristopher (Posted 2008-08-01 19:48:24)
Bowman... overrated? You could seriously argue that he's the greatest coach American sports has ever seen, considering his rings along with the length of time he's been in the league, and he's won them in three (or four, depending how you view the NHL at the end of his coaching tenure with the Wings compared to the start of his tenure with the Wings) different periods in hockey. Guys like Jackson and Auerbach can't claim the same thing. Heck, he's the only coach to win a championship with three different teams as coach. He took an expansion team in St. Louis to four straight finals (They didn't win, but it's still impressive). At any rate, he'll be in a position of more power in Chicago, but I don't see Tallon or Savard leaving any time soon. These are the guys of the New Age; throwing them out to get an aging Bowman in there would be throwing away your future. He'll be teaching them how to run a team, but not running it himself.
formerhawksfan (Posted 2008-08-01 15:15:32)
I think the hawks suck. I used to be a huge hawks fan and now im actually choosing a diff original six team. go leafs. I hate boston detroit and NY and i hate montreal for being french.. so GO LEAFS GO!!
Bleafer (Posted 2008-08-01 15:10:55)
I think regardless of what happens, its just good news for hawks fans that their team is making headlines again. It looks like good times ahead for them again.
Frank Szewczyk (Posted 2008-08-01 14:01:24)
Who knows what is up. I would think that firing Tallon and Savard would only happen if the Hawks completely collapsed. It would be a marketing nightmare to release a former Hawk player and color commentator (Tallon) and the poster child for pride in the Hawks sweater Denny Savard. To be sure McDonough put pressure on the Hawks to have a big signing to improve season ticket sales. Besides I don't think Bowman is up to the rigors of game to game travel that is required today of GMs and coaches. I also think if Tallon was given an ultimatum to sign a player or see the door he would just walk away.
Frank
glenn ayerst (Posted 2008-08-01 13:49:28)
"After all, why would Bowman leave the Red Wings for the Blackhawks, aside from the chance to work with his son Stan, who is an assistant GM in Chicago and is currently fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma?"
This isn't a good enough reason?
Jim Reinecke (Posted 2008-08-01 13:46:54)
Hey, Tim, oh mighty wizard of the rink: You think Mr. Bowman is over-rated? Have you heard of an item of jewelry called a Stanley Cup ring? Well, the gentleman that you're wasting your time and this space dissing so enthusiastically has run out of fingers to put them on. But since you know so much about the game of hockey I guess that that feat amounts to next to nothing, huh? And are you the "young kid" that you feel needs a spokesperson to voice their likes and dislikes about the sport, regardless of how inane and bombastic their delivery may be? With your arrogance, I'm positive that with any luck you might grow up to be the next Gary Bettman (or the next Stewie Griffin. . .depending on which one quits his job first!).
Hawks Fan (Posted 2008-08-01 13:01:18)
A 75 year old is going to come in and rock the ship? Savard has been doing a great job of bringing our young players along. Tallon has turned around the team from the bottom on up. The way it should be done. Look at how many of our draft picks played for the Hawks last year. There is no way they will be forced out. They have been a huge part of the turnaround.
Tim (Posted 2008-08-01 11:25:48)
Wow, another reason hockey is a back page sports article. We are talking about an overrated hockey person. Who CARES!!!!
Let's talk about new blood in the NHL. Talk about the young players (no kid today cares about "Blowman" and NO young kid today cares about the continued talk of the original six, they care only about their team, so talk about ALL of them).
Do you think talking about this guy increased the fan base. I know more about hockey that anyone at the Hockey News!
Slighted (Posted 2008-08-01 07:48:02)
Tallon didn't want to sign Brian Campbell?? Where do you get this stuff?? Tallon was very vocal about wanting Brian Campbell since the end of last year. Patrick Kane even talked to Brian Campbell at the AllStar game in January about the fact the Hawks wanted him on the team. There were many local Chi articles where Tallon was quoted stating he wanted a pucking moving Dman, ie, Brian Campbell, on the Hawks. It wasn't McDonough that was quoted..it was Tallon. Tallon was focused on getting Brian Campbell on July 1st. I'm sure you pay about as much attention on the Blackhawks as you do the Food Network. I can tell by this article. As for Scotty, I highly doubt he has designs at age 75 of running the show. And I know of no rift between McDonough and Tallon. Blah Blah Blah.
Dany (Posted 2008-08-01 05:07:44)
What? Only Ken Campbell could take a positive move like this and 'try' to put a negative twist on it. Scotty Bowman has his dream job now, to work with his son Stan...he's come full circle in hockey. Where ever Scotty goes, success follows. Sorry that the Leafs blew it...but the Hawks didn't.
eldrick (Posted 2008-08-01 04:19:30)
Sure Tallon wanted Campbell but what he did not want is to over-pay for him or for Huet....Bowman's hard head and ego can make him a royal pain in the butt from time to time, I hope he and McDonough don't form a bridge burning duo in Chi-town.
Tony Wilson (Posted 2008-08-01 02:21:02)
I have to say I totally disagree with this article. I watch every televised game, read every article, and see every interview posted on the blackhawks website. To say that Dale Tallon has been doing less than a super job since coming on is nuts. I heard him say at the trade deadline he wanted to go after Brian Campbell next year, and as far as Savard goes there isn't any coach in any league in any sport that wants to see his team win as much as Denis. He is a class-act who doesn't over criticize his team, always speaks using the phrase "we need to be better" when the team has a bad game. If I was Tallon I would sign him to a 10 year coaching extension right now. He was an assistant for 9 years, he is not here for the money but rather for the love of the team. His veins bleed red, black, and white. Tallon and Savard are both true blackhawks and need to stay. Bowman is a great addition to the mix, and I am sure he will advise the management well. He is a legend, no doubt, but to say he has been hired to replace Tallon or Savard is crazy, and a mistake if it is true.
red dog (Posted 2008-08-01 00:22:00)
good or bad, the people are talking of the blackhawks again. it's good to see that. this franchise is on the way back to the top. good move to get Mr Bowman in the mix. can't wait for the start of the season.
go hawks go !!!!!!
Gil (Posted 2008-07-31 22:45:09)
This article doesn't make sense.
Bowman is DONE with coaching and/or GM. Done. D-O-N-E: Done.
He's been there, done it and is enjoying a nice retirement doing consulting.
Chris (Posted 2008-07-31 22:37:29)
This is the stupidest article I've read in a long time.
Ryan G. (Posted 2008-07-31 22:05:50)
The only arguement that Ken doesnt make is if Savard stumbles in the first half. that would be the only reason he would be replaced. Tallon has done an above average job, we have drafted well and it is paying off. There were rumors since the all-star break about campbell one day being a blackhawk. And for other, McDonough is the president, he was once the head of marketing for the Cubs, it is Rocky Wirtz's decision also from some of these moves being made. The hawks can potentially have a great 2 to 4 years ahead of us if things pan out with our money invested and when our prospects hit their prime. Can we please trade havlat?
bostongm (Posted 2008-07-31 22:04:01)
Detroits loss is Chicago's gain. Honestly now....whats the Wings fans excuse for letting Bowman go? Or did Bowman jump on a ship thats surely rising? You know he's done it before. Will Bowman take credit for the owners' moves?
Jonathan Strange (Posted 2008-07-31 20:20:05)
Artcile seems like BS but I'd agree that Savard is on a short leash especially if the Hawks stumble out of the gate.
jon whatley (Posted 2008-07-31 19:16:59)
i think this story is complete bull... why would McDonough not like Tallon or Savard... i think tallon has done a descent job the last few years and i think savard did a good job in first full season as coach... i also think its crap that apparently tallon didnt want campbell... tallon was saying basically all year that he wanted a puck moving defencemen that could put up a lot of points and they were rumored to get him at the trade deadline
c nash (Posted 2008-07-31 19:03:19)
Why does this have to be a big consipracy, I think being around an ailing son is reason enough for Bowman or anyone else for that matter to take the job. Family is more important than money, and Stanley Cup Rings, and Bowman needs neither.
t-murder (Posted 2008-07-31 16:43:02)
The writing is on the wall for Savard. If the Hawks don't make the playoffs looks like the job will be offered to Bowman.
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