Stiffy 0 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 Read a terrifying line in the paper today (AP feed in many papers today I think). Scotty Bowman will be advising Quenneville and the Hawks on the Red Wings players. He knows many of them. I just posted on this thought somewhere else, but this is scary and kind of neat in raising the tension a bit, so I thought it would be okay to make a thread out of it. Bowman is the greatest hockey mind of all time and he probably knows the Wings better than anyone second to Babcock. You can bet your a$$ he has kept up on every aspect of the game since he retired (he is known for studying every game, team, player in the league). Does he have knowledge that could make our lives miserable? If he does, will Quenneville listen to him or half listen to him? Will Babcock be able to respond or outthink and outmaneuver any Bowman induced strategies? I think the answer is we can prevail, even pitted against the greatest coach of all time back seat driving the Hawks. If someone thinks Bowman will not be a factor, I would respectfully disagree. As to what level he will be a factor I do not know. Whatdaythink? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shoreline Report post Posted May 17, 2009 (edited) He said his advisement to QV is limited. If the Wings win, it's over Quenneville (or likewise, if they lose it's to him), not Bowman. Edited May 17, 2009 by Shoreline Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MrSandMan Report post Posted May 17, 2009 The fallacy there is, though Bowman knows this team inside out, Quenneville still needs to manage his team and coach them to execute their plan. The best hockey mind in the world still can't grace their team with the real physical hard work that takes to win. Wings in 6. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Firehawk 305 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 Bowman might as well coach their team for this series because the Q has no idea how to beat Detroit. Also, I think people are blowing this up more than it is. Bowman can't beat Detroit for them. This is a mismatch more than people want to let on, because it's a great story for the Blackhawks. But the reality of it is, their story is going to end in this round. It's been nice, I think the Hawks will be a serious cup contender in a year or two, but right now, no way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VM1138 1,921 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 Bowman can advise them, but I don't think he really knows anything special about the Wings nowadays. He probably has a little inside information that doesn't really help the Hawks. Anything he knows Quennville can probably learn from watching tapes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 0 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 Aw come on guys. This makes for a great drama, intrigue, suspense... "Bowman the secret architect of strategy to dismantle Wings. The man who created the Wings puck possession style of play that has so dominated the league is now feeding info on the Achilles Heel of the Wings dynasty..." You know, he also advised Babcock a bit. To his credit, Bowman knows his place and probably is not a significant factor, but holy cow, if I was a coach and had his ear, you can bet I would jump on any pearls of wisdom he is sure to drop here and there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Broken 16 381 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 I doubt there are many things that Bowman could reveal about either team that they don't already know. Information is pretty fluid with technology these days. Both teams pretty much have the goods on eachother at this point. Ultimately, the players decide. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MidMichSteve 1,115 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 It sure won't hurt to have an adviser with the most (9) Stanley Cups to his credit as an NHL coach. Bowman is the greatest hockey mind of all time and he probably knows the Wings better than anyone second to Babcock. You can bet your a$$ he has kept up on every aspect of the game since he retired (he is known for studying every game, team, player in the league). That's true and another one of his strengths was matching lines on the fly. He won't be doing that for the Hawks. Thank the Hockey Gods for that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Secret 304 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 We have a great hockey mind on our bench too... he is not quite to the Bowman level but he is young in his career and doing a great job. We have too much experience, not to take the Hawks lightly at all. Plus, Bowmans been there all year and we still had a winning regular season record over them. Wings in 5! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Echolalia 2,961 Report post Posted May 17, 2009 The best advice he can give at this point is "hope for next year, they can't afford everyone then." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
