Chicago Blackhawks
Why the Blackhawks Are Publicly Sharing News of All GM Interviews
It seems odd that the Blackhawks are sharing news of every interview they conduct with a candidate for the GM position. Do they have a choice?
The Chicago Blackhawks are doing something a lot of teams — frankly, I don’t remember any team — doing. They are publicly sharing news of their interviews for the vacant GM position on social media. In an effort to be completely “transparent”, over the last few days, the organization has confirmed they’ve interviewed Kyle Davidson, Eric Tulsky Scott Mellanby, Peter Chiarelli, and Jeff Greenberg.
Related: Wirtz Outburst Could Lead to Flood of Players Avoiding Blackhawks
It’s not every day you see a professional sports team be completely open and honest about all the people they’ve considered for a vacant position. It would be nice, but the simple fact is, it opens up the team to scrutiny if the choice that is made doesn’t pan out. So too, it lets another team know who is on the radar of the club in an important executive position and it tells the entire fan base, in no uncertain terms, which way the franchise is leaning for their next hire. Typically, the candidates know who else is being interviewed but the fans don’t.
The Blackhawks no longer have the luxury of keeping anything a secret. After the Rocky Wirtz incident in Chicago, and following a number of other reasons this team has made the news for all the wrong reasons, the Blackhawks are on thin ice. Wirtz wasn’t penalized by the league or Gary Bettman — who characterized it as an outburst due to the frustration the organization has after “what has happened to that franchise because of Kyle Beach and with Kyle Beach.” But, any notion the Blackhawks aren’t telling their fan base exactly what’s going on behind the scenes is going to be met with an immediate assumption the club is hiding something.
There might also be other reasons. The fans are more than eager to stir up whatever issues might come with the next GM, someone who is going to have a lot of power inside the organization. If any of these candidates aren’t fit and the Blackhawks haven’t seen it yet, their fans and the rest of the hockey world — who is watching every move the Blackhawks make — will more than happy to let them know. Avoiding the next problem is a critical next step for this franchise.
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