Wirtz explains why Blackhawks believe so strongly in Bowman

Why?

That was the question that came to mind for many Blackhawks fans when it was announced Stan Bowman was being promoted to president of hockey operations on Wednesday.

What has Bowman, who remains the general manager, done over the past few years to add this prestigious title? After all, the Blackhawks - who have won three Stanley Cups during Bowman's tenure and were the No. 1 seed in the West in 2017 - have been on mostly a downward spiral over the past three years.

The move was a curious one, so I decided to ask Danny Wirtz what went behind the decision.

After pausing to collect his thoughts for 10 seconds, Wirtz explained the Hawks' thinking. Here were his main points during a two-minute response:

• "(Bowman's) role in reshaping three Stanley Cup teams multiple times cannot be misunderstood or underappreciated."

• Bowman "has set forth a vision for where he wants to take the organization and the hockey team (and) a system to get us there."

• Bowman has been transparent with fans, players and ownership about the rebuilding that will be going on in the near term.

• Hawks ownership has "a lot of trust in Stan." Bowman won't rest on his laurels and desperately wants to take the team back to the top.

A decent answer by Wirtz, who was named CEO on Wednesday. Yet it's still one that leaves us wondering.

There is little doubt Bowman has experienced plenty of highs and lows as GM over the past 10 years. But the pitfalls - the Brent Seabrook contract and the trade of Artemi Panarin being at the very top - are so low that they over ride much of the good.

Having said that it's important to understand that former President John McDonough, who was fired in April, was not afraid to poke his nose into the hockey side of the business. He wanted to make the playoffs every season, even when the more prudent course was to take a step back, let young players develop and rebuild for a season or two.

Bowman was trying to manage a nightmare salary cap situation, create roster spots for inexperienced forwards and D-men, AND attempt to put a playoff-caliber roster together.

Make no mistake - that's an impossible task for any GM.

Asked about the complexity of the previous situation, Bowman admitted Thursday that "there's no question it's a challenge to try to do both aspects ... because when you're developing young players (you) usually have to have a bit of patience and there's a process that goes into place before they can become elite players."

Wirtz and Bowman would not put a timetable on when they believe the Hawks will become a perennial playoff team that can consistently compete for Stanley Cups. They simply want to see progress each and every year. Do that and eventually they will once again reach the top of the mountain.

Of course, the challenge - and it's an immense one - is to figure out how to accomplish this while Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith are still contributing at a high level. Not only that, but to also show all of them that the Hawks are indeed on the right path.

Because if that doesn't happen there's an extremely good chance that Kane, Toews and Keith would entertain offers from other teams when they become free agents in the summer of 2023. Can't you see Kane in New York, reunited with Artemi Panarin?

Because I can.

Those are all issues for another day, though.

In the near term, Bowman now has more authority to reshape and rebuild the Hawks the way he sees fit. Wirtz believes Bowman will succeed for myriad reasons, not the least of which are his competitiveness and drive.

Bowman keeps the emotions that come with those traits close to the vest.

But have no doubt. He says they are definitely there.

"I'm very determined, very focused and extremely competitive," Bowman said. "I do this because I love what I do, and the challenge is what's exciting to me - the challenge of building something. Honestly, that's even more fun sometimes.

"The maintaining of it is not as much fun for me personally as the challenge of what's ahead. ... When we're facing difficulty and a puzzle on how we're going to put this back together, that what gets me really excited and it gets me energized."