Hawks GM Bowman sees signs of progress

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman has heard the grumbling.

He knows fans are a little on edge because the defending Stanley Cup champions are still hovering around the .500 mark 25 games into the season.

But Bowman is hoping that patience prevails in the long run because he thinks it'll be well worth the wait.

“Obviously we were hoping we'd be better than this at this point of the year, but I've seen signs over the past three weeks that we've started to play our kind of hockey with the exception of the Calgary game (a 7-2 loss),” Bowman said. “We've played a lot of close games. In our first 20 games I think 19 were 1-goal games. Especially as the year goes on, we're going to be accustomed to playing that way.

“Hopefully the results will come because it is a results-oriented business. We are playing better and now we hope it translates into wins.”

If it doesn't, Bowman said he'd be prepared to make a trade to improve, but that's easier said than done in the current market.

“There aren't a lot of trades right now in the NHL,” he said. “It's a difficult league to trade in mainly because of the salary cap.”

So that means ...

“We're looking more to improve with the group we have here,” Bowman said. “And we've got players in Rockford who are developing as well.”

Three players from Rockford whom Bowman said could be of help in the near future are Nick Leddy, Kyle Beach and Jeremy Morin.

“Those guys stand out as the three guys who are kind of on the cusp of playing,” he said. “They could come up at any point, but I also think it's very rare when you say that guy was in the American League too long.

“These guys are very young, they're 19, 19 and 20, so for them, it's a combination of getting confidence in the pro game and still getting the right amount of minutes.”

Among the other topics Bowman touched on Saturday:

Ÿ On the Hawks needing to get more physical: “In terms of physicality, I don't think that's been a problem for us. We have enough guys who are playing that style.”

Ÿ On goalie Corey Crawford's progress: “Corey's certainly played well lately so he deserves to play again (as he did Saturday in L.A.).”

And finally ...

Ÿ On if the Hawks have what it takes to win the Cup again: “We're very confident in our players. It's an impossible question to answer in the sense that I don't think personnel so much wins championships obviously you have to have the players.”