Bowman's seat might not be too hot, but he's on the clock with Blackhawks

Joel Quenneville is gone.

Three Stanley Cup titles. Five Western Conference Finals. Nine straight playoff appearances.

It wasn't enough to save the neck of the second-winningest coach of all-time. Rocky Wirtz, John McDonough and Stan Bowman handed Quenneville his walking papers last week and named Jeremy Colliton as the 38th coach in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Hawks brass felt a five-game losing streak that turned a promising start into a mediocre 6-6-3 record was more than enough reason to pull the trigger on Quenneville.

Here's the ultimate question: Why wasn't Bowman also relieved of his duties as general manager?

Bowman has made plenty of questionable moves that left Quenneville's roster a shell of what it was just two seasons ago when the Hawks won 50 games and earned the No. 1 playoff seed in the Western Conference.

Let's dive in.

The bad

Artemi Panarin and Niklas Hjalmarsson - gone. Teuvo Teravainen - history. Vinnie Hinostroza, Jordan Oesterle and Phillip Danault - elsewhere.

Brent Seabrook signed until 2023-24 at $6.875 million per season.

Chris Kunitz is here instead of Anthony Duclair (7 goals for Columbus); Brandon Manning (2 years, $4.5 million) hasn't shown much; and who was going to give Jan Rutta $2.25 million for one year?

Shouldn't Bowman share some blame for what has transpired the past 100-plus games? Some would say yes. Not the team president.

"No, I did not consider (firing) both," McDonough said.

McDonough was asked later why the blame falls on Quenneville but not equally on Bowman.

"This isn't just about the blame," McDonough said. "We're talking about a coach that had a historic run in the history of our game - one of the greatest runs of all time. We want to see it continue. But if there is a sense that we feel we need to improve, and it may not improve with that current group, we have an obligation to make a change.

"Stan has my support. He had my support hiring Jeremy. Now we're going to allow this to play out."

The good

It's unfair to focus solely on Bowman's poor trades and signings because he's made plenty of good ones the past three seasons. To wit:

• Convinced Panarin to sign in Chicago and re-signed him to a 2-year extension Dec. 28, 2016.

• Traded Andrew Shaw to Montreal, then used one of the Canadiens' draft picks to select Alex DeBrincat.

• Traded Brandon Saad to Columbus for Artem Anisimov and inked Anisimov to a reasonable five-year deal.

• Traded Jeremy Morin for Richard Panik; Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns for Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt; and Scott Darling for a third-round pick.

• Twice signed Michal Kempny to one-year deals.

It certainly wasn't Bowman's fault Quenneville failed to get the most out of Daley and Kempny, who went on to help the Penguins and Capitals win the last three Stanley Cup titles.

In the big picture, the signings of Seabrook and Bryan Bickell (4 years, $16 million) hamstrung Bowman the past couple years and forced him to make moves that decimated the roster.

The ripple effects of those moves - combined with the loss of Marian Hossa and Corey Crawford's injury last season - made it difficult for Quenneville to win on a consistent basis.

"You could probably look at some of the roster moves and different things and maybe say that," Patrick Kane said the day Quenneville was fired. "It's just one of those situations that's really tough.

"Every team makes moves and things happen throughout the season whether it's injuries or things like that that everyone has to deal with. I guess those (questions) are best directed toward Stan or the front office."

Bowman, who didn't absolve himself of blame, was asked what he plans to do to help Colliton return the Hawks to their winning ways.

"We're all accountable for this," Bowman said. "We all played a role in this and we all have to get better. My role in this arrangement is not simply finding players. That's part of my role. But my role is interacting with our coaches and helping collaborate to make our team improve.

"Certainly part of that is player acquisition or player movement. We're on the lookout. If we can improve our team in any way, we're going to pursue that."

With the Quenneville firing, it's a wake-up call that everything is on the table. Considering Bowman just hired his first coach as GM and he drafted young players in June, it doesn't seem his seat is hot.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Bowman figure a way to sign Panarin next off-season. Many believe it's not possible. But trust me - it is.

If Panarin returns and he and Kane rekindle their chemistry; Jonathan Toews, DeBrincat and Saad continue to play solid hockey; and the young defensemen pan out, Bowman suddenly has a roster that might be able to contend with the league's best.

If not?

More heads figure to roll.