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Chicago Blackhawks fans must be wondering: What's the biggest offseason change coming for a team that underachieved in the 2011-12 campaign?

Surprisingly, the answer may not come in the form of roster changes. There'll be some new players, of course, but in order for a blockbuster trade to happen the Hawks would most likely have to move from their core group, something general manager Stan Bowman said he's not fixated on doing.

There will be some free-agent signings, as there always are, but with Patrick Sharp's new contract kicking in and all the other core players signed to big deals there isn't a lot of money to go around. The Hawks can make one decent splash -- if they choose to -- but that's about it. Everything else is filling in some blanks at the bottom end of the roster both on offense and defense. At least that's what it looks like here in late May. If, say, Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter wants to come to Chicago at a decent rate then things might change, but all in all, the Hawks have their core group and a few ancillary younger players to maneuver with as they head into 2012-13.

So what will be the biggest change?

Joel Quenneville.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville opened the door for plenty of speculation when he said on Tuesday there was "dysfunction" among his coaching staff with regard to the firing of assistant Mike Haviland.

The picture emerging from West Madison Street is one of dysfunction that extends beyond just the coaching staff. Whispers and rumors of dissension beyond the normal back and forth of a team trying to achieve its goals have been rampant. And for good reason. The situation boils down to two camps: Quenneville's and the Bowmans (general manager Stan and senior advisor Scotty).

Each side lost an ally over the last week when Marc Bergevin (Quenneville) left for Montreal and Haviland (Bowman) was fired on Tuesday. With Haviland's firing -- by Quenneville -- a line was drawn in the sand: This is his team, his coaching staff and the results will be on them. He will choose who replaces Haviland and the power to do so is the first Quenneville has had with the Hawks.

"[Bowman] did offer me the opportunity for the first time since I've been here to look if I need [to make] a change to our coaching staff," Quenneville said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

That's a far cry from this past season when the line between coaching and the front office was as muddled as it could get. Maybe it was inevitable given the set-up. When the younger Bowman was hired as a first-time general manager at age 37 he instantly became the boss of a seasoned veteran coach. To boot, Bowman's father was a senior advisor who was commonly known as the best hockey coach in the history of the game. Can it really come as a surprise, when things went south, dysfunction would reign?

It's exactly when things started to go bad on the ice that the rift between front office and coaching became noticeable. In the midst of a nine-game losing streak in February, Scotty Bowman accompanied the team on the road and saw first-hand the problems the Hawks were having on special teams. Not long afterward, director of player development Barry Smith was asked to help with some coaching duties. But not by Quenneville, according to multiple sources. Smith is a Bowman confidant and the unusual idea of helping a Stanley Cup-winning coach came from Scotty. Quenneville wasn't given a choice in the matter, according to the sources. In fact, it was at that point that assistant Mike Kitchen's job was in jeopardy. But Kitchen is a Quenneville confidant. So Kitchen stayed, and Smith was forced upon Quenneville, no matter the coach's public proclamations of his acceptance of help.

Smith took an active role talking to players and instructing the special teams. It prompted one member of the hockey community to say Smith's involvement was undermining Quenneville. "And the whole coaching fraternity knows it," a source said.

Smith kept the front office appraised of on-ice matters and while the special teams improved incrementally with Smith's involvement, they regressed as the regular season wound down. Things came to a head on the final day of the regular season in Detroit. Multiple sources said there was a loud argument between Quenneville and Smith during which loyalties were questioned. It was the last the team saw of Smith. He never again ran a practice, and his travel with the team was limited to Game 5 against Phoenix. Quenneville eventually won that battle and now has full control of the coaching staff, but he certainly doesn't have full control of personnel. It's assumed he has control of how that personnel is used, but even that is in question.

Kane at center

On purpose or not, a difference of opinions became apparent at the Hawks' end-of-year news conference. Stan Bowman said of Patrick Kane, "Having him in the middle, he's certainly better than any other center that's available." It wasn't even completely clear if Bowman meant on the market or on the Hawks, but does it matter? His views are clear: He likes Kane at center. It was Bowman's idea in the first place to play Kane in the middle when the team didn't acquire a second-line center last offseason.

Quenneville, on the other hand, was high on Marcus Kruger and the job he did in a role he was thrust into when Kane was moved back to wing. Quenneville praised Kane's work in the middle but left most of the accolades for Kruger, calling Kane "a nice option."

The difference of opinion came on the ice as well. If Kane was best for the team at center -- as Bowman said in the news conference -- then why was he ever moved from the middle?

Kane played the entire middle portion of the season back at wing. He returned to center when Jonathan Toews went down with a concussion, playing well there the final month of the season. But at the most important point of the year -- the postseason -- Kane was back at wing. He moved back to center again only when Kruger faltered early in the series against the Coyotes.

The bottom line is it appears Quenneville does not believe the Hawks can win a championship with Kane at center. On top of it, other NHL head coaches have expressed privately their satisfaction with Kane playing center, according to sources. Opposing teams want him to have to play a 200-foot game. Common thinking is, any moment of attention or energy on the defensive end takes away from his offensive prowess. If Quenneville has truly been given full power for all on-ice personnel decisions moving forward, then don't expect Kane at center unless under dire circumstances.

Special Teams

Stan Bowman put the Hawks special teams problems squarely on Quenneville. He was asked if he was satisfied with the coaching with regard to the power play.

"The results speak for themselves," he said. "They were a huge disappointment this year. It's unacceptable to have the caliber of players we have and not have it work. That's a question Joel is probably better able to answer. That's more of a coaching thing than anything. ... For whatever reason ours didn't work. We need to be better in that area. There is no doubt about that."

And to answer that remark, Quenneville eventually fired Haviland but not Kitchen. Haviland was part of the coaching staff that won a Stanley Cup in 2010. Kitchen has been part of one that has overseen two first-round exits. Quenneville has been purposely able to deflect blame for the special teams woes on all coaches, and it's extremely hard to discern who was at fault where, so he has plausible deniability when it comes to explaining why Haviland and not Kitchen was let go. All were seen using the chalkboard in practice and players said all were involved instructing them. Quenneville denied his friendship played a part in Kitchen staying on but the fact remains the coach that Quenneville inherited is gone and his good friend is still here.

2011-2012

Why is all this important?

All along, the younger Bowman was telling his bosses the Hawks had enough personnel to win, and when things didn't go their way in the second half of the season the elder Bowman took steps -- in the form of Smith -- to prove it was on coaching and not personnel. Those steps undermined the authority of Quenneville. And that's something players pick up on immediately. It wouldn't be a surprise if more than one wondered who was in charge.

Maybe a compromise has been struck. No more front office meddling and now the blame -- or credit -- can fall squarely on Quenneville's shoulders. Unfortunately, coaching and personnel are always intertwined. Look at the Kane situation as evidence. The question is can the two sides coexist to bring another championship to Chicago?

CEO John McDonough is an obvious supporter of Scotty Bowman and Quenneville. If he has to choose it's still not clear who would win out. With more defined battle lines, it should become much clearer over the next 12 months.

Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Tuesday that despite speculation he has no plans to head to the Montreal Canadiens, where friend and former Hawks assistant general manager Marc Bergevin is now the GM.

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CHICAGO -- The loss of former Chicago Blackhawks assistant general manager Marc Bergevin could have some far-reaching effects.

Bergevin was named the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, which means coach Joel Quenneville has lost a front office ally.

Bergevin and Quenenville are tight, the former having played for the latter. And Bergevin helped bring Quenneville into the organization where he was a scout for one month before being named head coach.

Quenneville and general manager Stan Bowman may not have seen eye to eye on all matters this past season, which might not be that unusual during a year that saw unexpected turmoil on the ice.

At one point, Director of Player Development Barry Smith was asked to help with some coaching -- but not by Quenneville, according to multiple sources. That directive came from above. And at the team’s year-end press conference last week, Quenneville talked highly of Marcus Kruger’s job as the team’s second line center while Bowman said that Kane might be the best candidate for that position moving forward.

No two people are going to feel the same about personnel decisions but without Bergevin in the front office Quenneville won’t have as strong a voice. Of course, if there is ever a coaching change within the Blackhawks, Quenneville could find an easy landing spot in Montreal.

CHICAGO – With the Hawks entering an offseason of uncertainty, the team’s situation at second-line center looms as one of its biggest question marks.

A hole since last summer, the Hawks never really filled it to anyone’s liking.

Two in-house players emerged as possible candidates moving forward, Patrick Kane and Marcus Kruger. Kane was a first time center and Kruger is just 21 years old, so there is room for improvement for both.

Kruger did his best playing in a position he might not be ready for until a year or two from now. The Hawks asked too much of him, yet he did more than an admirable job. But it wasn’t long into the playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes that he was replaced by Kane, who also had some good moments during the season.

“I like playing center,” Kane said as the team cleaned out its lockers on Wednesday. “You come up the ice with a lot of speed in the middle. It’s kind of natural for me to do that anyway. When I was playing wing I was kind of playing like a center anyway, coming back and getting the puck and trying to come up the ice. I’m fine with it. Sometimes it’s exciting to play some new positions whether it’s wing or center. You look at it, this year the team was successful when I was at center.”

The Hawks did get off to a good start with Kane in the middle, surprising many observers with his play. He finished the season there as well after Jonathan Toews went down with a concussion.

“Our team’s best record, and it coincided with Patrick’s best performance, was when he was in the middle,” general manager Stan Bowman explained. “Patrick carried our team the last month or five weeks of the season. He kind of put us on his back and got us into the playoffs. He stepped up and was our No.1 center for all those weeks…I think the notion that he can’t play center or isn’t good at center has been dispelled. Not only did our team play well when he was in the middle he played well. He had his most productive time when he was there.”

Both Kane and Bowman are forgetting about the middle portion of the season. Why was Kane ever moved back to wing if his time at center was so productive? In November, when the Hawks hit the road both before and during the annual circus trip, Kane was moved out from the middle. He struggled with road matchups in which opposing coaches can match up a bigger, stronger player against Kane. And his face-off percentage wasn’t very good. But it takes nothing away from how he finished the season without Toews in the lineup. Except he went back to wing when the playoffs started, until Kruger faltered. So which is better for him?

Joel Quenneville’s highest praise came for Kruger.

“Kane started off the year and did a nice job for us,” Quenneville said. “He did again at the end of the year but I think Kruger came in and did a real strong job as far as filling that need or that void or that niche…Is he qualified to put up the numbers a second line center would produce at? Hopefully he continues to get better. You like his upside as a player, you like his competitiveness, you think he has great instincts, intelligence as well. Offensively gifted, I don’t know if its high end second line center, but as an organization, you have some young centers.”

So Bowman likes Kane there and Quenneville kind of likes Kruger. The question for the Hawks is , are either qualified for that position on a championship caliber team? It sounds like Bowman already believes he knows the answer.

“Having him in the middle, he’s [Kane] certainly better than any other center that’s available,” Bowman declared.

That statement might be one of those defining ones for Bowman. If he’s right, the Hawks can allocate their resources elsewhere, possibly to improve an under-sized defense. If he’s wrong, they might end up back at square one a year from now. Or else an improving Kruger might have to give it a try again.

CHICAGO-- Goalie Corey Crawford was last to walk into the press room on the day when the Chicago Blackhawks cleaned out their lockers and said their goodbyes. He would be the last voice on the season that finished too early for fans and players alike. And in many people’s minds, the team’s early demise was partly on Crawford.

“I don’t think the whole year was negative,” Crawford said unprompted. “Obviously a disappointing finish, I thought we could have gone further. … It seemed like it was a year with a little bit more frustration [that] set in than it should have. ... but overall it wasn’t as bad a year as most people would think. I just have to make sure those down times aren’t as long, aren’t as bad for next season.”

So already Crawford is learning from his sub-par season. He can’t let bad goals or bad games carry over. It’s a good lesson to learn, but is it enough? Can the Hawks win the Stanley Cup with Crawford in net? We can safely say he’s no outright bust. He’s not Cristobal Huet. Many might think they know what he is, but in reality no one does. Not yet.

“The goalie growth chart, when you look at all the top goalies, you look at their sophomore season, it doesn’t quite measure up to their rookie year,” Joel Quenneville said before Crawford took to the media stand. “You look at a lot of goalies in the league, the longer they’re in the league the more effective they are. They get better and better with time. In Corey’s case we expect him to get better as we go along here. Having confidence and showing it in him is the right thing to do.”

That’s telling from a coach who has no issues with replacing his starter. Quenneville could have couched his words or been a little harsher, and no one would have blinked, probably not even Crawford. But maybe Quenneville has a point.

Take the three Vezina finalists for this season -- Jonathan Quick, Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne. Like Crawford, they broke in playing about half a season and they put up some decent numbers. Their second year, when asked to carry the load, the numbers were less impressive.

Quick went from a 2.48 goals-against average to 2.54, his save percentage went down from .914 to .907. Lundqvist from 2.24 to 2.34 and from .922 to .917. Rinne from 2.38 to 2.53 and .917 to .911. A more recent example is Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. His sophomore slump consisted of a goals-against average that went from 2.26 to a whopping 2.79 and a save percentage that dipped from .924 to .908.

Crawford’s numbers include a 2.30 goals-against average in 2010-2011 to 2.72 this year and his save percentage came down to .903 from .917.

The point of all this?

In all those cases -- and many others -- the goaltender in question rebounded to have a solid third season. The “sophomore slump” is not just a myth. Plenty of good current goaltenders had their dips, then came out of it better than ever. What’s to say Crawford won’t? His mental make-up isn’t off the charts, and his technique doesn’t need an overhaul.

In the middle of this past season, it was OK to ask for a new goalie for the stretch run. After all, who knows how long the window for the core group will be open, and it became obvious the Hawks weren’t going to win the Stanley Cup this year with Crawford in net. But now the season is over, and it’s time to focus on next year.

Though he dismissed the notion, there is something to be said about becoming the No. 1 goaltender, getting a new contract and potentially playing in more games than ever before -- at a position plenty would say is the most important one in sports.

“At every level it just gets magnified a little bit more,” Crawford said. “I experienced that this year. It’s something you learn from and try to get better from it.”

The Hawks will undoubtedly look at the history of the position and more than likely realize they would have to trade a core player to obtain an elite goaltender. Could they still have one in the making here?

No one knows, not yet.

CHICAGO -- Anytime a team underachieves as the Chicago Blackhawks did this season, the blame game undoubtedly gets played. And for the Hawks, plenty can be assigned to the players.

But what about the men in charge?

There will be an offseason-long debate about who deserves more, general manager Stan Bowman or coach Joel Quenneville? Even for them there is enough to go around:

Stan Bowman: 65 percent

Second-line center: The moment Bowman traded Brian Campbell he was on the clock. He had newfound money and needed a second-line center. It was plausible a good one wasn’t an available via free-agency last summer, after Brad Richards’ mega deal in New York, but that doesn’t mean a trade couldn’t be pulled off either before the season or in season. The New York Islanders’ Frans Nielsen could have been had, but it would have cost Dylan Olsen. Antoine Vermette had a glorious playoff series against the Hawks but Bowman didn’t want or couldn’t get him from Columbus. The Coyotes did. The addition of a center would have had a trickle up and down effect on the entire team. It’s still a need.

Playoff built: Though Bryan Bickell led all skaters in the entire first round, through six games, with 32 hits, the Hawks weren’t built for a long, gritty postseason run. Even giving Bowman a pass for the moment on the goaltending situation -- though the regular season told enough there -- the team was constructed to win one way, with wide open offense. That doesn’t fly in the playoffs. At the end of the day the grit they picked up wasn’t good enough.

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CHICAGO -- If the Chicago Blackhawks were given a pass by fans and media a year ago after an early exit, they’ll get anything but this time around -- and they know it. After losing in six games to the Phoenix Coyotes in the opening round of the 2012 postseason, there are no excuses to be had.

“When you come in off a long offseason like we did last year, we had high hopes for this team this year,” Jonathan Toews said after the season-ending 4-0 defeat to Phoenix. “With the hopes comes a lot of pressure as well.”

Maybe the pressure got to them. It’s as good a reason as any for their underachieving season. The Stanley Cup championship from 2010 is beginning to become a distant memory after back-to-back first-round exits.

“You remember how long a playoff run it is, and how fun it is,” Duncan Keith said. “It’s disappointing when you don’t get a long playoff run.”

Keith and Toews are part of the Hawks’ core. And it’s that core that will be most scrutinized this summer. They failed to produce against the Coyotes, and at many key times, this year. Should it be broken up? That’s a question that will gain momentum.

Patrick Kane had no goals and four assists in the series, all in the first three games. He totaled six shots in Games 4, 5 and 6. Patrick Sharp scored once, on a tip-in at the end of regulation in Game 2. And he wasn’t his normal shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later type of player throughout. Dave Bolland had a few good moments, but finished with three helpers in six games. Brent Seabrook, who was so noticeable towards the end of the regular season, was less so as the series wore on.

Only Toews is above question. He scored in his return after missing 22 games due to a concussion and he slowly got better as the series went along. Yes, he admittedly dipped in Games 2 and 3 but started to find his legs as the series got more important. The rest of the core went backwards.

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CHICAGO -- The 300-level rowdies were howling in the third period when the Chicago Blackhawks' Jimmy Hayes was sent off the ice for a brutal boarding call on Michal Rozsival, who lay prone on the ice.

“That’s not a penalty!” one yelled.

This was halfway through the period and en route to a season-ending 4-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. You wondered about the irony there, or maybe the hypocrisy, but really, you almost felt sorry for the bloodthirsty lot.

After all, they’re hockey fans, not irony fans. To the provincial, the Hayes’ hit wasn’t brutal, it was just a “hockey play.” Brutal was going 0-3 at home and missing all 39 shots in Game 6.

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CHICAGO -- When it's all said and done, the Chicago Blackhawks' 4-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday in Game 6 of their Western quarterfinal series told the story of the entire season.

The team that couldn't produce a shutout in 88 games got shut out. The team that ranked second-worst among playoff teams on the power play was 1-for-19 in the series. The team that ranked second worst on the penalty kill gave up four goals on 19 opportunities to the only power play worse than their own.

The Hawks played the series like they played the regular season -- and still they had a chance to win it. They only realized it after it was too late. Inundating Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith was a great plan that should have been executed earlier.

Smith finally stole a game and he did on a night when the Hawks had their best chances. Twenty eight to eight were the shots on net after two periods and yet the Hawks still trailed 1-0.

"Special teams is big," Patrick Sharp said in a down locker room after the season-ending loss. "We talk about that all the time. I thought we played well the first two periods then they score on the power play and we're chasing from behind."

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has elected to start goalie Corey Crawford in Game 5 against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday.

With the Hawks trailing their Western Conference quarterfinal 3-1, Quenneville indicated Friday the team was discussing internally what to do with the goalie situation after Crawford gave up soft goals in overtime in Games 3 and 4.

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It can’t come as a shock that Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is considering starting Ray Emery in net for Game 5 on Saturday night against the Phoenix Coyotes as his team faces elimination down 3-1.

After back-to-back soft goals given up in overtime, a change might be in order. It might come just to shake things up or because Corey Crawford’s confidence is very low. Or maybe Quenneville sees the impact it could have on the team in front of Crawford. Once a defense is afraid to make a mistake for fear the puck will end up in the back of its net, that’s exactly when those mistakes start to multiply.

“We're talking about that,” is all Quenneville would say Friday when asked about who would be in net. "Don't foresee any announcements.”

And that’s all he wanted to discuss regarding his goaltending situation. It’s pretty clear how he feels considering he keeps referring to the last two games as “brutal endings.”

Crawford defenders can always make a case he should stay in net. Of course he hasn’t been downright awful throughout the series. That’s obvious. But he faced just 19 shots in Game 4, in an overtime game no less, and three got by him. Not once but twice he’s given up the weakest of goals to end games.

We’re not talking about a 10-year veteran with multiple rings coming off an All-Star season. He has the right to be replaced and that’s exactly what Quenneville should do.

Last chance

The Hawks are down 3-1 and not surprisingly many were asked if the experience of a year ago can help them. Down 3-0 to Vancouver they won three in a row and almost won the series. They need three in a row again.

“You have to draw on everything you can,” Duncan Keith said. “And that’s one of them. The experience we’ve had in other series. We have to be a desperate team, we are a desperate team. It needs to be our best game of the year.”

That was the theme before the team took off for Phoenix and Game 5 on Saturday. It has to be their best game and then 6 and 7 have to be even better. But one game at a time.

“Our backs are against the wall,” Patrick Sharp said. “We need to find a way to play our best game in Game 5 and prepare for that.”

The one man who can lead them out of this mess is of course the captain. Jonathan Toews has never given in and he isn’t about to now. They have a long plane ride and 24 more hours to figure things out. What will he say?

“That stays in the locker room,” Toews said. “There are always things being said trying to keep the positive energy in that locker room. The only thing that really matters is what is said and done inside that locker room not what anyone says about us. No one thinks we’re going to win this series. Who cares? It’s all up to us.”

Slappers

• Quenneville wouldn’t declare any lineup changes before departing for Arizona but said he liked the play of Brendan Morrison and Brandon Saad making it a possibility they play again.

• Nick Leddy has been taking criticism for his play on the final sequence -- and in other instances -- in Game 4 where he was timid in defending the turnover and break by Mikkel Boedker.

“He's been on the ice for some goals that you might look at but Nick's been ok,” Quenneville said. “That pair can be better."

His partner, Johnny Oduya, had his pocket picked on the Coyotes first goal of the night.

Quotable

“It’s win or go home. I believe in our group. We believe we can win,” -- Patrick Sharp.

“That’s kind of our theme. We need more pucks. The high quality shot isn’t going to be there. We have to get some ugly goals,” -- Joel Quenneville.

“As a captain you get a lot of credit when things are going well for your team but you’re going to be the guy right in the middle of it when things are going south.”—Jonathan Toews

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville stunned everyone by starting center Brendan Morrison in place of Jamal Mayers in Game 4 Thursday night. Mayers missed just one game this season and that was due to illness.

“Brendan Morrison has been a good foot soldier,” Quenneville said. “He’s got some experience, got some playoff experience. It was a tough decision. I talked to Jamal Mayers today, it kind of hit him hard. Understandable because he’s been so competitive and so good for us all year.”

Morrison scored the Hawks’ first goal in the eventual 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday and said in one sense he was surprised he dressed for the game.

“Maybe surprised because the way I played hasn’t really been to anyone’s expectations,” he stated.

The goal was Morrison’s first point as a Hawk.

The 3-1 deficit: The Hawks are counting on experience to climb out of the hole they’re in.
“A lot of us in this room have been here before,” Jonathan Toews said. “We were down 3-0 last year. We didn’t go anywhere, we didn’t stop working.”

The Hawks trailed their series against the Vancouver Canucks but won the next three games only to lose in overtime of Game 7.

“Maybe could be 3-1 for us right now, but it’s not,” Corey Crawford said regarding four overtime games in the series. “Just have to keep playing hard, eventually it’s going our way.”

Slappers
• Morrison’s goal was his first in the playoffs since May 1, 2007 as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

• Brandon Saad had a quiet postseason debut. He didn’t handle the puck a lot but also didn’t hurt the Hawks either. The 19-year-old registered four hits and a plus-1 rating in 13:11 of ice time.

• The Hawks outshot the Coyotes 32-19.

• The Blackhawks set an NHL record with six consecutive overtime playoff games, stretching back to Game 6 of the 2010-11 Western Conference quarterfinals against Vancouver.

• Chicago and Phoenix became the second playoff series in NHL history to reach four consecutive overtime games. The 1951 Stanley Cup Final between Toronto and Montreal went to OT in five straight games.

Quotable
• "He’s a big reason why the series is 3-1 for them.”-- Morrison, on goalie Mike Smith.

• “It’s a tough road ahead of us. Look at the smaller picture.” -- Quenneville, on the prospects of coming back from a 3-1 deficit.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was fined $10,000 by the NHL for his critical remarks about the officiating in Game 3 of a quarterfinal playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes.

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CHICAGO -- It's not often Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville will criticize the officiating, but after his team fell 3-2 in overtime to the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 3 of their best-of-seven series, which the Hawks now trail 2-1, he didn't hold back.

"The officiating tonight was a disgrace," Quenneville said.

Quenneville was mostly referring to referees' failure to see Coyotes' winger Raffi Torres nail Marian Hossa in the head in the first quarter, forcing Hossa to leave the game on a stretcher. Considering the Hawks were punished for five minutes in Game 2 for a hit by Andrew Shaw on goalie Mike Smith, the Hawks argued they could have used a five minute man-advantage themselves. Shaw was kicked out of that game and suspended for three more.

"It was a brutal hit," Quenneville said of Torres' actions. "You could have a multiple-choice question and it's all of the above."

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