For so many years, the Chicago Blackhawks were a disappearing act in one of the National Hockey League’s mot critical markets.

Under the dubious watch of the not-so-dearly departed owner (Dollar) Bill Wirtz, the organization did not act as it became a non-entity in Chicago, did not care that its fan base was seriously eroding, and did not fret over whether the team won or lost.

The positive news is that all that has changed under Bill’s son Rocky Wirtz, who has examined under a black light every aspect of an organization that his father ran into the ground.

That change of attitude is perhaps the most important development for an American-based team in the National Hockey League since the lockout.

For Denis Savard however, one of only five Blackhawks to have his number retired by the club, there was a downside to that major shift in philosophy.

"A lot of expectations have been put on the line. They’ve made a commitment to the fans," said Savard, who was fired just four games into the new season Thursday and replaced by Joel Quenneville. "They’re going for the best coach they feel was available.

"This is no fun. What can I say?"

This should not surprise.

The minute Wirtz Jr. plucked Quenneville – perhaps the most accomplished head coach out there this summer that was not hired to run an NHL team – and made him a Blackhawks scout, you knew he was buying insurance in case Savard needed to be replaced. When Wirtz wouldn’t extend Savard’s contract this past summer, it was another obvious harbinger of things to come.

Four games in, and despite the fact Chicago finally won one the night before, and Savard is gone.

The difference in Chicago, if it wasn’t already crystal clear, was laid bare by this move: Finishing three points out of the playoffs last season would have at one time been considered a victory by an organization that has now missed the postseason nine of the past 10 seasons and has not won a playoff series since 1996.

But in the new Blackhawks order, it wasn’t good enough.

It wasn’t good enough for general manager Dale Tallon, because it wasn’t good enough for his new boss, team president John F. McDonough, who came over from the Chicago Cubs with a mandate to put this hockey team back on the map in the Windy City.

What kind of guy is McDonough?

He’s not the kind of president to get all misty about drawing 12,000 or 14,000 to the United Center, that much is certain.

He’s thinking sell-outs, and told his staff exactly that after Blackhawks attendance finally came out of its flat-line in Chicago last season.

"They wanted to hear me come in and give them a Knute Rockne speech and say, ‘This is great, let's keep going,’" McDonough told The Sporting News. "I said, ‘This is abysmal and unacceptable.’ In 24 years with the Cubs, I never saw an empty seat. If we were happy about this we had even more work to do."

That work began at the draft table, where Tallon has finally assembled some scouts who have a clue. But now that there is a good, young and exciting team on the ice, the burden of coaching that group has also grown. It is both a privilege and a responsibility to coach this Blackhawks team, the consensus "best young group in the NHL."

Just because you are a lifetime Blackhawk – "I bleed for this logo," Savard said – doesn’t mean you are equal to a task that has been this long in the making. And, even though this young, impressive group has come some ways under Savard’s stewardship, I’ll have to admit to some doubt about how far he would have been able to take them, after the emotional state we found Savard in one day a couple of seasons ago in Chicago.

It was January of 2007. The Bears were soon to play in the Super Bowl, and barely anyone in Chicago had noticed – or even cared – that Savard’s Blackhawks had lost 10 games in a row, eight at home.

That Sunday afternoon, Chicago scored with 44 seconds to play and then again in overtime to snap their streak against the Calgary Flames. It was an emotional win, to be sure, but Savard did not react well to that emotion.

"Big win. Big turn-around," he said that day, actual tears welling in his eyes. "There’s a bunch of great guys in that (Chicago dressing) room," he said, choking up, "and I’m proud of them. It felt good. It felt real good."

The tears were over the top, and the satisfaction at a win that left the Blackhawks in last place in the Central Division and playing .360 hockey was abnormal.

McDonough was still working for the Cubs when Savard broke down that day, but if he were watching, he wouldn’t have liked what he saw. Often, this is how young teams work. One coach gets the group so far, the next coach comes in to finish the job, and the process actual helps a young team to mature. In this sequence, from Savard to Quenneville, the Chicago Blackhawks are doing things the right way.

And there has been a lot of that going on around this franchise of late, we’re pleased to be able to say.