The Blackhawks are not the worst team in the NHL. After winning 3 cups in six years and 9 straight seasons in the NHL playoffs Chicago has failed to reach the postseason in the last 2 years. Sure it would have been nice to slide into the final wild card spot. Sure Rocky Wirtz would have loved the 2 home playoff games, but what more would it have been then 2 games? Chicago was not going to make any noise this playoffs. They would have taken it as an experience grabber, and would have been bounced in 5 or 6 games. The once experience driven depth filled Blackhawks team is gone. Now filled with a bunch of young guns who are going to be fun to watch next year. Toews and Kane might be 30 now, Keith and Seabrook might be reaching the tail end of their career, but here are the reasons the Blackhawks will be back next year.
Facing the Truth
After last years dismal season the Blackhawks did nothing to look ahead, they marked up the 2017-2018 season as a fluke and hoped for different results with the same players. Things changed when Stan Bowman kicked Joel Quenneville out the door. The second most winningest coach of all time was not working well with the Hawks, and they needed someone new. Jeremy Colliton has changed the Blackhawks, and he has done so by listening to what Stan Bowman wants. Could you imagine Joel Quenneville playing 2 players Bowman traded (Strome, Caggiula) for in the top 6? Chicago looks like a different team then they were last year at this time. By now last year the Hawks had already been eliminated and were playing meaningless hockey. Yesterday Crawford came out and said
“We could be in Florida or something, with 7,000 fans in the crowd”
The end of the Blackhawks season will be played for the fans. Last year at this time we did not have Corey in net, he was out with his concussion that sidelined him for more than half the season. Last year at this time Toews fell to an injury, and the Hawks donated the end of their year to giving Patrick Sharp a retirement party. This year the Hawks are playing to show what they can do going into next year. Luckily, this team shows promise.
Looking Ahead
Saad - Toews - (Free Agent: Ryan Dzingel)
Debrincat - Strome - Kane
Perlini - Kampf - Kahun
Hayden - Free Agent - Caggiula
Keith - Gustafsson
Boqvist/Jokiharju - Seabrook
Dahlstrom - Murphy
Crawford
Delia
Ok I thought I would do a projection of the opening night roster, and maybe we will try and do it a few more times before next season starts to see if we get it right. I do not think the Hawks will bring back Anisimov or Kruger or Kunitz or all the defenseman they had on the roster last year or Ward. Basically the Hawks have a lot of question marks at this point. They can not expect to bring back the same team and get different results. Expect some change in the Hawks locker room, just don't expect the following players to be touched: Toews, Kane, Saad, Strome, Debrincat, Kahun, Keith, Seabrook, Murphy, and Delia. Their are still a lot of roster spots up for grabs.
How Did We Get Here
The Blackhawks should have fired Quenneville last offseason. Maybe then things would be different right now. Chicago waited until November to make the change, a decision that cost the Blackhawks 10 games of a learning swing under Colliton. 10 games is 20 points in the NHL. Maybe the Blackhawks could have put together some wins and could have been in a playoff spot. The mood in the Hawks locker room is disappointing. A second year without a playoff berth is disheartening especially with Toews and Kane playing career years.
Lost Season
At the end of the day this season will go down as a lost season. I do not know when we will write about the Hawks again. It might not be until midway through the offseason. For all you Hawks fans there still is a lot to watch this postseason. The playoffs are going to be a lot of fun, and settle in for 4 rounds of amazing hockey with the best of the best, we will be covering it all.
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