The Chicago Blackhawks are far from what they once were earlier in this decade. After a long run of success that resulted in three Stanley Cups in six seasons, pain has set in the past two seasons, and has begun this year as well. Through their first fourteen games, the red, white, and black sit at 4-7-3 for a total of 11 points, already seven behind the last playoff spot. As the roster and coach currently stand, this is not a playoff team, for a number of reasons.
Jeremy Colliton was hired as head coach one year ago after General Manager Stan Bowman fired three time Cup winning coach Joel Quenneville following an average start. It appeared Quenneville was fired because a fresh start was needed. After a rough beginning, Colliton helped rally the team in the second half of the season to barely missing the playoffs. There was legitimate optimism coming into this season that after making solid additions in net and on defense, the Hawks would compete for a playoff spot.
What has followed has been straight up frustrating, coming from a fan of the team. The Blackhawks' offensive talent is going to waste in the new system run by Colliton. The Blackhawks are dumping and chasing, which in layman's terms, is shooting the puck in from center and trying to establish a forecheck and retrieve the puck to set up offensive opportunities. The problem with this system is that you shouldn't focus on this style when you have elite offensive talent who are good enough to create their own chances, like Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, and Jonathan Toews. Barstool Chief sums it up better than me in his recent blog.
Their most recent loss as of my writing was infuriating. The dump and chase game was in full effect against the San Jose Sharks, a team with terrible goaltending, and of course, this strategy did not work and did not force much pressure on the Sharks at all. The Blackhawks managed just 21 shots all game, many of them coming late when they were just throwing pucks on net. Although Chicago scored twice late, it was not enough as the Sharks got the empty netter to seal their 4-2 victory.The losses against Philadelphia at home and at Nashville were even worse performance wise. Nashville had 51 shots on net, indicating where the majority of the game was played. Their OT losses against Winnipeg and Vegas were solid games, but the inability to hold a 3rd period lead cost them a point each time. Those are points you need if you want to make the playoffs.
As we look ahead, the upcoming schedule for the Blackhawks is extremely tough. For the rest of November, the Hawks play Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Vegas, Nashville, Buffalo, Carolina, Tampa, Dallas (2x), and Colorado (2x). All of those teams sit ahead of Chicago in the overall standings, and are on paper better than them. It will be a miracle if they come out of those 12 games with a winning record.
Time is of the essence; the Blackhawks need to make some tough decisions about the future of the team. Stan Bowman will need to make a decision about Colliton on whether or not he should remain the head coach (many fans think Colliton and Bowman should be fired) and this roster: who should be traded, and who should be kept. It has been a brutal start, and the near future could just be as brutal for Chicago's NHL team.
