Well Saturday night the Hawks took the ice against the Seattle Kraken and, well, I guess you can call what we witnessed hockey. There really isn’t much more that can be said about that game that isn’t already out there. 6 goals on 7 shots resulting in a final score of 8-5. The Kraken became the first team in NHL history to sweep a 7 game road trip and snap the Hawks 3 game win streak. This game set things right in the tank sweepstakes as the Hawks are once again at the bottom of the league.
With that, we have officially crawled our way to the halfway mark of the Hawks season and quite frankly, I think things have been going as expected if we are completely honest with ourselves. Through 41 games, the Hawks are 11-26-4, good for 26 points and a .317 point percentage. aka the worst team in hockey. They do love to play at home as they have picked up 8 of their 11 wins at the United Center. They hold the honor of being the only team in the league who has yet to score 100 goals as they have only managed to put 94 in the back of the net. While scoring has been a struggle, keeping the puck out of their net has been a different story. They are 10th in the league for goals against with 154 and they are tied with Columbus for 2nd worst goal differential at a gentleman’s -60.
This team as a whole has been bad but there have been some individual performances this year that has made watching this team some what tolerable.
Max Domi A player who despite having lots of hype coming into the league, has found himself bouncing around the league and just trying to find his identity, he seems to be enjoying his time in Chicago. Currently leading the team in goals (13) and points (30) and 2nd in assists (17). Signing a one year prove-it deal here seems to be a gamble that was worth the risk. Not only has he turned himself into trade bait; he also shouldn’t have any issues getting a deal this July when he hits the open market again. I personally would hate the idea of him staying around a little bit longer.
Jake McCabe When you think of the Hawks, the last thing that comes to mind is defense, and when it comes to defense, the last player you would have expected to stand out is McCabe. However, despite this team being one of the worst defensively, McCabe has somehow continued to remain the only Hawks player with a positive +/- (+4). What makes that stat even more impressive is that he has been paired up with Seth Jones most of the season and because of that he is averaging 19:10 of total ice time this season. What he has been doing on the ice this year is all those little things that do not show up on the stat sheet but much like Domi, any team looking for some depth on the backend McCabe might be climbing the trade list. He will have 2 years left at 4 million per, which could end up being a steal if he keeps this play up.
Alex Stalock When this team announced the Stalock signing, it was made crystal clear that the goal was to lose hockey games. Stalock came into this season not knowing if he was ever going to play again after complications with Covid. You would have never known that was even a thought watching him play. He is one of if not the biggest reason why this team hasn’t been embarrassed every single night. Stalock is responsible for 6 of the team's 11 wins and he is doing that, posting a 2.70 GAA and a .918 SV%. He is always fun to watch and is an absolute psychopath in all the right ways. If it wasn’t for him, this bad season could be a whole lot worse.
Now that we are at the half way mark, one thing is for sure going to start. The chatter of trade speculation will start to get louder, and what was once a take it with a grain of salt mindset now becomes more of an if there is smoke, there is fire. While a lot of guys on this team will be on their way out, there are only two that the fan base truly cares about and that is 88 and 19. The speculation that these two will be dealt started when the Kyle Davidson Era began. It has seemed to only snowballed more as the season has gone on. While Kane seems to be keeping his intentions a little bit more secretive, Toews has put his thoughts about this situation out there for all to hear. Speaking with NBC Sports Chicago Toews had this to say, “There's a part of myself that still doesn't really want to admit the situation and also wants to continue being a Blackhawk and finish my career here, But at the same time, there's a part of me that sees the writing on the wall and sees that this team, this organization is trying to hit the reset button and that maybe a change for everybody is not such a bad thing, and that goes for myself as well.….
There was a time that the idea of these two wearing any sweater other than the Indian Head was just laughable. These two were built to be Hawks for life and be seen on the same level as Stan Mikita. However, the days of players sticking with one team are long gone and as fans we are left with the what-ifs. What if Bowman managed the cap better, what if he built the team around these two instead of giving large contracts with full no movement clauses to players out of loyalty. The clock is ticking away on these two amazing careers in Chicago and all that’s left for us to do is just sit back and enjoy the games we have left with them.
Up Next Buffalo Sabres 21-19-2
Players to Watch Tage Thompson 31 goals 27 assists 58 points Rasmus Dahlin 13 goals 35 assists 48 points Alex Tuch 21 goals 25 assists 46 points
Projected Starter Craig Anderson 7-6-1 2.70 GAA ,921 SV% 1 Shutout
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