You can talk about things like 3 games in 4 days, a necessary adjustment period before hitting their stride, etc., but the growing weight of evidence suggests that the Chicago Blackhawks, as currently composed, are more likely a flawed bubble team or a slightly over-.500 also-ran—not a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
For the first time in three games, they had more shots than the opponent in a 6-3 loss to Vancouver, but they also coughed up a lot of pucks. And when they don’t get the outstanding goaltending they’ve been getting of late (and they didn't last night), they are a very average (at best) team defensively.
But a lot of Hawk fans are spoiled—they’ve come to expect perennial excellence. And maybe after two Cups and three WCF appearances in the last three seasons—with the reality of a salary cap—a rebuild/retool/reload season is just a matter of course.
The question is how the front office is viewing this season: writing it off as an opportunity to evaluate a lot of new faces and really look toward next season, or the chance to accomplish the first Stanley Cup repeat in the salary cap era.
If it’s the latter, then GM Stan Bowman and his staff have their work cut out for them. It’s too easy to point to one player or another and say, “there’s the problem.… The real issue is a lack of chemistry, especially at forward, and too many young players, with too many players probably playing out of their best position.
The Blackhawks, after a good start to their Circus trip, are now 1-1-1 since last week, with another 3 games in 4 nights stretch starting Wednesday in San Jose. I’ll be back with a preview and any new before then.
JJ