Let me repeat the cautionary note I set forth in a blog a week or two ago at the height of the hysteria surrounding the Blackhawks' 12-game winning streak:
You're never as good overall as your best game, nor as bad overall as your worst.
After last night's 5-0 blowout (shutout) loss in North Carolina, Hawk fans can take solace in that last part.
The Hawks enter the All Star break losers of 3 of their last 4 games, outscored 11-3 over those contests. The three losses were on the road, the one win was at home. Prior to that, they had reeled off the aforementioned 12-game win streak, and played a lot of games in a relatively short period of days.
What I saw last night was a very tired hockey team. Rumor has it, the flu has hit the Hawks hard as well and that may have factored in. The real influenza virus, not the grab bag of aliments often lumped in under it that aren't actually "flu," can take a full month to recover from completely—especially if you're young and healthy, because your immune response to the flu virus is all that much more profound.
No, I don't play a doctor on tv, but those are the facts.
So . . . no excuses. Because there is a slightly troubling pattern here with this year's team. When they run out of gas, they go bone dry fast—like in a 3-0 road loss at Dallas earlier this year, or in successive loses in Florida last week. No sputtering on fumes. Just from 60 to dead.
I suspect that is the result of all the hockey this team has played over the last three seasons—three conference finals, two Stanley Cup Finals, many grueling 7-game series, all-star games, etc. And the team is getting a bit longer in the tooth as well.
So while the debate has raged over what recently-extended GM Stan Bowman needs to look for leading up to the trade deadline—defensive help or a left wing or another center—maybe the greater need is just some energy and fresh legs (experienced, capable fresh legs, attached to a defenseman and/or a left wing).
Because you don't want this team "bonking" again in, say, game 5 of the WCF against the Dallas Track Stars, or against the withering forecheck of the LA Kings.
For now, it's time for the Hawks to get some well-needed rest before hitting the road again after the break.
I'll be back with any rumor activity or other news as it happens.
JJ