Follow @jaeckel
To be fair, the Hawks have played well over their last three games. It wasn’t until the third period last night when the coach (not Joel Quenneville) turned back into a pumpkin—and fatigue may have had something to do with that. That said, the opponent was on the last leg of a back-to-back as well, and they seemed to want it a bit more at that point of the game.
For the year, through 15 games, the Hawks are 7-6-2, good for 16 points and out of the playoff picture (not that that matters today).
With all the new faces, with a few guys learning on the job, some hiccups are inevitable and you will have to look at this team, at least until about the 40-50 game plateau, as a work in progress.
I would say, let Michal Kempny and Connor Murphy ride the pine after last nights performance, but you don’t really have anyone else to come in and give you, with any confidence, anything more.
There’s a reason Brandon Saad isn’t scoring right now, and the Jonathan Toews line didn’t score last night. For the incremental progress Alex DeBrincat is making, Saad is much better with Toews and Richard Panik than DeBrincat is. He is the necessary third piece in that line’s relentless low cycle game that helps turn pressure into opportunities. Debrincat can’t play that game, at least not yet.
So you bump Saad back up and put DeBrincat with Patrick Kane and then you have a real smurf line, with no one to go retrieve pucks and create space (which is why that line was shelved after a few preseason games).
Patrick Sharp is who we thought he was: a player whose best years are behind him. Clearly.
John Hayden and Ryan Hartman are still learning how to be reliable, smart NHL players.
The answers are not easy. And I would expect more fits and starts than smooth sailing with this bunch. The big question is, when (or if) the answers start materializing at some point out of this roster or does Stan Bowman have to look to Rockford or make a trade. He has the cap space certainly.
And on the good news front, although the Hawks are pretty much a middling team right now, a clever move or two could make this a very good team—they have a great goalie, Toews and Duncan Keith look at least a bit rejuvenated after off years last season, the defense (with the exception of the third pair last night) is looking a lot better. The forward depth overall is much improved.
Welcome then to the reality of the Chicago Blackhawks, circa November 2017. Hard to pin down, hard to love.
All for now.