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Take a walk around the concourse of the United Center over these past few games. Peruse social media. Read the comment section. Watch our live YouTube chats.
It’s a far cry from what the vibes were around the Chicago Blackhawks to begin the season back in October.
After an 8-3 drubbing of the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 15, things couldn’t have felt better about the young Blackhawks and the direction they were headed.
Rebuild? Over. Playoffs? On deck.
Exactly six months later, the Blackhawks have instead clinched a fourth consecutive finish within the bottom three of the NHL standings with a 5-11-4 record since the NHL trade deadline. The disappointing season ends on Wednesday against a San Jose Sharks team that once shared a similar timeline as the Blackhawks and instead missed the postseason by only a few points.
“It’s tough when you talk about it and you know what you need to do to succeed and then you don’t execute,” Frank Nazar said Wednesday. “It’s not for a lack of efforts from our guys. That execution part, we’re learning from it. That’s the main thing we’re focusing on and continuing to grow as a team, growing from our mistakes and these games.”
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Since the March 6 trade deadline, the Blackhawks are 31st in point percentage (.350) with 14 points over the 20-game stretch. They rank last in the NHL in goals per game (2.25) and 28th in goals against per game (3.90). They’ve had the worst power play in the league over that stretch at just 9.1 percent and their once league-best penalty-kill has slipped, with a 76.0 percent kill-rate, ranking 20th in the league since the deadline.
“Emotion is real, momentum is real, confidence is real, and sometimes when it’s going bad, it goes bad,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Our guys care. They want to get better, they want to be in a better place. Are they perfect? No. Am I perfect? No. Are there moments when you get kicked and it takes you a couple of seconds to get up and you get kicked again and it takes you more time? Yes. That’s the reality of sports and life.”
The notion of “caring” about losing got thrown into the spotlight on Tuesday after Columbus Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness lambasted his team following a loss in their season finale to cap off an utterly disastrous 2-8-1 finish to fall out of the playoff race.
Blashill was asked the same about his group days removed from a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres that looked like the wind had completely left the Blackhawks’ sails.
“I don’t think there is not a hatred of losing in our room,” he said. “I’ve been around guys that don’t care. I know what that looks like. That’s not what this group is at all. This group cares a ton.”
“I think we have a great group of guys, no doubt. Honestly, it’s probably the best group of guys I’ve played with in my whole career,” Nazar said. “Everyone cares about each other and we hang out a bunch. It’s just about executing on the ice. Everyone has to go home, have a good summer, put some time in and get stronger and faster. Nothing’s given, so going into next training camp it’s about earning every spot.”
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The Blackhawks enter Wednesday’s season finale with a 1-8-1 record over their last ten games. They’re winless – having been outscored 17-6 – through the first three games of a four-game homestand to finish the year, too.
Closing the book against a Sharks team that’s run parallel with rebuilding timelines and player-for-player comparisons over the last several seasons feels a bit poetic.
It also presents an opportunity to right the ship heading into a long and ultimately critical summer.
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