The most important factor the Blackhawks needed to stay up for this season has come and gone, and it couldn’t have gone a lot worse.
The Hawks’ 6-2 blowout loss Tuesday at Wrigley Discipline turned what ought to have been the best level in an in any other case inconsequential, unsatisfying season into the bottom level on reflection. It was a debacle.
However there are nonetheless 44 video games — greater than half the NHL season — left to play. It will likely be a protracted, fruitless slog, however it is going to occur. In that sense, there’s a fairly clear reply as to the place the Hawks go from right here, actually no less than.
However figuratively, emotionally and culturally, the place do they go from right here? That’s more durable to reply.
With the new-coach bump now as flat because the Illinois prairies, it has turn into more and more clear that teaching isn’t why this crew sits in final place. Luke Richardson’s teaching could have been a downside, however it wasn’t the downside. A coach extra skilled than both Richardson or Sorensen might need been capable of get barely extra out of this group, however not an excessive amount of extra.
It has additionally turn into more and more clear that common supervisor Kyle Davidson’s offseason additions failed to enhance this crew as he anticipated. Any substantial judgment of Davidson’s general work as GM can’t be made till seeing how the numerous promising prospects he has drafted pan out, however he unquestionably has fallen brief in that particular space.
The 2024-25 Hawks are what they’re at this level, although. As captain Nick Foligno has talked about a number of instances, together with Tuesday evening, there is no such thing as a assist coming.
They are going to be sellers on the commerce deadline, doubtlessly dealing away pending free brokers like Taylor Corridor and Ryan Donato, definitely not buying any new gamers of observe. And Frank Nazar, the one top-tier prospect who was NHL prepared, has already been known as up; there aren’t any extra Nazar-like strikes coming within the subsequent few months (earlier than the school hockey season ends).
Talking of prospects, Davidson and the entrance workplace will seemingly flip their consideration increasingly more towards their improvement — away from this wreck of an NHL roster — because the season progresses, and followers could be clever to do the identical.
The Hawks’ precise gamers, nevertheless, received’t have that possibility. They’ll must in some way discover methods to profit from these 44 video games and get via them as competitively and proudly as potential.
To take action, they’ll want to repair some underlying points of their tradition and collective work ethic — as a result of whereas their lack of expertise isn’t addressable, these issues are. Foligno mentioned that lately with the Solar-Instances.
“The previous couple of video games, we haven’t actually had the emotional attachment or focus that we want,” Foligno stated Dec. 28. “That’s ignorant in lots of methods, to be trustworthy. That’s unacceptable in a room that has lots of veteran gamers.”
Foligno talked about what number of Hawks veterans have been a part of championship groups elsewhere however haven’t been capable of carry these profitable habits into Chicago. His concept is that on profitable groups, particular person off-nights could be coated up by teammates. However on these pitiful Hawks, there’s not sufficient assist to allow that inconsistency.
“You don’t have a man that can decide up the slack for you,” he stated. “Right here, every little thing is magnified. Each mistake you make often finally ends up at the back of your internet.”
He known as for his teammates — and himself — to “begin considering, appearing and approaching” each recreation as in the event that they alone want to hold the crew to victory. Is such a dramatic mindset shift realistically attainable? Most likely not. However because the Hawks transfer ahead despondently into 2025, something is value a strive.
“As a substitute of being like, ‘Oh, poor me,’ do one thing about that,” Foligno added. “Say, ‘I’m going to be that man that’s dependable and counted on each single time I’m on the ice.’”
