10 Thoughts About This Blackhawks Bunch

An inside look into the latest opinions surrounding the Blackhawks, including Connor Bedard's return and historic occassions.

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to “10 Thoughts About This Blackhawks Bunch.” The basis of this premium segment is simple. It will be a recurring post each month of 10 opinions, and nothing is off-limits. Considering hockey never sleeps, it could be 20 thoughts, but 10 will have to suffice for now.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts about the Blackhawks for March, the month in which they have had the most wins (6) of any month this season, but there have been some valleys amongst the peaks.

1. California Dreaming…Errr… Nightmare

I have to start off these thoughts by discussing their recent California road trip, where they visited Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Jose last week because I am still befumbled and thinking, “What the heck did I watch?”

The efforts we watched during their games against the Kings, Ducks, and San Jose was laughable. Understandably, the Kings are a playoff team, so a loss there was expected, but still, it seemed like they sleepwalked through most of those games, and it was tough to watch. Also, the 9PM starts on top of it didn’t help, and even coffee wasn’t strong enough to keep us awake for that. It seemed like there was absolutely no energy and just plain boring, which was more disappointing because before they left for California, they came off a fun 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks, and Kevin Korchinski (who got the game belt) told his teammates, “Let’s finish this California Cup off.”

They actually did finish the California trip off on a high note, defeating the Sharks 5-4, after trailing 4-0 early. So, at least they showed some fight, and that comeback was pretty epic. I was cheering at midnight! (Midnight hockey can be fun, by the way!)

However, that trip came with a cost, as head coach Luke Richardson had the team participate in a bag skate during practice when they came back to Chicago, calling out their “unprofessional” performance on their road trip.

It worked, as they responded with a 3-1 home win against the Calgary Flames. But then…

2. …It Happened Again

At this point, the Blackhawks are who they are. Their efforts have been inconsistent all season long. Sometimes, they play like their hair is on fire, and sometimes, it looks like they checked out early. So, it was probably unrealistic to think that one bag skate, followed by a great win, was going to turn things around with 10 games left, but I thought maybe it would wake them up for a stretch because they did respond so well.

But against the Ottawa Senators on March 28, they laid an egg and lost 2-0. It was one of the most boring performances I have seen from them, as they had absolutely nothing in that game. I think that is what makes the Hawks frustrating.