Chicago Blackhawks 2026-2027
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
All of a sudden this doesn't feel like a team where you're waiting for "the good line" to come out again. Skill up and down the lineup.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
I think it was a combination of Bedard being out of the lineup and the opening schedule being very difficult. That made the team look a lot worse than the talent that was present.
For the first time in a number of years, I am excited to see the PP1 unit on the ice. The puck movement with Bedard and Kane on the ice together is a thing of beauty.
I am starting to get pretty concerned that all of these prospects lack any real difference makers. Korchinski can’t find the ice. Guys like Moore and Lardis have just looked meh to me. Frondell looks to be the real deal but that’s not enough.
The team in Rockford is horrible. Was hoping there would be a real roster crunch in Chicago by now with guys from Rockford knocking on the door.
If Teuvo Teravainen looks like your second best player you are in trouble.
The team in Rockford is horrible. Was hoping there would be a real roster crunch in Chicago by now with guys from Rockford knocking on the door.
If Teuvo Teravainen looks like your second best player you are in trouble.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
This is quite an exaggeration, IMO.
Bedard and Kane easily look like the two best players on the team. The entire first line for the Blackhawks looks legit -- Bedard, Kane, and Kantserov
This opening stretch has been brutal because Bedard was out of action and the early part of the schedule has been loaded with playoff quality teams.
With Bedard back in action the team is 2-1. The game against Dallas was definitely a step back, but Dallas is very good.
I am not ready to hit the panic button yet, considering the season is not even 10 games old. I am willing to revisit this discussion in about a month.
Well I did say I’m starting to get concerned, not hitting the panic button.
I love that they brought back Kane. It’s a perfect fit. However, he’s 37 and if he’s one of your two best players I am still concerned. I know a lot of their prospects are still very young and it’s a tough league for 20 and 21 year olds to play in. Just seems like all the guys I get excited about seem to fizzle.
Korchinsksi
Boisvert
Moore
Lardis
Spellacy
Vanacker
Outside of Lardis these are all high picks. People who know more than I do still like this prospect pool so I hope they are right. Just a rough start. Here’s to hoping they turn it around!
Just watched my DVR'ed Blackhawks game.
The lack of physicality on this team is sickening. They get mauled after every whistle. Davidson just doesn't seem to care.
Zadorov getting only a 10 minute misconduct for what he did to Vlasic is the worst call I have ever seen in an NHL game.
The lack of physicality on this team is sickening. They get mauled after every whistle. Davidson just doesn't seem to care.
Zadorov getting only a 10 minute misconduct for what he did to Vlasic is the worst call I have ever seen in an NHL game.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
RELEASE: Blackhawks, NHL and Fanatics Unveil Hometown Remix Uniform, Apparel and Headwear Collection Inspired by the Fans, Fabric and Culture of Chicago | Chicago Blackhawks
Inspired by Chicago’s spirit of progress, the design brings the iconic “I Will” motto and civic pride to life in a bold new way
www.nhl.com
it’s a uniform we’ve been using for years as the St Patrick’s day deal .RELEASE: Blackhawks, NHL and Fanatics Unveil Hometown Remix Uniform, Apparel and Headwear Collection Inspired by the Fans, Fabric and Culture of Chicago | Chicago Blackhawks
Inspired by Chicago’s spirit of progress, the design brings the iconic “I Will” motto and civic pride to life in a bold new way
thats the best they could do ?
What a letdown. The Chicago flag certainly FELT like such a obvious inspirationRELEASE: Blackhawks, NHL and Fanatics Unveil Hometown Remix Uniform, Apparel and Headwear Collection Inspired by the Fans, Fabric and Culture of Chicago | Chicago Blackhawks
Inspired by Chicago’s spirit of progress, the design brings the iconic “I Will” motto and civic pride to life in a bold new way
some graphic artist could have taken inspiration from the Black Hawk army division they were named after & done a cool uniform .
instead we get one they’ve worn for 15 years already in mid March
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
That's the thing though, they DON'T actually wear them in the real games, they only do it for warm-ups which I always found kind of obnoxious. Fans like them, wear them for real.
Mostly I just don't approve of alternate uni-mania, nor the listicle clickbait industrial complex around it, though ever the hypocrite I have to say nonetheless, man these Toronto ones are beautiful
Correlates nicely with the on the ice product.
Forget about the uniforms. This team is pretty pathetic.
Hated the Byram trade when it was made and hate it more now.
How many years of patience are we supposed to have? I'd give this team the full season to see what they can do but after that, IMO, that trade is the final nail in Davidson's coffin. Just think if he didn't fall into the Bedard draft.
Hated the Byram trade when it was made and hate it more now.
How many years of patience are we supposed to have? I'd give this team the full season to see what they can do but after that, IMO, that trade is the final nail in Davidson's coffin. Just think if he didn't fall into the Bedard draft.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
The evidence gives me significant doubts about whether, to use Robert Rosethal's immortal phrase, the "long form rebuild" works in hockey.
And on that basis, I found it very bizarre that they hired Blashill, who was at the helm when Detroit notoriously failed to do exactly what the Hawks are trying to do.
Davidson may have to walk the plank for this, but in the meantime this just feels like a classic coaching change to shake things up situation. Get someone in the door who knows what a good team looks like.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
The question I have around rebuilding is this: What constitutes success? Is it making the playoffs ____ number of seasons in a row? Is it making a Stanley Cup Final? Winning the Cup?
I think Davidson gets a chance to right the ship with one more coaching change but it's pretty clear that Blashill is not the guy. Seems like the Hawks "internal advanced metrics" don't reflect what we see with the naked eye (their metrics say that are not as bad as their record but the record is what it is so...). If he blows this, he's out.
I'd call Las Vegas and ask for permission to talk to Bruce Cassidy if I were Kyle Davidson.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Would not be surprising if Blashill gets the boot after this three-game road trip to the southeast, especially if they get their heads kicked in in all three.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Sounds like the Hawks were filleted on the TNT broadcast tonight.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
They were, especially between the first and second periods.
Had a spirited discussion with a couple friends during the game yesterday via text. One friend listened to Spittin' Chicklits (Paul Bissonette's podcast) and Bissonette was saying the reason they weren't better was due to poor drafting, essentially drafting smurfs the past few years. Second friend flat out said that their draft picks suck. I contend that it's too early to say whether guys like Nazar/Korchinski/Rinzel/Frondell/Levshunov/Lardis/Moore/Greene/Vanacker/Boisvert/Del Mastro suck and are busts. Heck, Patrick Sharp didn't score 20 goals until he was 25 years (and was a 3rd round pick as well). These guys are 19-21 years old, they need time. Frondell and Kantserov look like players. though. I like Nazar and Moore, too. I'd like to see what Lardis can do without all of the yanking around.
I think the bigger problem is: 1) They guys they brought in as free agents haven't produced as well as expected with the exception of Bertuzzi who's done about what would be expected and 2) the system. Not sure if the players don't understand it or he's not teaching it right but it's clearly not working. I'd make a change at coach and see how the players respond to a different message/system. Whatever the change is, though, there needs to be one.
Rightly so. They were unwatchable - I gave up after the two passive, anemic power plays in the second period.
Firing the coach isn't enough. Davidson needs to go, too.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Fair question.
In a bigger picture way, "these young kids have the talent, and it's their turn" is such a familiar pattern for MLB and NBA teams, we know what that looks like and it's a pretty basic template for being a great team. It's like an embedded cultural script in the sport, and the analytics sort of connects to that (so long as you don't go full Sam Hinkie). The NHL just doesn't seem to work that way so cleanly.
Maybe a bigger hockey knower than me can give a good counterexample, but the Red Wings have been such a disastrous long-term failure to do that, it was such a struggle for the Oilers for so long despite those young players being individually spectacular, there's a similar thing happening with the Sharks (who got blown out in the late half of the TNT doubleheader last night), it just seems like the emergence and maturation of young talent isn't the straightforward path to success in the same way.
A lot of these young Blackhawks seem pretty good to me. It feels obvious the coaching isn't working, that seems like step 1. But the case for moving on from Davidson feels less like someone else is going to be a better drafter and asset accumulator, it would be more about transitioning away from prospect stockpiling as the theory of success.
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bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Didn't mean to single you out with my question. I asked (everyone) because I truly don't know. I guess in my mind, I'd say finishing top three in the division (and thus making the playoffs) for 3 years in a row (?) would mean sustained success. It's really hard to say.
Your second paragraph makes a lot of sense. The (obvious) point is when a guy feels comfortable and gets put into a position to succeed (i.e. the system), he's going to have success (DUH!). I think that's at least part of the problem with Blashill (and Rockford, who runs the same system). It seems like guys aren't in the correct position to succeed. Not sure if the system is too hard or if they players aren't smart enough to grasp it but there is just something missing. And there doesn't seem to be much leadership from the veterans, like Ian Cole and Cole Smith and Greenway and Donato although it's hard to see what happens when the spotlight isn't on them.
Part of it, too, is organizational philosophy. They drafted a bunch of small, skilled forwards and skilled defensemen and so far, that hasn't worked out. The past two years, they drafted bigger skilled forwards. Time will tell how well that works out but Davidson may not have that kind of time. Blashill definitely doesn't.
I'm not willing to give up on the guys they drafted the past few years yet, but they need to start cranking it up otherwise this rebuild will last 10 more years.