NEWSLETTER
When you are a high-profile athlete on a high-profile team, playing in what should be a high-profile role, you are going to be talked about a lot. Like, a lot, a lot.
For Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach, this season hasn’t exactly gone to plan after coming back from having wrist surgery last season and missing two-thirds of the year.
We’ve talked about it and the beat writers have talked about it, but it’s in the social media landscape where EVERYONE has an opinion on it. For Dach, he had enough of the outside “noise” and said today that he has deleted his social media apps.
Kirby Dach deleted all of his social media apps around the end of December, realizing the negativity was getting to him.
Ever since, he's become more comfortable being who he is right now: a "checking, shutdown role." He said he "started having good games after" he deleted them.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 29, 2022
And it has worked to a degree. Dach isn’t producing at the rate that he may have been expected to this season, but he has shown flashes of the player he could ultimately turn into. Same as we saw in his rookie season and same as we saw in the small amount of games he played last season, while not 100% healthy.
Still, with just six goals and 14 points in 41 games this season, not everyone is on board with Dach’s game. Especially when you ask those on social media.
"Obviously I'd like to score and get points, because that's what everyone on social media thinks the game of hockey is about."#Blackhawks https://t.co/ELNMZtJrKM
— Joe Brand (@Joe_Brand1) January 29, 2022
My hope is that people were not targeting Dach with harassing comments about his play this season. But who are we kidding? This is the internet after all, I’m sure he had enough of being called a “bum” or that he “sucks” by @randomdude261518399362. I would be too.
Hopefully this seemingly small personal move can actually make a difference on the ice for Dach, if not at least help him be in a better mindset for the rest of the season.
