You know what we here at BN Blackhawks share with the guys over at BN Bears? And even BN Bulls and Cubs for that matter? The harsh reality that “as long as people are buying tickets, ownership won’t feel obligated to change.” We’ve heard about the Blackhawks’ front office reportedly coming into the room and ripping everyone a new one after the Winter Classic debacle. And we heard about the leadership having a quick kumbaya last week to get their collective stuff together (and, to their credit, they played a great game against the Avs). But last night the Blackhawks were flat, not good from start to finish and got their lunches handed to them.
And they did it in front of the smallest crowd in almost two calendar years. A reminder of where the Blackhawks were in April of 2023: Patrick Kane had been traded, Jonathan Toews wasn’t back in the lineup yet because of his health and the bottom was a good place to be because of Connor Bedard‘s draft class being on deck.
Two years later: there is no generational prospect in the draft, we were told the Blackhawks would take steps forward this season and… things are worse. Reminder: the Blackhawks won the lottery to draft Bedard; they didn’t finish dead last. And now we’re starting to see that reflected in fans not showing up. I’ll admit that last night was a Monday night with bad weather outside against an opponent that isn’t a big draw anyway, but under 16k is a tough look for a game that was featured on AmazonPrime Mondays across Canada. Maybe somebody is noticing now?
- Connor Bedard reached 100 career points last night in his 112th career regular-season game. Here’s the list of teenagers who did it faster. Go ahead and count the Hall of Famers in his class. I’ll wait…
- Since the head coaching change (Dec. 5), the Blackhawks now rank dead last in the NHL allowing 3.89 goals per game. They’re allowing 30.5 shots on goal per game, which is the second-highest average in the NHL. They’re now 6-12-0 under new leadership. And last night was the sixth time in those 18 games that the Blackhawks lost by at least three goals. So much for losing close games…
- Scott Powers got down to the bottom of the whole IceHogs roster intrigue yesterday. Apparently Artyom Levshunov and Paul Ludwinski were held out of the game for disciplinary reasons. They were late for a team meeting, so they sat. Accountability is kinda wild, isn’t it?
- Scott also throws some other good prospect nuggets in here. Solid read.
- Meanwhile, Frank Seravalli hopped on the ol’ pregame show last night to talk about the Blackhawks shaping their future. He circled two guys — Levshunov and Sam Rinzel, both right-handed defensemen — as key pieces for the future. As you can watch below, he put a lot of stock in Levshunov.
- I know there are fans who aren’t going to be happy the Blackhawks took him at No. 2 overall until he has more individual hardware at home than Duncan Keith, but I’ll remind everyone that he’s 19 and a first-year pro. Alex Vlasic spent three years at Boston University and another year in Rockford. Hell, after he was drafted in 2002, Keith spent 15 games at Michigan State, half of that season with Kelowna in the AHL and then played 154 games in the AHL before moving up to the NHL. I have absolutely positively zero problem with Levshunov spending at least two full years in Rockford and that does not make him a “bust” in any way, shape or form. Lots of Blackhawks fans are getting excited at the potential of Rinzel now that he’s tied for the NCAA lead in points among defensemen… but they thought he was a wasted pick in the first round. And this is his second NCAA season and third post-draft year.
- Again, I’ll keep screaming it from the mountaintops: defensemen take time to develop.
- Hey, speaking of defensemen lots of fans questioned being a first-round pick who were allowed to take their time and develop and now look like a legit NHL contributor, let’s take a moment to appreciate that Nolan Allan has emerged as a bona fide part of the Blackhawks’ blue line this season. Interim head coach Anders Sorensen, who had him in Rockford all of last year, jokes with the media that Allan’s calling card isn’t his offense and likely won’t ever be. And yet, here we are: Allan ranks second among all NHL rookie defensemen in assists, points and even-strength points.
- For those who keep track of such things, the Boston Bruins have been heavily scouting the Blackhawks in recent weeks. They had a notably high profile individual in Chicago for the game last night. Other teams with reps watching the Hawks vs Flames: Detroit, Dallas, Florida, Tampa, Edmonton, San Jose, Buffalo and Philadelphia.
- ICYMI before the “game” last night I wrote about Ryan Donato being one of the Blackhawks’ most consistent — and valuable — players this season. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if some of the folks I just mentioned from other organizations were in town to get a first-hand look at Donato. He’s a quality, character young man who plays hard every shift. If we’re looking for the wins on GMKD’s resume, signing him is up there. And I wouldn’t be mad at all if Donato was around for a while after his current contract ends this summer.
- Let’s get back to my favorite topic other than talking about the Blackhawks’ prospects right now: their next head coach. Y’all know I’m driving the David Carle bandwagon well above the speed limit right now. Good piece here from Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times about the Blackhawks’ priorities in their search for the next voice behind the bench in Chicago.
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- Now that Jerry Jones can’t block it from happening just for the sake of doing so, the Bears are going to interview Mike McCarthy.
- The Bulls are going to be without a player for a couple more weeks.