If This Is How The Blackhawks Are Going To Play Every Game Then Everything Is Going To Be Fine

We all knew this opening homestand was going to be huge for the Blackhawks. When you have basically the entire first month of the season at home you want to be a little points squirrel. Stuff your cheeks with wins at home in October to get you through the rough stretches in the winter. Starting 2-3-2 isn’t ideal, but there’s plenty to be positive after last night. What a difference a week makes. After the disasters against Philly and San Jose, and losing in OT against Winnipeg things were looking kind of bleak because they looked exactly like last year. Guys running around in the zone, a ton of high quality chances given up, the PK in the absolute shitter again. We had seen that story. We know how it ends. That’s not what is happening anymore. That’s not what happened last night.

Last night we saw a team that knew what they were doing defensively. We saw a team that was hard on pucks. We saw a team that went toe to toe with Vegas, a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations, and the Hawks didn’t look out of place for a second. They looked like they belonged. If the Hawks play with that effort level and that structure over the next 70 games they’ll be right where they want to be at the end of the year. You know why…because all the things that sunk the team last year appear to be fixed. The bottom 6 wins more shifts than they lose. The depth is there. That 3rd line with Kubalik and Saad are a force. They’ve been the best and most consistent wingers on the team. Calvin de Haan is that shut down dman that stabilizes everything in the Hawks end that they’ve been missing since they traded Hjalmarsson. Robin Lehner is as good or better than advertised and Crawford looks like his old self too.

The only thing that is missing…the stars. Last year Toews and Kane put the team on their fucking backs and dragged them as far as they could and it came up just a bit short of the playoffs. This, they’ve started rough. Those guys are too good to keep playing like this for much longer. They will get it going. And when you add high end play from high end players to bones of a team that are strong around them then this team could take off. That’s what they need. They may not be a Cup contender this year, but they’ll be in the playoffs all year long. Colliton just needs to push the right buttons to get this team going and it’s off to the races.

–Kirby Dach looks like he belongs in the NHL. It’s been two games, but it is pretty obvious that he is one of the Blackhawks best 9 forwards. He’s long, he’s smart, obviously skilled, goes to the net, and he works hard defensively. That’s a guy who can help the Hawks play. What he is not is someone is ready to play with Patrick Kane every night. The Hawks need Kane to carry the load offensive. Drive play, rack up points, and get wins. He’s not a stable pony for Dach. As good as Dach looks, he’s not ready to be on a line that has that type of responsibility.

–Toews needs to get going too. That top line looks disjointed. I love Debrincat. I love Shaw. I love Toews. I don’t love them together. The 3rd line has been great. The Hawks best line. And that is with a center who is offensively deficient. That’s not a knock on Kampf, per se, he’s just not going to be a guy who can drive scoring the way Toews can. You don’t lose anything defensive by having Toews with Saad and Kubalik, but the juice from the offensive squeeze will be worth it.

–Nylander has really improved his work rate as well. He definitely has some offensive punch. It would be risky in a sense because you can’t fully trust them defensively, but I love the idea of Shaw-Dach-Nylander as your 3rd line. Shaw to retrieve pucks, Dach and Nylander to bury them. They’ll need favorable matchups and a ton of offensive zone starts, but if Dach and Nylander can keep their heads on straight that line would have potential too.

–Then you’re left with Debrincat-Strome-Kane and Caggiula-Carpenter-Kampf. One line that you want to light it up and run and gun and the other who you can trust against any team’s top line in a shut down role. Strome is a natural center. I don’t like Colliton kicking him out to wing to let Dach run at center. That’s not setting him up to have max success. Put the super friends together and let Kane and Debrincat control the puck and play east-west. Let the other boys grind.

–Murphy is out hurt again which sucks because he and Duncan Keith have been good together. Call up Dennis Gilbert, put him with Keith and don’t look back. I don’t care if Gilbert has to play his offside. He’s a guy who can do a lot of Murphy things.

–Robin Lehner’s game looks REAL tight right now. Everything is perfect. Moving well. Soaking everything up. He’s a #1. That doesn’t mean he’s THE number one. He definitely deserves to start on Thursday vs Philly. That competition is a good thing and it’ll be interesting to watch all year.

It’s early. There’s a long way to go. The record isn’t good, but the bones of the team are. It’s okay to be optimistic about this team even though the record is underwater right now. As soon as Toews, Kane, and Debrincat being their A game the team will take off. Be ready for it.