Blackhawks Can Focus on Bigger Picture Amid Inconsistencies

Inconsistencies are the name of the game for rebuilds, but one inconsistency has stood out for the Blackhawks this season: effort. Here is how the Blackhawks’ effort has shown promise and frustration.

Blackhawks Effort Is Troubling

Since head coach Luke Richardson took over last season, the one area the Blackhawks never questioned was effort. The team was third-worst in the NHL and was tanking, but you could see the players were working their tails off. The passion was there, even if the results were not. It’s part of the culture that Richardson set to build: “commitment and consistency.” That alone was enough to prove people wrong about where the team was headed.

The Blackhawks started the season hot by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. Unfortunately, they lost their next two games against the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, only to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto 4-1. Those are difficult opponents to start the season, but the Blackhawks showed they can beat top competition. It was encouraging to see the growth there.

Now, Chicago is 11 games into the season, with a 4-7-0 record, which is better than expected, but inconsistent efforts have become a theme. Whenever they come out with a big win, like against Toronto, they follow it up with a loss and have yet to win two games in a row. The Hawks had a back-to-back on Nov. 4 and Nov. 5 against the Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils. Against the Panthers, they won 5-2, and 11 different players recorded a point. But against New Jersey, they lost 4-2.

The one thing about the 2023-23 Blackhawks is that they respond well to bad losses. The Panthers win came after an embarrassing 8-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. After they lost 3-2 to Montreal, they beat Toronto. After they lost 3-0 against the Boston Bruins, they beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in overtime. That part has been consistent. What’s inconsistent is that these comeback performances are short-lived.

Blackhawks Want to Change Their Fortunes

As mentioned, the Blackhawks have made great efforts in most games last season. But this season, it’s been spotty. After the Blackhawks’ 3-0 loss to the Bruins on Oct. 24, coach Richardson stated, “I’m kind of at this point, I’m tired, one year is enough of ‘we’re a hard working team.’ We want to push for more this year. I think we start off with a good intention but I find the other teams, not out-work us like work-ethic wise, but I want to say the hardness of the work, you know what I mean, like the physical one-on-one battles. We’ve got to work on that and sometimes that’s just a little work in practice of, “This is how you’ve got to play every shift, every game.”

That theme Richardson described translated during the Devils game. The Blackhawks started strong, with Taylor Hall scoring a goal less than two minutes into the game, but afterward, it felt like they sleptwalked through most of the game. There was one point where the Blackhawks were out-shot 31-10. Ryan Donato scored with five minutes left to make the game 3-2, and that seemed to wake them up as they had New Jersey on their heels for the remainder of the game, but they turned up the heat too little, too late. This is the frustrating part of Chicago this season. When they’re “on,” they can compete with anyone. But once they decide to take a step back, the results falter.

It seemed like the loss to the Devils struck a chord with the Blackhawks, too, as they called a “player’s only” meeting. What alternate captain Seth Jones said afterward stood out, “We don’t want to be a team that has a great moral win, great victory, and then dips the next game and gets lackadaisical with our play. We want to be a team that can string two, three, four, five wins together.”

As Richardson wants more out of the team this season, so do the players. The squad is not built to be a Stanley Cup contender..yet, but they have shown what they could be: a pesky team that can make any opponent’s job difficult, so showing signs of effort not being there at times is concerning.

Giving Benefit of The Doubt to the Blackhawks

Here’s the thing with the Blackhawks: they could be given a lot of grace, more than a squad with Stanley Cup aspirations. Their schedule has been rough, facing contenders on all but two occasions. Their roster includes six new players and five rookies, so everyone has a learning curve. They’re also not a “good” team, and expecting them to beat all these playoff contenders night in and out is unrealistic, but that shouldn’t be the expectation. The expectation should be the effort to be there. They have shown that when they play their game, they at least give themselves a chance to win, and it’s unfortunate that some nights, those chances are few and far between.

It’s still very early in the season, so these up-and-down performances can become more steady, but the Blackhawks want to nip this in the bud before it becomes a pattern. They will continue to be tested in their upcoming road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Panthers. Still, the first 11 games are a lesson for the Hawks, and one that Nick Foligno mentioned, “We have to learn that there’s really good teams in this league and if we are trying to become one of them, there’s a right and wrong way to play.”

The club is still developing, and the growing pains are still evident. If there is one positive to hold onto, their wins so far should bring excitement, knowing how good the team could be once they enter their competitive era. But right now, struggles remain. The Blackhawks have shown they are a close team, which will make it easier for them to figure it out, but it will require a little more patience and sometimes even more hair-pulling performances. They say patience is a virtue, and this “inconsistent effort” phase they’re working through should improve them in the long run.