The Chicago Blackhawks are not good. They sit in a three-way tie for last place in the NHL, but that was expected before the season started. It seems counterproductive to continue to harp on what everyone already knows to be true about the Blackhawks: They lack talent, have trouble scoring, and their special teams are a work in progress. The list goes on. Many trends remain from last season, but one difference is how they have handled adversity. Despite knowing they were on a fast track to nowhere, the players have continued to put up career numbers, and the team has played well together. Here is how the two aspects shake out.
Blackhawks’ Players Continue to Impress
The Blackhawks don’t have a star-studded team, but they do have a roster full of players that play their hearts out and are extremely easy to root for. Almost every player came into this season with a chip on their shoulder, and not just because they were mostly playing for contracts. Many of them have faced personal hardships in their game up to this point, and this season has shown that they are making the most of it and impressing on top of it.
Let’s start with the third line of Joey Anderson, Jujhar Khaira, and Boris Katchouk. This line has been one of the best for the Blackhawks since being deployed after they acquired Anderson from the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty trade. Anderson has been in the league since 2018 but has mostly spent his career in the American Hockey League (AHL). His last three years in Toronto only saw him play 20 NHL games combined with three points. However, since he’s arrived in Chicago, the 24-year-old has five points in his first 10 games, including four points in a four-game stretch. He has made a solid case to be re-signed this summer.
Khaira has been with the Blackhawks since 2021, and it has not been smooth sailing. He has faced a multitude of injuries that saw him only play in 27 games last season and 48 games this season. The 28-year-old missed 26 games this season due to a back injury, but he has been fun to watch since returning in December, and March was a great month for him. He has seven points in his last 14 games, and his 13 points in 2022-23 are the highest since he recorded 18 points with the Edmonton Oilers in 2018-19. It’s a shame injuries have shortened his two-year tenure because he is a difference-maker when he is in the lineup.
Lastly of the three, Katchouk has been with the Blackhawks since 2022 as part of the Brandon Hagel trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he never seemed to find his footing. He was mainly a healthy scratch during the first half of the season, and it seemed destined that he would not be a part of the team’s future, but on Jan. 26 against the Calgary Flames, he had a goal and an assist that lifted the team to a 5-1 win. Since then, he has been one of the Blackhawks’ best players. He has 15 points in 54 games this season, a career-high for the 24-year-old.
Related: Blackhawks: Revisiting the Brandon Hagel Trade 1 Year Later
Captain Jonathan Toews and Alex Stalock also deserve mentions. Toews hadn’t played since Jan. 28 due to long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, but that hasn’t stopped him. He has two points in three games since returning to the lineup and still leads the league in faceoff percentage with a 63.03 success rate.
Furthermore, Stalock has been marvelous. He only played in one NHL game last season due to suffering from myocarditis and posted a 7.81 goals-against average (GAA) and a .786 save percentage (SV%) with the San Jose Sharks. There seemed to be some risk in signing him as there was no telling whether the 35-year-old would regain his form, but he sure did. He missed some time this season due to concussions, but in 25 games, he has a 2.92 GAA and a .912 SV%. His SV% is ranked 16th-best in the league. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers) is ranked 13th-best with a .915 SV% for reference. It’s the best numbers Stalock has seen since 2013-14 when he posted a .932 SV% with San Jose.
Stories like these for the Hawks go on and on. The players have thrived despite losing most of their games.
Blackhawks Are Redefining Their Game
NHL coaches often use the term “bend, don’t break” about team play. Even though the Blackhawks had a team filled with talents like Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, and Patrick Kane last year, they didn’t just break; they shattered. They couldn’t recover from small mistakes, and defenseman Connor Murphy called them “fragile.” One example was against the Buffalo Sabres (March 2022), when the team had a 4-0 lead in the second period and ultimately lost 6-5. They got pushed around more often than not and only sometimes put up a strong effort. With a team with even less to work with this year, it was assumed the results would be the same or worse, but that has yet to be the case.
“Bend, don’t break” means something this season because the Hawks have done the furthest thing from that. They have fought tooth and nail every game and have managed to keep games close. It shows with the fact that they have upset some teams this season as well. A 6-3 win against the NHL-leading Boston Bruins, a three-game sweep of the Calgary Flames, and even beating the Stanley Cup champions Colorado Avalanche all stand out. They don’t have the talent these teams do, but they proved that playing a complete game is sometimes all it takes to come out with a win.
To add to how much has changed, forward Tyler Johnson spent nine years with Tampa Bay and won two Stanley Cups. When speaking to the media last season, he said that the Blackhawks’ scouting report when he was a member of the Bolts stated that the Hawks had a lot of skill but were not the grittiest of teams. In other words, Chicago was a relatively easy opponent. This season, they have not made opponents’ jobs easy. When the Ottawa Senators came to town in March, the Sens were in the thick of the Eastern Conference wild card race and were also one of the hottest teams in the league on a five-game winning streak. Chicago stunned them 5-0. Captain Brady Tkachuk said afterward, “I guess we took them lightly.”
This result could be due to the fact that most players are playing for jobs and making the most out of the opportunity, or it could be from the positive culture that head coach Luke Richardson has built. After beating the Bruins, Richardson stated, “They’re a team. That’s the key word, is ‘team’.” They’re a close group that plays for each other, which is a sentiment that has been repeated all year. They strive to win, even when the odds are against them.
Related: Blackhawks: Getting to Know New Head Coach Luke Richardson
All in all, adversity was the Blackhawks’ biggest nemesis last season. This year, it has been their superpower. They may be worse in the standings, and it might not matter because “good effort” doesn’t mean much unless it results in two points, but this is a massive development for the Blackhawks. In a rebuilding year, you want to see improvement in any facet, and this is a significant upgrade. Going into next season, they have built a reputation that they aren’t a team you dismiss as quickly as before. They are likely in for another losing season next year, but they will maintain this level of compete. The Blackhawks talked a big game of wanting to prove critics wrong before the season started, and they have walked the walk because they likely surprised people with how well they have played, despite sitting at the bottom of the standings.
With only four games left, expect to see a team itching to finish on a high note the only way they know how: with heart, effort, and possibly some upsets.
