The Chicago Blackhawks made many a change this offseason as they tried to steer fans away from a sexual abuse case that is still ongoing. The changes saw the Hawks bring in reigning Vezina trophy winning goalie Marc Andre-Fleury as well as top defenseman Seth Jones. These moves along with the trading away of longtime defenseman and known Jeremy Colliton detractor Duncan Keith, were supposed to set up the Hawks on a return to the playoffs. Thus far however the Hawks still look lost, unenthused, and uninspired.
The Hawks enter into their home opener on Tuesday night at the United Center against the New York Islanders with a 0-2-1 record. The Hawks underlying analytics are awful and even by traditional metrics the numbers have not been good. The Hawks have been outscored 13-7 in 3 games. It doesn’t take a math genius to figure out that if you average just over 2 goals a game while giving up an average of over 4 you aren’t going to win many a contest. Patience within the fan base for Head Coach Jeremy Colliton is wearing thin. If the Hawks can’t get things right Tuesday night at the UC the hopes for a return to the playoffs may be dashed before they have even begun.
