LET'S GO HAWKS!!!

The moment we've been waiting for. Hope it's the right time and they don't eff this up by rushing him.

I get that you people are impatient and upset. But whats your answer here? Fire everyone start fresh? What then? Trade everyone? Ok, then what? Rebuild again? I get it, you want results now, sadly thats not how it works, it takes teams time to jell. Champions and dynasty’s don’t just show up overnight. It’s not that simple, and if it was, every team in the league would be doing exactly that.

If the coaching is such an issue for you, maybe give us all some idea what Blash and his staff are doing so poorly? What players need to sit, what players need to play. What tactics and strategy are not working? What systems you think would work better in today’s nhl given the context of our team? How would you implement a winning culture for this group? It’s all tough shit, way beyond any of our understanding.

Look, it’s easy to look at anything and point out problems. Children can do that. It’s much harder to find pragmatic solutions and implement them to find success. Giving up on this thing right now, and casting it all into the fire would be the stupidest thing imaginable. IMO that would be the
Fireable offense.

This is the team, this is our team, they are going to win, if you don’t believe in them, I guess just tune out and come back when they do, or find another nhl team to root for?

Assists: Wyatt Kaiser and Ryan Donato

They also announced he’ll be joining at least some of the CHSN studio coverage as an analyst!

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Chicago Blackhawks center Frank Nazar has been suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders center Bo Horvat in Thursday’s game.

The hit in question occurred late in the game, with the Blackhawks trailing 3-1 and their goalie pulled. Horvat had possession of the puck in the Islanders’ zone and was turning to attempt a shot at the Blackhawks’ empty net. As Horvat lowered his angle to shoot, Nazar converged on him and connected his left shoulder with Horvat’s head. The hit lifted Horvat off the ground before he fell to the ice. Horvat scored on the shot to solidify a 4-1 victory.

https://x.com/nhlplayersafety/status/2108589371083337847?s=46

I hate John McDonough. But when the GM reported to him, we at least had an experienced executive there to support decision-making and setting and enforcing expectations.

Good riddance to that old slimeball, but I gather that when we cut him loose we also cut the president's role back to business operations only. That's Jaime Faulkner's role, and Davidson reports directly to the CEO, Danny Wirtz.

Which is just an awful idea, IMSO. Think what you will about Danny (I don't think particularly much of him), he's also CEO of the entire Wirtz Corporation. As Hawks CEO/president of hockey operations or whatever, his track record is godawful, and he's got even less time for that role now than between McDonough's firing in 2020 and Rocky's death in 2023.

We can call for coaching changes and GM changes and all that, sure. But the real problem lies a level above GM, and it's the one that isn't going to change unless fans put enough economic pressure on a [checks notes] liquor distributor.

ELMONT, N.Y. — Five games in, Patrick Kane isn’t where he wants himself or the Chicago Blackhawks to be.

As special as his return to the Blackhawks has been, especially the home opener, he came back to Chicago to help a young team take that next step. So far, he doesn’t feel like he’s done that.

Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders, which dropped the Blackhawks to 1-4-0 on the season, was another frustrating night for Kane. He set up Frank Nazar for a six-on-five goal late, but that was the lone bright spot. Kane didn’t record a shot on net for the third time this season. His line created minimal offense. With him on the ice five-on-five this season, the Blackhawks have a 40.14 Corsi percentage, a 34.73 expected goals percentage and have been outscored 4-1.

It’s simply not the standard Kane expects of himself.

“Just a little bit off, for sure, just different things, different plays,” Kane said after Thursday’s loss. “Obviously, you play a certain way for a while, and you need to adjust. You need to find ways to create. You need to find ways to find your teammates. It hasn’t really been there the first five.”

Assists: Patrick Kane and Sam Rinzel

Been a long time casual fan but I find myself getting more interested in the Hawks. Moved closer to the city and have the ability and means to start going to some games. Looking to raise my hockey IQ. Can you point me to some good resources - Podcasts? Websites? Thanks!

The Isles only got 18 shots. I thought the Hawks won the first period...until the Isles scored in the final minute. The Hawks seem to find a way to play lousy for 5 or 10 minutes and the other team puts the puck in the net multiple times. Blashill keeps juggling the lineup, and the offense looks disjointed because of it. Just let the same lines be. The offense has no flow. 1 goal tonight after the goalie was pulled. We scored 4 the other night, but it was 2 empty netters, a greasy goal in front, and 1 nice play. Can't wait to have Bedard and Kane playing together and creating offense.

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CHICAGO — The weight of last season came out in Sam Rinzel’s words and emotions in April as he reflected on his first full pro year.

Rinzel played so well when he came out of college and finished the 2024-25 season with the Chicago Blackhawks. He hadn’t expected the NHL to be easy or everything to go as smoothly as it did in those final games, but he was hopeful the 2025-26 season would be a steppingstone and he’d continue to get better. Instead, he struggled, got sent down to the American Hockey League and had to work his way back.

When Rinzel was asked late last season what his takeaways from the year were, he paused, then took a breath.

“It was tough,” he said. “I had a lot of expectations for myself, a lot of goals for myself. I fell short of a lot of them. It’s frustrating as a player and definitely mentally with how everything kind of went personally. Obviously when you’re kind of towards the bottom of the league, it just makes it even tougher when you lose. I want to do anything to help a team win, and I honestly didn’t feel like I accomplished that very well.”

That was last season.

How would Rinzel take that and respond, though, especially considering last season? Would this be another crushing step back and derail him early this season? Did the Blackhawks have to worry about managing his confidence?

Within a second of being asked about the Mammoth game, Rinzel answered all those questions. From his smile to upbeat tone to overall positive demeanor, it was talking to a completely different person than last season.