Chicago Blackhawks Insider: The Ups and Downs of the Blackhawks

As of Jan 8, the Chicago Blackhawks are sitting third in the NHL Central Division with a record of 22-18-3.  The Blackhawks are definitely not out of the playoff race, but right now they aren’t looking like a playoff team just yet.  Granted, they have been hit with injuries to some of their key players (including Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews) and there have been some struggles in the net as well.

Teams really start to turn things on as they approach the end of the season.  If they are in contention, they realize this and they do what they have to in order to make the postseason.

There are some things that the Blackhawks can do to shore things up and get themselves into the playoffs.  Here are a few things that they can do to get into the playoffs and quite possibly get back to defending their Stanley Cup title.

Play Harder and Smarter

This is easy to say when you aren’t playing the game, but the Blackhawks don’t seem to be playing with the same kind of intensity that they did last season.  Perhaps that is because the team has suffered injuries that have wrecked their consistency some, but this is a team of professionals and they should be able to overcome adversity and keep up near the same intensity that they have been able to, even when their starters are in there and healthy.

Chicago didn’t have that bad of a time when some of their key players were out, but they do lack consistency at times.  If they can be more consistent and play teams tougher and smarter, they will win more games.

Finish the Game

I have watched Chicago Bears games for over 25 years now and one thing that I remember about some of their games is that they tended to lose them in the final moments or they failed to come back and win the game, despite their best efforts.  I have also seen the Chicago Bears allow opponents to score in the final quarter of a game to come back and win games.

Maybe it’s something with Chicago teams, but the Blackhawks have suffered some of the same problems as well.  There have been times when they had a lead and then lost it in the end or times when they have the lead and they allow it to slip away.  The Blackhawks need to protect their leads and not allow teams to come back in the third period and win the game.

It’s called being able to finish and the Blackhawks need to learn how to do that a little better.  If they can protect those leads and take the lead in the final period when they are tied or just a goal behind, then they will win those games and keep on the road to the playoffs.

Penalty Plays

The Blackhawks have the best power play in the league and have used that to their advantage very well.  But, they struggle when it comes to trying to stop opponents from scoring on power plays.  

The key to stopping a power play is having great defensemen and a shut down goalie.  The Hawks have defenseman Duncan Keith and two decent goalies in Marty Turco and Corey Crawford and they should be able to stop an opponent’s power play. But do they have all the pieces to the puzzle? The other defensemen and other players as a whole need to step up and help the Blackhawks kill these power plays.  Until Chicago is able to do that, they will struggle.

Individual Player Efforts

It’s true that the Hawks did well while their main guys were out of the lineup and they got some good efforts from individual players during that time.  There are still a few guys in the mix that need to step things up and play better.  A couple of these guys include goalie Marty Turco and forward Tomas Kopecky.  

There are some that feel that these two aren’t living up to their billing or positioning and need to step things up in the second part of the season.  Great teams and great players step up when they know they have to, so hopefully the Blackhawks will get that out of these and some of their other players on an individual basis.

Health Has Been an Issue

No one can deny that health has been an issue with the Blackhawks this season and when they had some of their key players out (Kane and Hossa) they actually didn’t play that bad.  It is important that, as they make their run towards the playoffs, all of their guys are healthy and in the lineup as much as possible, so health will be a huge factor for the Blackhawks.  Granted, injuries happen and they are very hard to control, but good health will help propel the Blackhawks into the playoffs.

Let’s Get Physical

Hockey is a very physical game and the team that is the most physical is typically the team that ends up winning the game.  We know that the Blackhawks were a very physical team during last season and perhaps that was one of the reasons why they had the success that they did last year.

If the Blackhawks want to find that same success this season, they need to start playing much more physically than they have so far this season.  If they can do that then they will win more games and put themselves in a better position to make the postseason.

There are some that have written off the Blackhawks already this season.  They feel that because the Hawks aren’t playing like they did last season the team isn’t going to make the playoffs.  Those are people that don’t believe that the Blackhawks are the kind of team to pick up the pace, tighten things up and start winning games.

Good teams can get to the playoffs and the Blackhawks are a good team.  They have been there before, they know what to do, so there is no reason to count them out of the postseason yet.