Chicago Blackhawks: It's Time for Action, Not Words

The Chicago Blackhawks are definitely a frustrated group of hockey players as they move to the next stop of their current road trip.

It might be because they can see the road trip, along with their season, slipping away.

Frustration was evident both during and after the Blackhawks 3-1 loss at the hands of the Calgary Flames. 

Calgary has ridden a 7-1 run to land in the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.  Chicago, who once again went into the last period tied 1-1, failed to pick up a point.

The Hawks did not seem to come out of the gate like a team that desperately needed a win, getting off just three shots in the opening period.  They were 0-4 on the power play.

There wasn't much fire on the ice, but there seems to be plenty of it in the Hawks locker room.

“F--- the power play,” alternate captain Duncan Keith said after the game. “Nobody goes to the net to score goals. That’s why we don’t win.  We start doing better 5-on-5, we’ll win hockey games then.”

“If we are a playoff team we have to prove it,” said Brian Campbell.  “Right now we’re obviously not a playoff team.”

Strong words.

Unfortunately, that's all they are.  Chicago may be leading the league in rhetoric, but until action is taken on the ice, team fortunes will continue to plummet.

I've heard countless interview with players who tell us that they realize how important every game is at this point of the season. 

That they know no opponent can be overlooked.  That they have to play 60 minutes.  So far, the talk has been pretty cheap.

Before they convince the fans that they know what it takes, Chicago had better convince themselves.

Calgary dominated the face-off circle last night and caught the Hawks out of position on their first two goals of the evening. 

The Flames played like a team that wanted to get into the playoffs.  Miikka Kipprusoff, a goalie the Hawks have lit up in the past, was the better man in net Monday. 

That said, I thought Corey Crawford played well in his return and kept us in the game longer than the Hawks may have deserved.

This is a team that has been in the same situation countless times over the course of the season.  The troubles that have plagued the Hawks right now have been there all along.

We don't play complete games.

We don't beat weaker teams.

We don't play smart or hard in the third period when the game is there to be won.

The Blackhawks keep thinking that as long as they keep talking about what it will take to reach the playoffs they will be fine. 

If that's the case, they should have plenty of time to compose sound bites on their couches this spring while teams like Calgary get it done on the ice.

It's time to back up those words.

If the Hawks find themselves on the outside this spring, will it be because they couldn't do the things required of them to make the playoffs?

Or, will it be because they wouldn't do those things?