Chicago Blackhawks Fans, Please...Don't Despair—Yet

I've been a Chicago sports fan my entire life, lending the majority of my devotion to our beloved Chicago Blackhawks.

Even at 19 years of age, it starts to get tough, frustrating, tiring, and begins to feel hopeless. With the post season meltdown of the Cubs fresh in many Hawks fans' memories, we have watched the first 16 games of the '08-'09 NHL season with hope and excitement.

We hope that Toews will stay free of injuries and continue his dominance as one of the premier young centers in the game.

We cheer for each goal Calder Memorial Trophy winner Patrick Kane scores, and we cringe at the sight of every hit Martin Havlat takes, hoping each shift won't be his last of the season.

And surely some of us shed a tear when Denis Savard, our pride and joy, was removed from duty as head coach.

But, now that the first two months of the season have come and passed, we look back at the beginning that was and wonder what it all means. I think I can sum it up in three words:

Consistency and Shootouts

First off, let it be known that I for one feel that having a short four on four overtime period followed by a shootout decide games in the NHL is the most ridiculous idea in overtime rules since the NFL decided it was fine to determine the winner of a football game based on a coin flip.

That being said, and with all the credit to the both the Hawks' offense and goaltending, how can we have gone to five shootouts, six total overtimes, and only win one of those games?

If a championship, or even a playoff berth for that matter, is the goal of this organization, those numbers are going to improve quickly. Being forced into OT is one thing, but only winning one out of every six OT games is not going to allow you the pleasure of hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup come the spring of '09.

On the other hand, the Blackhawks have been plagued by consistency. You may scratch your head wondering why I used the verb “plagued.” Consistency is supposed to be a good thing in sports...right? Well, it is...sometimes. When a team continually flips between being consistently great and then consistently terrible, there's not a whole lot of good in that.

When they are on, they are fantastic. The offense runs well, they're consistently scoring powerplay goals for the first time in my natural born life, and the penalty killing units play smooth and effective.

Just take a look back at the games they played against the Oilers (W 3–0), Avalanche (W 6–2), and Flames (W 6–1), with both goaltenders playing great between the pipes. The Edmonton win being the icing on that three layer cake of great hockey with Khabibulin earning the season's first shutout for the Blackhawks, even after many of us were sure had played his last games in the red and black last season.

The passes were crisp, the shots were hard and precise; in shades of Bobby Hull and everyone's favorite flower, Daisy Daze, the Hawks played smart yet physical hockey from end to end.

And then the other shoe drops.

Before you know what hit you, the last place St. Louis Blues have beaten you twice in overtime, you've given up four goals or more in five different games including six goals...twice. You wake up in bed, one fifth of the season gone, lying next to a 7-4-5 record wondering what is was you did the night before that you so desperately want to forget.

When they're on they're on, but conversely, when they are off, they are like three week old egg salad you're still forced to eat, and with every passing minute you wonder how much more bad passing, complete lack of forecheck, and flat out terrible goaltending you can stomach.

The question that comes to mind is this: “How can such a strong team be so consistently inconsistent?”

The answer is...well...I'm not quite sure.

Talent like the Blackhawks have usually either turns into at minimum a consistently decent team, or a total bust; however, rarely do they fall anywhere in between, much less what we've experienced so far this year.

Typically in sports, with the NHL being no exception, teams that are bad tend to just be bad and vice versa, assuming that a few anomalies are going to occur as the season goes on.

But, as a fan, having your beloved team be “streaky” is a double edged sword. On the one edge, when they're winning, they tend to keep winning and it's fun and exciting to watch. But on the other edge, you are just waiting for them to trip over their own shoelaces and let you down period after period, game after game; torturing your poor fan's soul for days on end.

However, all other analogies aside, I leave Hawks fans around the world with this message, hang on to your hope...for now, or rather, don't despair...yet.

It's easy, especially in economic and athletic climates such as these to give up all hope at the first sign of weakness. I beg you, don't throw in the towel just yet. I can't tell you how this all will end. The Blackhawks are a talented team with strong players and a lot of potential.

Who knows? Come April, the Hawks could end up being like that Campbell's soup stock on the NASDAQ that keeps going up despite anyone expecting it to.

Just promise you won't come after me if they go the way of Bear Stearns.