What's up with those Blackhawks? I know teams go through tough times, and the core of this team looks nice for years to come, but come on. A couple of weeks ago people were talking about a revival, and they looked like one of the elite teams early in the year, but with the 5-2 loss tonight to the Minnesota Wild they have lost eight in a row and with 42 points are last in the Central and 7 pts out of a playoff spot in the West. Now there still is time, Towes hopefully will be back in a week or two, and this team should learn how to play better with each loss. But for now, there are a couple of things that I don't understand.
Let's start with the current lines that have been going out there the last week and a half:
1st line: LW Kane - C Lang - RW Havlat
2nd line: LW Versteeg - C Sharp - RW Ruutu
3rd line: LW Bourque - C Perreault - RW Skille
4th line: LW Burish - C Dowell - RW Lapointe
Defenseive Pairings
Keith/Seabrook
Hendry/Sopel
Barker/Byfuglien
Khabibulin between the pipes
Now with this lineup on the ice, this team should be playing awesome. There is a huge core of young, fresh talent that should be playing with enthusiasm, energy, and the amazing skill that they were drafted so highly for. Over the losing streak, granted, no one has been playing well at all. All the key parts that made this team win earlier in the year haven't been working...Byfuglien's scoring, Kane's assists (which might be due to the absence of Towes), Langer and Sharpie's goals, and solid, consistent contribution all around. However, looking at how some of the younger names have performed this year is perhaps most puzzling. Ruutu, Bourque, Skille, and Barker have all been highly-touted youngsters in the Hawks organization (all of them high first round picks except Bourque). Even with Towes out, these guys should be playing almost as good as Towes and Kane. With the talent they have shown in the past, they should all have 20 goals and 40 pts right now. Ruutu was drafted 9th overall in the 1st rd. of the 2001 draft and he only has 6G/11 A on the year. He was supposed to be the leader of this young team with his years of success in the past. And Bourque had set scoring records wherever he'd been in the past and played great in the 05-06 campaign with 34 pts, yet he hasn't looked the same this year after recovering from injuries. And then we of course arrive at Skille and Barker. Barker was drafted 3rd overall in the 2004 draft, he's had a couple years to develop now and has excelled at the minor league level. However, in 10 games played so far this year he's accrued only 2 pts and a minus 5 rating. Skille was drafted 7th overall, again in the 1st round! In 7 games this year, he's had 2 points.
Now I hope that during the past 8 games of losing, this team has grown and learned on the ice. As I previously mentioned, there is a lot of talent right now in the locker room that should start to translate into great play on the ice with some more time. I think that hopefully Towes will come back, and the rebuilding process can continue this year. If they make it to the playoffs this year that would be great, but at least we know that this team should be fine for years to come. Just listen to the names that are still so young and will be growing together as a core for the future: Kane, Towes, Skille, Barker, Byfuglien, Seabrook, Rutuu, Sharp...they all have so much potential and have shown flashes of brilliance, so let's see where they go this year.
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