The truth fairy says: Hawks stink
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — There was a moment toward the end of Jeremy Colliton’s news conference Thursday night after the Blackhawks’ 6-5 road loss to the Jets when the first-year coach was asked how to get his team to raise its compete level.
“We’ve got to tell the truth to the team and then they need to respond,” Colliton said.
That’s an excellent idea. The Hawks — and their fans — need to hear the truth about this team.
The truth is this is not a playoff team, not in the standings and no matter what Hawks President John McDonough said on the day Joel Quenneville was fired. There’s no evidence they’re close to making a run at the postseason despite a 6-2-2 start that served only to prolong Quenneville’s tenure a bit longer and tease an excited fan base.
Look at it this way: The final team to earn a postseason berth in the Western Conference last season had 95 points. For the Hawks (9-13-5) to reach that total, they would need to go 32-15-8 over their final 55 games.
Think that can happen? Including Saturday, the Hawks haven’t held a lead during any of their last six games and had only five regulation wins all season.
The truth is Colliton did wonders in Sweden, impressed everyone who crossed his path in Rockford and deserves far more than 11 games before making snap judgments about whether he can succeed as an NHL head coach.
But it’s not too early to wonder if his hiring sent mixed messages. On the one hand, the Hawks front office has made it clear it thinks this is a playoff team. On the other, it hired a 33-year-old rookie coach who installed new systems and talked about his first month as being like a second training camp.
This would be difficult for a team with world-class players up and down the lineup. The Hawks have a hard enough time finding two good lines and a top defensive pairing.
The truth is a little positivity won’t go a
The truth is a little positivity won’t go a long way if the talent isn’t there.
long way if the talent isn’t there. After losing to the Jets, Duncan Keith was asked if it’s up to the veterans to keep the younger players upbeat.
“This is the NHL,” Keith replied. “It’s not really a developmental league. It’s about winning. It’s about results. That makes it more fun. Winning. Winning games.”
The truth is Bowman should approach Keith, who has a reasonable contract, and see if he would be willing to waive his no-movement clause and accept a trade to a playoff contender. With four years left after this one and a reasonable salary-cap hit of $5.538 million, he would bring back enough assets to help expedite the rebuild.
The truth is the Hawks are in a rebuild, no matter what they’re calling it. Can they turn things around fast? Not this season, but there’s ample cap room next year — though there’s no certainty they would be an attractive destination for free agents who want to win now.
The Sabres finished with the worst record in the league a year ago and had the NHL’s best record before their 10-game winning streak ended Thursday night. The Hawks are nowhere near pulling off that kind of turnaround.
The truth is general manager Stan Bowman is almost certainly not losing his job, nor should he. I know the majority of Hawks fans I hear from via Twitter, Facebook and email disagree, but firing him now would be far too disruptive.
The truth is most NHL teams lead lives of quiet desperation, to paraphrase a writer who knew something about frozen ponds, and the Hawks are taking their turn after a decade of success few dreamed possible.
The truth is it’s likely going to get worse before it gets better.
The truth hurts.