We learned a few things about this Blackhawk team last night, in its third straight defeat, a 1-0 loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.

First, the Hawks showed yet again that, when they want to, they can show up and give supreme effort.

Which begs a very important question: why does it take two humiliating losses and a longer stretch of spotty play to bring that about? More on this in a minute.

Second, the Hawks are not getting enough production out of their lower lines. Last night, their lack of secondary scoring became painfully evident. Sure, no one scored on Antti Niemi. But the third and fourth lines are not generating enough quality chances.

Niemi was very, very good. But as has always been his habit, he gave up some big rebounds. He was beatable. But real offensive pressure from more than Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and perhaps Marcus Kruger was just not there.

Third, it’s time to call a spade a spade. Outside of Jamal Mayers and Dan Carcillo, both of whom do the jobs they were brought in to do, most of Stan Bowman’s offseason additions have been busts.

Conversely, the subtraction of Troy Brouwer—likely based on the assumption that his contribution could be replaced by Bryan Bickell and others—is not looking very good right now. Brouwer had his detractors, but he also could be counted on for 20 goals and 200+ hits a year.

Think Bickell or Michal Frolik are getting to that level this year? If you’re Catholic, start lighting candles.

I’ll give Frolik this: his feet are always moving and he never gives up on plays. You get the sense that surrounded by better players, he could help make more happen. The same with Kruger, who has the body of a boy, but the heart of a man—and some hockey sense and vision to boot.

Funny that the Hawks projected Kruger last year as a Dave Bolland type player. He might very soon become a Dave Bolland replacement.

If John Scott is a better defenseman than Sami Lepisto, then Lepisto needs to be replaced by a better defenseman than Scott. Period.

Andrew Brunette and Sean O’Donnell look to be pretty much finished.

I am not here to be an apologist for Duncan Keith and Steve Montador. Keith was better last night, but the weaknesses of both players are being magnified by a lack of help throughout the lineup, and resulting greater pressure and expectation on them. Sure, getting Brent Seabrook back will help. But teams are going to have injuries. And the Hawks seem to only be able to win when they are completely or nearly completely healthy. Or lucky.

Why? Razor thin depth and a lack of chemistry.

Changes need to happen and they need to happen soon.

Sure, the Hawks got off to a great start, but just three points separate them from 9th place in the conference, a spot currently occupied by the team that beat them 9-2 on Saturday night.

Any pom-pom wavers, who want to just brush this off as a typical stretch of bad hockey for a good team, need to look a little bit harder at this roster. A few great and near great players. But too many Has Beens mixed in with Never Will Be’s. A little perspective here will tell you that this team is starting to look and feel a lot like last year’s. The effort can be there for a game or stretches of games. But it disappears for painfully long stretches. The depth is not there. The snarl is not there.

Just. Like. Last. Year.

For a while, I was starting to buy into the whispers that the team had tuned out Joel Quenneville. And Quenneville likely does bear responsibility for bringing in Brunette, whose lack of mobility is painfully apparent on a team that builds everything off of speed and defense. No one seems to know for sure if the Scott Experiment is Quenneville’s idea or a burden forced on him by Bowman and others in the organization.

And while Quenneville might very much be part of the problem, Stan Bowman is clearly on the hook here.

Bowman’s imprimateur is all over this team. And his credibility as a GM should be tied to whether or not he can right a ship that appears headed downward.

As I said, the return of Seabrook, arguably the best defenseman on this team over the last year, will help. But injuries are going to happen. And this team has not had that many injuries, at least not compared to good NHL teams that seem to work through them.

So I end this blog the same way I did the one before the San Jose preview—wondering aloud if, or when, Bowman will do something to improve this team, before it’s too late.

Thanks for reading, back with a Ducks preview tomorrow morning.


JJ

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