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Ten reasons why the Blackhawks have stumbled out of the gate |
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The sun will set tonight and Jeremy Colliton will still be the Chicago Blackhawks coach. That was in doubt Sunday night after the Blackhawks fell 6-3 to the Detroit Red Wings for their sixth consecutive loss.
Fans are irate. Players seem dejected. Opponents are perplexed as to why a team with considerable talent has been outscored 33-15 during an 0-5-1 start.
Preseason projections had the Blackhawks competing for a playoff spot. Stan Bowman’s acquisition of Seth Jones, Marc-Andre Fleury and Tyler Johnson was designed to make this team instantly competitive. Jonathan Toews was returning to the ice. All was right with the Blackhawks.
It turned out that nothing has been right with the Blackhawks.
Here are reasons why the Blackhawks are struggling:
1. The defense is leaky: The Blackhawks are giving up too many prime scoring changes, odd-man breaks and not winning enough battles for the puck. It seems too easy to get to Chicago’s net. The Blackhawks are not hard to play against.
2. Seth Jones has started poorly: He was -3 against the Red Wings, and is -8 over the past four games. The team save percentage is .831 when he’s on the ice. In more than 100 minutes of 5-on-5 play with Jones on the ice, the Blackhawks have been outscored 10-1. This is not what the Blackhawks expected
3. Jonathan Toews has rust: After missing last season with illness, Toews has no goals and two assists in six games. He picked up those assists against Detroit. He is minus -6. Toews just isn't himself yet.
4. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury owns an .839 save percentage. Mostly, this is a team statistic. But he hasn’t been the Fleury who won the Vezina last season. His backup Kevin Lankinen has an .884 save percentage this season. Fleury’s goals-against average is 5.75. Lankinen is at 2.91.
5. Can’t get a lead: The Blackhawks haven’t had the lead once all season. They now hold a new NHL record of 360 minutes and 57 seconds to start the season without once having a lead.
6. “It’s a locker room thing”: That’s what Jones said after the loss to the Red Wings. He said the players “100 percent” backed the coach. He said this is something the players have to figure out.
7. Colliton bears responsibility: Despite what the players say, it’s Colliton's job to problem solve team issues. And he hasn’t been able to stop the bleeding. Colliton hasn't lost his players, but he has lost the fans. The fans also have questions for GM Stan Bowman. This team needs at least one more veteran defenseman.
8. Too many problems: The team ranks 28th in scoring at two goals per game and 31st in goals-against at 4.5 goals per game. The 'Hawks have been outscored 22-5 in 5-on-5 play.
9. Injury pain: Caleb Jones, Seth’s brother, was supposed to play regularly for Chicago. He’s out with a wrist injury. The Blackhawks thought he was ready to take his game to a higher level this season.
10. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong: Three players tested positive Saturday for Covid-19. Two were false positives. The one who wasn’t a false positive was Patrick Kane, the team’s top scorer. Jonathan Toews seems to finally score a goal, but it is overturned by a coach’s challenge.
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
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