Chicago Blackhawks: Not Time To Give Up Despite Deficit Vs. Predators

Here’s my Chicago Blackhawks diary entry written the night before potential playoff elimination at the hands of the Nashville Predators

It’s Wednesday night, and I feel like a Chicago Blackhawks playoff game should be on, but it’s tomorrow night.  The ’Hawks are down 0-3 in the series against Nashville, and I wonder if this is what it’s going to feel like to be sent home early again.  Not me specifically, but … well, yeah, me, specifically since I identify with this team.

Like many of you, I live and breathe Blackhawks hockey. But this last week has left me pretty empty.  All the articles, all the podcasts and all the tweets have created a sense of doubt and disappointment in us.  But for the first time, I feel we’re questioning the Blackhawks.

More from Editorials

• Blackhawks: List Of Things To Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
• Blackhawks: Changes to the coaching staff are a step in the right direction
• Chicago Blackhawks: Reasons for optimism and cause for concern
• Blackhawks: Kick off four game road trip against Kraken
• Recapping the Jeremy Colliton era with the Chicago Blackhawks

We have questioned the GM, head coach, captain, reigning MVP, past Norris Trophy winner, and reigning Rookie of the Year, just to name a few.  Why?  Because the Blackhawks have hit rock bottom and are used to winning.  The teams’ backs are up against the wall, so we’re grasping for answers.

The individuals we are criticizing are put into their roles by management because they believe they are the best people for the job.  We’ve been spoiled with glory through championships, parades, rings and Cups, so losing doesn’t feel natural to Blackhawks fans, and it definitely doesn’t to the Blackhawks themselves.

Wouldn’t it be nice to spend a beautiful summer in Chicago walking along Lake Michigan wearing a 2017 Blackhawks championship hat?  Or look back on your Instagram feed years from now to see yourself with your best friends in a sea of red in Grant Park?

All I’m saying is that we all assumed the Blackhawks would be competing again for the Stanley Cup and we got ahead of ourselves.  The Las Vegas odds favored the Blackhawks, whose record this season against its first-round opponent favored the Western Conference top seed. Plus, all of the national analysts favored the Blackhawks.  Yet it’s so easy to forget that 29 other teams in the league lose when the Blackhawks win, and they all hate them for it.

Winning in sports is cyclical depending on how you look at it, or how you think it’s designed.  Analysts keep preaching about the Blackhawks’ “window for success” or how they’re in “win-now mode,” and they’re completely right.  With so much new talent coming into the league, it’s harder to keep good teams together.  We have the luxury of seeing this as a game, unlike players who live this reality of keeping a job.

Next: Blackhawks' 3 Keys to Game 4 Victory

Bottom line here is that despite the Blackhawks’ performance the last three games, let’s support them like there isn’t a game after tomorrow’s — and there may not be.  We might have to wait until October to see our team again.  But there’s also the chance we might see them back in Chicago again on Saturday, and so on.

The Cubs and Sox are great and all, but I’m not ready to put the Indian Head away just yet.