The BU Roundtable: Where do the Chicago Blackhawks go from here?

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CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 18: Jonathan Toews #19 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks during the first period at the United Center on MARCH 18, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Juliana Nikac

There are obviously a variety of things the Chicago Blackhawks should be focused on as this rollercoaster of a season draws to a close. Two of the most important aspects they should concentrate on in the final stretch, playoffs or no playoffs, are playing their hearts out and remaining as positive as possible heading into the offseason.

Yeah, that probably sounds cheesy. But you know what, I’m a cheesy person and while this season has been somewhat miserable for the fans and the team, there are a ton of positives they can focus on heading into next season.

Why should they remain positive? Well, whether we like it or not, most of this team will probably still be here next season. Unless Stan Bowman has some big trade that literally no one knows about in the works, I can’t see the Blackhawks dealing any of their big guys. All the pieces that will probably leave or be shipped off aren’t members of the core. Therefore, this team needs to attempt to figure of what kind of system they want to play, and I think we’ve seen flashes of that during some moments of the law few games.

It’s also not healthy for this team to be all negative, in general. Having some anger about the way the season played out should ignite more of a fire under some guys. However, a lot of players have been fantastic this season and it’s been overshadowed by the fire tire that is the defense of the Chicago Blackhawks.

What may help this team have a more positive mindset heading into the offseason is if they play their hearts out for the last 10 games of the year. The Blackhawks should channel some of that mojo they had in the 7-1 win over the Coyotes and use it for the rest of the season. Considering nine of their finals games are against Western Conference opponents and six of those games are a Central Division rival, they’re important not just in the standings, but for the team’s psyche, too.

Basically, the Blackhawks should just play as well as they possibly can and have fun while doing so. At the same time, they can admit their faults and address them in the offseason to the best of their abilities. That’s always better than sulking over wondering about what could’ve been.

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