Blackhawks: 2017 team was the best to not win in playoffs

The 2017 Chicago Blackhawks were the best team in franchise history not to win one playoff game.

The 2016-17 Chicago Blackhawks are the most recent Blackhawks’ team to make the playoffs. They finished the season 50-23-9 with 110 points and home ice throughout the western side of the playoffs.

The team was led in points by defending league MVP Patrick Kane with 34 goals, 55 assists for 89 points, alongside Artemi Panarin, who had 31 goals, 43 assists for 74 points.

This was one of the best years for the team when it came to health. Kane and Panarin played all 82 games, Corey Crawford and Scott Darling were sharp and healthy. Some of the older players, like Marian Hossa and Brian Campbell, stayed healthy, while having decent seasons.

This was a team that could seriously have won the fourth Stanley Cup in eight seasons. You have to remember, this team was still considered a top team, with there being many players with playoff success on the team.

The second Game 1 of the first-round series against Nashville started, Chicago came out flat. They’d play the first two games on home ice without scoring a single goal. When Game 3 came, the Blackhawks started off hot, taking a 2-0 lead. Late in the third period, the Blackhawks would blow that lead and lose in overtime.

When down 3-0, the wheels had fully fallen off of the bus and the team was deflated. They were smoked in Game 4 and wouldn’t skate on playoff ice since.

This team started the preseason with +850 odds of winning the Stanley Cup, they won 50 games, they stayed healthy, and did everything you could ask for out of a team. Something weird happened when the season happened that we don’t know about.

It’s a mystery that will never be solved. The mystery of what happened to the best team in franchise history to not win a single playoff game.