2022 is off to a rough start for the Chicago Blackhawks

2021 was a tough calendar year for the Chicago Blackhawks. They were hoping that they could ring in the new year with a win over the Nashville Predators but things didn’t go their way here. The final score of 6-1 to kick off the year isn’t a good sight for Chicago Blackhawks fans.

The team needs to win at close to (or maybe even higher than) a .700 percent clip the rest of the way in order to make it to the postseason. That is clearly not going to happen. They would be lucky to have a .500 points percentage the rest of the way. This game on New Years Day was a disaster of a start.

Of course, the Hawks didn’t have either Marc-Andre Fleury or Kevin Lankinen because of COVID-19 protocol so they were working with a disadvantage from the start. Most good teams don’t give up six just because of a third-string goalie so Colin Delia and Arvid Soderblom don’t deserve all of the blame (they each played in the loss).

The Hawks went down 5-0 in this game so there really wasn’t much they could do from there but they did get one goal after that from Philipp Kurashev. The goal was assisted by Calvin de Haan and Henrik Borgstrom. It would be nice to see all three of those guys chip in just a bit more so that they can help the big guns when they are going well.

2022 isn’t off to the best start for the Chicago Blackhawks but there is a lot left.

The good news about the calendar year of 2022 is that more change is probably going to come. Both the head coach and general manager have interim tags right now so decisions about their futures will be made in addition to some player personnel. Drafting well and making good decisions as an organization will be a big part of that.

They also don’t have to let this first game of the year define them. It is a very bad way to start the year but there are 51 more games to go. They will have a lot of very good competition ahead of them as they try to turn the rest of the season into something.

As mentioned before, they probably aren’t going to the playoffs but they can develop some prospects and allow the veteran players to help them. They can also trade off any expiring contracts for future assets if they want as well.

The first of those 51 games remaining actually come tonight, one night after the Nashville debacle. The Calgary Flames are at the United Center ready to take on the Hawks. They are a very good team that won’t be easy to beat at all.

Getting an early lead would be the key to winning because Calgary is very hard to play against while trailing. Every mistake that was made against Nashville needs to be corrected in time for this game otherwise it will be even worse.