Chicago Blackhawks fans are getting anxious with the NHL trade deadline only two days away and rightly so. The Blackhawks have a big game in which the entire NHL will be tuning in to watch and more so for the debut of newly acquired Jeff Carter by the Los Angeles Kings who is reunited with center Mike Richards from their days playing together with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Chicago currently sits sixth in the Western Conference with 73 points and a plus 10 goals for and goals against differential. Last season, at this time, the Blackhawks sat in 9^th position in the Western Conference with 72 points and a plus 32 goal differential. What does this tell you? Well, it tells you that in comparison to last season the Blackhawks have not improved and if anything they’ve regressed, to some extent.

The Blackhawks are sitting three spots higher in the standings in comparison to last year; however, a lot has to do with eight teams not having 70 points in comparison to last season when there were only four after 62 games. There are additional teams this year that are weaker; there are teams this year that are much stronger; for example, the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators. What does this mean for Chicago? It means that they’re once again fighting for a playoff spot and if they want to get home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, well, they will have to go on quite a sick winning streak. Blackhawks nation are hoping they don’t lose their way in to the playoffs like they did last year when they were sitting and hoping that the Dallas Stars would lose their final game of the year, luckily for them, they did.

Looking at the trade front, it’s no doubt that the Blackhawks fans, media and undoubtedly some of the players are hoping that something gets done to bolster this team into a true Stanley Cup contender because at this point they are not a legit contender. General manager Stan Bowman has to be feeling the heat, unlike last season, he has the cap space, prospects, draft picks and players to make some significant moves so basically there are no excuses. Sure, there are not a ton of pieces that seem to be available but there are some noteworthy candidates that would make an immediate impact for Chicago that are available such as a Derek Roy or Paul Gaustad from the Buffalo Sabres.

The pressure on Bowman to make a move has increased immensely considering that Steve Montador is more than likely gone for the season, Niklas Hjalmarsson has concussion like symptoms, Jonathan Toews injury is being downplayed but many feel it is also concussion related, and agitator Dan Carcillo is also done for the season. Brendan Morrison is not going to do the trick especially being a healthy scratch many times since he was acquired from the Calgary Flames.

It’s no secret that the Blackhawks have had holes since the beginning of the season and little has been done to help find a solution to adjust those holes. Just recently, the Blackhawks coaching staff finally implemented a better defensive system along with a new penalty kill structure. The Blackhawks management’s lackadaisical and seemingly non urgent attitude to strengthen the team’s weaknesses are frustrating a lot of people.

It has only been two years since the dismantling of the Stanley Cup team and it’s understandable that it takes time to rebuild, however, with the Blackhawks core and many pieces to use as trade bait plus a plethora of cap space there are no excuses for Stan Bowman. It’s now or never for Mr. Bowman, he’d better improve the team or he will most certainly be on the NHL unemployment line sooner than later.

Let’s see if he does something to impress…. then perhaps we will take a look at this again.

I’m sure most don’t want to hear “we were unable to do anything by or at the trade deadline, teams were just not willing to deal”

Thanks for reading as always,

TK0N