The Chicago Blackhawks are playing some terrible hockey and 40,000 people packed into Wrigley Field to see it firsthand.
It was so bad that Hawks star Connor Bedard felt bad for those who paid to watch the Winter Classic and the St. Louis Blues dominate the winter spectacle.
“Those tickets aren't cheap for them (Blackhawks fans) to come and support us. … I feel bad for our fan base coming out to this and we kind of lay an egg.”
—Connor Bedard on the Blackhawks’ 6-2 loss to the Blues at the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field pic.twitter.com/C3TiqSS3LQ
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) January 1, 2025
The Hawks did more than lay an egg; they were an embarrassment on one of hockey’s biggest regular season stages.
It was the third straight national television game where the Hawks got boat-raced. The difference between an ESPN2 game in Buffalo and yesterday’s 6-2 blowout was this NHL’s biggest regular season event.
You had celebrities in attendance and 40,000 fans who showed up to see the Hawks continue to struggle to keep teams away from prime scoring position. The hope with an event like this that casual fans would tune it to watch it.
They saw a terrible Blackhawks team. This is no longer a team that at least deals with inconsistent effort or trying to score the perfect goal–two problems that doomed the team early this season.
Nope, they are just downright terrible. Look no further than how the Hawks have struggled in 5v5 situations.
The Blackhawks have been outscored 20-6 in 5v5 the last 5 games. Most of the scoring is coming with the same players on the ice. Bedard, Hall, Bertuzzi & Jones have been on for 4 of those 6 Hawks' goals. The thing is Bedard, Hall & Jones have been on for 9 against & Bertuzzi 8.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 1, 2025
However, it was two early power plays that allowed St. Louis to jump out to an early two-goal advantage. The Hawks were able to cut the lead to one late in the first, but the issues in 5v5 during the second period turned this game into a blowout.
Getting blown out has become a regular theme over the past three games. Now you have to start to wonder if Luke Richardson was really the problem.
Also, you have to wonder what are the solutions as this team has been awful at getting screeners away from blocking Petr Mrazek or Arvid Soderblom’s vision. They have also been terrible at closing out on skaters getting to prime scoring spots on the ice.
The only thing that seems to be working lately is having Tyler Bertuzzi and Taylor Hall on the top line with Connor Bedard. Even then, there is only so many goals they score when every opponent knows that is who will provide the offense.
Things are terrible right now for the Chicago Blackhawks, and it was awful to see them be this bad on such a big stage.
