The problem with expectations — especially when you embrace them like the Blackhawks have — is that people expect things. Say, for instance, winning a game.
A winless start over the first three games isn’t devastating to the Hawks’ overall chances this season in itself, but with all the hype the organization generated throughout the summer to sell a record amount of tickets, it’s creating a sense of panic.
Even if some fans are feeling a bit uneasy, and the Hawks themselves profess to be unconcerned about their glacier-like start, captain Jonathan Toews did address a team meeting Tuesday.
“You can’t push the panic button after three games,” Hawks winger Patrick Kane said Tuesday. “That’s what comes with expectations. [Fans] expected the team to be good and we expected the team to be good and we will be good. It’s just a matter of winning a game.
“One thing everyone’s saying is ‘the Hawks are back,’ and we haven’t even made the playoffs. Things like that make it a little too drastic and carried away. Right now we’re in a little funk, but it’s only three games into the season. We have 79 games left and we’re going to battle for those 79.”
If one thing has been proven in the new era of Rocky Wirtz as club chairman and John McDonough as team president, things need to get done sooner rather than later because there might not be a later.
Hawks coach Denis Savard is working in the last year of his contract and figures to benefit or fall the most from what his team does. But even Savard doesn’t seem too concerned with the 0-2-1 start.
“How can we justify a season on three games?” Savard said. “We can’t justify a season on three games. At the end of the month, let’s see where we’re at. That’s how you think of a start.”
With Wirtz’s and McDonough’s track record of change within the organization, Savard might not want to put a deadline on things.
“We have high expectations and that’s good because the higher they are the better we’re going to be,” Savard said. “We’re going to correct some of the mistakes we’re making, we’re going to correct the turnovers [and] we’re going to correct some of the stuff that’s going to get us to where we want to be.”
With that in mind, here are five things the Hawks need to correct to right the ship, beginning Wednesday night against Phoenix.
1. Get the offense going: The Hawks have scored two goals in each of the first three games.
Offense wasn’t thought to be a problem this season, but only five forwards have scored a goal and defenseman Duncan Keith has one. It’s time to start lighting the lamp.
“Six goals in three games, two goals in each game … you’re not going to win many games scoring two goals a game,” Kane said. “We definitely have to pick it up.”
2. Get everyone on defense involved: Savard has been riding his top defensemen hard, with Keith, Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook leading the team in ice time. Keith is second in the league, averaging 29 minutes 48 seconds per game, with Campbell fourth at 28:30 and Seabrook 49th at 23:04. Brent Sopel, Jordan Hendry, Aaron Johnson and Matt Walker have to start handling more of the load.
3. Get one of the Hawks’ two high-priced goaltenders on a roll: Savard has rotated Cristobal Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin thus far and while neither has played poorly, one of them needs to step to the forefront.
4. Fix the power play: The Hawks are 1-for-13 this season with a man advantage and the one goal came on a five-on-three. They need to stop being so fine with their passing and bounce a couple in off bodies in front of the net.
5. Develop a sense of urgency: In all three games the Hawks have come out strong but haven’t maintained the intensity.
“It’s time to get some urgency in this dressing room that I don’t think we’ve really had in the first three games,” winger Andrew Ladd said.
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ckuc@tribune.com
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