{"id":23425,"date":"2018-02-15T13:05:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T18:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=23425"},"modified":"2018-02-15T16:27:12","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T21:27:12","slug":"23425","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/02\/15\/23425\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Blackhawks Decline Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2017-2018 NHL season has become a nightmare for the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a>. They went from one of the top-ranked teams in the preseason to the complete and total mess that they are today. As the Blackhawks decline continues, they look old and slow against many teams, and simply unprepared for others. The Blackhawks level of play has fallen so much that many of their loyal fans are upset and distraught.\u00a0Social media has\u00a0become the dumping ground for the fans anger and loathing\u00a0as they try to deal with the decline of their favourite team.<\/p>\n

Chicago Blackhawks Decline Continues<\/h1>\n

Where did it all go wrong?<\/h2>\n

2017 Postseason<\/h4>\n

The Chicago Blackhawks decline actually began when they entered last year\u2019s postseason as the top-ranked team in the Western Conference. They had romped to the best record\u00a0in the conference with\u00a0their usual high level of play and were looking for another run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Their opponents in the first round were the Nashville Predators<\/a>. The Blackhawks had handled the Predators fairly well during the regular season and went into the opening round way overconfident.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, nobody told the Predators they\u00a0were supposed\u00a0to lose the series. They completely dominated the Blackhawks in a four-game sweep. The Blackhawks were out-hustled, outworked, outhit, and outplayed by the Predators. As the Blackhawks were losing the four games, many signs pointed that there was trouble ahead for the storied franchise. Their team looked tired and slow,\u00a0and also\u00a0unresponsive to the Predators physical game.<\/p>\n

2017 Off-season<\/h4>\n

After the dismal playoff performance against the Predators, General Manager Stan Bowman<\/strong> faced\u00a0two problems. He had to deal with the annual salary cap dilemma, as well as retooling his roster to compete with teams like the Predators. With three Stanley Cups in nine seasons, Bowman\u00a0was expected\u00a0to pull off another off-season miracle as in past years. Unfortunately, several of the decisions are not working out very well for the team.<\/p>\n

Issues. We\u2019ve Got Issues<\/h4>\n

In the summer, Bowman dealt red-hot scorer\u00a0Artemi\u00a0Panerin<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>to the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> for former Blackhawk Brandon Saad<\/strong><\/a> and goalie Anton\u00a0Forsberg<\/strong><\/a>. Based on\u00a0the performance of\u00a0the two forwards this season, Columbus\u00a0should\u00a0be\u00a0considered the winner of this trade. Losing Patrick Kane<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s favourite linemate cost the Blackhawks offensive production this season, which is something the team desperately needs.<\/p>\n