{"id":39663,"date":"2019-01-03T12:03:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T17:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=39663"},"modified":"2019-01-03T18:15:51","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T23:15:51","slug":"the-chicago-blackhawks-at-mid-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/01\/03\/the-chicago-blackhawks-at-mid-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Blackhawks at Mid-Season: Draft Lottery or Playoffs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> at mid-season reminds one of the infamous expression from baseball legend Yogi Berra<\/strong>; “it’s like deja vu all over again”. A year ago the Chicago Blackhawks faced an uncertain second half to the season without<\/a> their starting goaltender Corey Crawford<\/a><\/strong>. Crawford was suffering from a concussion and did not play again until this past October. The team was struggling to defend<\/a> and they had Anton Forsberg<\/a><\/strong> and host of others playing goal trying to stay in contention.<\/p>\n

This mid-season they are again without<\/a> their starting goaltender who was lost to another concussion in December. The latest news on Crawford has been as silent as it was last season while their number one goalie recovered. Fortunately for the 15-21-6 Blackhawks their defence and goaltending situations may be looking better<\/a> than last year.<\/p>\n

Chicago Blackhawks At Mid-Season<\/h1>\n

The Blackhawks at mid-season currently finds them sixth in their division ahead of only the lowly St. Louis Blues<\/a> who have only 34 points. The Blackhawks are currently nine points out of a divisional or wild card playoff spot. If they are going to crawl back into contention they will need to play better defence and get solid goaltending.<\/p>\n

Blackhawks Defence In Flux<\/h3>\n

The Blackhawks defence corps<\/a> has been a work in progress all season. They began the season<\/a> with two starting defencemen injured as they lost Connor Murphy<\/a><\/strong> and Gustav Forsling<\/a><\/strong> in the pre-season. This allowed rookie Henri Jokiharju<\/a><\/strong> to start the season with the big club. The promising rookie has had the usual mixed results<\/a> as he tried to earn his way to a permanent spot on defence. Currently, he’s on loan to Finland for the World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n

Defence starter Jan Rutta<\/a><\/strong> was waived and sent to the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs. It was only late last season<\/a> when general manager Stan Bowman<\/strong> signed him to a ridiculous one-year, $2.25 million deal. Brandon Manning<\/a><\/strong> was recently traded<\/a> with Robin Norell<\/strong><\/a> to the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> for Drake Caggiula<\/a><\/strong> and journeyman Jason Garrison<\/a><\/strong>. Disappointing 2018 free agent<\/a> Manning was never able to play consistently enough to stay in the lineup for his new team. Blackhawks 2013 draft pick Norell can now be added to the list of “Bowman Busts<\/a>” on defence since Bowman took over as general manager in 2010. Garrison has already been placed on unconditional waivers.<\/p>\n

Defence Corps<\/h4>\n

The defence lineup has certainly seen a lot of changes since the start of the season. They have also been trying to play new coach Jeremy Colliton<\/a><\/strong>‘s man-on-man coverage scheme with mixed results<\/a> so far. The man-on-man coverage has had numerous breakdowns as the defence and forwards are learning the new system. Defencemen have been caught chasing the puck carrier out to the blue line while the forwards have not reacted correctly. This has left opponents alone in front of the net for prime scoring opportunities. These breakdowns in coverage will certainly go away the longer they play the new system.<\/p>\n

Here are the expected defencemen going forward in the second half:<\/p>\n