It was the 2009 Winter Classic that the Blackhawks really started coming into their own. The young core was gelling, and the acquisitions via trade and free agency had been the final piece putting the Hawks where they needed to be. Though they lost the game to Detroit, it was a flashpoint for a team that for over a decade, had been wandering in the hockey wildnerness.
An identity was being born and a championship window being pushed wide open. They would end up losing in the conference final to that same Red Wings team, but a season later, and then again in 2013 and 2015, they’d be crowned Stanley Cup champions.
Such a turnaround may not come as dramatically as next year–after all the Blackhawks had a winning record the season prior–but the dramatic turnaround from cellar dweller to playing in the conference championship two seasons later may not be completely farfetched.
The timeline could just be a bit different.
The Blackhawks Offseason Will Certainly Be Its Most Important in Some Time
Covering a massive rebuild for three years and then being tasked to cover a new one has given me a different perspective on all of this. The Blackhawks had fortunes that other teams have not received–Connor Bedard being one of them. But one cannot discount the smart and timely work of general manager Kyle Davidson–and yet there are those who are trying to play the “he lucked into Bedard” game.
For sure he did, but he adequately prepared by making the gut wrenching choice of selling some of his best players off and building the team in what he believes it should be. That means peddling a bonafide scorer in Alex DeBrincat and swinging for the fences with taking Kevin Korchinski. (So far, so good).
Then, he sent Kirby Dach off to Montreal for the 13th overall pick–taking Frank Nazar. Again, right on. Finally, he took on Petr Mrazek for another first-round pick (Sam Rinzel). Another gamble that paid off handsomely.
So it’s not as if Davidson has sat around, crossed his fingers and been lucky. He’s done his due dilligence and if not for 53 losses, have gotten a team to trade him a Selke Trophy Winner with a second-round sweetener in Jason Dickinson.
He’s now positioned himself to turbocharge things with more moves that buy for the immediate instead of the future.
He has an entire offseason to begin building around those pieces already brought in because the foundation, despite a rocky season filled peremeated with 53 losses, has been laid. Davidson knows what he’s building around and can find those complimentary–and in some cases gamechanging players–who can transform many of those L’s into W’s.
What better way to announce they’re back than to a national audience on a day when reflection makes way for resolutions?
By New Years Eve when the hockey world is watching the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, it should be a pretty good indicator of how things are trending. Like it was almost 16 years to the day, it could be another pivot point for prolonged success–and down the road–multiple Stanley Cups.
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