The Blackhawks have been bad this year. Brutally bad. Now 58 games into the campaign, the team has only 34 points thanks to a roster mostly devoid of talent, outside of Connor Bedard and a few other standouts. The media and front office have preached patience for two years now, and it’s a valid point - Chicago’s prospect pool and total assets are among the best in the NHL.
However, that much losing over a long period of time will have an adverse effect on anyone. It’s become apparent that the morale of the Blackhawks who have been with the team through the rebuild has taken a hit. Veteran defenseman Seth Jones has been more vocal in recent days about his dissatisfaction with the season, and his comments have been more blunt with each passing day.
Before Friday’s loss to the Jets, Jones expressed his frustration to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times:
“It’s the third year of it. It’s not fun for anybody in here. Hopefully we can continue to build and grow this thing to where it needs to be, but at the moment, it sucks. You’re going to the games and… it seems like every night you’re battling to score goals, battling to get wins. As an athlete, it just weighs on you, right? You play this game to win.”
- Seth Jones
While Jones isn’t exempt from the responsibility for those losses, it certainly weighs more on him than on a young skater still getting acclimated to the league. Still, other players, even veterans like Nick Foligno, have done their best to remain positive throughout the lengthy process. That positivity is helpful for young stars like Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski, allowing them to trust the process while working toward a long-term goal. Jones hasn’t held back, though, and continued his negative thoughts after Friday’s game.
“It's just an unfortunate bounce in OT. It doesn't really surprise me at this point, to be honest. It's kinda crazy.”
- Seth Jones
While other Blackhawks haven’t been as vocal about their displeasure, his comments prove that morale in the locker room isn’t exactly high. The team understands that a rebuild is a lengthy process, but Chicago risks a long-term disaster with each game they lose. The mounting losses are expected, but too many failures are mounting into a serious issue.
