Blackhawks level with fans and admit to rebuild
After trading away several key players, or letting them walk in free agency, management of the Chicago Blackhawks are finally coming clean with fans of the team.
"We recently said goodbye to a pair of popular, two-time champions and acquired some new players via trade and free agency," said the team in a statement. "We understand it was tough to see those respected veterans go and realize you may have some questions about our direction. We'd like to address that direction and share why we're hopeful for the future of Blackhawks hockey."
"We're committed to developing young players and rebuilding our roster," the team continued. "We want more than another window to win; we want to reach the summit again and stay there."
Chicago captain Jonathan Toews was really upset with the letting go of former franchise goaltender Corey Crawford, who signed with the New Jersey Devils as a free agent. Toews told The Athletic earlier this month that he was not happy with the way things went down.
"Bottom line is, I want to win,” Toews told The Athletic. “The expectation for the other leaders on this team and myself is to come ready to training camp every year to be a playoff team. We prepare ourselves to win a Cup for our fans. I've never been told that we were going through a rebuild. That has never been communicated to me, for that matter. A lot of this comes as a shock because it's a completely different direction than we expected.”
In its statement Tuesday, it was the first time the team has mentioned the term "rebuild." It promised to be open with fans in the future.
"As our young players develop and learn how to win consistently, they'll make some mistakes," said the team. "Inevitably, we'll miss the mark sometimes, too, but we'll communicate with you openly on this journey together."
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tom Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Alexander Ovechkin | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Victor Hedman | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Strome | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Christian Dvorak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Paul | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden Point | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cam Atkinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Desimone | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 56 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 81 | |
Capitals | 54 | 36 | 11 | 7 | 79 | |
Oilers | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 | |
Stars | 55 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 72 | |
Golden Knights | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | |
Panthers | 57 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 71 | |
Hurricanes | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Wild | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Maple Leafs | 55 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 68 | |
Avalanche | 57 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 68 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||