{"id":259790,"date":"2025-10-30T01:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T01:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/259790\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T01:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T01:08:12","slug":"so-far-so-good-for-blackhawks-after-10-games-we-just-believe-in-one-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/259790\/","title":{"rendered":"So far, so good for Blackhawks after 10 games: ‘We just believe in one another’"},"content":{"rendered":"

If the NHL season ended today, the Blackhawks<\/a> would make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

That statement doesn\u2019t mean much, considering they\u2019re only 10 games into an 82-game slog, but it\u2019s still remarkable that it\u2019s true. It\u2019s been a long time since they\u2019ve been that high in the standings at any moment in time.<\/p>\n

With 12 points, the 5-3-2 Hawks sit just four points behind the upstart Mammoth for the Western Conference lead. Their plus-seven goal differential ranks fifth in the conference.<\/p>\n

Nobody inside the locker room is getting fooled by this early-season success into believing they\u2019ve reached the mountaintop yet, and rightly so \u2014 they definitely haven\u2019t. They rank 26th in the league in five-on-five expected-goals ratio, which suggests their actual goal differential is likely unsustainable.<\/p>\n

Winning helps everything, though, sustainability aside. There\u2019s plenty of optimism and motivation around new coach Jeff Blashill\u2019s team right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really have such a belief in here,\u201d Connor Bedard said Tuesday<\/a>. \u201cComing into the year, if you asked people that weren\u2019t a part of our team [about] their expectations, it might\u2019ve been low. But we never thought like that. Obviously it\u2019s only 10 games in and we have a ton of work to do, but we just believe in one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hawks have learned the hard way during the past few years what losing feels like. Now that they\u2019ve finally tasted of the sweetness of winning, they\u2019re hungry for more.<\/p>\n

Alex Vlasic, who was as affected by the Hawks\u2019 deep struggles in 2023-24 and 2024-25 as anyone, has vividly observed that contrast. Back in March, he talked about his difficulties<\/a> maintaining a \u201chappy attitude\u201d through such a gloomy season. This October, he has had no such difficulties.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I\u2019ve been in the NHL, I\u2019ve learned how hard it is to win,\u201d Vlasic said recently. \u201cAnd so far [this year], we\u2019ve been doing a good job of it. I don\u2019t want to get too far ahead of ourselves and jinx anything, but it\u2019s just been a lot different than in years past. <\/p>\n

\u201cLosing takes a toll on everybody. Even the next day, coming into practice you\u2019re a little more upset, a little more rattled. Winning takes that edge off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could the 2025-26 Hawks actually follow the 2024-25 Canadiens\u2019 path, stretching one month of overachieving into another and another before miraculously squeezing into the postseason? <\/p>\n

That always seemed like a best-case scenario<\/a>, but many experts would\u2019ve considered it far-fetched. With every passing victory, however, it seems slightly more viable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a mindset in here of wanting to be part of something special,\u201d Nick Foligno said. \u201cI know it sounds a little cheesy, but it\u2019s true. Every guy here wants to be part of bringing this team back to where it was, and what it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important not to get carried away, as Vlasic mentioned. It\u2019s early enough in the season that almost every captain is saying the same things as Foligno, that almost every team still believes they\u2019ll make the playoffs. <\/p>\n

Parity has increased league-wide, too, with other projected bottom-feeders like the Penguins (sitting at 7-2-2), Flyers (5-3-1) and Kraken (5-2-3) also exceeding expectations.<\/p>\n

The Hawks\u2019 six-game road trip, which begins Thursday against the Jets, will test the legitimacy of their resurgence. <\/p>\n

Over the past two seasons, the Hawks have recorded a horrendous 1-15-1 record in the six cities \u2014 Winnipeg, Edmonton, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and Detroit \u2014 they\u2019re about to visit. A .500-or-so trip would bolster the evidence that this team really is different.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been right there in every single game,\u201d Vlasic said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to see guys competing, laying it all on the line for each other. That\u2019s what gets me excited. Obviously you want to win, but [I want] just to see our team take off and take that next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Connor<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Bedard has shown a more honest, genuine, unrestrained side of himself this season, and there are some good reasons why.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Connor<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Bedard ripped three beautiful shots and added one beautiful assist to complete a four-point performance in the Hawks\u2019 7-3 victory Tuesday.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Chicago<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hawks have fallen to 26th in the NHL with a 15.6% power-play conversion rate. They tried out Andre Burakovsky on the top unit Monday in hopes he might help.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If the NHL season ended today, the Blackhawks would make the playoffs. That statement doesn\u2019t mean much, considering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-259790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}