Now the season has settled into something closer to real life, and that means the Blackhawks’ early sample is starting to tell a story - even if it’s still a messy one. The first few games of a long season can tempt everyone into making grand declarations, especially around a team still deep in a rebuild. But with 84 games on the schedule, the truth is going to take a while to sort itself out.
That doesn’t mean the opening stretch has been easy to ignore. Chicago’s first three games came with enough warning signs to make people uneasy, and they looked a lot like the problems that kept showing up last season.
The Hawks’ first win of the year, though, also showed how thin the line can be between a good result and a shaky performance. Chicago controlled much of the first two periods against St.
Louis, then got pushed around in the third. A few posts, a few big Spencer Knight saves and a few empty-net goals helped turn it into a win.
If this team keeps needing that kind of rescue act to collect points, that’s something worth watching. Right now, though, there’s only one such game to judge.
The larger question hanging over the first week has been what happens without Connor Bedard. History says the answer hasn’t always been the same.
In 2023-24, when Bedard missed 14 games, Chicago went 3-10-1 and the possession numbers were ugly. Last season, during a 12-game absence from December into January, the Hawks were 5-6-1 and held up better in a lot of their 5-on-5 metrics.
This current stretch, though, has been rough again. Here’s the comparison:
2023-24 season: 3-10-1 record, 45.18 CF%, 45.73 CF%, 44.66 xGF%, 42.35 SCF%, 40.61 HDCF%, outscored 31-14 (31.11 GF%) during 5-on-5 play
2025-26 season: 5-6-1, 50.57 CF%, 47.35 SF%, 49.12 xGF%, 49.80 SCF%, 45.13 HDCF%, outscored 31-21 (40.38 GF%) during 5-on-5 play
2026-27 season: 1-3-0, 39.39 CF%, 37.72 SF%, 34.55 xGF%, 37.02 SCF%, 36.11 HDCF%, outscored 11-6 (35.29 GF%) during 5-on-5 play
Those numbers still paint a bleak picture. Chicago is hanging around the bottom of the league in most of those categories, right there with the San Jose Sharks and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Bedard’s return is getting closer, and that may end up being the one obvious boost available to the Hawks. Even so, the team hasn’t always cratered without him, so the next stretch should help clarify how much of this is about one missing player and how much is bigger than that.
The schedule hasn’t exactly been kind, either. Thursday’s 6-0 loss to the Mammoth looked like a rough night from the start, and it carried a little karmic sting after Chicago swept Utah last season.
Saturday brought a 4-3 loss to Buffalo, which somehow feels like a familiar script whenever these teams meet. Then Tuesday finally delivered a 4-2 win over St.
Louis, a game that briefly felt much worse when the Blues went up 2-0. The offside challenge ended up mattering a lot more than it first seemed, especially with the mood inside the United Center clearly dipping before that call swung things back.
And then there was Patrick Kane. His return to Chicago still lands in a strange place emotionally.
For some fans, it’s a chance to relive something they loved. For others, it just feels off.
The reaction around Tuesday’s game made that tension even more obvious. Kane’s departure in March 2023 had already felt like the end of an era, and at the time it was fair to wonder whether his hip meant the rest of his career was running out of road.
Instead, he’s still here, still playing NHL hockey, even if this version isn’t the same one that lived above a point per game for more than 15 regular seasons.
He has one goal in four games so far this season, which is affected by the way the whole team has played but also says something about where he is now compared to the version Hawks fans remember. The other part of the strange feeling is the cast around him.
Kane’s Chicago years were tied to so many other players, and that group was part of what made those teams so strong. Seeing two of those players in a suite at the United Center in street clothes while Kane skated with a very different roster behind him made the contrast even sharper.
It looked a little like a reunion tour with the same lead singer and a completely different band.
There are still 80 games left, plus another year on Kane’s contract after this one. Maybe that feeling changes with time. For now, it still just feels weird.
The Hawks are back Thursday at the Islanders, where Matthew Schaefer keeps doing things that don’t seem human for a teenager, and then they host Carolina on Saturday. The Hurricanes rolled Chicago late last season with about half their NHL roster missing, and this time the roster figures to be much closer to full. The only question left, at least for now, is whether the reigning champs are carrying any lingering Stanley Cup hangover.
Last time we’ll see Crosby at the UC?
In Other News...
Blackhawks Young Core Delivered On Patrick Kanes Big Night
Patrick Kanes first trip back to the United Center since February 2023 gave the Blackhawks a marquee backdrop for their home opener on Oct. 6, and the building had the feel of a night built around both memory and momentum. Chicago handled the St. Louis Blues 4-2, with the young core delivering enough timely energy to make the evening about more than just the former franchise stars return.
Sam Rinzel and Anton Frondell were among the names that stood out in a game where the Blackhawks kept leaning on their emerging pieces in key spots. Rinzel helped spark the response on a second-unit power play, and Frondell followed soon after on a setup from Artyom Levshunov, a sequence that underscored why this roster is so closely tied to what happens next rather than what happened in the past. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Finally Gave Fans Hope On A Night They Desperately Needed It
The Blackhawks finally gave their home crowd something to hold onto, beating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 for their first home win of the 2026-27 season. It was the kind of night that felt overdue in Chicago, with Sam Rinzel, Anton Frondell, Cole Smith and Frank Nazar all finding the net to power a much-needed result and give the building some life.
The response carried extra weight because the Blackhawks had to chase the game after falling behind early, then steadied themselves and kept pushing until the outcome was secure. Even so, the mood around the win was tempered when coach Jeff Blashill said Teuvo Teravainen left with an injury and will not travel for the next game, leaving a spotlight on a victory that came with at least one fresh concern attached. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Win Showed Exactly What This Young Core Still Lacks
The Blackhawks got a useful home win over the Blues, 4-2, and it came with the kind of fingerprints this season keeps pointing toward. Frank Nazar, Artyom Levshunov and Anton Frondell were among the young players helping drive the night, while Spencer Knight steadied things in goal with 26 saves as Chicago found a way to finish off a divisional opponent at home.
Even so, the game also laid bare the sort of rough edges that still follow this group around. Chicago had defensive lapses along the way and now has a difficult stretch coming up, which makes the margin for error feel a little thinner despite the points in the standings. The talent is showing up more often, but the Blackhawks are still searching for the cleaner, more complete performance that turns flashes into something sustainable. [Read more 🡒]