Seth Jones Is Finally Speaking Out About The Dysfunction Of The Chicago Blackhawks

Last night was a new rock bottom for the 2024-25 Blackhawks. I don't know why a late February game in a season that has been over since September feels that way, but it does. 2-1 on the road to Utah in a game that could've been 8-1 if not for Soderbloom. 

Seth Jones finally decided to call out what he sees out there. He stopped just short of calling it "pond hockey". New day, same old shit for the Blackhawks. Everything Jones said was on the money. I said all year that I don't care about the results of the games. I care about habits and culture. Well with 25 or so games to go the habits are awful and the culture seems toxic from the outside looking in. No real accountability. No improvement. 

I've always been in Seth Jones' corner, but this pissed me off. Hey man, you've been here for four years. You're the highest paid player on the team. You're the only veteran with a long term deal. Why didn't you speak up any time in the last two years about how bad the team has been with the details? Maybe he has done it behind the scenes and it fell on deaf ears. I don't know. Speaking up now feels like a guy who is simply trying to force his way out of town. Which, whatever, I don't care. I don't blame him. The Blackhawks needed him to be a leader when they signed him. If he's said these things publicly with this level of force behind it before, well, I must've missed it. If he's been saying it forcefully with the locker room doors closed, well it looks like everyone else in the locker room missed it too. 

We are still in the early phases of the rebuild. I understand that. Like I said above, and like I've said a thousand times, I don't care about the wins and losses this year as long as the team is playing the right way. They aren't. If this is a rebuild then the Blackhawks have had their permits rejected, their project manager fired, and their foreman actively trying to get out of his contract. 

Everyone says that the Blackhawks need more talent. That is DEFINITELY true, but you don't need talent to play the right way. Two coaches haven't been able to get a tune out of this roster. And by tune I don't mean wins, for the record. The Blackhawks will have a good amount of talent coming here in the next 12-18 months with Lev, Rinzel, Korch, Moore, other prospects, and hopefully some high-end veteran talent acquired through free agency or trades. It would be nice if those guys, especially the kids, walked into a room that had a solid culture established. That certainly isn't the case. This organization has a long way to go. You can't just light switch winning habits when the talent gets there.