Few things seemed to go the Chicago Blackhawks way during the 2017-18 regular season. After one of the most enjoyable regular season games in recent memory to open the campaign, the Blackhawks season began its downward trajectory with a 2-5-1 stretch before Halloween, continued south with a five-game losing streak in December and then lapsed into a freefall during a 0-7-1 start to the month of February. That woeful stretch was preceded by a mysterious upper-body injury to goaltender Corey Crawford, who still hasn’t played in an NHL game since Christmas. And with Crawford remaining on the shelf, Chicago slid out of the playoff picture for good.
Before we move on to the future of the team, it’s time for one final, painful examination of everything that transpired as the Blackhawks missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2008.
Come rip off the Band-Aid one more time with us.
And then we’ll never speak of this season again.