Chicago Blackhawks: Yes, it's time to panic

When will this end?

This feels like the White Sox of September, 2005. The closer we were to the playoffs, the closer the White Sox were to falling out of first place, ceding the division to Cleveland. The Blackhawks have a solid grip on second place in their division and the #4 seed in the conference. A solid grip if they play like they did in January. If they keep playing like this, the playoffs will only last four games. They have been beaten at home easily on consecutive Sundays by two of the worst teams in the NHL: Denver (Colorado) and Long Island. During this recent four-game homestand, the Hawks went 1-3, and that one win was a shootout. It easily could have gone Raleigh's way.

I'm no hockey expert. I'm just a fan who loves the game. I don't know if the goaltending is to blame, but I'm pretty sure the offense is. The forwards deserve tomatoes for the way they've been playing. We can send you back to pee-wee hockey. The Blackhawks cannot expect their goaltenders to allow fewer than two goals per game. So they'd better resume scoring more than that. Their offensive output still ranks among the best in the league. Remember how that works? At least their shot production hasn't dropped. They're still outshooting their opponents. But they are not creating chances like they had been before this recent slump.

Maybe it's mental. It's not like the Blackhawks just ran into a series of top-ranked teams on their schedule. No one takes the Avalanche or Islanders seriously, and maybe that was the Blackhawks' problem. Someone needs to take charge and energize this team into winning again.