Polling Place: Just how bad is this Blackhawks season going to be?Steve Greenbergon October 23, 2021 at 2:00 pm

The Devils celebrate after scoring on Kevin Lankinen. | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Hawks have yet to have more goals on the scoreboard than the other guys at any point in any game.

Hey, it could be worse for the 0-4-1 Blackhawks. They could be the 0-5-0 Canadiens, the only team in the NHL with a more pathetic record out of the gate.

We lord this single point over you, Montreal. East our dust, nos amis.

In this week’s “Polling Place” — your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter — we asked respondents for their takes on this latest disappointing Hawks team assembled by personnel honcho Stan Bowman and coached by Jeremy Colliton.

“Why do Colliton and Bowman still have jobs?” @RonaldVoigt4 asked, getting right to it.

“Superstars [Jonathan] Toews and [Patrick] Kane are wasting away on a badly managed, badly coached team,” @Marcia3MS wrote. “Grr!”

How bad has it been? The Hawks have yet to have more goals on the scoreboard than the other guys at any point in any game.

“When a team can’t get a lead in over 300 minutes,” @MikeAshGoHawks offered, “I think it’s time to make a drastic change somewhere.”

What fun, right? On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: The Blackhawks are off to an awful start. What’s your read on this team?

Upshot: This isn’t why the Hawks went out and got defenseman Seth Jones and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, among others. Somehow, the Hawks appear to have regressed. They don’t connect on passes, can’t hang on to the puck and have a way of falling behind before there’s time for anyone to blink. It’s a recipe for — what’s that word again? — disaster.

Poll No. 2: After Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s the best player in the NBA’s Central Division?

Upshot: Brief perusals of ESPN’s, CBS Sports’, Sports Illustrated’s and Sporting News’ current NBA player rankings reveal that Middleton — as well as Bucks teammate Jrue Holiday — comes before LaVine in every case. But what the heck do they know? Clearly, our respondents are sold on the guy who just so happens to play here in Chicago. Merely a coincidence, we’re sure.

Poll No. 3: The Bears are 12 1/2 -point underdogs Sunday against the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers in Tampa. What happens?

Upshot: “A great beating, I’m afraid,” @reesetheone1 warns. “Bears 54, Bucs 3,” @BillyMexico predicts, probably not agreeing on who’s doing the beating and who’s catching it. Or maybe Billy was just pulling our leg. You think?

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