LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 24: Patrick Kane #88 of the
Chicago Blackhawks reacts to a save from Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings during a 4-3 Blackhawks win at Crypto.com Arena on March 24, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings used to play in some wicked playoff series against one another. They were the two best teams in the Western Conference for half a decade and combined for five Stanley Cup championships. Over the last half-decade or so, however, they haven’t been nearly as good.
The Los Angeles Kings’ last playoff series victory was when they won the Stanley Cup in 2014. For Chicago, their last playoff series win came when they won the Stanley Cup in 2015. It was the second in three years for Los Angeles and the third in six years for Chicago.
Since those glory days, both the Kings and Blackhawks have fallen off hard. However, one team retooled their organization very well and the other did not at all. The Blackhawks had another few years of great hockey left but they let it get away early because of bad decision making.
Artemi Panarin was there for the Hawks to try and keep it going. Unfortunately, Stan Bowman traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Brandon Saad. That was the leader in a long list of other bad decisions that have the Hawks where they are right now,
The Chicago Blackhawks are well behind the LA Kings as an organization.
The Kings kept Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, and Jonathan Quick through the tough days but they sold off everyone else that helped them win two Cups. They built a very impressive farm system and are now winning at the NHL level again with these guys.
The Blackhawks kept Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and up until this season Duncan Keith. Unfortunately, they traded some of their best young talents that were years away from the league for mediocre NHL players that were NHL ready.
While the Kings were okay with being bad for a few years while they retooled, the Hawks tried to stay in it with some of their moves. All it earned them, however, was a COVID-19 bubble play-in round victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Outside of that, they haven’t been good at all.
Now, the Kings are almost done retooling as they look to be headed to the playoffs again this spring. They are not a lock but they are set up nicely to be in as they are above the playoff line by three points and are only two points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the second spot in the Pacific Division (which would get them home-ice advantage in the first round).
On Monday night, the Kings were at the United Center to take on the Blackhawks and they dominated them. LA won the game by a final score of 5-2 while outshooting the Hawks 36-20. It wasn’t even close.
Whether people want to admit it or not, the Hawks are lightyears ahead of the Kings. They are also lightyears ahead of teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, and Anaheim Ducks who were the other elite teams in the league when the Hawks were great.
In order to get out of this funk, they need to tear it down and build it back up with much younger players. They have decisions to make with some of their aging stars before anything is done but it is time to make some changes. Hopefully, this beating by the Kings (who did it right) can get them in the right mindset.
