Blackhawks Showing Signs Of Frustration, But Also Remain Ultra-Confident

On Saturday night, the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Carolina Hurricanes at the United Center. It was the second home game of the season for Chicago, but not nearly as successful as the first. 

Now, following a lousy loss to the Hurricanes, the Blackhawks are 1-5-0 after six games. It is not where they wanted to be, despite having a very tough schedule to open up the year. The issue now is that it doesn't lighten up any time soon. 

It is easy to understand why the Blackhawks players and coaches are frustrated following this one. They were run out of their own building early in a season that is already falling off the rails. 

When asked, Patrick Kane said that the frustration level of the team was "very high". This, of course, came after a tough game, but it's a sign of the overall team outlook. 

"D-zone and being better with the puck, whether it's living to fight another day sometimes or making better plays out there,” Kane said when asked about where the team needs to improve. “Supporting, demanding it, wanting it, those types of things."

Kane knows what it’s like to be on a team as good as the Carolina Hurricanes. He spent the first half of his career almost exclusively on those types of teams. At least for now, he has incredible confidence that this current group will get there one day. 

"I have a lot of confidence in the group," Kane said. "We definitely have enough talent, speed, and skill. What kind of team are we going to be? That's something we need to figure out."

Kane believes this young Blackhawks group has what it needs to "take a page" out of Carolina's book. If anyone on the team has an opinion worth trusting on this type of topic, it's Patrick Kane. 

Roman Kantserov, who scored his first career NHL goal on Saturday, spoke about how it wasn't his plan to lose the game that he got his first, but he did admit that finally turning that 0 next to his goal total into a 1 will give him confidence going forward. 

When Kantserov was leading the KHL in goals, it was obvious that this ability would translate to the NHL. It was just a matter of how long. He is still figuring things out, but getting that first will go a long way. 

It wasn't only players trying to balance frustration with confidence following Saturday's loss. Head coach Jeff Blashill was not shy on either end of the conversation. 

"Do I think frustration builds when you haven't won and you're not having enough success? Of course it does," Blashill said. "Those are the challenges we're going to have to face."

Coach Blashill often talks about process. He thinks that a team's process is more important than results because wins will come if you do things the right way. As of now, sitting in his coach's chair, he believes in this group. 

"I'm going to tell you right now, I have absolute 100 percent belief in this group," Blashill continued. "This group is going to win. I can't tell if we're going to start winning Tuesday, next week, [or] a year from now. I have no idea when it's going to be, but this group is going to win, 100 percent."

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