Luke Richardson feels impatient.
After the Blackhawks suffered their third consecutive loss — all by multiple goals — on Tuesday against the Bruins, the typically calm-mannered coach let some frustration seep into his postgame comments.
He did so in a measured way; he didn’t yell, throw a tantrum or do anything grossly out-of-character. Nonetheless, his message took a noticeable left turn away from the endless patience he has preached throughout his first 16 months in Chicago.
“I’m kind of at the point [where] I’m tired,” Richardson said. “One year is enough of, ‘We’re a hard-working team.’ We want to push for more this year.
“We start off with a good intention, but I find the other teams not [exactly] outwork us — like work ethic-wise — but I want to say the hardness of the work, if you know what I mean? Like in physical, 1-on-1 battles. We have to work on that.”
Richardson pointed to the Bruins’ third goal, when Trent Frederic overcame being essentially slide-tackled by Boris Katchouk to knock a loose puck into the net, as an example of the “determination” other teams possess that the Hawks don’t.
It sounds like practice Thursday will be grueling. Battle drills are imminent.
“[The players] don’t like that, but if you don’t do it in a game, you have to do it in practice,” he added. “That’s just the way it is. That’s the [source of] work ethic in any sport, really.
“That [loss] should drive you and fuel you. It shouldn’t make you tense up and worried and concerned on the ice. You should be more determined about getting something done the next day.”
Richardson’s sentiments are all completely understandable.
It must be difficult, as a first-time NHL coach, to endure a 26-win season with a roster designed to lose, then start the next season on a similar win pace at 2-5-0. Many Hawks fans feel just as impatient as him right now.
But here’s the not-so-hidden secret: the things Richardson couldn’t quite put his finger on (when describing how the Hawks get outworked) are lack of talent and lack of experience.
Over time, the Hawks will accumulate both things, but they haven’t yet to a significant degree. This year’s roster just isn’t that different from last year’s designed-to-tank roster.
And the pieces that are different — especially when Taylor Hall is injured — are almost entirely young guys still learning how to succeed in the NHL. Ten of the 22 active players on the Hawks’ roster have played fewer than 160 career games; six players have played fewer than 50.
There may be a “fine margin” between winning and losing in pro sports, as veteran Connor Murphy put it Saturday, but there’s a lengthy process required to figure out how to consistently end up on the winning side.
The brutality of the Hawks’ schedule also makes it tough to draw many conclusions from the results so far.
Their record should be taken with a thousand grains of salt considering four of their five losses have come against undefeated teams — teams that are 21-0-0 against opponents other than the Hawks, too. In other words, the Hawks actually have a winning record (2-1-0) against non-undefeated teams.
For all those reasons, Richardson’s impatience is probably premature. It’ll probably remain premature in January and even April, as well.
This is an extensive rebuild and the Hawks are nowhere near ready to ascend and contend. Granted, it’s fair to expect and demand individual progress and team development over the course of the season, but that progress might not be reflected well on scoreboards and in the standings.
After seven games — especially these seven games — there isn’t nearly enough data and tape yet to deem the Hawks to be lagging behind that expected rate of progress.
