32 Teams In 32 Days: Chicago Blackhawks

Why teams tank, when it works, and when it does not work....

• In Today’s 32 Team look we examine the Chicago Blackhawks impending tank job, and how that strategy does not always produce championships in the long run.

• Be sure to check out yesterday’s look at the Vancouver Canucks and how little mistakes can add up into big mistakes.

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It has been a while since we have seen an NHL team tank as aggressively and shamelessly as the Chicago Blackhawks are this upcoming season.

They may not admit it. They may not call it that. But it is pretty clear what the objective is this season: Lose as many games as possible, finish as low in the standings as possible, and hope for luck to fall your way in the draft lottery and get the No. 1 draft pick that can be used on prized prospect Conor Bedard to officially restart a real rebuild.

Do not misinterpret what a “tank” is. The players are not going to actively lose games. They will give everything they have and play as hard as they can. They will try every night. But the roster that is currently being assembled is not going to be capable of anything other than being one of the absolute worst teams in hockey. Based on how it looks on paper right now, it might be the absolute worst team. And that is a choice that is being made by the front office for a very specific reason.

There is absolutely no guarantee that it works out, and there is a strong chance it just sends the team into a prolonged run of misery that becomes impossible to climb out of.