Nhl On Tnt Broadcast Put National Attention On Blackhawks Struggles

The Florida Panthers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in Sunrise on Wednesday night. The NHL broadcast this 5-3 loss on TNT. Overall, it turned out to be a game that put national negativity on the Hawks. 

The TNT panel, which consisted of Ryan Reaves, Paul Bissonnette, Liam McHugh, Anson Carter, and Henrik Lundqvist, blasted the Blackhawks at multiple points throughout the show. They were on during the pregame, intermissions, and postgame, going to town on all the shortcomings that Chicago is dealing with. 

“I don’t see a lot of identity,” Bissonnette said. “I see a soft team. They don’t check well; they don’t forecheck well. They don’t really do anything well.”

The man known as "Biz" used other terms like "Mickey Mouse", "soft", "horrible", and "pathetic", among others. 

That is the national perception of the Blackhawks, who are off to the worst start, 4-11-3, during the Kyle Davidson rebuild era. Nothing he said is incorrect, and now a larger audience will be influenced by that opinion. Jeff Blashill, after the game, did comment on what was said. 

"I like Biz, I respect Biz, I don’t agree with his opinion,” Blashill said. “I don’t think that we’re soft. I don’t think we’ve won enough games, so when you have the record that we have, you put yourself in a position to be criticized. We’re going to have to accept that criticism. I don’t agree with his verbiage. I’m sure he doesn’t break our tape down on a regular basis, but again, we’re subject to that criticism.”

Bissonnette was an enforcer who did not score goals or make plays on a regular basis, but he was a plus player in 202 games played. Plus-minus is not a great stat in 2026, but he managed to be +7 as a 4th liner on mostly bad teams. He was also either an All-Star or a champion at every pro level in North America below the NHL. He has a smart hockey mind in a lot of ways. 

At the same time, this take can come off as a bit performative, but the results are the results. Perhaps people will like what Henrik Lundqvist, who is a very level-headed former Hall of Fame goaltender, has to say. 

"When you’re in a rebuild and you try and get out of it, it’s not about being the best team every night,” Lundqvist said. “You have to be smart and have awareness."

The conversations around the team making changes are growing louder and louder with each loss that piles up. Things won’t get much easier as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes are the next two teams on deck for the Hawks. Thursday night will see them in the second half of a back-to-back vs Tampa, their first such situation of the season. 

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