Let it never be said that Chicago Blackhawks fans don’t care. Eight seasons into the Blackhawks’ playoff drought (neither we nor poor Connor Murphy, still waiting for his first true playoff experience, count the expanded 2020 bubble postseason), and the United Center is still mostly full, Nos. 19, 88 and 98 jerseys are still ubiquitous, and more fans than ever are weighing in on our annual fan survey.
A record 3,126 of you chimed in this time around to offer your thoughts on the rebuild, the organizational leaders and the players on the ice. And the general mood is — what’s the word, resignation? You know you’re in for another long year. But just like general manager Kyle Davidson, you’re in it for the long haul.
Let’s dive into the results:
Based on the results of this poll and a number of the questions submitted for Mark Lazerus’ mailbag, the honeymoon is over for Wirtz as Blackhawks chairman. Last year, more than 57 percent of respondents gave Wirtz a 4 or a 5. This year, that number plunged to 33.5 percent. A score of 3 had the plurality, so the fan base hasn’t turned on the owner just yet. But fans do seem to be casting a wary eye as the Blackhawks stare down another year of barely getting to the salary-cap floor, while ticket prices remain sky high.
A majority of Blackhawks fans are still pretty confident in Davidson and his plan. It’s the third year in a row that Davidson has received mostly 4s on the scale. It is worth noting that the support for Davidson dropped from last year. He received a score of 4 in 55.2 percent of the ballots last year and a score of 5 in 24.6 percent. This year, those percentages were 37.9 and 13.4. That also meant an increase in votes for 1s, 2s and 3s. So, while fans are still behind him, they do appear to be growing impatient for better results.
Unsurprisingly, this question was met with the statistical equivalent of a shrug. Blashill has yet to hold a practice in Chicago, let alone coach a game. And he didn’t leave much of a lasting impression — positive or negative — during his tenure in Detroit. Only 2.8 percent of respondents gave him a 5, and only 5.3 percent gave him a 1. Blackhawks fans are very much in wait-and-see mode, which is certainly fair for a first-year coach.
Like Davidson, fans are still mostly confident in the rebuild, but their support is fading. Last year, fans gave their confidence level for the rebuild a 4 in 53.3 percent of their ballots. That fell 20.9 percent this year. Fans probably need something more to cling to this season for that number not to continue decreasing.
This was largely a referendum on Davidson’s decision to go young this upcoming season, as the only move of consequence the Blackhawks made was acquiring André Burakovsky in a trade. After last summer’s veteran spending spree, Davidson essentially sat out free agency this time around. Only 3.2 percent of respondents loved that, while 9.9 percent hated that. Nearly three-quarters of fans gave the Blackhawks a C or lower, so while there’s excitement about the young players breaking into the NHL, there’s plenty of skepticism, too.
All five choices nearly had the same results. The majority went with 4, meaning fans were mostly satisfied with Davidson not doing much in free agency. Considering the players who actually hit the market and an even smaller number who would have probably been interested in the Blackhawks, fans seemed to understand Davidson’s quiet offseason.
This was one of the more intriguing questions we asked. Was that 3-1-1 closing kick with so many prospects getting a chance in the show, including that memorable game in Montreal, enough to buy the Blackhawks another year of patience and ticket sales? Or was it just a fluke? Nearly three-quarters of fans were buoyed by that stretch, though the majority of those were moved “a little.” The 4.4 percent of fans who said it made them less confident and patient must have been very big TJ Brodie fans.
On paper, it’s likely going to be another rough season for the Blackhawks. Fans seem to understand that, too. They’re less optimistic than going into last season. A year ago, 60.1 percent of the vote went to the Blackhawks finishing in the 71-80 range. As you know, they ended up with 61 points. There were a few people — three in total — who believe the Blackhawks can finish with more than 90 points.
It feels like only a matter of time before Bedard takes that leap into superstardom, but most fans don’t expect it to happen this season. That might have more to do with a lack of top-line wingers for Bedard to play with than Bedard himself, but a scant 2.8 percent of fans expect Bedard to score more than 40 goals this season. The rest are pretty evenly split between a third year in the 20s (51.5 percent) and a modest step into the 30s (44 percent). Just 1.6 percent expect him to drop back into the teens or worse.
The Blackhawks can finally make some room for something other than Connor Bedard merchandise in their shops. Based on the results, you would think you’d start seeing much more Frank Nazar gear this season, too. Alex Vlasic and Sam Rinzel also received a significant amount of votes. Spencer Knight and Artyom Levshunov got some love, too. Of the many other votes, Anton Frondell, Ryan Donato, Connor Murphy, Nick Foligno and Teuvo Teräväinen received some.
Jonathan Toews was 20 years old when he was named captain of the Blackhawks, and Bedard — with his work ethic, his intensity and his skills — has a similar vibe at the same age. Not surprisingly, most fans think his captaincy is inevitable. But Vlasic has emerged as a locker-room leader in the last couple of years and garnered about a quarter of the votes. The ascendant Nazar and stalwart Murphy were in a virtual tie after that. Murphy is by far the longest-tenured Blackhawks player and commands a lot of respect in the room, but he’s also entering the last year of his contract and could be traded before the season ends. Beyond that, it was a lot of “too early to tell” and a smattering of Donato votes. Tommy Hawk received a vote.
It’s interesting to attempt to assess from multiple questions where fans are at with their patience compared to where they believe the rebuild is at. While it seems from other questions that fans are becoming more impatient, this one shows that a lot of people still think the Blackhawks are two to three seasons away from being a playoff team again.
Settle in, folks. This could take a while. Nearly 30 percent of fans don’t think the Blackhawks will be in the title mix until the 2030s, and 58.6 percent think it won’t happen until 2028 or 2029. You’ve got to admire the optimism of the 33 fans (1.1 percent) who picked next season.
This is another reminder not to pay too much attention to what people are saying on social media about the draft. A lot more people were OK with the Blackhawks taking Artyom Levshunov last year than expected, and that’s the case again this year with Frondell. Time will tell what they become as players, but most fans seem to be hopeful.
These two deserve some kind of medal for making the last few seasons of Blackhawks hockey compelling. Calling hockey on the radio is a unique challenge in sports, and John Wiedeman is the consummate pro, painting a clear picture of the action while keeping the listener oriented with tape-to-tape perfection. Being a radio analyst is particularly difficult, too, without replays to lean on. But Troy Murray still manages to make his analysis easy to comprehend without dumbing it down for listeners. They’ve been together since 2006-07, and their chemistry is evident.
The Blackhawks made the unexpected decision last offseason to replace Chris Vosters with Rick Ball, but it was a decision largely based on what the organization was hearing from its fans. A season in, fans mostly approve of the Ball-Darren Pang TV broadcast team.
Duncan Keith is a no-brainer here. He’s arguably the greatest Blackhawks player of the modern era, if not ever, and he’s already retired and now being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Detroit Red Wing Patrick Kane and Winnipeg Jet Jonathan Toews (man, how weird is that going to be?) likely would have garnered just as many votes, if not more, had they been retired, too. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with jersey retirements now that the Blackhawks are creating a franchise Hall of Fame. Steve Larmer probably will finally get recognized, but will his No. 28 be in the rafters, where it belongs? Well, the team just gave Burakovsky No. 28, so …
Yes, landing Comcast carriage was important for CHSN. But, no, it doesn’t fix all of CHSN’s viewership issues. There are still a lot of people out in the cold who have Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV or something else and can’t access CHSN. If the team is more interesting this season, more people will probably become willing to pay for the app. Still, there have to be other, better long-term solutions.
More than a quarter of you will be engaging in some piracy this season, and all of your names and email addresses have been handed over to the authorities (kidding!). A full year into the CHSN experiment, nearly half the fans who responded will be watching via some chicanery — either a VPN so they can pretend to be out of town and watch on ESPN+, or via illegal streams. That’s … not great.
Joel Quenneville has been back to the United Center since he last coached the Blackhawks, but he hasn’t since he was forced to leave the NHL after the Jenner & Block report revealed how he and others in Blackhawks management responded to a sexual assault allegation made against former video coach Brad Aldrich. Since then, Quenneville has been reinstated by the NHL and was hired in May to be the Anaheim Ducks’ new head coach. In his introductory news conference, he said: “I fully understand and accept those who question my return to the league. I know words aren’t enough. I will demonstrate (by) my actions that I am a man of character.” Quenneville will return to Chicago when the Ducks play the Blackhawks on Sunday, Oct. 19. It appears most fans plan to warmly welcome him back.
(Data source: Poll conducted by The Athletic of self-identified Blackhawks fans between Jul. 21-24, 2025. Top photo of Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar: Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)