from David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune,

Not that long ago, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman railed about things he considered unacceptable for a championship organization.

This was last April after a 109-point season that preceded a playoff sweep. Less than a year later, Bowman sounded a different tone after dealing former first-round draft pick Ryan Hartman to the Predators for a nice return as the hapless Hawks became sellers at the trade deadline. Yes, sellers, like the rest of the NHL teams with their noses pressed against the playoff glass.

A not-so-funny thing happened to the Hawks on their way back to the postseason: They got lost. This wasn’t part of Bowman’s plan no matter how many times we heard about rebuilding on the fly or all the players they have younger than 25. This wasn’t a team that expected to be golfing in April.

We are conditioned to let the Hawks have it both ways. We point to their three Stanley Cups since 2010, thank the hockey gods for allowing us to experience those glorious title runs and grant the first-class folks at 1901 W. Madison St. the benefit of every doubt.

continued

The Blackhawks lost 7-2 to San Jose last night.