Since the end of the second period on Sunday night, when the Red Wings scored four goals to take a commanding 5-1 lead, I’ve felt like Inspector Finch from V for Vendetta: staring blankly at a screen for hours on end, retracing every step that’s brought us to this point and asking out loud to no one in particular: “Would you really want to know?”
What if the Blackhawks have been wallowing in mediocrity for so long that they’ve punted on any chances of contending for the next decade? What if the net result from the moves made by team president and general manager Stan Bowman over the last five or six years is so deep into the negative that it’s impossible to be salvaged?