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Off to rough start, struggling Hawks face lots of empty seats at United Center

The fans are speaking.

And it doesn't look pretty for the Blackhawks.

Instead of being greeted by a full house of roaring fans in two home games this week, players and coaches saw wide swaths of open seats at the United Center.

The team's 0-7-2 start was likely one factor behind the anemic showings, and there are surely those rebelling because of what the sexual abuse scandal involving Brad Aldrich revealed last week. Throw in COVID and it's no surprise so many seats are empty (and even some that are filled are going for $10 or less on the resale market).

"It's definitely different," Jonathan Toews said before the Hawks lost 4-3 to Carolina on Wednesday. "Obviously losing streaks and just a lot of different variables right now. It is what it is. As a team, we're confident we'll get on the horse, start winning, start building games and start filling seats."

The announced attendance during the Hawks' 5-1 win over Ottawa on Monday was 15,946, although the actual number was much less. The three sections behind the east goal were perhaps one-third full, while a few of the 300 sections housed less than 100 fans each.

It was a bit better Wednesday (16,449 announced), but there were still rows of empty seats across parts of the arena.

"I don't think we're worried too much about that," said Alex DeBrincat, who scored twice against the Hurricanes. "We're trying to win games. We want them to show up, but we haven't done ourselves any favors in that aspect."

The Hawks (1-8-2) became the first team this season to take a 2-goal lead on Carolina (9-0-0) when DeBrincat made it 3-1 at 8:24 of the second period.

Carolina stormed back, though, on goals by Seth Jarvis, Jesper Fast and Martin Necas to go up 4-3.

Marc-Andre Fleury (28 saves) had a rough night in net, allowing Jarvis and Necas to score on shots through the five-hole. Necas' was a simple wrister from just outside the right faceoff dot, a shot Fleury's stopped thousands of times before.

"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot," said defenseman Seth Jones. "To start the third, we give up a goal (on the) first shift, then give up another one.

"Going into the third period with a 1-goal against Carolina, we have to be able to lock it down, make simple plays and not beat ourselves. That's what you see happening through these first 10 games."

The Hawks had an excellent opportunity to find the equalizer or take the lead when Jacob Slavin was whistled for a double-minor high-sticking penalty against Dominik Kubalik with 5:26 remaining.

Only a few good chances materialized on the ensuing four-minute power play, however, and the Hurricanes skated out with their perfect record in tact.

"It's another hard lesson," said coach Jeremy Colliton. "I would like us to stop learning hard lessons and respond with a change in how we think about the game."

The Hawks play at Winnipeg on Friday then return for a three-game homestand against Nashville, Pittsburgh and Arizona.

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