Alex Vlasic's goal of helping the Blackhawks finally make the playoffs this season is off to a rough start.
But a rough start is all it is, Vlasic mentioned Tuesday. Only a small portion of the season has been played, and he's not ready to give up on that goal yet.
"Because of the results we've been getting, it feels like it's worse than it is," Vlasic said. "We're 11 games into the season, so nothing is out of the question at all. We still think we have a team that's capable of playoffs, for sure. That's our goal."
The Hawks' 25-year-old longest-tenured defensemen wasn't shy to toss around the word "playoffs" in interviews over the summer, hoping to almost speak it into existence by vocalizing confidence and setting high, specific expectations.
And it's understandable why he did so. Vlasic has experienced lots of losing throughout his NHL career to date — entering Tuesday, the Hawks had won only 83 of his first 271 games — and it's surely getting old. As he stated after last season, "We're not here to do this again."
Those 188 losses have taught Vlasic some things, though, about mentally handling failure without letting it ruin him. As long as the Hawks continue struggling, he can at least fall back on those psychological techniques to manage his own attitude.
"As I get older, I've become more mature in the way I approach the game," he said. "I'm trying to focus on what I can control: my own play, how I show up to the rink every day, [the ways I can] get better and improve. I want to bring that into the locker room and have everybody have that same mindset.
"Honestly, I'm lucky to still be playing hockey as my job. There's a lot worse things going on in the world right now. We have to look at it from that mindset: we're able to play a game for a living and have a lot of fun doing it. If that doesn't get you motivated and keep you positive..."
On the ice, Vlasic looks about the same as he did last season. He's still using his long reach to break up lots of passes and plays. He's still not physical whatsoever despite his 6-6 size; he entered Tuesday with only three hits credited to him.
His offensive contributions are limited, too, although he is taking charge to skate the puck out of the defensive zone more often. But his pairing with Ian Cole has arguably been the most reliable part of the Hawks' shaky defense.
Team-wise, Vlasic insists he has observed considerable improvement since the season began, even though "nothing is really going in" and translating to the scoreboard.
He also actually appreciates how difficult the Hawks' schedule has been. It has given them many opportunities to study how the league's best teams operate.
"It's fun, honestly, to play different teams that have had success — teams like Florida, Carolina and Vegas — that can give us an example of how they play," Vlasic said.
"After the first period [Sunday against Florida], we talked about how they do things in such a simple way. It's such a solid team game that they play. We came out in the second and third [periods] and tried to focus on adding that style of play to our game: simple, smart, working for each other. I felt like it was pretty effective."
The Hawks still ultimately lost to the Panthers, of course. And there's a big difference between two periods of simple, smart, cohesive hockey and months upon months of it.
To climb out of this hole and back into the playoff race, the Hawks will need to somehow accomplish the latter, which is difficult to imagine. But there probably still is some speak-it-into-existence value in declaring it possible.
