With the Chicago Blackhawks reaching 45 games on the season, and the Rockford IceHogs reaching 36, it appeared time to give the players their midterm grades. In this article, like with my previous player grade article, I will be give each player a grade based on the same criteria I used previously. Once again, feel free to object to any of my assessments. These grades are mine alone. They are not a reflection of any other member of The Rink and their assessments, nor the organization as a whole.

Heading toward the Olympic break, the Chicago Blackhawks are five points from a wild card spot in the NHL playoff race; a far cry from what fans thought would be a long, dreary season toward yet another top-five lottery draft pick. With that in mind, if one were to prognosticate, ultimately this team will likely finish on the outside looking in. With four teams ahead of them in the standings and a condensed schedule that will not get any easier, it will be a tall task to make the postseason.

Regardless of your thoughts on the Chicago Blackhawks' impending rebuild, one of the most important and usually overlooked facets of the process is goaltending. Teams can win with mediocre-to-good goaltending, but no team is winning the Stanley Cup with flat-out bad goaltending. A prime example of this is the Edmonton Oilers. They have two of the five best hockey players on the entire planet and have lost in the Stanley Cup Final for back-to-back seasons because they simply cannot get “that save” when needed — so much so that they just traded the guy who got them to those Cup Finals for an arguably equally questionable goalie in Tristan Jarry.

Regardless of your thoughts on the Chicago Blackhawks' impending rebuild, one of the most important and usually overlooked facets of the process is goaltending. Teams can win with mediocre-to-good goaltending, but no team is winning the Stanley Cup with flat-out bad goaltending. A prime example of this is the Edmonton Oilers. They have two of the five best hockey players on the entire planet and have lost in the Stanley Cup Final for back-to-back seasons because they simply cannot get “that save” when needed — so much so that they just traded the guy who got them to those Cup Finals for an arguably equally questionable goalie in Tristan Jarry.