Thirteen games into the season, and Blackhawks fans are worried about their team. Already.

I’m sorry to break the news, but there’s plenty of hockey left to play.

Although no conclusions or playoff arguments can be made this early into the season, fans’ concerns do have some backing. The Blackhawks have just not been able to score.

The Blackhawks have shot the puck 461 times 13 games into the season. Twenty-seven of those shots have made it past the goalie. Opposing goalies have stopped 94 percent of Blackhawks’ shots — a ridiculous number.

The team will be fine. It’s a phase of the season that it will need to pass. It’s unfortunate that they’ve faced great goaltending, but it’s still the beginning of the year. Chicago will jump out of the funk.

What is interesting to consider about improved goalie play is the trend of bigger goalies in the NHL, compared to even 20 years ago.

Goalies have become taller and weigh more, causing a shift in the number of goals scored.

Twenty years ago, the goalie was not big and relied mostly on skill. The average goalie was 5-foot-11 and 34 of 60 goalies were under 6-feet tall. Goalies such as Blackhawks legends Tony Esposito and Eddie Belfour don’t resemble a modern goalie in stature or style; Esposito and Belfour dove around to stop the puck.

Today, the average goalie in the NHL is 6-foot-2 and weigh around 220 pounds. Their equipment offers little space for the puck to pass by. 

The current Blackhawks’ goalies fit the trend. Corey Crawford is 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds, while Antti Raanta is 6-foot and 193 pounds.

Although a goalie still needs to be athletic, (just ask Kings goalie Jonathan Quick) there are fewer opportunities for a long distance shot to head in. Yes, goals can still be scored using stick maneuvers and by putting a body in front of the goalie, but the easy goals that use to be abundant in the league are no more.

During the 1981-82 season with the Oilers, Wayne Gretzky set the NHL record for most goals scored in a season with 92. Since then, no one has come close to breaking the record. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin led the league with 51 goals last season. This fits perfectly, as more and more goalies become bigger and maintain a difficult situation for goal scorers.

In a sports world that seems to be dominated by offense and scoring, that might be a problem. The goal could be made bigger, but I also believe that bigger goalies are a good thing for the league. A player has to rely on skill more instead of just shooting the puck in the direction of the net. Skilled players like Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane will likely never reach Gretzky’s 92 but provide more entertainment for fans and improve the quality of the league as a whole.

As for the Blackhawks, they’ll get through the funk. It’s only 13 games, people; there’s plenty of hockey to play.

Michal is a sophomore in Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and @mdwojak94.