CHICAGO – For Jake McCabe, it was a matter of dollars and (family) sense to head here last summer. He had endured the hardest of hard times with the Buffalo Sabres, capped by last year's season-ending knee injury, and the pull of home was strong.
All that losing with the Sabres was in the past when McCabe signed a four-year, $16 million free-agent contract with the Chicago Blackhawks last July. At least that's what he thought.
Equipped with untapped potential and a fiery competitiveness, Cozens has used his position on the ice and in the dressing room to be a catalyst for change in the organization.
It hasn't happened. A chaotic season on and off the ice in the Windy City will leave the Blackhawks out of the playoffs for the second straight year and the fourth time in five seasons. The glory days of 2008-2017 that produced three Stanley Cups and two other trips to the West final are long gone.
Under new GM Kyle Davidson, the Hawks are rebuilding their team. Where it stops – even including captain Jonathan Toews and South Buffalo native Patrick Kane – nobody really knows.
"It's tough obviously. I've been in the situation before where you're sellers at the trade deadline and rebuilding for years to come maybe," McCabe, 27, said Monday in United Center prior to the Hawks' game against the Sabres. "I'm sitting here in the prime of my career, so it's a little bit frustrating in that sense, but I'm just trying to be a good leader and help along the culture and identity of this team. I just want to keep on keepin' on really and work my butt off every night."
McCabe is a Wisconsin native who rooted for the Blackhawks growing up and spent the last five offseasons living here. His in-laws live in Chicago, and his family is just a few hours away, no small point when you consider his daughter will be 2 next month and his wife, Gaby, gave birth to a son in December.
"Family-wise, it's been great. Obviously the hockey side of things hasn't been been the best unfortunately," McCabe said. "But with two kids, we have lots of help. My in-laws here. My family only a five-hour drive. It's been busy but it's been fun and that's nice to have."
Ah, the hockey part.
The Blackhawks were winless in their first six games and started the season 1-9-2, ending any thoughts of playoffs before Thanksgiving. They entered Monday 23-23-8 since but still 18 points off the Western Conference cut line.
Disappointment was the prevailing emotion after Sunday's 5-4 overtime defeat to the New York Rangers, a game lost on defenseman K'Andre Miller's wrist shot at 2:02 of OT. The Sabres battled back from 2-0 and 4-3 deficits to get a point on Jeff Skinner's power-play goal with 6:53 left but couldn't get the winner.
It has been a crazy season as coach Jeremy Colliton was fired. GM Stan Bowman was one of several dismissals in the wake of the allegations revealed in the Kyle Beach sexual assault scandal. Interim coach Derek King may not get the job on a permanent basis now that Davidson has been named the full-time GM.
McCabe has three goals, 14 assists and a minus-20 rating in 59 games. After a terrible start (one point, minus-12 in first 15 games), his play has taken a bump up in recent games. In the last nine games, McCabe has seven assists and a plus-2 rating. He has been over 20 minutes of ice team in each of the last six games, and his total of 26:21 in Saturday's overtime loss at Vegas was his second-highest of the season.
His recent personal success plus the club's 2-0-1 mark on its Western road trip has McCabe focused on a strong finish to the season.
"I've been fortunate a little experience in this aspect so I can mentally gather myself just fine," he said. "That's just how it goes sometimes. But you know, I'm lucky to be here in Chicago close to family and I focus on those positives. I love that group of guys we have here and I think there's a lot of promise for the future that hopefully we can turn this thing around quickly."
McCabe played 353 games with the Sabres and became a full-time regular in the 2015-16 season, Jack Eichel's rookie season. He knew the core of the team was changing, given the club's inability to make the playoffs. McCabe and Eichel had dinner together Friday night prior to the Golden Knights' comeback win over the Hawks on Saturday.
"I'm excited for him. I told him I hope they go on a run to make the playoffs," McCabe said. "He's been through a lot these last two years. No one's more deserving to get in the playoffs and showcase his ability that we've all sadly missed much of the the last two years due to the injuries and whatnot and have not seen on the the ice. It was great to see him doing his thing out there and hope they can sneak in."
McCabe visited with the Sabres' training and equipment staff Monday morning, but his former teammates were not at the rink after playing Sunday night in New York.
"It's not gonna be that strange because there is so many new faces over there and I've played enough good buddies over the my career that you kind of get used to it," he said. "I just played Jack the other night, right? Played Sam (Reinhart), Risto (Philadelphia's Rasmus Ristolainen). It's what you do."
McCabe, who will be in Buffalo with the Hawks for the season finale on April 29, has kept an eye on his old club and has been impressed with the job coach Don Granato has done.
"I knew he was going to do great things for them. He's a good communicator he's very passionate," McCabe said. "He's somebody that's definitely a great leader in a situation like this when you're trying to build something like a good culture. Donnie is definitely at the forefront of that.
"I look at them and 'Okie' (Kyle Okposo) is playing great. Zemgus (Girgensons) is back in the lineup. 'Tommer' and 'Skins' (Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner) are having great years. It's good to see a bunch of my buddies succeeding. it's nice to see the Sabres have had some success lately."
