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The Bernstein Brief: Uncomfortable Blackhawks Season Ends

By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist

(CBS) It started with the tone-deaf public introduction of an accused rapist and ended just days after a player berated a referee with gay slurs.

In between, the Blackhawks played fast and loose with the facts regarding one of their minor leaguers posting revenge porn, all too happy to back him after he escaped prosecution on a technicality. And just last week the team joined the NHL in calling out their popular veteran broadcaster after he dared to tell the truth about playoff start times.

Too often this season circumstances either exposed the team as insensitive or unaware and/or exposed significant and vocal segments of its fan base as either hockey-blinded rape apologists or excuse-makers for Andrew Shaw's hurtful words. It wasn't fun, any of it, and the season culminated with a 3-2 loss to the Blues in Game 7 of their first-round series Monday night.

May next year's Blackhawks team be easier to like.

Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter  @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.

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