As we feared, the odd travel schedule left the Hawks somewhat off their game. It wasn’t the prettiest or cleanest game from either side. Luckily, that side is way worse than this one, and the Hawks didn’t need to pull out the glossy stuff to pretty easily see this out. God I love it when the Avs suck.
Let’s not waste any time…
The Rockford IceHogs will be hosting nine of their next 15 games at home through next month. That’s fine by me; the IceHogs are limping home after losing the last three games of their six-game road trip.
Some recent events around the AHL prompted me to take a look at the drawing power of the Blackhawks affiliate out here in Northwest Illinois. You might be surprised. Then again, you may not.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 6pm Central
TV/RADIO: WGN for both
THEIR CITY WAS GONE: Jackets Cannon
If Captain Fred were here… BLUE JACKETS!
The Hawks make their one trip to Ohio this season to take on the Blue Jackets this evening. Or to put it better, what’s left of the Blue Jackets. Because no one is carrying the injury list that the Jackets are at the moment. It kind of looks like the scene in Gone With The Wind out there.
After doing two posts on Draft Pick Value and NHL Team Drafting & Development, I decided to look at the rosters of every team in the league to see how they were constructed. Which teams rely heavily on their own drafted talent? Which teams have brought in the most players from other teams? Which teams have a large number of undrafted players? Let’s find out.
vs 
Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely: Hockey Wilderness
For the first time since Patrick Kane terminated their season 8 months ago for the second straight year, the Hawks will square off against the Wild. And Minnesota comes into tonight very much in the same limbo as the one that left them looking for any kind of answer over the summer.
Considering the way the Flames play, considering both teams were on their third game in four nights in three cities, and considering the Hawks looked leggy last night, this one was never going to be shipped off to the Smithsonian as a great display of sport. And it wasn’t. This one was about perseverance, as the Flames concentrated on jamming things up in the defensive and neutral zone and just took what they could find at the other.
Thankfully, the Hawks really didn’t give them all that much after Hudler’s goal. They had to wait and wait for a crack, and they got one when Johnny Gaudreau (who was a threat all night) blew a tire at the blue line and Hjalmarsson was able to shove forward for Toews and Saad to have something of a 2-on-0. Saad didn’t make any mistakes. Two points gained. Move on.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 6pm
TV/RADIO: WGN for those ’round these parts, Sportsnet for those around the moose, WGN Radio
Robert Moses’s Wet Dream: Lighthouse Hockey
The world tour-de-force continues tonight out past the bright lights of New York and on Lon’ Gisland, where the Hawks will be another test for an Islanders squad that fancies itself party crashers into the NHL’s penthouse. They’ve had a few of those lately, and they haven’t gone so well for the Blue and Orange.
If Saturday’s win against Nashville was a reminder that the Central Division still runs through Chicago, then today’s game was a reminder of how long an 82 game season can be. The New Jersey Devils are not a very talented team and because of injuries, also inexperienced. This was not an aesthetically pleasing game to watch for many reasons. In the end, all anyone was really concerned with was the two points and the Hawks got that. No matter how long it took. So let’s move along.
It won’t be news to anyone that I enjoy watching the Hawks win. Well, maybe it is but it’s true. And wins like last night, a wild and frantic last-gasp joint, are cool. Blowouts are cool too. But I think I most enjoy watching the Hawks outclass another team. Maybe it’s because I watched Scum do it to the Hawks for 15 years or whatever and it’s just a relief to be on the other side. But it’s true.
That sort of thing can take different forms. Sometimes it’s a 5-0 shellacking. Or sometimes it’s like tonight, when even on the second of a back-to-back facing a rested team in their building (though you’d hardly call it hostile, would you?) the Hawks just show the Predators why they’re just a little short right now. The scoreline was close, and a bounce here or there and it may have gone to OT. And yet from the start of the 2nd period on, this just felt like the Hawks dangling a treat right in front of the Preds, yet never in reach. Like the Hawks were saying, “We’re not at our best tonight, but we can do enough to carry this one out and there really isn’t much you’re going to do about it.”
And with that, the Hawks are in first for the first time this season’s first week. They may not stay there long with the Preds having a game in hand and not playing again until Tuesday. But whatever. Six is better than five. Get Darryl out here.
Let’s roll it all into one. First…
The headline of this one should probably be that the Hawks have won two games in a row giving up over 40 shots at Antti Raanta. As McClure and I walked out last night we joked that has to be a sign of hockey magic. It’s certainly not the prescribed method to go about things.
