Off the Island: Blackhawks
Train tracking 50 isn’t part of it: CSN
Lots of open ice: PD
#2 gets 1: PHT
#1 gets 0: TSN
Here we go again.
Banner raising. Visiting team comes out with more jump. Home team can’t recover from bad first period. It’s almost a rite of passage in a new hockey season.
With that, the 2015-2016 NHL campaign is under way.
vs 
Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, WGN-AM 720
Sam Rosen’s Podiatrist: Blueshirt Banter
They told everyone the entire back half of the summer that they were only about the business of hockey. That getting back on the ice was the most important thing, and once they were able to do that, not much else mattered. And as criminal justice proceedings have dragged on and been obfuscated, that’s exactly where the defending champion Blackhawks stand tonight, with their star forward who has still yet to be cleared of a sexual assault investigation in uniform with at very least the implicit support of the entire organization.
So during the the effusive and interminable ceremony wherein Rocky Wirtz, John McDonough, and whatever host take self congratulatory tone-deafedness to astonishing new heights, remember that every ass in a seat, every applauding set of hands, is exactly what they banked on happening during this catastrophic off-season. Winning at sports is always a better brand strategy than being under investigation for sexual assault. And their cynical bet will be proved 110% correct when Patrick Kane receives thunderous applause all night long.
Tonight: Blackhawks
Pokka returns: CSN
Set up for success: PHT
Cap space: ESPN Chicago
Share a coke with: PD
In yet another attempt to make something out of this format, Sam, FifthFeather and myself discuss matters both of local and league-wide interest as the new campaign begins tomorrow night. Stream below or download direct here.
Now that we’ve laid out what we think about the Hawks, it’s probably time to peruse the other squads they’ll actually be competing with in the division and the West. And looking around, it’s hard to find a team that has taken a huge step forward to a point these Hawks can’t reach (assuming everything goes right for them). The only one that looks poised for a major leap, while knowing that one or two teams will get one through luck or weirdness, is Dallas. But Dallas looked like that last year, and it doesn’t look like they’ll take a big enough jump to overtake the Hawks. Let’s get through it all.
The Blackhawks AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, are breaking camp and winging it to the West Coast to begin the 2015-16 campaign. Rockford is coming off of a strong season that saw them reach the Western Conference Semifinal.
Coach Ted Dent is back at the helm of another group of Hawks prospects peppered with skaters who’ve been around the AHL block. How’s this group gonna fare over the next seven or eight months? Let’s take a look…
