The Rockford IceHogs, the Blackhawks AHL affiliate in Winnebago County, have found themselves in a pretty competitive Central Division so far in 2015-16. If the first two months of the season are any indication, finishing at the top of the eight-team division may be a tall order.
Rockford’s 10-4-1-2 record and .676 points percentage would be good enough for second or third in any of the AHL’s other three divisions. In the Central, however, the IceHogs mark is only good enough for fourth.
Coming off a game where the Hawks gained a point in a game where they had no business doing so, it’s only fitting that the next night the Hawks played well enough to earn two points and instead got nothing.
When the Hawks tied the game with 7 minutes left, it seemed like at least another point was a given. But then the Hawks let the one Canucks line you can’t let score do so multiple times. Corey Crawford didn’t help his own cause and what was a very close game tilted in favor of the Hawks looked like a Canucks blowout at the end.
HOCKEY.
vs. 
PUCK DROP: 9pm Central
TV/RADIO: WGN, CBC, Sportsnet, WGN Radio 720
GARBAGE THROWERS: Nucks Misconduct
However it might have looked, most teams will take three of four points on the road and call it job done. While it came against two of the worst teams in the West, and the performances were borderline abject, the haul was not. The degree of difficulty gets turned up starting tonight. I mean I guess it does. The standings say it does, except I can’t figure out what it is the Canucks do well.
Two nights after getting pretty outplayed by one of the worst teams the West has to offer but having Crawford and the second line keep them afloat enough to pick it off in overtime, the Hawks tried the trick again but this time it was Darling who got to keep their putrid effort afloat long enough for a point. But this time they couldn’t grab the extra point in the carnival ride, as Johnny Gaudreau toyed with them for a minute before hornswoggling Seabrook for the winner.
The Hawks can make sure Crow and Darling get the most comfortable chairs on the plane to Vancouver tonight, and get the nicest suites when they stop in Vegas after the game. Because they’re the only two reasons they have three points they almost certainly don’t deserve all of. There’s no way to sugarcoat that in two games against the 25th and 28th ranked possession teams in the NHL, the Hawks have a 43% share. They’ve basically been clocked by the two Alberta teams who probably won’t sniff the playoffs (though don’t rule anything out in that mess of a division). And they can’t claim injuries as a problem.
at 
Game Time: 8:00PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Brian Burke’s Fightin’ Barn: Matchsticks & Gasoline, Flames Nation
For the second time in three games, the Hawks will take on the Calgary Flames, this time in Cow Town amid the red clad ranchers at the SaddleDome for the second stop of the Circus Trip.
Well you know this story by heart if you’ve followed the Hawks this season. The second line does most of the work to either get the Hawks one or two points, Corey Crawford holds them in when they were seriously under pressure, the penalty kill gets all the kills required, and then the Hawks goof a goal in overtime to get both points (and 3-on-3 every goal is basically a goof, that’s not a knock). The variable this time was getting one miraculous save from Crawford in OT, and the Hawks got an even-strength goal from the third line, which isn’t the first of the year but man does it feel like it.
Still, while gaining the two points when you don’t play well is a positive sign for a team we’re all sure is going to figure out its problems at some point, being severely clocked at times by the Oilers without McJesus is not going to have people printing up t-shirts.
Let’s do it.
at 
Game Time: 8:30Pm
TV/Radio: CSN, SportsNet 1, WGN-AM 720
Lost’n For Auston: Copper & Blue, Oilers Nation
No matter how hard they try to convince themselves, their fans, and the rest of the league, the Edmonton Oilers just can’t seem to stop tripping over their own collective dick. As of last night with John Torotrella’s Columbus Blue Jackets defeating the Blues on home ice, the Oilers are once again dead last in the NHL, and now welcome in the Blackhawks to Rexall as they begin their annual November road trip.
