Rest in Peace Mike Spellman:DH
More HHR:PD
Longer:ESPN
PAT-RICK KANE: ST
Loss on the Van-BlueLine:TSN
Whitney calls it a career: ESPN
The Unforgiven: SN
So I guess closing with a flourish isn’t on the cards, huh?
The Hawks got the two points, and that’s probably all that matters with the Hawks in something of a rut this month (though I don’t know if all teams would consider a 5-5 record this month a rut, but such are the standards round these parts). But against a Pens team stripped of Letang, Malkin, Hornqvist and Maatta, you’d like something a little better than pinned back for at least the last 30 of the game, coughing up a two-goal lead that really should have been the platform to close this one out easily. That’s how it’s going right now.
So I guess closing with a flourish isn’t on the cards, huh?
The Hawks got the two points, and that’s probably all that matters with the Hawks in something of a rut this month (though I don’t know if all teams would consider a 5-5 record this month a rut, but such are the standards round these parts). But against a Pens team stripped of Letang, Malkin, Hornqvist and Maatta, you’d like something a little better than pinned back for at least the last 30 of the game, coughing up a two-goal lead that really should have been the platform to close this one out easily. That’s how it’s going right now.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, WGN Radio 720
IRON CITY BEER SUCKS: The Pensblog, Pensburgh
After getting to recalibrate the sights against the Coyotes, the Hawks will descend on Pittsburgh, PA to wrap up the pre-break schedule. Normally, this would feel like a pretty big game with about as much star power as any one NHL game can manufacture. But given that it’s on the second of a back-to-back, and the game before a break that everyone seems desperate to get to, this feels more like something to just get out of the way.
vs 
Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Carnivorous Vulgaris: Five For Howling
Since the calendar turned to 2015, the Hawks have now gone a sub-par 3-5, which in Conference III has been enough to drop the Hawks tied for third with the Jets and four points back of second place St. Louis. Even if any of the other teams in the division weren’t winning any and every game they played, this would still be an unacceptable record, particularly with the Hawks not playing on home ice until February 9th after tonight. And though the bottom appears to have finally fallen out on Dave Tippett’s Coyotes this season, the Hawks aren’t currently playing well enough to count any game as a given.
Chicago Blackhawks defensive prospect Stephen Johns missed nearly seven weeks of action following a concussion suffered back in Rockford November 26. Johns made his return to the lineup this past weekend for the IceHogs. It was fitting that he came back against the team he last played against.
Johns skated with Klas Dahlbeck Friday night against the Iowa Wild and Saturday in Chicago. The Hogs won both games and Johns showed he hasn’t lost his taste for contact.
