With the Hawks’ issues and trajectory pretty clearly mapped out now that the exhibition season two-thirds over, this week the focus will turn external to see what in the hell the rest of the league is doing. And today starts with the Hawks’ most direct competition, the Central Division.
Tonight’s game was billed as a few things. We heard that the Blackhawks wanted to avenge their last ugly defeat in Dallas. We heard that the Stars were looking to halt the meteoric ascent of Chicago to first place in the Central. We heard that the Stars are looking to show they’re for real.
Frankly, I figured the Blackhawks would place just as much importance on this game as they have any February game over the past 4-5 seasons. Another factor is the annual tradition that has the Blackhawks having played the most games in the NHL plus a heated affair in the desert had me thinking this might be a sleepwalk through America’s most Napervillesque large city.
Nope.
