I’m not sure who did the Blackhawks schedule, but… wow; what a tough start! I don’t know if I’m supposed to be pissed about it, but, honestly, I think I like it. Throw these young boys right into the fire. Show them what the top teams in the league look like. Try to bring your game to their level, and then maybe, as the schedule lightens, our performance will stay up there. Yeah, I think I like it. Still, 5 straight games on the road to start the season. And hold on, these aren’t just any road games. Pittsburgh, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, and Colorado… OK, Montreal was the easiest game? That ended up being an L, but to finish this initial stretch of the season at 2-3… I’ll take that as a W. On Saturday night, the home portion of the Blackhawks schedule began; welcome home boys.
Of course, it was the home ice debut of Connor Bedard. Spoiler alert: He didn’t disappoint. First shot on goal… yep, back of the net; boom! Problem was… our opponent again. Did the schedule makers give us a cream puff for our home opener after a gauntlet of a start on the road? Nope. How about the defending Stanley Cup champions who happen to be undefeated THIS season thus far? Sure, bring it on, and… bring on another L. The Blackhawks sit at 2-4 through the first 6 games of 2023.
Looking around the NHL, you have Vegas, who we just played, sitting with an undefeated record. Colorado, who we have already played, is also undefeated. The 3rd perfect team? The Boston Bruins. And yes, we have already played them too, and wait there’s more: we play them again on Tuesday night at the UC! I like the tough start, but… enough’s enough, right? No, it’s not enough. After Tuesday night at the UC, we’re back on the road, and where you ask? Las Vegas!!! You can’t make this shit up. A visit to the Coyotes after that would seem like a break, but they’ve actually been pretty decent so far. No excuses.
Corey Perry. You probably never would have imagined rooting for him, but here he is… a veteran presence on the young Hawks, and oh yeah, our point leader thus far with 2 goals & 3 assists. 2nd? It’s Connor. 2 goals and 2 assists. At this rate, our young rising star will finish with about 55 points on the year; is that a successful year? What about our record? That has to come into play. Too early for all of that. I think for all of us who have seen him skate, we can see we have something here. Listening on the radio to the pregame on Saturday night… they described the UC as about as electric as they could remember for a season opener, comparing it to the Cup years, when we raised another banner. Wow. The kid is electric; the talent is there. And yes, as I’ve said, he has a lot to learn, but the sky is the limit; I can’t wait to see how good he becomes.
Kind of like the Bears, I’m expecting a step up from last year for the Hawks; how much better do I expect them to be? Well, I don’t think we can judge anything by this start. I do believe they’ve been playing better hockey, and when the schedule softens a bit, I think we’ll see how much better they really are. Until then, keep skating boys… Go Hawks!
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