The Chicago Blackhawks got off to a rocky start on their season defining nine game road trip. This road trip started after the all star break. 17 of the last 29 Hawks games are on the road.
Western Canada continued to be a house of horrors for the Blackhawks. The Hawks got one point out of a possible six. In Western Canada, this year the Hawks are 1-4-1. They have given up 29 goals in 6 games this year in Western Canada. The only team that the Blackhawks have done well against in Canada is Vancouver where they have won and lost in overtime. However, against the “weaker” teams of Canada, Calgary and Edmonton, the Hawks have gone 0-4 in their buildings and given up 25 goals.
We could call this a hiccup after all once is an event and two is a coincidence. However, the Hawks have had a losing streak of 3 games, 4 times this year. The first two 3 game losing streaks came in November. There is no coincidence that during both of these losing streaks that the Hawks were on the road. The first one was in early November when they lost at Tampa Bay, to Vancouver at home and at St. Louis. The second 3 game losing streak came during the circus trip where they got pummeled at Calgary, blown out in Edmonton and lost to San Jose in a tight defensive game. After the first losing streak, the Hawks won 4 games in a row. After the circus trip disaster, the Hawks would win 12 of the next 16 games to end 2011. The Hawks took 25 of a possible 32 points during that time.
The next losing streak that the Hawks suffered was to start the new year when they lost 4 games in a row. The disturbing thing about that trend was the 3 of those 4 games were at home. Now after the 4 game losing streak the Hawks won 5 out of the next 6 games. The Hawks took 11 out of a possible 12 points.
Now the Hawks have lost five in a row; their longest losing streak of the season. The Hawks have taken one out a possible ten points in the last five games. Now the first two of the games in this streak the Hawks were without Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. But the last three and shown that the Hawks are a flawed team that gets in some really ugly streaks. They can play with the best teams but they can lose in close games against them because those teams are just as good as the Hawks. The Hawks can run and gun against a weaker team but that usually ends in defeat. And the Hawks can play a tight defensive game but they generate no offense and lose.
It is interesting to look at the Hawks record and see the trends. Now when you think of a game that you have to win in the playoffs, you think of a 1-0, 2-1, or 3-2 game. When the Hawks score 3 goals or less, they are 8-15-5. When the Hawks score 4 goals or more, they are 21-2-2. Nobody doubts that the Hawks are gifted offensively which they are. But they have yet to find the right balance between offense and defense. Very few teams can score with the Hawks when they are on, well except for Edmonton in Edmonton. The Hawks need to figure out how they can protect their goaltender, clear the puck and maintain their offensive prowess. No trade is going to fix this and you better get used to Corey Crawford and Ray Emery in goal because nobody is coming. The Hawks need to emphasize more balance on the team.
I’ll leave with three stats to hopefully uplift your spirits after reading this article. The Hawks have played 41 games in the Western Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Hawks are 13-8-2 against teams that would miss the playoffs. Against teams that would make the playoffs, the Hawks are 9-6-3. Now let’s extrapolate this stat. The Hawks are 3-6-3 when they score 3 goals or less against playoff teams and 6-0-0 when they score 4 goals or more on playoff teams. The last stat that I have is the Hawks are 6-5-2 against the top 5 teams in the Western Conference and the only team that they have a losing record against is Nashville with a 1-2-0 record against them.
This losing streak has been frustrating as it is the Hawks longest losing streak of the year. However, they have played well against playoff teams. They need to be tighter defensively when they play against everybody and start winning some 2-1 and 3-2 games which will be required in the playoffs. However, what cannot be disputed is when the Hawks score nobody has been able to compete with them. But the Hawks will face stiffer defense and stingy goaltending in the playoffs which will require a team effort on defense to win. The division is not out of reach because the division will be decided in March and April. The Hawks have 10 games left against Nashville, St. Louis and Detroit. But the Hawks need to be better on the rest of this road trip and get some points or they could be staring at a second straight season of scrambling to make the playoffs.
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