The Latest
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John McDonough's run with Blackhawks: ‘Party's over, let's move on'
“Party’s over.. let’s move on.” That was the email John McDonough sent to his Blackhawks employees, just three days after the 2010 Stanley Cup parade. In a way, it’s a phrase that speaks to McDonough’s old school, no nonsense approach, while also suggesting he wasn’t satisfied with reaching the top of the mountain on just one occasion. McDonough has...
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Five takeaways from day 1 of Blackhawks training camp
The Blackhawks opened up training camp at Fifth Third Arena on Friday morning. Here are five takeaways from the first day of action: 1) Dach is docked Training Camp opened with the news that Kirby Dach is in the concussion protocol. Dach was injured after taking a hit in the Traverse City tournament finale on Tuesday. It’s impossible to predict...
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Blues' ‘Gloria' is reminiscent of White Sox with ‘Don't Stop Believin” and Blackhawks with ‘Chelsea Dagger'
Sports and music have always had a great friendship, as long as you don’t bring up that whole “Disco Demolition Night” on the South Side back in 1979. The St. Louis Blues are the latest team to adopt a somewhat obscure song, “Gloria,” in hopes of playing it on a loop until the championship parade is over. The Blues decision...
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Central Casting: Can Blackhawks play the role of playoff team?
If the Blackhawks are going to end their postseason drought next season, they are going to have to jump over at least one of the five Central Division foes who qualified for this year’s postseason. Of course, there is no guarantee the Central will get five teams in next year’s tournament, but let’s look at each club and identify...
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Why fixing penalty kill is crucial for Blackhawks in 2019-20
Just how important is special teams in the NHL? Of the 16 teams that qualified for the postseason, 14 clubs had at least one special teams unit that was ranked in the top half of the league and 12 teams had at least one unit ranked in the top 10. The Blackhawks finished the season with the 15th-ranked power play…
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Top priority for Blackhawks: improve defensively
The Blackhawks offseason got off to a great start this week with the lottery ping pong balls falling in their favor and producing the third overall pick in June’s NHL draft. Let’s hope the Blackhawks attempts to fix their defensive issues goes as smoothly as the draft lottery. The common theme from the team’s exit interviews was the need...
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Why the Blackhawks' penalty kill isn't as effective as it used to be
If the Blackhawks are going to get back into the playoff picture, they need to fix their penalty kill. They rank dead last in the NHL on the PK, and it cost them in the Winter Classic, where they allowed the Boston Bruins to score on two of their five power play opportunities. In the three recent Stanley Cup seasons,…
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For Blackhawks, it's not how you start… well, actually it is
Forget the old sports cliché it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. In the NHL this season, the team that scores first goes on to win 65% of the time. It’s even more daunting for the team that wears the Indian Head sweater. The Hawks opponents have won 88% of the time when they score first this...
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Power play will decide Blackhawks playoff fate
Watch the Capitals, Leafs or Jets power play and it’s puck poetry as the disc moves quickly around the umbrella and players connect with one-timers that find the back of the net on a regular basis. Then you watch the Blackhawks power play and not only does it rarely generate a quality chance, many times the opposition gets a shot...
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5 things we have learned after the Blackhawks first 5 games
The Blackhawks have played five games, all five went to overtime, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each have five goals. So here are five things we’ve learned from the Blackhawks first five games: 1. Blackhawks have a flair for the dramatic They are the first team in NHL history with 5 straight overtime games to begin a season. According to…