Coverage of tonight's season opener starts at 7:00 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet.
DALLAS -- Brandon Saadhas handled his quick-to-the-NHL odyssey very well this preseason. And that first road night out with the teammates was pretty enjoyable, too.
"We had a good dinner. The travel and all the expenses, it's pretty cool," Saad said with a laugh.
Now the Chicago Blackhawks will see how the rookie wing will handle his regular-season debut.
Saad's parents will be in the American Airlines Center crowd tonight as Saad and the Blackhawks open the season against the Dallas Stars. It's heady stuff for the 18-year-old, but he's handled it well thus far. Having Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp as linemates never hurts, either.
"Being as young as I am and playing with these two guys, it's going to be incredible," said Saad, who added he's been able to keep the nerves pretty calm so far. "There'll be some nerves closer to game time. But once you're out there you just play your game."
Linemate Sharp said "I'm sure there'll be some conversations throughout the game. Jonnny likes to talk and yell and scream if things aren't going well. We'll have advice for him but based on the way he's been playing I think he's ready to go."
NHL
Coach Joel Quenneville said he'll keep an eye on his young forward.
"He's with a couple nice guys to play with as well," Quenneville said. "They'll help him along and we'll see how he handles it."
Burish behavior
Former Blackhawks forward Adam Burish (groin) will miss Friday's opener but is hoping to play Saturday night when the Stars and Blackhawks meet again in Chicago. But Burish still couldn't pass up the chance to have fun with his old teammates.
"I could take on Kane with one groin no problem," Burish joked Friday. "I think just trying to hold down that big horse (Marian) Hossa would be a little tougher. But I could take (Patrick) Kane and (Patrick) Sharp with one groin. Im gonna rest up and embarrass them in their own building tomorrow."
Burish had fun talking about Kane playing center but nevertheless thinks his former teammate can play just fine there.
"He better practice his faceoffs a little bit because I remember beating him up in practice a few times," Burish said. "Hell be good though. The thing that hell be good at is just the way he skates. He can skate so good and on the wing, you gotta stop and start a little bit where now hell able to do those big loops and those circles and go back and take it off Duncan Keiths stick and skate all the way up the ice."
Dowell's new digs
Jake Dowell is getting used to his new surroundings in Dallas. He said he didn't know what to expect last summer, and was somewhat surprised that he wasn't a Blackhawk again this year. Dowell was one of the few who would tussle last season; but the Blackhawks let him go and signed gritty veterans Jamal Mayers and Daniel Carcillo.
"I was a little bit surprised, but that's just the decision that was made and they wanted a group of different guys to get in there to bring the toughness and the grit," said Dowell, who adjusted to Dallas quickly.
"It's been a pretty easy transition getting down here and they've been great," Dowell said of the Stars. "It's been a little bit of a long training camp because you're just chomping at the bit to get going. But there's good chemistry with the team here."
Tracey Myers is CSNChicago.com's Blackhawks Insider. Follow Tracey on Twitter @TramyersCSN for up-to-the-minute Hawks information.