Blackhawks: Always Fun To Watch

Tommie Lee
Jan 29, 2015
3 min read

First, some news: It’s been less than a month since Chicago played in the Winter Classic. The team’s repeated appearances in the outdoor spectacles tend to tick off the fans of the other franchises, much to our delight as Blackhawks fans.

Let the bile continue to flow. The NHL have announced the lineup for the Stadium Series games next season. Obviously…we’ll have to wait our turn again, right?

Nyet.

Commissioner Gary Bettman says next season’s schedule will include the following: Canadiens and Bruins at Gillette Stadium, New Years Day, for the Winter Classic. Boston deserves a Winter Classic at home, so this is very cool. Great venue for it. On February 21st of next year…CHICAGO travels to the University of Minnesota to take on the Gophers, er, Wild. And The Red Wings head to Coors Field on February 27th, 2016 to face the Avalanche.

Yep. Chicago again. Why?

Because the best players are always fun to watch.

Speaking of which…we fans of The Hockey just had ourselves an All Star Weekend. How important was the All Star Game itself?

It wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t hate the All Star Game. I enjoy watching Huge Star 1 slip past Huge Star 2, then fire a pass to Huge Star 3, who then dekes and catches Huge Star 4 off his weight before slipping the puck past Huge Star 5. There were five of the best players in the league on that play.

The best players are always fun to watch.

Think about the skills competition. Team Kane (lets be honest, that’s how Blackhawks fans were thinking of it) dominated the skills. Patrick Kane even outdueled Jonathan Toews in their event. Overall, Team Toews lost to Team Kane (nee’ Foligno) 25-19.

The best players are always fun to watch.

Then came the game. And with it, the exact opposite result. Team Toews were animals out there, lighting up the Columbus ice with 17 goals (18, really, but the refs didn’t call it right) and only allowing 12. “Only.”

The All Star Game is unkind to goalies. That’s the bottom line here. The best goalies in the NHL…and Roberto Luongo…looked like ducks in a shooting gallery out there. They’re facing nothing but the fastest guns in the west (and east) out there.

Instead of the five best goalies (and Luongo), the league should instead put the six WORST goalies out there. Really ratchet up the score. Sixty, maybe 70-point games. Games like you get on Xbox when you’ve been playing for months. Besides, that would still allow an appearance by Bingo Bob Luongo.

We’d see all of the best players score at least once. And the best players are always fun to watch.

Ron Stryker from 103.9 The Bear in South Bend, who plays the game, suggested to me that the All Star Game should be a round of Rat Hockey. No stoppage, take the puck out and go, maybe make the periods a little longer since the pace will be different. That would be entertaining, too.

So now it’s back to business, and in Chicago that means a west coast swing along the California coastline. The Kings Wednesday night. The Ducks on Friday. Then the Sharks Saturday at the SAP Center, where it is said the lack of Stanley Cup banners hanging in the rafters is evidenced by the huge paper mache shark that floats around aimlessly without fear of hitting anything.

After that the Blackhawks will stay on the road for the bitter cold of Minnesota and Winnipeg, before finally ending the road trip in the cold, unfeeling House of St. Louis Blues.

Think about the rest of the season, and the position Chicago is in as they attempt to make a serious run at another Stanley Cup. When you think of almost any team’s best players…you think of one particular star. Every team has one best player. The guy who sells jerseys and wins accolades and awards.

Chicago has two. They’re in the prime of their careers. Two of the best players in the NHL…Top Four talent, according to the All Star rosters…wear The Indian Head every night when they hit the ice.

And the best players are always fun to watch.

Go Hawks!