NEWSLETTER
Fourth time’s the charm? The Chicago Blackhawks are heading into their fourth game of the 2021 season. And at 0-3-0 (while having given up five goals against in each of their three games), it really can only go up from here, right?
Chicago is looking to avoid it’s first 0-4-0 start since the beginning of the 1997-98 season and will have to do so against the Florida Panthers, who now have Sergei Bobrovsky back healthy and in net for Tuesday night’s contest.
Should be fun.
• The Blackhawks are the last team left in the NHL to be without a point in the standings to start the 2021 season. Well, technically the Dallas Stars are without any points, but that’s due to them being in COVID protocol.
• Sidebar: How are they still doing this?
https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1351560331395477506?s=20
• The replies.
• Look, I don’t want this to be all about COVID, but at 10 a.m. CT on Tuesday, the Stars, who have not played a game yet because they had 17 positive COVID cases and had to postpone their first four games of the season, announce “Come on and buy your tickets! It’s totally fine in here.” Then at 10:35 a.m. CT, we get this:
Hearing the Carolina-Nashville game tonight is postponed. Covid situation with the Hurricanes.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 19, 2021
• *slams skull into desk*
• The Blackhawks are supposed to play back-to-back games in Nashville on the 26th and 27th, and are supposed to host the Hurricanes on February 2nd and 4th, which is two weeks from today. So we’ll now have to keep an eye on this situation. End of sidebar.
• In on-ice news, the Blackhawks still don’t look like they have a starting goaltender. If we’re going through these first handful of games as if they are “the preseason” as I mentioned in my latest article, then it’s fine that Chicago is still figuring this out. We should have expected this with arguably the least experienced goaltending trio in the NHL this season. With Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia getting precious little help from the defense in front of them, while not producing such stellar play themselves, it’s possible that we’ll see third goalie Kevin Lankinen sooner than expected.
Jeremy Colliton said the plan is to give Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and Malcolm Subban an equal opportunity to start in goal: "It's going to be a relatively open competition." #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 18, 2021
• Speaking of development and young prospects to look out for, the Blackhawks farm system is going through its own form of a rebuild as well. Check that out if you had missed it yesterday.
• I had fun with this:
I present to you: the Chicago #Blackhawks as Disney characters pic.twitter.com/hcTSS4ocNT
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 19, 2021
• The app used is called “ToonMe,” download at your own risk.
• Today is a special day in Blackhawks history. One year ago today, Patrick Kane tallied his 1,000th career NHL point!
On this day, one year ago: Patrick Kane notched his 1000th career point#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/rdKg0nucSK
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 19, 2021
• Kane is the youngest American-Born player to reach 1,000 points and the fourth player to do so with the Blackhawks along with Denis Savard (1,096), Bobby Hull (1,153), and Stan Mikita (1,467).
• Another milestone on the horizon for #88 is 400 career goals. He sits at 390 currently, and would become the 10th active player, 10th American-born player, 100th NHL player, and fourth player in franchise history to hit the mark with the Blackhawks.
• Oh, and he’s 24 games away from playing 1,000 in his NHL career, which would make him the seventh player to do so with Chicago. If Kane and the Blackhawks play all 56 games as scheduled this season, he will move into fifth all-time in games played for the Blackhawks. Kane would trail just behind Bobby Hull (1,036), Brent Seabrook (1,114), Duncan Keith (1,141), and Stan Mikita (1,396).
• In former Blackhawks news, Henri Jokiharju scored a goal bouncing off of Erik Gustafsson:
Henri Jokiharju with career goal #5, pushing the Sabres lead to 5 in the third with a seeing-eye backhander from the side boards!#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/jVQaaLfqIQ
— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) January 19, 2021
• I think there’s a glitch in the Matrix.
• NHL referee Dan O’Rouke has had better starts to games:
Not a good start for referee Dan O'Rourke pic.twitter.com/kXihtLT5rR
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) January 18, 2021
• Honestly, I’m surprised this didn’t happen at a Blackhawks game the way this season has started.
