NEWSLETTER
We knew going into Wednesday night that the Blackhawks weren’t likely to win the game. Patrick and I have urged fans throughout the summer and training camp to look at the effort more than the end result, because this team is going to lack the skill to compete with really good teams — and they opened the season against the defending champs.
The final score wasn’t great, though it might not have been as bad as many thought it could have been. Staying out of the penalty box against an elite team is going to be critical if the Blackhawks want to stay in games. But hey, at least the Hawks only gave up one even-strength goal.
Star 1: Jonathan Toews
Everybody has loved taking their shots at Chicago’s captain over the past couple years. After taking a year away from the game to get himself right, he struggled early last year — especially on the offensive end of the rink. This year, plenty of folks had their say about his performances in preseason games. And he’s said he looks forward to checking those receipts this season on the ice.
Well, Toews scored the Blackhawks’ first goal of the 2022-23 season on the power play in the first period — the first time in his career he’s scored Chicago’s first of the year. He didn’t get on the board until the 26th game last year (Dec. 9).
Toews finished the night with a team-leading three shots on net and won 10 of 14 faceoffs. He looked as strong and fast as he did at any point last year and had it the whole night. If Toews wanted to quiet his doubters, his performance on Wednesday night should at least give them pause. I’m going to give you the home radio call of the goal as well because we got Edzo on the television call.
Star 2: Max Domi
Domi was asked to center Patrick Kane‘s line, which is no small task. When we talked to him about it during training camp he admitted Kane plays the game at such a high level it’s hard to keep up at times. And, for 40 minutes, their line (with Andreas Athanasiou) struggled to do anything. But Kane found Domi on the power play early in the third period and Domi scored his first with the Blackhawks to cut Colorado’s lead back to two.
Domi also won 11 of 19 faceoffs in the game, which is terrific.
Star 3: Luke Richardson
There were some other really good performances from young guys. Philipp Kurashev skated his butt off, MacKenzie Entwistle was praised by Edzo during the broadcast and had a very good night, and Alec Regula had a few really good shifts in the third period. But I’m going to make the head coach my third star of the night. He went into a hostile barn celebrating a championship and we got a performance we should hope to see more of this year (except the penalties). The Blackhawks competed the entire night, and that’s a reflection of their respect for Richardson. On his first night as a permanent head coach in the NHL, hats off to Richardson for getting a solid effort from an overwhelmed roster.
