Good news for Hawks fans: the Blackhawks have clinched their sixth consecutive playoff berth!
This is great news considering how competitive the Western Conference is, let alone the Central Division.
All the Hawks have left to do is fight for the better playoff seed. This will determine if the Hawks have home-ice advantage or not.
Currently, the Hawks claim the 3rd seed in the Central Division with 99 points in 76 games (as of 3/31/2014).
St. Louis still holds 1st in the Central with 107 points in 74 games. They will no doubt stay in 1st.
Colorado follows St. Louis with 100 points in 74 games making them 2nd in the division.
As mentioned in last week’s article, the Avalanche and the Blackhawks will fight for 2nd until the 82nd regular-season game is played for each team.
The next Central Division competitors are a little behind. Those contenders are Minnesota and Dallas.
The Minnesota Wild have been holding onto the 1st Wild Card seed for quite some time now.
The Wild currently have a record of 38-26-11 with 87 points in 75 games (as of 3/31/2014).
Behind Minny, the Phoenix Coyotes linger in the 2nd Wild Card seed with 84 points in 75 games.
The Coyotes are not yet safe in the standings as another team, a Central Division contender, creeps behind them.
This team is the Dallas Stars. The Stars have the opportunity to claim the 2nd Wild Card seed, as they are only a few points behind the Coyotes.
The Stars have a record of 36-27-12 with 83 points in 74 games played. The Stars can potentially surpass both the Coyotes and the Wild if they win out and the other two teams lose a few.
This Stanley Cup Playoff qualification race is going to be a tight one as these teams have only a few games left to capitalize on the points that they need.
If I had to predict the outcome of the regular-season, I would select the following teams to make the playoffs in the following seeds:
Central Division: 1st: St. Louis Blues, 2nd: Chicago Blackhawks, 3rd: Colorado Avalanche, Wild Card 1: Minnesota Wild, and Wild Card 2: Dallas Stars.
I guess we will see how this plays out! I believe that Dallas will have an end-of-the-season push to oust Phoenix from their Wild Card seed.
Blackhawks News
Unfortunately, the Hawks have gone through an ugly point slump. The Hawks have lost 3 of their last 4 games. All three losses took place in overtime so the Hawks did not receive any points whatsoever.
All three losses came from these Eastern Conference opponents: Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In their return to Boston’s TD Garden since winning the 2012-13 Stanley Cup, the Hawks had hoped to seek the familiar taste of victory.
However, the league-leading Boston Bruins had different plans.
The Bruins shut down the Hawks’ offense as they outscored them in a 3-0 victory over their previous Stanley Cup opponent.
This loss would mark the third time that the Blackhawks have been shutout this regular-season.
The following evening, the Hawks squared-off against a struggling Ottawa Senators team. But, despite Ottawa’s struggles, the Hawks again came up short. Ottawa would outscore the Blackhawks in a 5-3 victory.
Recently, the Hawks played against Eastern Conference powerhouse, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This game would get ugly, as the Blackhawks were out-played physically and offensively.
The Hawks had minimal physical presence, which led to Jonathan Toews getting injured (more below).
The Hawks would end up losing to the Penguins with a score of 4-1. Sidney “Crybaby” Crosby would net two goals in the victory…this added to my frustration.
Aside from the negative, the Hawks did win one game out of their last 4. This victory was won against Central Division foes, the Dallas Stars.
The Hawks outplayed the Stars in this game. Andrew Shaw and Duncan Keith each picked up a goal and an assist, which contributed to the Blackhawks’ victory.
Injury Update
As we already know, Patrick Kane will not be returning to the lineup until the end of the regular-season.
Bryan Bickell is also currently injured as he has missed several games as of late. He is ruled with a lower-body injury and should return to the lineup soon.
I really hope Bickell joins the team soon because, when considering games like the recent Pittsburgh game, the Hawks could really use his physical presence and gritty goal scoring.
Michal Rozsival also has a lower-body injury and is expected to return sometime in the near future. Though he is not particularly seen as a huge loss to the team, I would rather have him playing D than that dusty Sheldon Brookbank.
As abovementioned, Jonathan Toews has been added to the injury list. Toews left the ice during the Pittsburgh game after he was crushed by Pens’ defenseman Brooks Orpik.
Though the hit was a big one, Toews skated off under his own power. His upper-body injury is currently ruled as a day-to-day injury and was deemed as “not serious”.
This is great news for the Hawks as they have several key players out of the lineup already. With their excellent training staff, the Hawks should have Johnny back on the ice in no time…well, hopefully.
Frank’s Three Stars of the Week
1st: Patrick Sharp
2nd: Marian Hossa
3rd: Andrew Shaw
Sharp: Patrick Sharp currently leads the team in points with a total of 73 (31 G, 42 A). In his last 4 games played, Sharpie has scored a goal and added 3 assists.
Hossa: Big “Hoss” has also done well in his last four games. Hossa has scored 2 goals and has even shown some physical presence against opponents.
Shaw: Andrew Shaw continues to play well for the Hawks as he has contributed a goal and an assist in his last four games. His goal scored against the Dallas Stars was a beauty!
Frank Markasovic
Sports Editor
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