As of late, the Chicago Blackhawks have been struggling to attain wins. The Hawks have lost 5 of their last 6 games.
This performance of late has put the Hawk in a very bad place in the standings. Currently, the Hawks still hold the No.1 spot in the Central Division (as of 2/3/2014).
The Blackhawks now have a record of 33-10-14 (as of 2/3/2014) with a total of 80 points in 57 games played.
However, the Hawks are not too far out ahead of the rest of the division. The St. Louis Blues sit in 2nd with 79 points in just 54 games.
The Blues have the 3 game advantage over the Hawks as of now. They can easily take command of the Central Division within the next few games.
Behind St. Louis, are the Colorado Avalanche with 75 points in 54 games. They are also considered a close competitor in the race for the top three coveted playoff spots.
The next feared competitors are the Minnesota Wild. They currently sit in 4th with 65 points in 57 games played.
Now the Wild still have a ways to go, but, as shown by the trend of late by the Blackhawks, those teams above the Wild in the standings can slip up at any time and put the Wild back into the contention for the top three spots in the Central.
The lower segment in the rankings of the Central Division has found themselves in a tight race for points.
The Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets occupy the 5th, 6th and 7th place spots in the rankings. All teams are tied with 59 points each.
The only difference is the fact that Dallas has 59 points in 55 games, whereas Nashville and Winnipeg have 59 points in 57 games.
This puts Dallas at an advantage.
Although they may have the upper hand currently, they, along with Nashville and Winnipeg, have a lot of work to do in order to make any difference in the standings.
Last Week’s Recap
Through the last week, as previously mentioned, the Blackhawks have been struggling to find points.
This is a crucial point in time for the Hawks as they hope to stay on top of the Central Division before the start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
In their last 3 games, the Hawks have lost two and won one. The losses were dealt from the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames.
Each game was lost in post-regulation time. Although the Hawks gained a point from each post-regulation loss, the trend of not being able to win in overtime continues for Chicago.
The Hawks’ win came from an offensive push against the Vancouver Canucks. The Hawks beat the Canucks 5-2 in yet another 5+ goals-scored game.
Though it was nice to see a win among all the latest losses, the Hawks need to start winning or else a continuous losing streak could possibly knock the Hawks out of the top spots in the division.
Blackhawks News
Aside from the struggles of late, there has been some more developments for the Hawks.
Recently, the Blackhawks announced the recalling of forward Brandon Pirri. Prior to being recalled again, Pirri had played in 24 games with the Hawks.
In those games he had scored 6 goals and added 5 assists. Though those numbers are not very impressive, it appears the Hawks are giving Pirri another shot at the lineup.
Brandon Pirri has played in the Hawks’ last three games. He has yet to score a point, but Pirri was playing on the 2nd line for Chicago.
I would like to see Pirri play more because I believe he has talent and can be developed into a great player. I am not sure as what the plans are for Pirri this season in terms of whether or not he will get more playing time.
Hopefully he makes a bigger impact this time around and proves his worth to be one of the 12 players in the Chicago uniform each night.
Frank’s Three Stars of the Week
1st: Brandon Saad
2nd: Patrick Sharp
3rd: Jonathan Toews
Saad: Brandon Saad has an amazing 5 points in his last 3 games. He had an awesome performance against the Vancouver Canucks on January 29th as he scored 2 goals and added an assist to his stats. Saad also netted a goal against San Jose and registered an assist against Calgary. Saad has had a great season so far and continues to prove his worth as a top forward. He has 40 points so far on the season and is 10th in the NHL with a +/- rating of +22.
Sharp: Sharpie has registered 2 goals and an assist in his last 3 games. He has continued to play well for the Hawks and has contributed offensively and defensively when needed. Sharpie has made the elite Three Stars list quite a few times this season and I do not see that trend stopping anytime soon. Hopefully Sharpie keeps scoring and producing points to help the Hawks get out of this slump!
Toews: Captain Serious has also made an impact for the Hawks in his last three games. Tazer has scored 1 goal and added 2 assists in his last three appearances.
Frank Markasovic
Sports Editor