What a wild ride it’s been for Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane. Beginning the season with alleged rape charges looming in the background and fingers pointing at Kane with hostile intentions the Blackhawks all-star forward focussed on the task at hand and kept quiet and played hockey.
Regardless as to what happened and whether you dislike or love Patrick Kane for whom he is or what hockey player he is. There is no denying what he’s done to start the season has been anything shy of incredible. Kane got an assist in last night’s game to break Bobby Hull’s record for longest point streak in Blackhawks history. Twenty-two games and thirteen goals and twenty three assists later Kane’s streak is still alive and well as the Hawks hope to extend the record tomorrow when they face the Nashville Predators.
When Hull was asked about Kane beating his scoring record, his response was just that of what you’d expect from a hockey legend like Bobby Hull, “I just hope he breaks the record and then goes on and chases Gretzky, It’s only 30 (more games). It’s not a big deal. He can get 30 more, I’m sure.…
The game of hockey has grown so much, a record like Gretzky’s will never be broken. The game is too fast, the goalies are bigger and better as are the players. What hasn’t changed is the rink size, something to think about for the future perhaps?
Top 5 (per category):
Goals: Jamie Benn (18) Patrick Kane (16) Vladimir Tarasenko (15) Tyler Seguin (14) Mike Hoffman (14) Matt Duchene (14)
Assists: Patrick Kane (26) Erik Karlsson (26) John Klingberg (22) Tyler Seguin (21) P.K. Subban (20)
Points: Patrick Kane (42) Jamie Benn (35) Tyler Seguin (35) Erik Karlsson (32) Mike Cammalleri (30)
Plus/Minus: Dylan Larkin (+19) Jeff Carter (+15) Evgeny Kuznetsov (+14) Tyler Toffoli (+14) Alex Ovechkin (+13)
GAA: John Gibson (1.47) Antti Raanta (1.48) Braden Holtby (1.95) Henrik Lundqvist (1.99) Ben Bishop (2.00) Jaroslav Halak (2.00)
Save %: Antti Raanta (.945) John Gibson (.944) Henrik Lundqvist (.938) James Reimer (.935) Carey Price (.934)
Wins: Braden Holtby (16) Henrik Lundqvist (14) Jonathan Quick (14) Devan Dubnyk (13) Corey Schneider (12)
Shutouts: Devan Dubnyk (4) Martin Jones (3) Jake Allen (3) Tuukka Rask (3) Michael Neuvirth (3)
PIM: Derek Dorsett (91) Chris Neil (77) Cody McLeod (71) Jordin Tootoo (55) Brandon Bollig (49)
Hits: Matt Martin (150) Leo Komarov (126) Cal Clutterbuck (124) Radko Gudas (118) Mark Borowiecki (114)
Blocks: Kris Russell (83) Francois Beauchemin (77) Roman Josi (74) Calvin de Haan (72) Christopher Tanev (69)
Shots: Alex Ovechkin(124) Taylor Hall (120) Brent Burns (119) Tyler Seguin (115) Max Pacioretty (115)
Number of games played this week per team:
(1) game: Anaheim – Toronto
(2) games: Edmonton – Pittsburgh – Tampa Bay – Winnipeg
(3) games: Arizona – Boston – Buffalo – Calgary – Carolina – Columbus – Dallas – Detroit – Florida – Los Angeles – Minnesota – Montreal – New Jersey – New York Islanders – New York Rangers – Ottawa – Philadelphia – San Jose – Vancouver – Washington
(4) games: Chicago – Colorado – Nashville – St. Louis
Starting Goalies: (NSH) Hutton VS (BOS) Gustavsson (MIN) Kuemper VS (COL) Varlamov (BUF) Ullmark VS (VAN) Miller
Best of luck this week, don’t forget to set your HBSL lineup!
Thanks for reading.