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Washington Capitals @ Chicago Blackhawks 8:30 Eastern/7:30 Central NHLN-US, Sportsnet (Canada), CSN-DC+,CSN-CH+
THE BUZZ
Pre-promotion of the Winter Classic began in earnest this week on nhl.com and elsewhere, as the Washington Capitals invade the UC tonight.
The Caps are struggling at 4-5-3, while the Hawks at 7-5-1 are coming off a statement game, a 5-0 whitewash of the Canadiens in Montreal. It was one game but it featured the cure for what has been ailing the Hawks, a couple of greasy goals and power moves to the net.
Peter Regin was called up from Rockford to replace Patrick Sharp who will be out 3-4 weeks after taking a big hit from Alexei Emelin in Montreal.
Regin was the leading scorer in Rockford, but the best line at the Hawks’ AHL affiliate has clearly been that of Philip Danault, Mark McNeill and Garrett Ross. Here’s some good prospect news for Hawk fans: these guys bring what is sometimes lacking in some Hawk forwards. They play big, and each is highly competitive with some skill to boot.
On a roster crowded with highly paid veterans, in a salary capped league, it is hard to just swap these guys out for current Hawks. That said, unless the season really went south, there’s probably also no hurry. In the meantime, this line—and honestly the entirety of the Rockford club ¬are having the kind of success you want your AHL team to have.
This is arguably the next step toward having the kind of talent pipeline that kept Detroit a dominant organization for so many years, while both bumping up against the cap and picking late year after year.
Thus, there is less pressure for a Teuvo Teravainen, playing, meh, ok, in his first season in North America, to be a savior in Rockford, much less in Chicago.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Washington
Ovechkin Backstrom Wilson Jhansson Burakovsky Brouwer Chimera Laich Ward O’Brien Latta Beagle
Orpik Green Alzner Niskanen Schmidt Carlson
Holtby
Chicago
Smith-Toews-Kane Saad-Shaw-Hossa Bickell-Kruger-Versteeg Regin-Richards-Morin
Keith Seabrook Oduya Hjalmarsson Van Riemsdyk Rundblad
Crawford
I’ll have a recap tomorrow,
JJ