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“(Chicago is) the best team in the league and that's clear through the first two months of the year.…
— LA Kings Head Coach Darryl Sutter
The Greatest Show On Earth leaves the United Center (in the form of Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus) and the Greatest Show On Ice (perhaps) returns.
Let’s face it, the Hawks are in third place right now in an incredibly strong (thus far) NHL Central Division. But the Predators (with all due respect) are likely to come back to earth a bit and the Blues have yet to prove they can beat the Blackhawks when it really matters (with all due respect also to them—they’re a very, very good team).
The Blackhawks have served notice with a 5-1 record on the Annual Circus Road Trip that they are one of the best—if not THE best—teams in the league. They took care of a bad team in the Oilers, a struggling team in the Avalanche, a good team in the Flames and a couple of very good teams in the Ducks and the Kings. And with the lone exception of a loss to another very good team (the Canucks, in the second game of a road back-to-back), the Hawks were pretty much dominant throughout the trip.
They’re clicking on all cylinders: two great top lines, a couple of effective lower lines (either of which can be thrown out against an opponent’s top line and stop them cold), a proven goalie who is playing lights out at the top of his game, a blueline top 4 that’s effective at both ends of the ice and playing the system almost to a T, a mix of finesse and nastiness (the latter from Dan Carcillo, Andrew Shaw, and even the likes of Joakim Nordstrom).
There have to be questions about the third defense pair where the glacial Michal Rozsival has to anchor either David Rundblad or Adam Clendening. But as far as “negatives,… that’s it. And Rozsival is showing he still has something left, with a pretty gorgeous offensive play the other night, setting up Brad Richards’ second goal versus the Kings.
So the Hawks’ newfound Mojo gets put to the test against the aforementioned Blues on Wednesday night. The Western Conference is that good; and the Hawks still have along way to go to establish whether they lead the pack or they’re just part of it.
I’ll have a St. Louis preview Tuesday or Wednesday and any information as I hear it.