It is officially December, which means we are now into month 3 of the NHL season. After a surprising October that saw the Hawks defying expectations and got Team Tank a little bit nervous, November was a wake up call that saw this team right the ship and plummet down the standings.
The Hawks finished November with a 2-9-2, with their lone wins coming in overtime against the Kings and then battling back against the Ducks. This month was so bad for the Hawks they actually finished dead last in the league, which has helped them catch up with the Ducks at the bottom of the league standings.
When it came to scoring goals, which where hard to come by, in 13 games, they scored only 25 times, which means they averaged 1.92 goals for per game. Now, if you saw the Hawks on your schedule teams were licking their lips as they let up 51 goals, which averaged to 3.92 goals against per game. With that stat in mind, only one member of this team finished the month with a positive +/- ranking and that was Jake McCabe, who finished +1 (granted, I think this is one of the dumber stats in hockey and put little importance on it)
Despite the brutal month of hockey, was there any positives? I’d say a few players had a good month and continued to have a decent season and really build up some trade value.
Max Domi
Lead the team with 9 points (3g 6a) 2 of his goals came on the power play and he finished the month with 4 power play points.
Jonathan Toews
The Captain continues his come back season as he finished the month with 3 goals and 3 assists. He is showing that he can still play at a high level and is definitely getting the attention of teams who could really use his experience for a playoff run.
Patrick Kane
While he is not having the season we are used to he is still right up there in the team lead for points. He put up 8 points this month (1g 7a) and has shown flashes of vintage Kaner. If you are big on body language, it appears that he is all but checked out of this team. It will be interesting to see when the trigger is pulled on his trade.
Arvid Soderblom
Despite getting no help from the team in front of him, he is still giving everyone flashes of hope that the future in net is in good hands. 2-5-1 record with a .904 SV% and 3.14 GAA, I think he is still playing good hockey given the situation. Lets just hope this isn’t another Anton Forsberg situation where they lean on him too much and essentially derail his career.
November was bad and I hate to be the one to say it, but December is not going to be any better. With games against some of the top teams in the league and teams who are starting to figure it out, I would not be surprised if this team goes 2-11 this month. I also wouldn’t be shocked if their 8 game losing streak flirts with the 17 game mark (the longest in franchise history is 14, which technically spanned two seasons from the 1927/28 season to the 1928/29 season). Also, trade rumors, while still early enough not completely believe, they will slowly start gaining steam as teams separate themselves as contenders and pretenders.
At the end of the day, as pain full as this is to watch its for the greater good, and gives them the best odds at landing Bedard or Fantilli. Remember, this team we are watching is the transition team that is giving KD the chance to clear Bowmans mistakes and get himself as clean of a slate as possible. Just enjoy the opportunity to watch the greatest sport in the world, even if its being played by this brutal team.
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