Blackhawks Road Trip Ruminations: Big Buff Struggles, and Hawks Lose to Canucks

This weekend has been a relatively quiet one for our beloved Blackhawks, as they only had one game to worry about. The game wasn't necessarily a rousing success, but...oh, who are we kidding. To quote Stephen A. Smith (or Scott Van Pelt's solid impersonation of Smith), "it was an abject disaster!"

The Blackhawks were demolished by the Canucks 7-3 in front of a packed house in Vancouver, and they were knocked out of the game right out of the gate. They gave up goals early and often, and Cristobal Huet was yanked for the first time since the Winter Classic in the hideous loss.

The Hawks certainly helped the Canucks by giving them eight power play chances, and the Vancouver squad capitalized on half of those. Alex Elder had four points in the game (a career high), and Ryan Kesler added two goals and an assist in the contest. The Sedin twins also had a goal apiece to complete the horror show north of the border.

The game also snapped the Blackhawks' run of 11-0 against Canadian teams this season, and it ended it emphatically.

With all of this being said, let me also say that I am not all that upset about the fact that the Hawks have gotten eight out of a possible 12 points so far on this road trip. I am also not upset that they lost to a goalie who is only now starting to get back the powers that enabled him to get three shutouts in one week earlier this season.

The Blackhawks did not appear to be ready to play when they skated out of the tunnel Saturday night. I think that the Blackhawks came out flat from the gate, and there are certainly explanations for that.

First off, they were coming into their sixth straight game without a single day in Chicago throughout any of that. They were undoubtedly tired from playing in the Western time zones for a good amount of time, and their bodies were finally starting to show the strain from constant travel and hotel food.

There are several people in my inner circle of hockey-loving buddies who seem to think that the Blackhawks were doomed by factors within their control, and that if they had shown more effort, they would have won the game.

These buddies are missing the fundamental concept of playing hockey on the road. Most of the time, if you go .500, it is considered a successful trip. Now, with two games left, the Blackhawks have the opportunity to make it a great one by securing points in either (or both) Atlanta and St. Louis. These teams are certainly bottom feeders in the nicest sense of the phrase, and so the Blackhawks shouldn't have a problem with them.

In addition to facing easier opposition, the Hawks have also had the opportunity to come home to Chicago for a few days and recharge the batteries with some practices at Bensenville and sleeping in their own beds. When I go to practice on Tuesday, I will expect to see some more chipper attitudes on the ice, rather than the tired, dejected team I witnessed Saturday in Canada.

The one thing the Blackhawks should not do when they hit the road for 'Hotlanta on Wednesday is overlook the Thrashers. They may be having a very down year, but they still have players like Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov that can cause opposing teams a problem when they are matching up.

Also, Atlanta has shown that they are a team that will come back if you take your foot off the gas. They nearly overcame a 3-0 Philadelphia lead Sunday afternoon at Phillips Arena, and they've pulled this trick off several other times this year. In addition, they can get themselves hyped beyond reason for games, as evidenced by their shutout of the then hot New Jersey Devils in East Rutherford.

The key for the Blackhawks to win this game is to control the puck early and beat Kari Lehtonen early and often. If the team can build up a lead, the Thrashers will collapse like a house of cards, and everything will be pointing at a winning road trip.

Also, the Hawks need to keep Kovalchuk off balance so that he can't settle into a groove and drive unabated to the net all day. Much like the Red Wings did Sunday against the Penguins, the Hawks need to take away Atlanta's best player and dare the rest of the team to beat them. Pittsburgh couldn't do this, and I'm willing to bet Atlanta won't be able to either.

Byfuglien Feels Great, Insists Goals Will Come

In an article published in the Chicago Tribune over the weekend, Dustin Byfuglien was profiled by the paper about his work habits and, inevitably, over his goal-less drought.

Byfuglien hasn't scored a goal in 11 straight games, and you can sense the frustration that is starting to build up inside his gut.

"I'm getting plenty of chances every night, and they're just not going in," Byfuglien said. "You always get frustrated, and right now I think I'm at my peak."

Coach Joel Quenneville doesn't seem to have lost any faith in his barrel-chested forward, saying, "he's been going to the right areas. That finish is probably frustrating, but at the same time, stick with it and he'll get rewarded."

If you want to read the full article, go ahead and check this link out.

Lack of Face-Off Success Killing Blackhawks

In another article from the Tribune, the issue of face-offs is discussed.

Without a true No. 2 center on the squad, the Hawks are losing a good chunk of their face-offs, and the team is second-to-last in the league in that category.

Patrick Sharp bemoaned this fact when he said that the lost face-offs often lead to scoring chances. There is, in fact, only one Blackhawk above 50 percent on face-offs, and that is captain Jonathan Toews with a 53.2 percent success rate.

The article also points out that Detroit and San Jose lead the league in face-off percentage, and it's no surprise that they are the top two teams in the conference.

If you want to read the entire piece, visit this link.

The Blackhawks' next game will be Wednesday night against the Atlanta Thrashers. The game will start at 6pm CST and can be seen on Comcast SportsNet.