The Chicago Blackhawks Season Preview: December

Continuing on with our series looking at the Blackhawks' 2010-2011 schedule, we will now take a look at the month of December.  Teams often make or break themselves in the month of December, and it’s one of the more important months of the season.

The Blackhawks will start off the month of December by hosting the Vancouver Canucks.  Vancouver got the best of the Blackhawks last season, as Chicago went 1-3 against the Canucks.  Can the Blackhawks, with all of their changes, beat the Canucks on a consistent basis next season?  They may have to in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Flames will travel to the United Center to take on the Blackhawks early in the month of December.  Last season the Blackhawks had a perfect 4-0 record against the Flames and should be able to beat them again this season.  Getting many wins against some of the lower-ranked teams in the NHL is one huge way the Hawks will get back into the playoffs again next season.

Chicago will host its third straight home game to start the month when Dallas comes to town on December 8th.  The Blackhawks split the four-game series between these two teams last year but may have a rough go of it this year since Dallas is looking a little bit better.  This may be one of the more interesting games to watch this coming season.

The Hawks will travel to San Jose for their first road game of the month to take on the Sharks, and will also host them for their last game of the month.  Their record last season against San Jose was 2-2, and the Sharks should be better this year.  They will definitely present a challenge to the Hawks this coming season.

Chicago will travel to Colorado next, and then in the next game Colorado will travel to Chicago, so these two teams will play each other two times in a row.  The Blackhawks played Colorado four times last season, beating the Avalanche three out of those four games.  The Blackhawks are poised to repeat the same success they had against Colorado last season and keep themselves pointed towards the playoffs.

One of the better games this month will happen when the Detroit Red Wings, the team that many consider to be the Blackhawks' arch-rivals, travel to the United Center to take on the Hawks.  Last year’s series, which encompassed six games, was split, so this year the competition should be very good, as both teams are good enough to make the playoffs and start a run towards the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Los Angeles Kings will travel to Chicago in the middle of the month to take on the Blackhawks.  In 2009-2010 the teams played a total of four games with the Blackhawks posting a 3-1 record.  This game should be another good one between two teams that traditionally play each other tough.

The Nashville Predators come to Chicago just before Christmas. In action last season, these two teams played six games, and each team won three.  Keep in mind, these two teams met in the playoffs, and we all know who came out ahead there.  Things should be very competitive as a result.

The Hawks will host the Columbus Blue Jackets the day after Christmas to start closing out the month of December.  Last season these two teams played each other five times, with the Blackhawks winning three out of those five games.  Hopefully Chicago can begin the end of December with a win here.

Chicago will travel just down the road to play the Blues as the month comes to an end.  Last year’s record against the Blues was 3-2 in Chicago’s favor, and these teams always play tough when they get together.  It should make for an interesting game.

The following is a listing of the Blackhawks' games, with dates, for the month of December:

December 3rd—Vancouver at Chicago
December 5th—Calgary at Chicago
December 8th—Dallas at Chicago
December 11th—Chicago at San Jose
December 13th—Chicago at Colorado
December 15th—Colorado at Chicago
December 17th—Detroit at Chicago
December 19th—LA Kings at Chicago
December 22nd—Nashvillle at Chicago
December 26th—Columbus at Chicago
December 28th—Chicago at St. Louis
December 30th—San Jose at Chicago