Chicago Blackhawks Insider: Just How Was the Circus Trip?

The Chicago Blackhawks are just now back from their annual circus trip and for all intents and purposes, it was a pretty good roadtrip for the Blackhawks and it helps to set them up for some additional wins during the month of December.

The following is a review of the games played on their circus trip and how this could affect the rest of their season.

November 17th-Chicago 5 Edmonton 0- After losing two games to the Oilers prior to this game, the Blackhawks finally won and finally beat this team, a team that they should have beat the first two times.  Jonathan Towes had a very good game in the win as did Bryan Bickell and Patrick Sharp.  Goalie Marty Turco pitched a shut-out stopping all 18 shots that the Oilers put on goal.  Overall, the Blackhawks outshot the Oilers 47-18.

November 19th-Chicago 2 Calgary 7- The Blackhawks failed to win their second game of the circus trip against the Flames.  Troy Brouwer and Jack Skille scored the Blackhawks only goals of the game.  Goalie Marty Turco managed to stop 29 shots on goal but allowed seven to come into the net giving the Blackhawks the loss.

November 20th-Chicago 7 Vancouver 1- The Blackhawks got back to winning with a nice victory over Vancouver.  Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook, Troy Brouwer and Jonathan Towes scored goals as did Patrick Kane and Fernando Pisani (who had two goals on the night).  Marian Hossa also had a nice game with three assists.  

There was some intrigue in this game as well.  The Canucks accused the Blackhawks of running up the score in this game but nothing much was said about it by the NHL or the media.

November 24th-Chicago 2 San Jose 5- It was a reunion of sorts as this was the first time that the Blackhawks faced their former teammate, goalie Antti Niemi.  The former Blackhawk had 30 saves for the Sharks while current Chicago goalie Marty Turco had 28 saves.  Both Patrick Sharp and Jake Dowell scored the Blackhawks only two goals of the game.  

November 26th-Chicago 4 Anaheim 1- With their circus trip winding down, the Blackhawks started the tail end of their circus trip with a win over the Ducks in Anaheim.  The Blackhawks got goals from Patrick Sharp, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith and Troy Brouwer.  They had goalie Corey Crawford in the net and he had 27 saves on the night.  Incidentally, this game would be the first of several that the Blackhawks would play with Crawford in the net.

November 27th-Chicago 2 Los Angeles Kings 1- The Blackhawks ended their circus trip with a nice win against the Kings on Saturday.  The Blackhawks got goals from both Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp while goalie Corey Crawford stopped a total of 21 shots on goal.  It was a nice way for the Blackhawks to end their long road trip.

Chicago came out of the circus trip with a 4-2 record and have positioned themselves to have a nice run in December.