Coming off a dominant 7-3 home win over the Ottawa Senators, the Chicago Blackhawks will spend the next 11 days on the road.
Tuesday’s game at the United Center served as a great send-off for the Hawks (5-3-2), who got Connor Bedard’s first career hat trick and captain Nick Foligno’s 600th career point in the victory. Now six straight road games loom, beginning Thursday night in Winnipeg.
“It’ll be a tough trip in western Canada. There’s a lot of good hockey teams,” coach Jeff Blashill said after Tuesday’s win. “It’s harder to win on the road in this league, so it’s great to get those two points.”
Added Bedard: “I’m excited. It’s going to be fun, time to bond. When we’re in Game 4, 5 or 6 of the road trip, that’s when you become a good team and become closer. You’re playing for each other when you’re a little tired. … It brings you together, (so) we’re looking forward to it.”
Here’s what to watch for in each game of the trip.
Thursday at Winnipeg Jets
A Hawks fan in 2009 — or 2015 or 2019 — might’ve called you crazy if you told them Jonathan Toews eventually would play against the team.
But here we are.
Seven players on the current Hawks roster — Alex Vlasic, Teuvo Teräväinen, Connor Murphy, Arvid Söderblom, Sam Lafferty, Jason Dickinson and Wyatt Kaiser — spent time on the same roster as Toews. The entire team, however, has walked past the Stanley Cup championship rosters engraved next to the locker room at the United Center.
For the first time, the captain of the Hawks’ three title runs in the 2010s will be on the opposite bench.
It could be seen as a passing of the torch with Bedard and Frank Nazar the new star duo on the Hawks. Labeling them the next Toews and Kane is premature, but something appears to be brewing in Chicago.
“For him, it’s going to be a cool game,” Bedard said of Toews. “It’s going to be fun to get to play against a guy like that. Obviously it’s not at home, but a lot of Hawks fans will be watching that and it’ll be cool for them.”
Toews has been productive in 10 games with the Jets, totaling two goals and three assists. The future Hall of Famer has pretty much done it all in his career — except score against the Hawks. What a moment that would be.
Saturday at Edmonton Oilers
Did Connor McDavid ever think about coming to the Hawks? Probably not, but it was fun to think about the possibility before McDavid signed a two-year, $25 million extension with the Oilers.
Now the Hawks have to worry about him producing against them again. In 23 career games versus the Hawks, McDavid has 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) and a plus-two rating and has tallied at least one point in all but five of the meetings.
The preseason Stanley Cup favorites still are getting their feet wet with a 5-4-2 record, but they’re 8-1-1 in their last 10 versus the Hawks.
Monday at Seattle Kraken
It’s a homecoming game for André Burakovsky, who spent three seasons in Seattle before being traded to the Hawks in June. The left wing has played for four NHL teams since the Washington Capitals drafted him in the first round in 2013.
In 177 games in Seattle, Burakovsky tallied 92 points (30 goals, 62 assists) and averaged 15 minutes, 3 seconds of ice time. The Kraken eliminated the Colorado Avalanche — another of Burakovsky’s former teams — in the first round in 2023, becoming the first expansion team to beat a defending Stanley Cup champion in the playoffs.
Burakovsky has six points (two goals, four assists) in nine games for the Hawks. He’s working on his consistency, but he’s a large body with a finishing advantage. Maybe he’ll show the Kraken what they traded away.
Wednesday at Vancouver Canucks
Lukas Reichel’s tenure with the Hawks ended last week when they traded him to Vancouver. It finished a streaky few years with the team for the 23-year-old left wing.
He was a fan favorite in Chicago and popular in the locker room. Unfortunately for Reichel, his ice time dwindled as other Hawks forwards gained attention.
In three games with the Canucks, he has seen a sharp increase in ice time, averaging 16:02. Reichel will have had to wait less than two weeks to see his former teammates.
Nov. 7 at Calgary Flames
The Hawks are off to their best 10-game start since 2018-19 as they look to return to relevancy. The Flames (2-8-1) are at the bottom of the league, with the light at the end of the tunnel a ways away.
And both are exactly where they want to be.
As the Flames position themselves for next year’s No. 1 draft pick, hoping to land their next star in Gavin McKenna, the Hawks are looking to continue putting themselves in winning positions. Those trends should continue in this game.
Nov. 9 at Detroit Red Wings
It’s always nice to see Patrick Kane and the Hawks on the ice together. He has his own official day in Chicago, after all.
Kane has put up 111 points (43 goals, 68 assists) in 127 games with the Red Wings since first signing as a free agent in 2023. This year Detroit is thinking playoffs after not qualifying the last nine seasons. The Red Wings (7-3-0) are fourth in the Eastern Conference with 14 points, two behind the New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens.
Kane has yet to lose to the Hawks in three games against his former team. In his first game back in Chicago in February 2024, he scored the winning goal in overtime of a 3-2 victory.
The trip starts with Toews and ends with Kane — a déjà vu journey for Hawks fans.