CALGARY, Alberta -- Now the real test begins for the Blackhawks.
The Hawks have taken advantage of a favorable schedule that had them play 13 of their first 19 games at home (technically, one of those home games was the season opener in Helsinki) and raced to the top of the Central Division. They lead the NHL with 21 points at home and have the fewest road points with five.
See a pattern here?
The first true test of the season, a 10-day, six-game road trip, kicks off tonight in Calgary. The Hawks will then head to Edmonton and Vancouver before dropping down into California for games in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. This should give the team and fans a good barometer for how strong the Hawks really are.
"We haven't really had a whole lot of games on the road so we want to prove to ourselves that we're a good road team as well as a good home team," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "We've had a chance to play in front of our fans and now we're going to go have some fun on the road and play as best we can."
There are numerous storylines for this trip, beginning against the Flames, whom the Hawks knocked out of last season's Western Conference quarterfinals. In the first meeting this season, the Hawks staged a comeback for the ages when they rallied from a five-goal deficit to win 6-5 in overtime Oct. 12.
Think the Flames will be fired up?
The next stop is Edmonton, where former goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin waits. Then it's on to Vancouver, where Jonathan Toews and teammates get a chance to look for Willie Mitchell skating with his head down. Mitchell leveled Toews with a clean hit Oct. 21 that knocked the Hawks captain out for six games with a concussion.
After that game, several Hawks said they were looking forward to the next time the teams play. Well, here it comes, fellas.
The West Coast swing brings intrigue as the Marian Hossa watch will reach a fever pitch probably in San Jose next Wednesday. The veteran winger is expected to make his debut with the Hawks after having offseason shoulder surgery either during that game or possibly in Anaheim on Nov. 27.
When the Hawks finally do return home for a Dec. 1 game against Columbus, we'll have a pretty good idea if the Hawks are a team capable of meeting this season's great expectations.
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