The Chicago Blackhawks are set to return their home ice on Wednesday night. They will take on the New York Rangers in their first matchup of the season with this Original Six rival.
Chicago is back home following a four game road trip out west. They played the Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings twice on the trip.
The Blackhawks went 1-2-1 for three points out of eight during this stretch, so they are looking for a nice rebound once they return home. The last two games, Los Angeles and Anaheim, were blowout losses so a bounce-back performance is much needed.
There is a lot we learned about the Hawks while they were on the road. These are the five biggest takeaways:
Connor Bedard will show up and produce no matter what
Over the four game losing streak that mostly went bad for Chicago, Bedard had two goals and one assist. Despite a lousy effort from most of his teammates, Bedard brought his best at a high intensity level.
Bedard is one of the best players in the NHL right now and he's only going to get better. There will be wins and there will be losses. There will be good road trips and bad homestands. Through it all, it is fair to expect the superstar on the team to always be producing offense, which will give them a chance to win on most nights.
The Blackhawks have tremendous respect for Anze Kopitar
After Chicago's second game of the trip against the Los Angeles Kings, the entire team waited to shake hands with their captain Anze Kopitar.
Although it didn't involve many active players on either team, Kopitar and the Kings had some intense battles with the Blackhawks over the years. The two teams won a combined five Stanley Cups in the 2010s. They also battled each other in a handful of Western Conference Finals through those runs.
It is obvious that even the new players recognize that and made sure to honor one of Chicago's all time greatest playoff foes.
The second half of back-to-backs are a problem
The Chicago Blackhawks have played in two sets of back-to-backs now. In each of them, they were blown out. They lost 9-3 to the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the year and this trip's bad loss to the Anaheim Ducks to end it.
The one against the Sabres felt like an anomaly at the time, but it can't be ignored that it happened again when they faced the same situation against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Back-to-backs are a part of the NHL and teams must perform well in those games. Jeff Blashill and his staff must work on a way to fix this issue.
Sam Rinzel has a long way to go before he’s an NHL star
On Monday, the Chicago Blackhawks sent Sam Rinzel (and Landon Slaggert) to the AHL for some work. For Rinzel, this is a good opportunity for him to gain his confidence back, impact games in a bigger way, and get more ice time.
During the road trip, Rinzel had a couple of tough plays that led to goals for the opposition. These games forced the team to do something they didn't want to do, which was part ways with him to the AHL for now.
Rinzel showed signs of being an NHL star late last year and early this year, but has hit a bit of a rookie wall. He has a long way to go before becoming an elite player, but the tools are there for him to be successful. This stint in the AHL will be great for him in the long-term.
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The St. Louis Blues have reportedly signed Dillon Dube to an AHL contract, according to insider Frank Seravalli.
Dube was one of five Hockey Canada players acquitted of sexual assault charges in July from a 2018 incident in London, Ont. Dube joins Carter Hart and Cal Foote as players from this case to sign contracts back in North America. Michael McLeod remains in Russia, and Alex Formenton remains in Switzerland.
Dube hasn't played any hockey this season, but did skate with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL last season, scoring four goals and 11 points in 42 games.
Prior to departing for Russia, Dube was a figure in the Calgary Flames' bottom six. He played in 325 games, notching 57 goals and 127 points. Dube also has AHL experience, skating in 56 games and recording 19 goals and 56 points.
The former 2016 second-round pick (56th overall) is a bit undersized at 5-foot-11, but plays a hard-nose game and isn't afraid to be a physical presence.
Due to several injuries the Blues are facing, the Springfield Thunderbirds' roster is thinning out. The Blues have recalled Dalibor Dvorsky, Matt Luff, Hugh McGing and Matthew Kessel from the AHL. Dube will provide additional depth to the Thunderbirds' roster.
Dube's reported agreement is an AHL deal, so if the Blues did want to call him up, they would need to sign him to an NHL contract.
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There were a few injury updates for the New York Rangers to come out of Tuesday’s practice.
First off, Matt Rempe made an appearance for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Oct. 23 after a fight against Ryan Reaves.
He was placed on long-term injured reserve and has been sidelined for the past 22 games.
The 23-year-old forward practiced on Tuesday in a non-contact jersey, and Mike Sullivan confirmed he will travel with the team to Chicago, despite not being available for Wednesday’s game against the Blackhawks, indicating that he’s making significant progress.
“He skated a fair amount on his own with our skills coaches,” Sullivan said of Rempe. “The next step is to get him around the group in a team setting in a non-contact jersey.”
Adam Fox has not practiced with the team, but he resumed on-ice activity according to Sullivan, skating twice on his own.
He was placed on LTIR after suffering a shoulder injury on Nov. 29 in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Mike Sullivan Is ‘Disappointed For The Players’ After Rangers' Overtime Loss To Golden Knights It was another overtime heartbreaker for the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers">Rangers</a> on Sunday night in their 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
According to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic, the Rangers are expecting him to miss multiple weeks due to a left-shoulder injury and he’ll be reevaluated around Christmas.
Meanwhile, Adam Edström has been notably absent since suffering a mysterious lower-body injury during practice last week.
Edström hasn’t practiced or played in a game with his long-term status still unclear.
Sullivan confirmed that Edström will not travel with the team to Chicago, but is still skating on his own.