The Blackhawks play meaningful hockey tonight! After nearly six months of offseason and games that don’t count, Chicago will be back on the ice at 9 p.m. CDT in Utah for the Utah Hockey Club’s first ever game. They’ll put out a completely different lineup from what they had in April, with eight players in the projected starting group being new additions. Below is the projected starting lineup for tonight:
Ilya Mikheyev – Connor Bedard – Teuvo Teravainen
Taylor Hall – Philipp Kurashev – Tyler Bertuzzi
Nick Foligno – Jason Dickinson – Joey Anderson
Pat Maroon – Ryan Donato – Craig Smith
Alec Martinez – Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic – TJ Brodie
Nolan Allan – Connor Murphy
Petr Mrazek
Arvid Soderblom
The Blackhawks are on ESPN tonight, so the ongoing CHSN debacle can wait another day. That means all eyes will be on this new team as they take the ice against an actually new team. But what will those viewers be watching? When the Blackhawks drop the puck on a new season tonight, fans should be watching three potential storylines unfold.
It’s no secret that Bedard had perhaps the least amount of help for any top-line center in his rookie season. The hype has begun to build around Bedard as he heads into his second year, with many claiming he’s stronger and in better shape, with obviously more experience. But beyond just Bedard’s personal improvement, the roster around him theoretically improved as well. A trio of Mikheyev, Bedard and Teravainen is a thrilling one to consider, with Teravainen providing more scoring help and Mikheyev contributing with his speed, scoring and defensive responsibility. Bedard was nearly a point-per-game player last season, so his ceiling this year is practically limitless.
On that note, how much better will the Blackhawks be this season? They spent plenty of money this summer to make the team at least watchable, but when their NHLers were on the ice this preseason, they didn’t find much success. Will the newcomers be able to mesh with the existing talent, and provide more scoring up front this season? I’m particularly excited about this bottom line – last year’s was full of leftovers that didn’t fit elsewhere in the roster, but this one is rich in experience and skill. Each of Maroon, Donato and Smith enjoyed great seasons. Look for that line to score one tonight.
Let’s have some fun tonight, shall we? The Utah Hockey Club brought over pieces of the Coyotes’ roster this summer, but all the stats and records are new. Look for the Blackhawks to go down in the new franchise’s record books tonight – first win, first goal, and more are all on the table.
