Blackhawks Week That Was and Will Be, 1/24: Salute

1 year ago  /  Second City Hockey  /  Read Time: 3 minutes 27 seconds

Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images


A quick word of thanks — and then the return of everyone’s favorite game show! It’s weird to get an email from a stranger telling you that you’re about lose your job. It was the first thing I saw after waking up on Friday morning — let’s call it a 0 out of 10 on the “ways to start off the weekend” scale.
There still isn’t much to update beyond what was posted at this site on Friday (which is linked above). The exact wording of the email is that the site “will no longer be managed and monetized by Vox Media,” which will apparently happen after February — fancy corporate lingo for “not going to pay you anymore.” So this site may live on into March and beyond but the odds of it being the same as it’s been for the last decade-plus appear almost nil. But I’m sure Vox will announce a partnership with DraftKings to take bets on it — ya know, for the revenue.
Anything else related to that topic in this space is going to sound like it’s coming from a jilted lover, as there’s still a healthy amount of anger still simmering beneath the surface from this whole ordeal. So let’s not go there.
It felt like we might have been turning a corner here, that the Hawks were going to bottom out this season, land the No. 1 pick overall and start moving in a better direction. And I told the rest of the SCH staff — probably too many times — that I wanted us to carve out a weird little corner of the internet for other like-minded folks to gather together for wherever this next ride of Blackhawks hockey was going to take us. We’d had Shepard and Betsy and Mil on board for a while and adding Katherine and Eric last month seemed like it rounded out the staff so that we could handle whatever came next. But now we won’t get to do that here ... and it’s just a deflating feeling.
What I want to do here is express the most sincere gratitude that words on a screen can communicate, because the flood of comments and tweets and messages and emails over the last few days has been extraordinary — we even had our Facebook comment section be polite and genuine for a day!
This is all still very new to us, so no formal plans have been set beyond next month — hell, we don’t even know if the whole staff is going to be kept beyond the end of this month. But the outpouring of kind words in the last few days has been a safe port during this storm.
So, on behalf of everyone here: thanks.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
The Week That Was
Tuesday, Jan. 17: Blackhawks 4, Sabres 3
The Sabres may be a fun, up-and-coming team but it’s going to be real hard to take them too seriously after this result.
Thursday, Jan. 19: Blackhawks 4, Flyers 1
A 27-year drought ending during this season will never not be hilarious.
Saturday, Jan. 21: Blackhawks 5, Blues 3
Any person who was upset about this result is not a person who should be given the time of day.
Sunday, Jan. 22: Kings 2, Blackhawks 1
Even if the Hawks were the best team in the league, this one was going to be a challenge. Having your fourth game in six nights be the tail end of a back-to-back? Zero chance.
A Torch to End All Torches
BIG NEWS: It’s time for the return of everyone’s favorite game show!
IS!IT!SUSTAINABLE?
/cue music



Hello everyone, and welcome back to
IS!IT!SUSTAINABLE?!
The place where we examine an unfairly small samples of Blackhawks games! Chicago has won six of its last eight, but is that a sign of things to come or just a blip on the radar?
Let’s find out on
IS!IT!SUSTAINABLE?!
During 5-on-5 play in the last eight games, the Blackhawks have been on the losing end of the statistical battle in these categories seven times: shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances, high-danger chances and expected goals. Still, they’re 6-2 in those eight games.
IS!IT!SUSTAINABLE?



A quick 0-for-1. Two strikes left. Up next:
In the same eight-game sample, Blackhawks goalies have a save percentage of .916 against a season-long mark of .893. The team’s shooting percentage in the last eight games is at 11.49 percent, up from 7.35 on the season. Combining those figures results in a PDO in the last eight games of 1.052 against a season mark of 0.984.
IS!IT!SUSTAINABLE?



Uh oh ... that’s 0-for-2 once again. Let’s try one more:
Reese Johnson has two goals in the last three games after scoring three in the prior 75 of his NHL career. Colin Blackwell has four points (1 G, 3 A) in the last seven games after scoring three in the first 32 games this season. Tyler Johnson has four points in the last four games but just went on injured reserve.
IS!IT!SUSTAINABLE?



And that’ll do it! A third and final mistake. Better luck next time on ...
IS!IT!SUSTAINABLE?
It’s just like that 4-2 stretch to open the season: the Blackhawks are winning games in unsustainable ways, likely benefitting from some of the puck luck that was not coming their way while losing 21 of 23. Yeah, sure: the Blackhawks are 6-2 in the last eight. They’re also 8-22-1 since Nov. 12, a points percentage of 0.274 which remains below the season mark of 0.356. That’s just how bad it was in November and December — or good, depending on your perspective of The Plan™.
The Week That Will Be
Tuesday, Jan. 24 at Vancouver Canucks
Still in awe at the incompetence of the entire Canucks organization that was on display during this Bruce Boudreau/Rick Tocchet debacle. Just breath-taking.
Thursday, Jan. 26 at Calgary Flames
Big week for the night owls among us!
Saturday, Jan. 28 at Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid is an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026. Need a quick daydream at work? Envision a scenario with Connors McDavid and Bedard as the Hawks No. 1 and No. 2 centers to start the 2026-27 season.


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