Chicago Blackhawks: Post-trade deadline reactions into California

The Chicago Blackhawks had an interesting approach to the trade deadline, and now they face their biggest road trip in a long time.

The Chicago Blackhawks had a few options heading into the final weekend before the trade deadline. It appears that losing a few tough games and teams close to them has caused them to stand pat and not be sellers or buyers.

Their defeat to the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars set them back a little bit, and the Minnesota Wild also picked up some points during that stretch. They enter play on Wednesday five points out of the final Wild Card spot, after being in playoff position for a few hours last week.

This stretch could end up being the season. They didn’t improve the team via trade and now this is the squad going forward. You hope that they can get it together, they have 19 games remaining before the end of the regular season as they are bunched with a bunch of other teams that are in the same exact position. The issue is not just the Blackhawks, but the teams around them as well. They are all playing each other and collecting points so it can be very hard to jump teams when you put yourself in a hole like this.

The hope is that they didn’t just run out of gas as well. Patrick Kane‘s 20 game point streak came to an end in their most recent loss. The team will go where he takes them so it is very important for Kane to get right back at it and contribute offensively just about every night. He is in the MVP conversation if they make it to the postseason so that tells all about his importance to the team.

Corey Crawford was activated off of injured reserve on Monday and Colin Delia was sent down to Rockford to join the Ice Hogs. Crawford should see some time in the crease on this upcoming road trip along with Cam Ward. Crawford and Ward will need to be tremendous if they want to get back to the win column.

Now they head to California to take on the three teams that play there in what will prove to be a very tough and important road trip for a road trip. It’s not fair to say they need all 6 points here, but they sort of need all 6 points here. The California Road Trip is not what it once was in terms of playing against three elite teams very far from home, but it is still a tough one nonetheless.

All three of the Blackhawks recent  Stanley Cup Championships came after defeating each California team in the Western Conference Finals. Three Stanley Cups to three California teams.