Chicago Blackhawks: A chance to take advantage of schedule

The Chicago Blackhawks have a bit of a break in their schedule before things become a little friendly for them to start the season.

The Chicago Blackhawks are coming back to North American for their home opener this week. They were defeated in Prague, the Czech Republic on Friday by the Philadelphia Flyers. They played a decent game but they weren’t able to get the two points and a three-point night from Patrick Kane went to waste.

They now have days off until Thursday until their home opener against the San Jose Sharks. That will be a total of five days without a game and plenty of time to get re-acclimated to being home and practice. The Sharks are a Stanley Cup contending team so the game won’t be easy by any means but the game starts a period of games that work in the Blackhawks favor.

They play seven straight home games to start their North American portion of the schedule. The first one against the Sharks is difficult, but then they have the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights, and Philadelphia Flyers. Those are not easy games at all as those are seven formidable opponents and a few of them have Stanley Cup aspirations, but they are at home for a long stretch which is an advantage for them. This is an extremely long homestand and years can go by without having a stretch like that.

This is a time where the Blackhawks can get their chemistry together, their legs under them, and be fully prepared for the full 82 game stretch. There will be a lot of travel later in the year so now is the time to grab the home points that are on the table. This is a good enough team to do it and starting the season off strong would go a long way for their playoff chances. This is a team that expects to compete this year for the postseason but they need a strong October to make that realistic.

Playing at home allows more practice time as well. There is also the comfort of being at home and sleeping in your own bed when you play home games. It is an all-around good time of year for the Blackhawks as far as their schedule and they need to take advantage. It all starts with the aforementioned home opener against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.