Chicago Blackhawks kick off the season vs. Stanley Cup Champions

The Chicago Blackhawks are getting the season started against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Chicago Blackhawks are heading into a very tough season for themselves. They are dealing with a very tough new Central Division and it all starts tonight with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. It is strange to see these two in the same division but with the new protocols in place because of COVID-19, that is the way it is going to be this year. Tampa Bay was remarkable in the bubble and came out with the Stanley Cup championship.

Now, they will raise their banner against the Chicago Blackhawks on the first night of the NHL’s 2020-21 season. The Blackhawks still have a few players left from when they defeated Tampa Bay in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final and you know they’ll be thinking about that. The Hawks don’t have the roster that they did back then but they will surely be hungry to play hard in this game.

Chicago’s roster is missing some key names to start the season. Corey Crawford retired before ever playing a game with the New Jersey Devils but that isn’t where the story ends. Jonathan Toews, Kirby Dach, and Alexander Nylander will all be out for a long period of time. Patrick Kane will be leading the way in terms of the forwards on this team once again.

There are some young forwards to be excited about like Pius Suter who will be making his Blackhawks debut. There is also the return of kids like Dominik Kubalik, Alex DeBrincat, and Dylan Strome. These guys are going to be playing a fast system so it would be nice to see them rack up some points this year if nothing else.

Duncan Keith is still the elder statesman on defense but there is a chance we see some great young players like Ian Mitchell and Adam Boqvist make an impact. Malcolm Subban is probably going to be one of the two goalies with Collin Delia. Expect Kevin Lankinen to make his NHL debut at some point as well. We should know quickly who is on the Opening Night Roster and who is on the Taxi Squad.

As for the Lightning, despite missing Nikita Kucherov because of an injury, they still are loaded with talent. Guys like Steven Stamkos, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Victor Hedman, and Brayden Point amongst others are ready to make a run to back-to-back Cups. They present an incredibly tough challenge to this Blackhawks team as they both look to start the season off strong.

Tampa is big, physical, and knows how to use their skill to impose their will on opponents. It is a tough matchup because of how top-heavy the Blackhawks look and how deep Tampa Bay looks. It is fair to assume that middle of the pack guys for the Lightning like Ondrej Palat, Blake Coleman, or Anthony Cirelli will have great games. The goaltending will be on point too with Vassilevskiy so the Hawks need to make it difficult on him with traffic and good shot selection.

In a season like this, the expectations are low for Chicago but the players want to win. It would be nice to see them prove everybody wrong as they go through what promises to be a challenging season. Coming out of the gate quick and strong is a major key to success this season so we should know a lot not too long into the season. If anything, watching Patrick Kane and the development of the young talent is what this 2020-21 season is all about. We are off!