Wins Just Keep on Rolling in for Blackhawks & Head Coach Quinneville
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports
The Chicago Blackhawks were thrilled to be back at home after a grueling 6-game west coast “Circus” road trip. Blackhawks fans were also thrilled as they were treated to an 11-round shootout – the longest shootout in Blackhawks’ history. Marian Hossa made his United Center debut (he had played in the Blackhawks’ final 3 games on the road) and scored in the 2nd round of the shootout to keep the Hawks alive. Cristobal Huet made 10 of 11 saves in the shootout round, and Brent Seabrook’s goal in the 11th round gave the Blackhawks the win. The Blackhawks have now won 8 straight games at home at the UC.
The win was also the 500th of Head Coach Joel Quinneville’s career. Quineville was “thrilled” with the achievement: “I’ve been in a lot of great places. I’ve been fortunate, worked with good teams and great players.”
The Blackhawks had a successful “Circus” road trip winning the 1st 4 games of the trip against the Flames in Calgary, the Oilers in Edmonton, the Canucks in Vancouver and then the Sharks in San Jose (the NHL’s best team). Although the Hawks dropped the final 2 games – 3-0 to the Ducks in Anaheim and 2-1 to the Kings in Los Angeles in a shootout – you can’t complain when you have a winning record on the road.
The Blackhawks are 17-6-3 with 37 points. They are tied with the Flames for the 2nd most points in the Western Conference. Only the Sharks (42 points) and Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins (38 points each) have more points in the NHL.
It has been a fantastic start for the Hawks thus far and with the addition of Hossa back on the ice, look for the Hawks to continue to gel over the next few weeks. 9 of their next 14 games during the month of December are at home in Chicago, so look for the Hawks to try to put a little distance between them and the rest of the good teams in the Central Division…
