Blackhawks' Quenneville pleased with final circus trip results

The last circus trip is officially in the books for the Blackhawks and coach Joel Quenneville returned to Chicago in a good mood.

"Coming back with seven points, we're happy with the results in that regard," Quenneville said after the team practiced at Johnny's IceHouse West on Monday ahead of their game with the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

By no means did the Hawks play perfect hockey during their seven-game swing out west as they were shut out by Winnipeg and Edmonton. But getting 3 out of 4 points in Anaheim and Los Angeles playing without Jonathan Toews was impressive and allowed the team to finish the trip at 3-3-1.

Toews did not practice Monday and is questionable for Tuesday's game.

"We played with more energy and pace," defenseman Brian Campbell said of the last two games. "It's kind of given us a benchmark of where we need to get to to be successful throughout the season."

The circus trip will no longer exist because the United Center is done hosting Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Even though the Hawks were forced to leave for two weeks, Quenneville always liked the fact that his players a chance to bond.

"It's good for the guys to get together," he said.

Of course, it also helped that the Hawks compiled a 31-14-5 record on these trips during his tenure as coach. Amazingly, that works out to a 110-point season.

Long road trips can be unpredictable, especially with a slew of first-year players, so it's a pretty big deal that the Hawks still sit atop the Western Conference standings.

"To me, that was an important stretch of our season, knowing that we come out of that in a pretty good spot," Quenneville said.

The seven games were especially important for young players like Ryan Hartman, Vinnie Hinostroza, Nick Schmaltz, Tyler Motte and defenseman Gustav Forsling. You could see the confidence level rise as the games went by, especially for Hartman and Hinostroza.

"Each and every guy's got a different story, but there was some progression," Quenneville said, "and if we get everybody healthy you might play three of them together. That's something that can be exciting as well."

Now the schedule gets really favorable for the Hawks as they play 10 of their next 14 at the United Center. Some of the better home games ought to come against the Devils (10-6-5) on Thursday, the Rangers (15-7-1) on Dec. 9, the Stars (9-8-6) on Dec. 11, the Sharks (12-9-1) on Dec. 18 and the Senators (14-7-1) on Dec. 20.

"We've put ourselves in a pretty good place knowing that we had a favorable schedule at home early," Quenneville said. "Now let's get back with another busy month ahead of us."

No clowning around

The Blackhawks' record on the circus trip since Joel Quenneville took over as coach.

Season Record

2008-09 3-2-1

2009-10 4-1-1

2010-11 4-2-0

2011-12 3-3-0

2013-14 6-1-0

2014-15 5-1-0

2015-16 3-1-2

2016-17 3-3-1

Totals 31-14-5

Note: No trip during 2012-13 lockout season