Hawks plan three-part road trip
It would be easy for the Blackhawks to get overwhelmed looking at their monstrous nine-game road trip that begins Tuesday night in Vancouver.
While it’s still a trip that could go a long way in determining if the Hawks are going to win the Central Division and get one of the coveted top three playoff seeds in the Western Conference, the coast-to-coast journey shouldn’t be as grueling as it seems.
The Hawks have planned to bust the trip up into three segments of three games, returning to Chicago twice to spend a few days in their own beds, which Dave Bolland sees as a big lift to the team from a mental aspect.
“When you go away for a long time it does get into your head and into your body and into everything,” Bolland said. “When you’re away, you’re just sitting in the hotel room waiting for the next game to come.
“It’s nice to come home and sleep in your own bed, eat some home-cooked food and just relax and enjoy Chicago instead of going from one hotel to another and packing and unpacking. It does get to be a bit of a pain.”
The Hawks plan to come home for several days this weekend after games in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. They will do it again following the middle portion of the trip after games in Colorado, San Jose and Phoenix.
The trip will end in Nashville, New York and Columbus after the second stop at home.
“It’s still not going to be easy, we know that,” Bolland said. “There are going to be some tough games.”
None tougher than the trip opener against the Canucks at Rogers Arena.
The Hawks have been off for six days because of the all-star break and are sitting on a two-game losing streak, having dropped both ends of the home-and-home set to Nashville last week.
The Hawks come back in fourth place in the division — but only 3 points behind first-place Detroit.
“We have a really tough February,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Nine straight road games, I’ve never had to deal with that before, but I think we’ve broken it up into three different segments there.
“We’ll focus on each little trip and try to get some points in some tough buildings. It’s going to be a real challenging month, but let’s make sure we’re looking at the short picture and focus on playing well and then trying to get points.”
The Hawks will have a new face in the lineup after acquiring veteran center Brendan Morrison from Calgary on Friday in exchange for minor-league defenseman Brian Connelly.
While the hope is for Morrison to help offensively, it’s defense that needs to be the Hawks’ biggest focus the rest of the way. Only Columbus has allowed more than the 144 goals the Hawks have in the West.
“We still have to get better at that area and going in the road it doesn’t have to be pretty,” Quenneville said.
“I think our defensive game is the one thing everyone preaches on, taking care of your own zone,” Bolland said. “That’s one thing we have to stick on when we do come back and continue to preach on.”
tsassone@dailyherald.com